‘Loser’: Harsh verdict from NHL commentators on Edmonton Oilers at trade deadline

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The annual lists of National Hockey League trade deadline winners and losers are out, and they’re generally none too kind of the Edmonton Oilers.

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One or two NHL commentators see the Oilers as deadline day winners, but the majority viewpoint is that GM Stan Bowman and his Oilers were losers.

I can’t say I agree with that assessment, perhaps because I had low expectations of what the Oilers might achieve and was pleasantly surprised at the team’s haul of new players. But I’m in the minority.

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Here are highlights from the commentary of NHL pundits:

LOSER

Mark Lazerus of The Athletic

Dallas went out and added the best player available in Rantanen and locked him up long-term. Colorado went out and added the top rental available in Nelson. Edmonton added a solid second-pair defenseman in Walman and a third-line forward in Trent Frederic. If this is an arms race, Edmonton is losing. The Oilers are the defending conference champion and were the preseason favorites to win it all. Now, they look like the fifth-best team in the West.

LOSER

Adam Gretz of Yardbarker

The bad news is that the Oilers did nothing to address their problematic goaltending situation, so they risk going into the playoffs with a major Achilles heel at the one position that could dramatically change a series or a season.

LOSER

Zachary Rotman of Fansided

The Edmonton Oilers didn’t have a bad deadline. Jake Walman is a really solid second-pairing defenseman, and Trent Frederic was a good add too, even if they might’ve given up a touch too much to get him. They’re deadline losers, though, because of what their competition did… The Oilers had to find a way to make a bigger splash than they did.

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LOSER

Former NHLer Jordan Schmaltz @J_Swish24

Edmonton Oilers. They didn’t address any of their needs. The backend is very much still a question mark in many ways. Goaltending remains the forefront. No added scoring pieces for the top 6.. McJesus going to have to average 3 points per game when it matters.

LOSER

Gary Pearson, Sportsbook Review Stanley Cup odds movement after trade deadline
Panthers +800 to +650
Stars from +900 to +700
Oilers from +650 to +800
Hurricanes from +800 to +1200
Avalanche +1200 to +1000
Jets from +1100 to +1500
Maple Leafs from +1200 to +1300
Devils from +1300 to +3300

The recent unraveling of Bowman’s Stanley Cup odds favorites forced Bowman’s hand, ensuring he would pull the trigger on a few moves before the deadline. The Oilers’ Jeff Skinner experiment has failed miserably. And fellow pre-season arrival Viktor Arvidsson hasn’t been much better. So, while bringing in Max Jones and Trent Frederic from the Boston Bruins won’t strike fear into any would-be playoff opponents, at least the latter will inject some snarl, physicality, and a willingness to muck it up in the corners… The Oilers made an even more critical move when they acquired Jake Walman from the San Jose Sharks… Edmonton needs that type of player more desperately than a starving animal requires food… I i would have been much better had the Oilers traded for a bona fide No. 1 goaltender like John Gibson. But that was never a feasible scenario. Oilers trade deadline grade: B-;

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WINNER

Matt Larkin of the Daily Faceoff

It doesn’t always have to be sexy. The Oilers may not have secured an exciting top-six forward, and the goalie market was too dead to offer any type of meaningful upgrade, but Trent Frederic is a good get for the bottom six, a bruising center who can chip in the odd goal. Jake Walman bolsters the blueline, too. On top of bringing a colorful personality to Edmonton, he’s quite an underrated scorer. Among 192 defensemen with at least 500 minutes played at 5-on-5 this season, Walman sits 12th in the NHL in points per 60 minutes, between Shea Theodore and Dougie Hamilton – and Walman has done so playing on the NHL’s worst team.

My take

1. These same day assessments don’t mean much. For example, last July NHL commentators gave interim GM Jeff Jackson plenty of praise for his work, but that was done with the assumption that along with retaining players like Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown and bringing in Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson, the Oilers would also retain Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. If pundits knew that cap space would be so tight the Oilers would have to say good-bye six weeks later to Holloway and Broberg, the vibe on July 2 would have been much different.

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2. Last season at the trade deadline when the Oilers acquired Adam Henrique, Troy Stecher and Sam Carrick there was no dominant consensus on how the Oilers had done, with one commentator saying they were in the murky middle. As it turned out, Henrique became a key player in Edmonton’s near successful challenge for the Stanley Cup.

3. This year? I had low expectations, as I didn’t know whether or not the Oilers would be able to access the cap money set aside for Evander Kane. It turned out that Kane can’t come back during the regular season, which opened up cap space this week to bring in Jake Walman, who is widely seen as a bonafide Top 4 d-man in the NHL.

I thought it was sharp business to pick up Trent Frederic and Max Jones, given the team’s need for more size and toughness at forward, but the addition of Walman was a near home run.

4. Would I have liked to have seen a goalie acquired? Definitely. I have reservations about whether the Oilers can win a Cup with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard. I had hoped to see a goalie come in who could take Pickard’s job and challenge Skinner. But not to be.

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At the same time, no NHL team can have it all, and the Oilers have plenty with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

5. The fact is that the Oilers goalies play well when the team plays solid and structured defensive hockey in front of them, especially when it comes to limiting rush chances, which too often turn into goal rushes against the Oilers. Edmonton showed it can shut down that kind of attacking play last season, but they were the worst NHL team at it in February, as Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch has made clear.

The team has got to find a way to make better decisions, with d-men not taking rash chances and forwards backchecking far more diligently. For example, the Oilers beat Montreal 3-2, but allowed Montreal into that game with lazy, unfocused checking on the Habs’ second goal, veterans like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse all too passive on the play, allowing a wicked slot shot off the rush.

If Edmonton can get back to where the team was last season against rush chances it has a good chance to win the Cup. It will be that commitment and focus that will be the real difference maker for the team as much as any deadline day addition to the team.

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6. If Kane does come back and is good to go for the playoffs, that will obviously be huge for the team. He’s a rare beast in the NHL, a power forward with high skill. He’s one of the few real intimidators in the league. He could provide a massive boost to the team’s hopes, which is why I’m glad the Oilers didn’t trade him away.

At the Cult of Hockey

STAPLES: ‘Huge fail’: Hockey world reacts to Edmonton Oilers standing pat on deadline day

LEAVINS: Oilers deal their trading cards earlier in the week, but choose to fold at the deadline

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