Oilers Notes: Yamamoto, Holloway, McDavid
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.
Connor McDavid, Two Other Oilers Enter COVID Protocol
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
Connor McDavid Avoids Suspension
According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, the Department of Player Safety is not expected to issue any supplementary discipline to Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid for his hit on Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe last night. McDavid was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the play.
McDavid, who is not exactly known for his physical play, has actually received supplementary discipline in the past. In 2019 he was suspended two games for his elbow on Nick Leddy and last season he was fined for a similar hit on Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
This time he won’t miss any games, which is an important outcome for the Oilers after the team has dropped two straight. They were beaten 5-1 by the Kings last night and lost 4-3 to the last place Seattle Kraken last Friday. While they’re still firmly in a playoff position, the team couldn’t afford to lose McDavid for any length of time.
Snapshots: Wilson, Three Stars, Cash
Last year, Colin Wilson opened up in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, explaining that he had been dealing with untreated obsessive-compulsive disorder throughout his career. He was trying to educate young players on the importance of mental health and the risks that a professional career brought him.
Today, Wilson released an addendum titled “Addiction” in which he fully admits his addiction to drugs, use of Ambien and cocaine, and hopes to spread increased awareness following the recent fentanyl-contributed death of former NHL forward Jimmy Hayes. Wilson’s new piece is a worthwhile–if difficult–read for all sports fans.
- The league has announced the Three Stars for last week, with Kyle Connor taking home top spot after racking up five goals and eight points in three games. The point total was the same for Connor McDavid, who was the week’s second star, while Ilya Sorokin posted an outstanding .971 save percentage with two shutouts to earn third place. Sorokin was the first Islanders’ goaltender to post shutouts in consecutive days as he held the fort while Semyon Varlamov recovered from injury.
- One of the greatest sled hockey players of all time has announced his retirement, as Steve Cash will end his playing days after 16 seasons in goal for the U.S. National Team. Cash has three Paralympic Winter Games gold medals (and a bronze), eight World Championship gold medals, and lost just 16 games in regulation during his more than 150 starts for Team USA.
Team Canada Announces First Three Members Of 2022 Olympic Team
The first three members of the 2022 Canadian Olympic team have been announced, as general manager Doug Armstrong revealed to Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com that Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Alex Pietrangelo have made the team. Each participating country was required to declare three players, while the full “long-list” of 55 potential names will be submitted by October 15.
Crosby is an easy choice and likely the team’s captain, after finding so much success at the head of Team Canada in the past. The 34-year-old center has won World Junior, World Championship, World Cup, and Olympic Gold (x2) throughout his dazzling career, including scoring one of the most well-known goals in Canadian hockey history at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. A three-time Stanley Cup champion, two-time Conn Smythe winner, two-time Hart Trophy winner, there was never any thought of leaving Crosby off of the team.
If Crosby is the legend, McDavid is the focus though, entering his first Olympics as the best player in the world. The 24-year-old has won gold at the World Juniors and World Championship but hasn’t been able to suit up for Team Canada at the Olympic level to this point due to the NHL not going in 2018. The reigning Hart winner, McDavid had 105 points in just 56 games last season and has already won the Art Ross Trophy three times in a six-year NHL career. There’s no doubt he will be the forward that the rest of the roster is built around, and it makes sense he would be announced at this early stage.
Pietrangelo may be the most surprising of the three, but that doesn’t mean he’s much of a surprise. The 31-year-old has his own long history of success with Team Canada, taking home World Junior, Olympic, and World Cup gold medals. He has a long history with Armstrong from their days in St. Louis and there was little doubt he would be one of the defensemen to suit up in February. Pietrangelo finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting in 2020 and has received votes for the award in seven different seasons.
The list of potential names that will be submitted later this month will include many that won’t end up going to Beijing, making the first part of this NHL season something of a tryout. Only these three have their spots guaranteed, but that wasn’t something that really was in question even before this announcement.
