Time of the essence as pressure mounts for Oilers, youthful depth
SAN JOSE — “Trade the picks!” they demand. “Move the kids!”
We all know that Connor McDavid is in his prime, and so is Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers need to win a Stanley Cup — “Stat!” they yell — and we are officially in that place where no ransom should be considered too rich for GM Ken Holland to requite up in search of the right player to help put this thing over the top.
But, wait a sec.
The Oilers, through 43 games, are barely plane a playoff team. We’re not plane sure that a new defenceman and/or a depth forward can transform them into a true contender, and perhaps the primary reason for that uncertainty is that all those young players, frankly, haven’t been very good this season.
The top end of the forwards roster has produced, with four 20-goal scorers to date. It’s the depth guys — the sub-25-year-old players — who have failed to provide the support scoring expected of them.
The exceptions? Goalie Stuart Skinner, 24, has been Edmonton’s Rookie of the Year, while 23-year-old Klim Kostin has come on of late, with five goals in seven games.
But without that?
• Ryan McLeod, 23, had nine goals and 21 points last year? He’s on pace for slightly less in both categories this season.
• Kailer Yamamoto, 24, had 20 goals and 41 points last year? He has 4-8-12 this season.
• Jesse Puljujarvi, 24, had 14 goals last season? He has three this year.
• Evan Bouchard, 23, had 12 goals and 43 points last year, with a plus-10? He’s on pace for six goals and 35 points, and is minus-9.
We all know that young players don’t escalade in a straight line. They’ll take a step back, then hopefully two forward, on a timeline that can be coaxed, but can not be rushed.
But here’s the problem: The Oilers are in a hurry.
There is pressure where there shouldn’t be, and Zach Hyman will tell you that is simply the nature of the beast. It wasn’t like this for him, when he walked out of the University of Michigan and joined the Maple Leafs orgnaization, first with the Toronto Marlies to uncork the 2015-16 season, then as a full-time NHLer later that year.
“It was myself. Auston (Matthews). Willy (Nylander). Connor Brown, Kasperi Kapanen. Mitch Marner. Just a tuft of young guys, and we got to kind of grow up together,” Hyman reminisced on Thursday inside SAP Arena in San Jose. “And in our first year we didn’t have as many expectations. We didn’t have guys like Connor and Leon who are now in their prime, right?
“Whereas our guys are coming into a team that made it to the Western Conference Finals and that has upper aspirations and expectations. So it’s a little bit variegated scenario.”
Puljujarvi spent the first half of the season on McDavid’s wing in a failed experiment that has evolved into Dylan Holloway and Yamamoto flanking the tutorage this week in California.
And that’s a variegated kind of pressure.
“I mean, if you’re not getting him the puck then he might get a little chapped,” joked Yamamoto, who knocked the much worthier Cam Fowler off a puck to set up McDavid’s highlight reel goal on Wednesday at The Pond. “Naw, he’s really good well-nigh it. But you get them the puck and you have a 50% endangerment of getting an squire or a goal. So that’s why you get him the puck.”
") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-164284" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6318536594112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/6318536594112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/gotta-see-it-mcdavid-roofs-beautiful-spinning-backhand-top-shelf-vs-ducks/" }); });
Every good team has to have younger players on value contracts — that’s simply a salary cap reality. And in many ways, the performance of those young guys can have as big a say in whether a team wins or not, as the way the stars perform.
This is hockey, right? Not basketball. It takes 20 players to win, and on every team, six or seven of those are younger players.
“I think there’s definitely increasingly pressure. But that’s what you want,” said McLeod, whose game appears to be coming around. “You want to be on a good team who are making the playoffs. You’re playing meaningful hockey, and you learn from overdue Connor and Leon, so it’s obviously a pretty big treat to be worldly-wise to do that every night.
“There are pros and cons, but I’m enjoying my time.”
Off the ice, a kid like Broberg is hearing the trade rumours. Puljujarvi is as good as gone, his $3-million in cap space needed to facilitate any acquisition. Holloway is rumoured to be demanded by Arizona in any Jakob Chychrun deal, while whilom it all, Holland is the guy responsible for pulling the trigger.
“There’s pressure for sure. There’s pressure on everybody,” said Hyman. “But as a young guy, you’re trying to whittle out a role for yourself, right? And when you’re on a team that has upper aspirations, maybe you don’t have as long a troika as you do if you’re on a team that is struggling. So it’s obviously a higher pressurized environment.”
It’s the NHL, the Trade Deadline is virtually the corner and the Oilers have got to get ‘er going.
Pressure?
You bet there’s pressure.
