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Darnell Nurse Suspended For One Game

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The NHL Department of Player Safety announced they’ve upheld the automatic one-game suspension against Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of regulation time, holding him out of a pivotal Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Head coach Jay Woodcroft was also fined $10,000 as a result of the incident in last night’s Game 4 win.

The automatic suspension holds Nurse, Edmonton’s leader in average time on ice among defensemen, out of Edmonton’s most important game this season to date, with their Second Round series locked in at two games apiece against Vegas.

The incident in question occurred with 50 seconds remaining in Edmonton’s 4-1 Game 4 win, with officials determining Nurse instigated a fight with Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague. With play still going on, Nurse pinched in from the hash marks to fight Hague, who was stationed in a puck battle behind the Vegas net.

It means youngster Philip Broberg, who’s averaged under seven minutes of ice time per game throughout the playoffs, will draw back into the lineup with increased responsibility. The 21-year-old has yet to record a point this postseason but does lead Oiler defenders with a +3 rating. Mattias Ekholm, who’s been paired with youngster Evan Bouchard since joining the team at the trade deadline, could elevate to the top pairing alongside Cody Ceci.

2023 Ted Lindsay Award Finalists Announced

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The NHL has announced the 2023 Ted Lindsay Award nominees. The award is given to the most outstanding player in the NHL and is voted on by the players. The Ted Lindsay Award is very similar to the Hart Trophy, with the unique feature of the award being that is that it is voted on by members of the NHLPA. Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs won the award last year and was the fourth different winner in as many years.

This year the finalists for the award are San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, and right winger David Pastrňák of the Boston Bruins.

McDavid continues to be widely regarded as the best player in the world and it is hard to argue with the numbers. The 26-year-old put up video game like numbers this year with 64 goals and 89 assists in 82 regular season games on his way to a third consecutive Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer. McDavid outpaced the entire league by 25 points this season, with the second leading scorer being teammate Leon Draisaitl. He outscored fellow Ted Lindsay nominee Pastrňák by 40 points.

Pastrňák has a career year putting up 61 goals and 52 assists in 82 games as he led the Boston Bruins to a historical President’s Trophy winning regular season. The soon to be 27-year-old put up an incredible 43 even strength goals and 76 even strength points. Pastrňák nearly lapped his own team in scoring as he outscored the second leading Bruins scorer Brad Marchand by 46 points. Maybe the most impressive feat of all for Pastrňák was that he put up this incredible season in a contract year. Somehow the winger was able to keep out the noise and put-up terrific numbers before signing an eight year $90MM contract extension on March 2nd .

Speaking of historical seasons, defenseman Erik Karlsson eclipsed the 100 points mark this season finishing the year with 25 goals and 76 assists in 82 games. The smooth skating Swede was the first defenseman to top 100 points in 31 years. Even more impressive than that was the fact that Karlsson did it playing on a bad Sharks team while also dealing with his name being in trade talks all season. Karlsson topped his career high point total by 19, and quieted a lot of his harshest critics in what was an incredible offensive display.

It’ll be interesting to see who comes away with the Ted Lindsay award come June when the ceremony will be held in Nashville. McDavid is likely the favorite to pick up the award, however I wouldn’t discount a 100-point defenseman in this era as Karlsson is just the sixth defenseman ever to accomplish the feat.

Mattias Janmark Out Indefinitely

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It has been a tough postseason so far, to say the least for Oilers winger Mattias Janmark.  He played in their playoff opener against Los Angeles but suffered a lower-body injury after blocking a shot in the opening period.  He returned to kick off their second-round series against Vegas but after hitting his head off the boards in that game, Postmedia’s Robert Tychkowski relays that Janmark hasn’t skated since then and there is no timetable for his return.

Janmark signed with Edmonton this summer as an unrestricted free agent but didn’t make the team out of training camp, instead clearing waivers in early October.  However, he was recalled after playing just four games with AHL Bakersfield and was with the Oilers to stay the rest of the way.

