NHL Insights: Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, and Calgary Flames

Welcome to another edition of NHL Insights. The Regular Season is underway and there are so many surprising and disappointing teams to begin the year. We see teams come out of nowhere to be in a playoff position. While there is turmoil on and off the ice in some Canadian markets. We will dive more as we look at the Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, and Calgary Flames.

Every season, we see teams come out of the gate flying that we did not expect. On the flip side, we see teams start slow that we had championship aspirations or at least playoff aspirations. While there have been more surprises than disappointments, there is, however, there is a lot of trouble North of the Border. Again there is also some positive North of the Border, but the negative is drowning out those positive ways, specifically in markets like Edmonton and Ottawa, where there was so much hope. Meanwhile, in Calgary, there does not seem to be hope on the horizon.  In this edition of NHL Insights, we look at the Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, and Calgary Flames.

It’s time to dive into some NHL Insights for this week.

NHL Insights: Oilers, Senators, Flames

Edmonton Oilers

It has been a wild time north of the border, especially if you are a fan of the Edmonton Oilers. The season has not started out as planned. However, the Oilers are starting to turn it around a little bit. As Lou Brown of Major League Movie said, “We won a game today. If we won tomorrow, that’s two in a row. We won tomorrow it is called a winning streak. It has happened before.” And that happened as the Oilers are on a three-game winning streak.

But along the way, they have changed their coach. Out is Jay Woodcroft, after their win against Seattle, and in is Kris Knoblauch. The Oilers have won two games with Knoblauch at the helm. However, both of those wins have been in come-from-behind fashion. They still have issues defensively. However, Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Evander Kane, and Zach Hyman are starting to get going. They still need more from their depth players.

It is a weird dynamic because clearly, Ken Holland, the general manager, is not running the show. It is Jeff Jackson‘s team now. Expect Holland to be done at the end of this season. It is also weird to have Paul Coffey on the bench, who is an advisor to the owner. Whatever the case is, the Oilers still need to climb out of the hole they dug.

Ottawa Senators

There has been some turmoil surrounding the Ottawa Senators, from Shane Pinto not being signed to then being suspended for gambling. Of course, the off-the-ice issues continued with the loss of a first-round draft pick because of the Evgenii Dadonov trade, where they did not register his no-trade clause with Vegas. That caused an issue when Vegas tried to trade him to Anaheim. Then Michael Andlauer ripped the league for not knowing about things. Of course, the team fired GM Pierre Dorion, with Steve Staios taking over on an interim basis.

Then, on the ice, the team was not performing. Goaltending was an issue. They were not getting the depth scoring. The hard work the Senators put in at the beginning of the season was all for naught. Again, Ottawa found themselves behind the eight ball a little bit. However, the Senators started to turn things around before heading over to Sweden.

Ottawa has won three of its four last games, including their first in Sweden. Tim Stützle continues to be electric for the Senators. He had one of the best goals of the season, scoring the game-winning overtime goal against Detroit. The rest of the young players like Brady Tkachuk, Jake Sanderson, and Thomas Chabot have stepped up with veterans in the lineup like Claude Giroux and Jakob Chychrun. Not to mention a guy like Mathieu Joseph has really picked up his game amidst all the trade talks. Having Pinto out gives Ottawa time to see what they have and who could be moved when he does come back.

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Calgary Flames

How about the Calgary Flames? Another mess in the province of Alberta. This team is underperforming though have won two games in a row now. However, they have looked better after the loss outdoors to Edmonton, and ever since the news broke, players like Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Noah Hanifin, and Chris Tanev did not want to stay. Now again, things can change, but right now, that is the case.

We know Zadorov wants out. He made that clear through his agent. Teams could use his services like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, and New Jersey Devils. He is a big physical presence that teams need down the road. Chris Tanev brings the same qualities as Zadorov. Vancouver is a front-runner for Tanev. There is history there and he could be the missing link the team needs. As for Hanifin, he recently turned down an extension that was around the Devon Toews deal in Colorado. Teams will be after this offensively gifted player who plays well in his own hand. The question is he overplaying the market, similar to John Klingberg.

Then there is Jonathan Huberdeau. His play has been off seemingly since he got to Calgary. It takes time to adjust, but Darryl Sutter is not there anymore. Again maybe he is not the player we all thought he was. But he had a nice game on Thursday versus Vancouver. Let’s see if he can build on that.

New York Islanders

The New York Islanders are in a tough spot. They have lost seven games in a row. The Islanders have blown multiple third-period leads, and things are not getting better. Like Ken Holland in Edmonton, Lou Lamoriello is in the final year of his deal. There is a belief it is his final year with the Islanders. But again, nobody really knows what Lamoriello is doing except Lamoriello himself.

However, the product on the ice is not good. The Islanders continue to have problems scoring. Their leading scorer is defenseman Noah Dobson, with 14 points. Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat are not producing at the rate many expect. Playing defense is all well and good, but the team needs to score. Averaging three goals a game and giving up three goals a game is not a recipe for success. Something has to change there.

Is it the coach? Is it the general manager? Or is it both? Frankly, the system needs to be changed. Yes, you need to play defense, but can’t always play reactionary hockey. There has to be some aggressiveness to it. We see it around the league. That will allow the offensively gifted players to sign. It was one of the reasons Barry Trotz left, amongst other things.

That does for this edition of NHL Insights. Stay tuned for another edition in the coming weeks.