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Mike Smith Out 1-2 Weeks With Injured Thumb Tendon

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The Edmonton Oilers will be without their preferred starter for another little while, as head coach Dave Tippett announced today that Mike Smith will be out one to two weeks with a partially torn thumb tendon. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic reports that the plan is to recall Stuart Skinner, but the team is awaiting COVID testing results.

Smith returned from injury in late December and has played three games, his last coming on January 5. That only took his total on the year to six, however, as he has continued to miss time throughout the year due to various setbacks. That has left Mikko Koskinen as the regular starter, but he has struggled to carry the load and currently has a .900 save percentage. Koskinen and Tippett minced words through the media earlier this month, frustrations that will have to be quashed for the time being while Smith is out.

The question now will become whether Skinner, a 23-year-old netminder with just one game of NHL experience prior to this season, could run with the job. In ten appearances this year he has a .916 save percentage, though five of those games have ended in a loss. He’s been excellent in his rare appearances for the Bakersfield Condors too, and perhaps is ready for a jump to the next level.

Edmonton though has high hopes for this season, despite their recent struggles. Evander Kane has been linked strongly to the team as a potential free agent signing, while general manager Ken Holland recently said that he believes the answer is going to come from internal growth. The team is set to resume their season on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, playing for the first time in ten days. They are currently on a five-game losing streak and now sit sixth in the Pacific Division.

Smith meanwhile is signed through next season, despite turning 40 in March and now missing almost the entire first half of this year. The veteran netminder carries a cap hit of $2.2MM on a new two-year deal he signed last July, and will actually earn a larger salary ($2.5MM) in 2022-23 than he is owed this season.

Kyle Turris Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Edmonton Oilers have placed Kyle Turris in the COVID protocol, likely taking him out of consideration for their game this weekend against the Ottawa Senators. If Turris tested positive he’ll be kept out a minimum of five days.

While Oilers fans aren’t wishing him any ill health, they also likely won’t be that disappointed by the announcement that Turris is coming out of the lineup. The 32-year-old forward has just four points in 21 games this season and just nine since he arrived in Edmonton in 2020.

Once a dynamic offensive player, Turris is far from that at this point in his career and averages fewer than nine minutes of ice time when he does get into the lineup. His absence now is only painful because of the number of other missing players they have. Warren Foegele, Tyler Benson, Brendan Perlini, Kailer Yamamoto, Josh Archibald, Dylan Holloway, Slater Koekkoek, Evan Bouchard, and Ilya Konovalov are also all in the protocol, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is injured.

Devils, Oilers Face More COVID Issues, Postponements

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Jan 12: After the Devils placed Akira Schmid in the protocol yesterday, Mackenzie Blackwood has now joined him. The team is supposed to play the New York Islanders tomorrow and only have one healthy goaltender in the organization. Nico Daws is dealing with an injury at the AHL level, meaning Jon Gillies may end up with an EBUG partner for tomorrow night.

Jan 9: The New Jersey Devils have placed two more in the COVID protocol, adding Janne Kuokkanen and Damon Severson to a growing list of unavailable players. The pair join Jesper Bratt, Nathan Bastian, Andreas Johnsson, Pavel Zacha, Yegor Sharangovich, Mason Geertsen, and the injured Dougie Hamilton in the protocol, putting tomorrow night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in jeopardy. That game has now been officially postponed with a new date yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, in Edmonton, the Oilers have canceled today’s practice for precautionary reasons and Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that tomorrow’s game against the Ottawa Senators has been rescheduled to next weekend. The Senators were supposed to be in Winnipeg then, but with that game already postponed for attendance reasons, they’re free to return to Edmonton at that point. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet confirms that the game will be played on January 15.

The Oilers already have Brendan Perlini, Kailer Yamamoto, Connor McDavid, Derek Ryan, Josh Archibald, Slater Koekkoek, Evan Bouchard, Tyson Barrie, and Ilya Konovalov in the protocol, meaning more positive cases would leave them with an extremely depleted roster. Warren Foegele and Tyler Benson are the new players entering the protocol. After tomorrow, their next scheduled game wasn’t until the 20th, so fitting in a match against the Senators would seem to be no problem. That kind of rescheduling is likely to happen more often as the NHL tries to avoid falling too far behind, though with over 100 games already postponed that ship may have already sailed.