The 30-year-old wound up getting into 66 games with Edmonton during the regular season, notching 10 goals and 15 assists, continuing his consistent level of production.  Over the last three seasons, Janmark’s lowest point total was 24 with his highest being 25, a mark he has now exactly hit three times in his seven-season career.  Depth scoring has been a question mark for Edmonton in the playoffs but one of their better depth scorers in Janmark will be out for a little while once again.

Petr Klíma Passes Away At 58

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Petr Klíma, a former NHL player who played for five different teams during his career, has passed away suddenly at the age of 58, the NHL announced Thursday. Klíma is most well-known for ending the longest game in Stanley Cup Final history, helping guide the Edmonton Oilers to the 1990 championship by scoring a triple-overtime winner in Game 3 against the Boston Bruins.

Klíma was born on December 23, 1964, in then-Czechoslovakia. He began his professional career playing for TJ Litvínov in his home country before being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings with the 86th overall pick in 1983. In 1985, Klíma became the first player from a country under Soviet control to defect to a United States-based team, leaving his team behind during a training camp in West Germany with the assistance of Red Wings officials and the U.S. government.

Klíma played for the Red Wings for seven seasons, followed by stints with the Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

During his time in the NHL, Klíma scored a total of 313 goals and 260 assists in 786 regular-season games. He also played in 95 playoff games, scoring 28 goals and 24 assists. Klíma’s only Stanley Cup win came with the Oilers in 1990.

The Red Wings released a statement on Klíma’s passing, offering condolences to his family. All of us at PHR extend the same to Klíma’s family.

2023 Calder Trophy Finalists Announced

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This week, the NHL is revealing the finalists for its end-of-season awards.  On Wednesday, the Calder Trophy was front and center.  The league revealed that the finalists for its top rookie are Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, Sabres defenseman Owen Power, and Kraken center Matthew Beniers.  The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Skinner came into this season as the presumptive backup behind Jack Campbell, Edmonton’s big summer signing to help shore up their goaltending.  However, it didn’t take long for him to start pushing for playing time, eventually taking over as the starter.  That helped him earn an All-Star nod midseason.  Skinner led all rookie netminders in victories with 29 and games played with 50 while ranking second among qualifying rookies (who had at least 25 GP) with a 2.75 and a .914 SV%.  While his playoff performance doesn’t count in voting which is done at the end of the season, he has started all six games for the Oilers who kick off their second-round series tonight against Vegas.  He’s looking to become the first goalie to win the award since Steve Mason did so in 2008-09.

Power, the first-overall selection in 2021, got his feet wet in the NHL down the stretch last season but 2022-23 was his first full NHL campaign.  It was an impressive one for the 20-year-old as he led all freshman rearguards in scoring with 35 points in 79 games.  Power also logged nearly 24 minutes a night, ranking him second on the team behind Rasmus Dahlin and inside the top 20 league-wide among all players, not just rookies.  Buffalo’s last winner of the Calder Trophy was defenseman Tyler Myers back in 2009-10.

As for Beniers, he was the second-overall pick in 2022 and followed the same path as Power, playing late last season but seeing his first full NHL campaign in 2022-23.  The 20-year-old led all rookies in scoring with 24 goals and 33 assists in 80 games while ranking fourth among first-year forwards in ATOI at just over 17 minutes a night.  Beniers only recorded one penalty all season, making him just the fourth player in NHL history to play in at least 80 games and have two penalty minutes or fewer.  He’ll be looking to become the first player from an expansion franchise to win the Calder Trophy within his team’s first two seasons since Peter Stastny (Quebec) won back in 1980-81.

The winner of the award will be revealed at the NHL Awards ceremony on June 26th.  Meanwhile, the finalists for the Norris Trophy are up next to be announced on Thursday.

PHR Playoff Primer: Vegas Golden Knights vs Edmonton Oilers

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With the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs now underway, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? We continue our Second Round coverage with the Pacific Division matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers.

Not much separated the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers in the regular season. Both teams battled to the very end to determine the winner of the Pacific Division, with Vegas finally emerging and finishing just two points ahead of their division rival.

Though they ended up at the top of the division, it was not an easy ride for either team this season. The Golden Knights had to overcome many significant injuries, including Robin Lehner, their starting goaltender, missing the entire season, Mark Stone, an exceptional two-way winger missing the second half of the season and top defenseman Shea Theodore missing significant time in the middle of the season with injury as well.

