Hot Links: Friday, December 20

Morning, folks!

It’s a GAMEDAY so you know what that means, PREVIEW, THREAD, and RECAPs on tap throughout the day.

Edmonton gets the Penguins tonight, and despite only having two more points than the Oilers, still present a tough challenge. Sidney Crosby has missed half the year or so and is still counting them at a point per game pace, while Jake Guentzel, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust all contributing at at least as good a pace. It’s going to be a tough one.

The game against the Blues from the other night was a good reminder of just how far the Oilers have to go to compete with the big boys in the league. Despite how close they came to earning a point, they were on the outside looking in for about 56 minutes against a team with significantly better players throughout the middle of their lineup.

Brian Burke joined Oilers Now yesterday and appeared to caution Bob Stauffer and his bosses about paying through the nose for Darnell Nurse. I obviously agree. The numbers being floated around for both he and Zack Kassian are giving me hives.

The Hockey News offers that there is no quick fix for the Oilers, and that given their cap constraints and whatnot they may just have to accept their fate. I’m so tired of these MSM articles that lack even a hint of critical thought. There’s no mention of the quick fix that was just traded for a song to a team with no cap room. There’s no mention of the $10MM+ that Holland burnt on mostly replacement level players this summer after buying out a top-four defender to do it.

Now that Hall’s off the market, the gaze turns to other players who could potentially help. One name that has been mentioned is Andreas Athanasiou, who is having inarguably his worst season as a pro.

Evolving-Hockey | https://evolving-hockey.com/

No thanks. The last thing the Oilers need right now is another player who’s drowning at even strength.

That should do it for the high points, so get yourselves read, fed, and then back here again for our gameday routine. See you throughout.

From Us

Hot Links: Thursday, December 19 (Copper and Blue)

Life Line (Copper and Blue)

From Elsewhere

Oilers Should Be Paying Close Attention To How Blues Go About Winning (Sun)

NHL Insider Warns Edmonton Oilers Not To Overpay For Darnell Nurse (Journal)

Blues Game A Strong Reminder Oilers Need Depth (Oilersnation)

There’s No Quick Fix In Sight For The Sliding Oilers And That Means Edmonton May Simply Have To Accept Its Fate (THN)

Filling The Hole (Oilersnation)

The Delmar Divide (Lowetide)

For Money

‘We called him ‘The Crane”: Teammates and coaches reveal their best Connor McDavid stories (The Athletic)