Alex Stalock To Report For Physical

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  • Alex Stalock, who has missed the entire season so far with a heart condition, is attempting a comeback according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. He will report to the Bakersfield Condors where he’ll take a physical, but he would need to clear waivers in order to be officially assigned to the minor league club (though a conditioning stint may be possible in this case). The Edmonton Oilers netminder was claimed off waivers last March but still hasn’t actually played for the club. In his career, he has a .909 save percentage in 151 appearances.

Oilers’ Holland Discusses Kane, Coaching, Deadline Plans

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Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland took the podium today to field questions from reporters, as scrutiny and frustration grow in the market. Holland was visibly frustrated himself, noting multiple times how the team was among the best in the league at the start of December, something that he believes can happen again this season.

On the future of head coach Dave Tippett, Holland once again indicated that he doesn’t think a change is needed and suggested he doesn’t even really believe in-season firings are an option. Tippett is in the final season of his three-year contract from 2019 and so far doesn’t have a single playoff win during his tenure. The Oilers did win a qualification round game against the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2020 bubble, but failed to even move on past that round. “You can’t just keep whipping through coaches,” Holland explained, noting how many coaches have been through the Oilers organization over the last decade.

Many of the questions had to do with reports that Evander Kane is a possibility for the Oilers though, and Holland was asked specifically about the free agent forward.

Well I’ve talked to his agent. His agent is Dan Milstein, I know Dan very well because he was Pavel Datsyuk’s agent. I had lots of dealings with Dan Milstein. 

I say to you as the manager it’s my responsibility to investigate every situation, talk to managers. So I have talked to Dan. 

Holland was also clear that he does “believe in second chances” for players who have not found success elsewhere or made a mistake in the league. He obviously can’t speak directly about his Kane negotiations, but it does appear as though the Oilers are interested in the forward.

Kane does represent a unique opportunity because of his free agent status, especially for a manager like Holland who doesn’t want to offer up picks and prospects for a rental. In fact, he explained that he believes the answer is in his dressing room and will not sacrifice futures for a rental at this point. If there is a “hockey trade” to be made, it might make sense, but Holland was clear about how the Oilers need to keep building depth through the draft.

Right now none of those are on the table. 

I wouldn’t do that. I think the answer is in that locker room. Why would I trade a first-round pick or one of our top prospects to have somebody give us a little bit of a boost, and then next year we have a press conference where you’re asking about secondary scoring? The depth has to be built internally. The depth of this organization has to be the growth. 

The Oilers are off until Saturday when they will take on the Ottawa Senators in the 35th game of the season. They currently sit at 18-14-2, have lost five straight, and are now sixth in the Pacific Division, one point behind the San Jose Sharks.

Oilers Place Five Players In COVID Protocol

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Edmonton will be without several players for their next game on Monday against Ottawa as the team announced that wingers Kailer Yamamoto and Brendan Perlini, defensemen Evan Bouchard and Slater Koekkoek, as well as taxi squad goaltender Ilya Konovalov have all entered COVID protocol.  In addition, six members of their support staff have also been placed into protocol.

Yamamoto and Bouchard are the most notable among the new absences.  Yamamoto has been starting to produce more in recent games, collecting six points in his last six games and has been a fixture in Edmonton’s top six for most of the season.  As for Bouchard, his first full NHL season has been a good one as he has notched 19 points in 34 games to lead all Edmonton blueliners in scoring, just ahead of veterans Tyson Barrie and Darnell Nurse.

Assuming the placements are for confirmed positive tests, each player will miss at least the next five days.  They join centers Connor McDavid and Derek Ryan, as well as Barrie, as those that are currently unavailable to COVID protocol.

They won’t be getting any help on the injury front either as Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is at least a week away from resuming on-ice activities due to his lower-body injury. He was placed on IR earlier this week with no definitive timetable for a return.  Meanwhile, Nugent-Bowman adds that defenseman Kris Russell is still another week away from returning from his upper-body injury.  The veteran has missed nearly a month so far.

Oilers Notes: Yamamoto, Holloway, McDavid

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The Edmonton Oilers have announced that Kailer Yamamoto was pulled from practice this morning because of a positive result on a rapid COVID-19 test. He is currently in the protocol, but will await further results to confirm his status. Should he test negative moving forward, he would not need to face the mandatory five-day isolation period.