The Oilers didn’t have the same injury troubles, though Evander Kane missed half the season after having his wrist cut by a skate blade. Their adversity was more about past issues coming back to haunt them. Those issues were goaltending problems as Jack Campbell struggled all season after signing a five-year contract with a $5MM cap hit. The defense seemed to be a bit too offensive minded as well and were not able to shut things down well enough to be a serious Stanley Cup contender.

Regular Season Performance

Vegas: 51-22-9, 111 points, +43 goal differential
Florida: 50-23-9, 109 points, +65 goal differential

Head-To-Head

November 19, 2022: Edmonton 4, Vegas 3 (OT)
January 14, 2023: Edmonton 4, Vegas 3
March 25, 2023: Vegas 4, Edmonton 3 (OT)
March 28, 2023: Edmonton 7, Vegas 4

Edmonton takes season series 3-0-1

Team Storylines

The Oilers seemed to flip a switch at the trade deadline and put all those past defensive issues in the rearview mirror. There were two main reasons for this team finally looking like a sound defensive team as well as an elite offensive team instead of a one-dimensional squad that we have seen in the past.

First, they acquired Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators at the trade deadline and he immediately became their best defensive defenseman as well as their top defender on the penalty kill. He eats up a ton of minutes and plays against the other teams best players while putting up points and ensuring the opposition stays off the scoresheet.

Secondly, the Oilers finally started to rely more on goaltender Stuart Skinner late in the season instead of Campbell. While Campbell’s contract would suggest he is their top guy, Skinner played extremely well down the stretch, starting 16 of the team’s final 21 games and posting a 2.43 GAA and a .920 SV%.

Skinner didn’t quite continue that performance in round one against the Los Angeles Kings as he posted a GAA near 3.50 as well as a .890 SV%. He is going to need to be closer to his regular season numbers if the Oilers want to advance to the Western Conference Final for the second consecutive season.

Apr 16, 2022; Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

Also, the Oilers are an offensive juggernaut, but they leaned pretty heavily on just three players in their six game round one win. Connor McDavid has ten points, as did young defenseman Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl led the team with 11 points. However, no one else on the team had more than four points in the opening round. That’s not horrible, especially since Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Kane, Klim Kostin and Ekholm all had four points, but having a forward other than Draisaitl and McDavid score a point-per-game pace would give the Oilers incredible scoring depth.

It won’t be easy to score at will against the Golden Knights who lost their opening game of the postseason but then eliminated the Winnipeg Jets with four straight victories. They may not have an elite scorer like McDavid or Draisaitl, but they have incredible scoring depth that allowed them to quickly dispose of the Jets.

Chandler Stephenson and Stone led the way with eight points each in five games while William Karlsson, Jack Eichel and Alex Pietrangelo all had five points in the series. Add in Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, Theodore and Ivan Barbashev and the Golden Knights have scorers up and down their lineup as well as on their blue line.

The Golden Knights will lean on Laurent Brossoit in goal, giving each team a starter with very little playoff experience. Brossoit was solid against his former team, the Jets, in round one posting a .915 SV% and being good enough to outduel Connor Hellebuyck in the other end.

Prediction

Both teams have some inexperience in goal, and the ability to score almost at will. The Oilers have the top end guys while the Golden Knights have plenty of scoring depth, but putting pucks in the net will not be an issue in this series.

It should be a long series, but the defensive depth on the Golden Knights blue line may be the determining factor. Having to face Theodore, Pietrangelo, Alec Martinez and Brayden McNabb will give the Oilers depth players little chance to score while limiting their top guns just enough to outlast them in a long, back and forth series. In the end, home ice advantage in that last game may prove to be the difference.

Prediction: Golden Knights win in seven games.

Mattias Janmark A Possibility For Game Six

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Edmonton Oilers Recall Trio Of Players

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Per a team release, the Edmonton Oilers have added some depth to their playoff roster. With their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Oilers are free to call up as many extras as they wish. They have chosen to recall defenseman Markus Niemelainen, defenseman Cam Dineen and forward Brad Malone to join the NHL club as depth options for the Oilers as they continue their playoff quest.