NHL Announces All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team
On the heels of the NHL Awards, the league has revealed the rosters of it’s all-league teams. As voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, the selections are as follows:
First All-Star Team (link)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy
D Adam Fox
D Cale Makar
LW Brad Marchand
C Connor McDavid
RW Mitch Marner
Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross winner McDavid anchors the First Team All-Stars for the fourth time in his career, flanked by Hart candidate Marchand and with Vezina finalist Vasilevskiy in net. However, the story of the top All-Star squad is young defensemen Fox, the Norris winner, and Makar, a Norris finalist, manning the first team blue line in just their second NHL seasons. Marner is another first-time selection with a career year in his fifth season.
Second All-Star Team (link)
G Marc-Andre Fleury
D Victor Hedman
D Dougie Hamilton
LW Jonathan Huberdeau
C Auston Matthews
RW Mikko Rantanen
Vezina winner Fleury highlights an impressive second-team squad that also included Norris finalist Hedman and Hart finalist Matthews. This is Hedman’s fifth appearance on the Second Team All-Star roster, but all the others are first-time selections. Under-rated starts Huberdeau and Rantanen receiving much-deserved recogntion from the PHWA.
All-Rookie Team (link)
G Alex Nedeljkovic
D K’Andre Miller
D Ty Smith
LW Jason Robertson
C Joshua Norris
RW Kirill Kaprizov
With Calder winner Kaprizov leading the way, the All-Rookie teams boasts a mix of seasoned young players in their first full NHL seasons, such as Kaprizov himself and Nedeljkovic, sophomores Robertson and Norris, and true “rookies” in first-year pros Miller and Smith on the back end.
For those thinking that their favorite star was snubbed from all-league recognition this season, the voting results were actually very definitive. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon was a distant third at center, as was the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin at left wing and Vegas’ Mark Stone at right wing. Colorado’s Philipp Grubauer was way back of the top two in net as well. On defense, Hamilton was actually well behind Fox, Makar, and Hedman, but far enough ahead of Vegas’ Shea Theodore and Boston’s Charlie McAvoy.
Connor McDavid Named Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award Winner
Everyone agrees, Connor McDavid is the best. The Edmonton Oilers superstar has won the 2020-21 Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player, as well as the Ted Lindsay Award as the game’s best player as voted on by the players. This is McDavid’s second Hart and third Lindsay to go with his third Art Ross Trophy earned this season as the league’s top scorer.
Really though, everyone agrees. McDavid was a unanimous selection for the Hart Trophy, receiving all 100 first-place votes from the Professional Hockey Writers Association. He joins Wayne Gretzky as the only players to have ever won the award unanimously. McDavid made it hard for the writers, or his peers in the league, to vote otherwise with an unfathomable 105 points in just 56 games. It is no question that he was the most valuable player in the league, contributing to 57% of Edmonton’s top-ten goal total, but it also very hard to argue that anyone was more objectively “outstanding”, as the players voted.
The leading second-place vote-getter for the Hart was Toronto’s Auston Matthews, followed by Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, and Boston’s Brad Marchand. As for Ted Lindsay polling, the results were not revealed to the public, but McDavid topped finalists Crosby and Matthews for the honor.
McDavid received both awards virtually from teammate Leon Draisaitl, who won both himself last season.
2021 Hart Trophy Finalists Announced
It’s time for the big one. The NHL has announced the finalists for the Hart Trophy, given annually to the “player judged most valuable to his team.” Last year’s winner, Leon Draisaitl, also took home the Ted Lindsay and the Art Ross in an impressive trifecta.
This year’s finalists are Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
McDavid could complete the same trifecta his teammate did a year ago, after completing one of the most impressive regular seasons in recent history. The Oilers captain scored 105 points in 56 games, a scoring rate that put him in rare company. Since 1980-81, 40 years ago, only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Bernie Nicholls, and Adam Oates have finished with a higher point/game rate over a full season. Each of the last three names on that list only did it once, and each were just barely ahead of the best offensive player in today’s game. There was absolutely no doubt that McDavid would be a finalist for the third time in his career. He previously took home the Hart in 2016-17, his sophomore year.
