This in from top NHL analyst Ray Ferraro of ESPN, his take on the many issues confronting the struggling Edmonton Oilers, and his suggestion that the quickest fix will be to bring in a new back-up goalie to replace Calvin Pickard.
Said Ferraro on the Ray & Dregs podcast of the Oilers: “Their play in front of him (Stuart Skinner) — and whoever’s in there — is not even close for what it needs to be. … They are off in several different areas. And the biggest problem becomes you fix one problem and another one seems to spring up. That’s where they are right now.”
For one thing, the Oilers miss injured Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “He’s such a valuable piece for them in almost every facet of their game, right? He’s really, really a quiet, very important piece.”
He also wondered if some of the older Oilers are dropping in effectiveness. “You can’t think that everybody’s going to be the same year after year after year. You know, guys are a year older. Some guys have a good year, some guys have a bad year. You bring in new players, some work, some don’t. The problem, there just feels like this urgency with McDavid, right?… There always feels urgency in Edmonton. And I don’t think anybody believes, ‘Oh, let’s just wait till the playoffs and it’ll all be fine.’ Like that would be a rather foolhardy way to go about it. In my opinion, the problem becomes, what do you do exactly to fix it?”
That’s when Ferraro suggested a move in net. “There might be something. I know Calvin Pickard’s a super popular guy and he makes $900 grand or a million dollars, but his season has not been very good. It’s one thing to say, ‘Oh yeah, he’s just the back-up.’ But the back-up’s got to play 25 times. You can’t just throw games away. He’s either got to stop the puck or they’ve got to think about something else, because it’s going to be way cheaper to do that than it is to try and find a legit starter, right? Because Skinner hasn’t had a great year either, but still doesn’t solve the problems in front of them. And there’s multiple ones. They don’t check like they did a year ago. They don’t defend like they did a year ago. And all that adds up into those really concerning defensive numbers. You can’t expect to score five goals a game. Like they have got wonderful offensive people, but man, they’re going to have to really figure how to cut that down.”
coach 22 games
1. First off, as you can see from the graphic above, the Oilers have 22 points in 22 games, which will have some commentators telling you that the Oilers are at .500.
No, they’re not and it’s fudging the truth to suggest they are.
When you’re at .500, you have as many losses as you have wins. But the Oilers aren’t anywhere close to that. The Oilers have nine wins and 14 losses in 22 games, with four of those losses coming in extra time. They are well below .500.
2. Calvin Pickard will almost certainly get the start tonight against Tampa, with Stuart Skinner having played Monday and Wednesday in losses to the Sabres and the Caps.
Pickard has the lowest save percentage, .830, of any regular NHL goalie this year. Samuel Ersson of Philly is next worst at .846 in six games.
Pickard has been in seven games so far this year. I suspect if he fails to come up big against Tampa, the Oilers will make a move here. Circumstance will demand it, as will an increasingly frustrated fan-base, which includes the owner.
3. Ferraro makes a good point about the importance of the back-up goalie. A team’s second goalie is called the “back-up” but in fact when he’s in net, there is no other goalie. He’s the No. 1 goalie, as important to the team that night as the No. 1 centre and the No. 1 d-man. The fate of the team, in no small part, rides on him coming through with the necessary saves.
Pickard came through with those saves last year in the playoffs, which is why there’s been patience with his play so far this year. But it’s hard to imagine Pickard sticking without a prompt and strong rebound in his game.
Edmonton’s problems are bigger than the back-up goalie. They’re getting beat in Grade A shots, 5-alarm shots and goals. Their performance has been soft, unfocused and/or inconsistent. But Edmonton’s problem has also been the No. 1 goalie spot, especially when Pickard has been in that role.
At the Cult of Hockey
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