Snapshots: Russell, Eichel, Gilmour

Oilers defenseman Kris Russell is a divisive figure in the hockey world. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Russell has five points (all assists) in 31 games with the Oilers, mostly playing on the team’s second pairing with Andrej Sekera. He’s been part of the best Oilers blue-line since 2008, and is considered one of the reasons that the Oilers are sitting in third in the Pacific Division and on pace for a 65-goal improvement in goal differential. The Oilers are 17-7-7 with Russell in the lineup and 2-5-0 without him.

However, hockey fans, executives, and experts are torn on Russell’s impact. Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli plans on discussing an extension with Russell’s camp and is on record as being “pretty happy” with Russell. That opinion is not shared by the majority of the analytics community, including Oilers blogger Darcy McLeod. McLeod’s analytical work is respected among the blogging community and appears regularly on TSN 1260 to discuss the Oilers. He took a closer look at the impact that Russell has on teammates, specifically the claims that Russell has a positive effect on “shooting percentage of team mates and zone exits that lead to offensive zone entries.”

Chiarelli has previously mentioned those two micro-stats as evidence for why he likes Russell. McLeod explored Russell’s effect on teammates in his two seasons with Calgary and all his games with the Oilers this season. The full article is well-worth the read. Ultimately, he concludes that the positive effect that Russell had on Flames teammates did not carry over to Edmonton, and that out of the Oilers’ four centers, only Mark Letestu scores better with Russell on the ice, writing that “if Russell excels at zone exits, these exits are not resulting in more goals for the Oilers.” Even Connor McDavid scores nearly a full point less per-60 minutes while sharing the ice with Russell.

McLeod writes that he still believes Russell is a valuable number-four or five defenseman, but doesn’t believe the Oilers should sign him long-term, with Oscar Klefbom, Andrej Sekera, Darnell Nurse, and Brandon Davidson all being left-handed defenders under contract and posting better results than Russell. A one-year, $3MM contract would be acceptable to McLeod, but signing Russell and trading any of the above-mentioned defensemen would be “a downgrade in the quality of the Left Handed Dcorps of the Edmonton Oilers.”

• The second overall pick behind McDavid, Jack Eichel, expressed his disappointment with the way the Sabres’ season has gone so far. Despite the Sabres’ struggles (they’re currently last in the East), Eichel says the team hasn’t given up yet. He told John Vogl that “everyone needs to look in the mirror and we all need to get a lot better. I think I speak for the team in saying that we’re all frustrated with where we’re at, and I don’t think I’m the only person in the locker room that’s not satisfied.” It’s clear that Eichel is also stepping up as a leader in the locker room, and seems like the most-likely candidate to replace Brian Gionta as the next captain of the Sabres.
• Monday marks the 25th anniversary of one of the most infamous trades in NHL history. On January 2, 1992, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Doug Gilmour in a 10-player trade with the Calgary Flames. The Leafs sent Gary Leeman, Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk, Michel Petit, and Jeff Reese to Calgary for Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Kent Manderville, Ric Nattress, and Rick Wamsley. As with most controversial trades, it was immediately labelled as robbery by the Maple Leafs. In this case, that turned out to be quantifiably true. Sean McIndoe broke down the trade over at Sportsnet, and pointed out that if you remove Gilmour, the trade is just barely a wash for the Flames. But the trade did include Gilmour, who was recently named the 13th-best Maple Leaf of all time. He scored 452 points in 392 games during his first stint with the team, returning for just five shifts before suffering a career-ending injury in 2003.