Matthews is a first-time finalist after winning the Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s top goal scorer. Amazingly, he had an eight-goal lead over second-place McDavid despite playing in four fewer games. Matthews was a scoring marvel this season, totaling 41 in 52 games for the Maple Leafs continuing to develop his strong defensive game. He was actually tied for fifth in points, but still 39 behind McDavid’s 105.
MacKinnon, the oldest of the three at age-25, is a Hart finalist for the third time in his career. Always a bridesmaid though, the Avalanche star has finished second in his first two runs at the award. Unfortunately–for MacKinnon and hockey fans–he played in just 48 games this season so his point total of 65 put him in the eighth spot league-wide. On a per-game basis though he trailed only McDavid, Draisaitl, and New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin. Even if MacKinnon becomes a runner-up again, it would be hard to find someone who disagreed with his placement as one of the very best players in the entire world.
2021 Ted Lindsay Award Finalists Announced
This week, the NHL has started to release the finalists for all the major regular season awards. After the Vezina Trophy came out yesterday, the Ted Lindsay Award, given to “the most outstanding player in the NHL” as voted on by members of the NHLPA is up.
The three finalists this year are Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.
Crosby, 33, is the veteran of the group and has been here several times before. The legendary Penguins center has taken home the Lindsay (which used to be called the Pearson) three times and could match Mario Lemieux for second behind Wayne Gretzky‘s five should he win another this year. He hasn’t taken home the award since leading the league in scoring in 2013-14, but there’s little doubt of his impact on Pittsburgh’s season. Crosby scored 24 goals and 62 points in 55 games, finishing tenth in league scoring. The Penguins were carried by their captain all year as they dealt with injuries to everyone from Brandon Tanev to Evgeni Malkin.
Matthews, 23, is the youngest of the group and is a finalist for the first time after his outstanding season with the Maple Leafs. He would become just the second American-born player to win the award, joining Patrick Kane in the 2016 season. Though he missed four games due to injury, Matthews still won the Rocket Richard trophy for the league’s top goal scorer, leading the field by eight tallies. His 41 in 52 is a pace that would have him score 65 in a full 82-game schedule, a number that has only been reached by 12 players in the history of the NHL and none since Alex Ovechkin did it in 2007-08. It wasn’t only goals though, as Matthews finished tied for fifth in league scoring with 66 points.
Still, it’s going to be difficult for either of the first two finalists to topple McDavid, who recorded 105 points in a 56-game season. He was 21 points ahead of the second-place scorer, who happened to be his teammate and reigning Ted Lindsay winner Leon Draisaitl. McDavid was 36 points ahead of the next non-Oilers player, an absolutely incredible stat in any season, let alone a shortened one. McDavid’s point pace would have given him 154 in a full 82-game season, something that has only ever been done by Gretzky, Lemieux, and Steve Yzerman. The scoring he accomplished this season was truly historic, and it seems likely to give him his third Lindsay already in a young career. Should he win it, he’ll tie Crosby, Ovechkin, Jaromir Jagr, and Guy Lafleur with three wins.
Connor McDavid Fined For Elbowing
The Department of Player Safety has determined that Connor McDavid‘s elbow on Jesperi Kotkaniemi from yesterday’s action is not worthy of a suspension, but have issued a $5,000 fine. That is the maximum allowable fine under the CBA and it will keep McDavid on the ice for the Edmonton Oilers moving forward.
The incident occurred in the first period of last night’s game after the Montreal Canadiens were already up 3-0. After Kotkaniemi had passed the puck, McDavid still tried to lay a hit and extended his elbow up into the Montreal forward’s face. McDavid earned a two-minute minor for roughing and will now have to pay a fine as well.
Though he will escape suspension, the fine will go onto McDavid’s record and be taken into account for future supplementary discipline decisions. Kotkaneimi did not suffer an injury on the play.