Game Day 62: Oilers vs Habs
The Edmonton Oilers are apparently not suching as the d-man market at the NHL profession target date, however I can think about one professional d-man they require back: Mattias Ekholm.
In the previous month Ekholm’s video game has actually collapsed in addition to his wellness. Both he and John Klingberg are out for tonight’s video game versus the Montreal Canadiens, with the Oilers calling left-shot puck-moving d-man Cam Dineen and newly-acquired grinding ahead Max Jones from Bakersfield on an emergency situation basis.
As for the d-man market, NHL expert Frank Seravalli claimed on the Kevin Karius reveal today on Sports Radio 1440 that d-man Carson Soucy of Vancouver may make good sense for the Oilers, however he can not see Vancouver trading him to department opponent Edmonton, with Soucy requiring some wage retention also.
“So it would be nice to have (Soucy) the Irma native, but I don’t think that’s going to make sense or ultimately come to pass. I was told that it was a pretty quiet day in the Edmonton Oilers offices yesterday, that they were sifting through some options, but nothing that really stood out and nothing that made them busy or gave them something to think about. So they’re still processing, operating under dual tracks of: Are we spending this Evander Kane money? And the other side: are we not?”
And when it comes to Ekholm, Oilers train Kris Knoblauch claimed he’s missing out on technique because of upkeep. “Maybe a couple days rest would be good for him…It’s day to day and we’ll determine later. Before the break, he was extremely sick. You could tell in the meetings he did, he was very sick. You could hear it in his voice. And now just with the body a little bit, just a little maintenance thing… With where we are in the season, it’s certainly something we don’t want him to prolong.”
Ekholm missed out on a video game in very early February because of ailment, after that mosted likely to bet Team Sweden at the Four Nations Cup, however he hasn’t coincided gamer this previous month, which his play diminishing a high cliff in the previous month.
In the initial 52 video games of the period, Ekholm was dipping into an alll-star degree at also toughness, which is why he was selected as a principal for Team Sweden at theFour Nations This solid play was mirrored in his Grade A shots plus-minus. Given the protective nature of the setting, it’s uncommon to see a d-man make even more plays to develop Grade A shots than he makes blunders on Grade A shots versus, however Ekholm was just one of 3 Oilers d-man completing that accomplishment for a lot of the year.
But in the previous 8 video games he’s remained in a depression virtually as negative as the one Darnell Nurse remained in throughout the 2024 playoffs. Ekholm has actually been defeated continuously on the assault and his offending video game has actually shed a lot of its pizzazz. Overall he seems sluggish and doing not have concentrate on the virtually, virtually as if he was still battling some evil breathing infection, which is precisely what he’s been doing the previous month.
Things look much more grim when we contrasted his significant payments to objectives versus his significant blunders on objectives versus.
In his initial 52 video games, Ekholm made a significant payment to 26 objectives and made significant blunders on 24 objectives versus at also toughness.
In his last 8 video games, he’s added to one objective and made blunders on 10 objectives versus.
Ouch!
One wishes that with some remainder and far better wellness starting, Ekholm’s efficiency will certainly go back to its previous remarkable type. But that day can not come quickly sufficient for the having a hard time Oilers.
P.S. The predicted ahead lines according to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athleticfor tonight are:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Arvidsson
Janmark-Henrique-Brown
Jones-Kapanen-Perry
Major flick occasion concerning Ukrainian gamers in NHL
Big occasion showing up, Kelly Hrudey and Friends occasion at Ford Hall Rogers Place on March 10. Hrudey is mosting likely to MC the occasion which will certainly be the Canadian introduction of “Uke” Untold Stories of Canadian Hockey Heroes, a docudrama including previous NHL celebrities of Ukrainian descent; including Gretzky, Hawerchuk, Sawchuk, Johnny Bower, Mike Bossy, Hrudey and lots of others. Of training course there will certainly be a pyrogy supper. Here are all the details and who to buy tickets for this great event.
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