Hot Links: Tuesday, July 23

Good morning!

The Oilers added Brian Wiseman to their coaching setup yesterday. The former Michigan Wolverines staffer played for Dave Tippett in Houston after an excellent college career in Michigan. By some accounts, this is a nice add to the fold but I can’t pretend I know much about him beyond his very brief Wikipedia entry. Refer to Preston’s latest for more information on the Oilers newest coach.

Now that James Neal has been added to the fold and, at least superficially, one of the gaping holes in Edmonton’s top six has been ‘filled’, Preston offers that Ken Holland might be in the market for a 3C. This would mean two of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would be playing together, which I’m still lukewarm about. One thing that flies under the radar some is how much worse McDavid’s underlying numbers (CF%, FF%, etc etc) were last season than they had been to start his brilliant career. They still blew the doors off by the boxcars, but it’s something to keep an eye on if those two start the year as a unit.

Past that? Not much happening out there. Maybe Mr. Holland can pull another deal out of his hat before the end of the offseason.

From Us

More on the addition of Brian Wiseman. (Copper and Blue)

Is Holland in the market for a 3C? (Copper and Blue)

Yesterday. (Copper and Blue)

From Elsewhere

Ken Holland joined Tom Gazzola on TSN1260 yesterday. Listen here. (TSN1260)

Lowetide talking The McDavid Cluster. Not sure what it means? Better click that link. (Lowetide)

Still trying to catch up with Lowetide’s content. Here’s Sunday. (Lowetide)

An RNH retrospective: year by year. (Oilersnation)

What to expect when you’re expecting James Neal to play for your team. (Oilersnation)

On Darnell Nurse’s next contract, which, for me, is going to be too expensive and should be paid by another team. (Oilersnation)

An open letter to Jesse Puljujarvi. (Oilersnation)

What is next for Kenny Netherlands? (The Oilers Rig)

For Money

Projecting the Oilers’ opening night lineup. (The Athletic)

Behind the numbers - dial in your expectations for Milan Lucic and James Neal on their new teams. (The Athletic)

That’ll do it for this Tuesday. It’s supposed to be insane outside today, get out there and enjoy that summer!