Niemelainen is a big, physical, defensive defenseman at 6-foot-6 who played 23 NHL games this season. He was a third-round pick of the Oilers in 2016 and has 43 career NHL games of experience. He played 30 AHL games with Bakersfield this season, scoring seven points while filling a shutdown defensive role for the team.

Dineen was a third-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2016 NHL Draft and was acquired by the Oilers with Nick Bjugstad at the trade deadline. More of an offensive defenseman, the 24 year old scored six goals and 47 points in 69 AHL games this season, but did not appear in any NHL contests in 2022-23. He did suit up for 34 games with the Coyotes in 2021-22, chipping in seven points but showing some defensive deficiencies as well.

Malone is a 33-year-old veteran forward who has 217 games of NHL experience. He played ten games with the Oilers this season and had 21 points in 41 AHL games with the Condors. Malone is a big winger at 6-foot-2 and 217 pounds and plays a phsyical style that could come in handy on a fourth line if a few injuries occur down the line for the Oilers.

Chances are this trio of players make up the infamous “black aces” group for the Oilers as they skate and practice with the team during the postseason but are unlikely to play any games. You never know what can happen with injuries and illness in a long playoff run so teams keep a handful of extra players around just in case, and Niemelainen, Dineed and Malone are that insurance policy for the Oilers.

Ethan De Jong Signs AHL Contract

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Another player from the National Championship-winning Quinnipiac University has found his way to a guaranteed contract, as forward Ethan De Jong has signed a 2-year deal with the Bakersfield Condors, an AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers. An undrafted free agent, De Jong’s contract in Bakersfield will begin during the 2023-24 AHL season.

Over his five-season career playing for the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, De Jong played in 184 regular season matchups, scoring 61 goals and 83 assists. In his last season in Quinnipiac, De Jong scored 19 goals and 21 assists in 41 games, finishing third on the team in total scoring.

During this year’s Frozen Four, the young forward would score one goal and two assists to help his team clinch the NCAA DI Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship. The only goal he had during the playoffs came during the team’s clutch semifinal victory against the University of Michigan Wolverines.

Although the Condors managed to make the playoffs this season, the team was bounced in the first round by the Abbotsford Canucks. DeJong should help with some of Bakersfield’s weak points this season, as he has shown a knack for goal-scoring in the final two years of his time with Quinnipiac. The Condors finished this season as one of the better defensive teams in the AHL, finishing 12th in the league in goals against. However, they did not show the same prowess on the offensive side of the puck, finishing 24th in goals scored.

Edmonton Oilers Have Recalled Goaltender Calvin Pickard

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In a curious move the Edmonton Oilers recalled veteran goaltender Calvin Pickard from the Bakersfield Condors. The move was announced this morning by the Oilers; however, the team hasn’t commented on any reason for it. Stuart Skinner took most of the starts for Edmonton during the regular season and playoffs, however he was pulled in game four after allowing three goals on 11 shots. Jack Campbell came in to replace Skinner and performed admirably as he backstopped the Oilers to a comeback win to pull even with the Los Angeles Kings at two games each.

Pickard didn’t see any game action this season with Edmonton and has only played in 36 NHL games in the past six seasons. The former second round pick was once viewed as the goaltender of the future for the Colorado Avalanche after posting a save percentage over .920 in his first two NHL seasons. However, since those initial seasons Pickard hasn’t posted a single season with a save percentage above .900 and has bounced back and forth between the AHL and the NHL.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, is said by the Oilers about Pickard’s recall. The Oilers did practice this morning, with Oilers radio analyst Bob Stauffer observing that Stuart Skinner was in the starters net and TSN has reported that Skinner will indeed start game five. The debate amongst Edmonton fans since game four has been about who to start in net for game five after Campbell stood on his head stopping 27 of 28 shots. Campbell was expected to be the starter for the Oilers coming into this season but lost the net as he struggled with a .888 save percentage in just 36 games. Skinner jumped on the opportunity to start and posted a .913 save percentage in 50 games.

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