Yamamoto, 23, has been relatively underwhelming this season even if he is one of the team’s most reliable forwards. With just seven goals and 12 points in 34 games, the young forward isn’t producing anywhere near the 2019-20 rate that made him so exciting to watch. With a contract negotiation and potential arbitration right around the corner, a strong second half would certainly go a long way for his financial future.

  • Speaking of exciting young Edmonton forwards, it’s been a challenging year for prospect Dylan Holloway. After fracturing his wrist while playing for the University of Wisconsin, he underwent surgery in March 2021. Several months later and he was under the knife a second time after consulting with specialists, meaning he’s been away from the game for quite some time. Today, Holloway joined the team at practice and was a “full participant.” Selected 14th overall in 2020, Holloway blew up at Wisconsin last season, scoring 35 points in 23 games while also taking home the silver medal with Canada at the World Juniors. Now 20, he’s in the first year of his entry-level contract and could be activated whenever healthy enough to contribute.
  • Head coach Dave Tippett confirmed that Connor McDavid, Tyson Barrie, and Derek Ryan are eligible to exit the COVID protocol on Sunday, should they be able to provide negative test results. That would make them available to the team for Monday’s game against the Ottawa Senators, though nothing is certain at this point.

NHL Postpones Three Games Due To Capacity Restrictions

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The NHL announced Wednesday that they’ve postponed three games due to current capacity restrictions in Canada. The following games were postponed:

New Jersey Devils vs. Montreal Canadiens (originally scheduled for January 15)
New Jersey Devils vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (originally scheduled for January 17)
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers (originally scheduled for January 18)

The postponements leave a sizable gap in the schedule in terms of home games for all three Canadian teams affected. Montreal’s next home game is now scheduled for January 27 against Anaheim. They have seven road games scheduled prior to that point.

Toronto is actually playing host to the Oilers tonight, but it’ll be their last time hosting for a few weeks now. Their next home game is also against Anaheim on January 26, the day prior to Montreal’s game. Edmonton has a home game scheduled for January 10 against the Ottawa Senators, seemingly left unaffected as it’s two Canadian teams facing off against each other.

Connor McDavid, Two Other Oilers Enter COVID Protocol

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Though there was some hope that Connor McDavid’s positive COVID-19 test would not be confirmed today, Edmonton Oilers head coach Dave Tippett announced that the superstar center has now entered the protocol and will be unavailable for the team tonight when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even worse, Tippett announced that Derek Ryan and Tyson Barrie have also entered the protocol. Zack Kassian has been activated, while. Ilya Konovalov has been moved to the taxi squad.

Losing McDavid at any point of the season is bad news, but especially so for the reeling Oilers right now. The team has lost four in a row, eight of their last ten, and are in danger of slipping even further down the Pacific Division standings. At 18-13-2 on the year, they are in fourth place but just a few points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and surging Vancouver Canucks.

With losing often comes controversy, and the question of a coaching change has been brought up by the media in recent days. That was the focus on social media again this morning after Mikko Koskinen’s response to being criticized by Tippett. The coach was asked directly about the situation between him and his goaltender, explaining to reporters including Ryan Rishaug of TSN that his comments were taken out of context. Mike Smith will start in goal tonight for the undermanned Oilers.

Not only is McDavid missing though, but also Ryan and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, meaning the team will be very short on capable centers this evening. Leon Draisaitl will be asked to carry an even heavier load, while Ryan McLeod likely becomes the team’s default second-line option. Nugent-Hopkins was moved to injured reserve today.

Luckily, the team only has tonight and one more game currently scheduled before January 18, meaning McDavid and the others shouldn’t miss much actual action.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

No Plans For A Coaching Change In Edmonton

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The Oilers have struggled considerably over the last several weeks, having lost 10 of their last 12 games which has led to some speculation as to whether or not head coach Dave Tippett is on the hot seat.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment (video link), TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that there are no plans for a coaching change in Edmonton unless things get considerably worse.  Speculatively, that would mean a continuation of their current struggles to the point where they fall well outside the playoff picture.  For the time being, they currently hold the final Wild Card spot in the West.

Dreger adds that the Oilers are looking to add a goaltender in the midst of Mike Smith’s injuries and Mikko Koskinen’s struggles as well as an upgrade at the third line center position.  However, they’re in a situation where they need to match money to make a deal happen which will complicate things.

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