Player Discussion Evander Kane

[Bryanbryoil]

I missed the first half of the game, by my eye he looked a little rusty but allowing Nuge and Hyman to drop down a line or two really worked well in Kane's first game.

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[duul]

He is a solid addition. Looked fine. Similar to guys like Hyman. He's real solid and makes our team a lot better. Running three scoring lines since as far back as I can remember.

Holloway looks incredible in the AHL. Him coming up and sliding Foegele down to the third or even fourth line would fix everything.

 

[Evilsports]

That was a balanced effort. It was great to see all four lines chip in and Kane get his first goal out of the way early.

One thing that I am curious to see over time is how 91/97 develop. Connor seems to me to be selfless to a fault, with the puck. With the exception of when the team NEEDS him not to be he almost begrudgingly takes the game on his back and does Connor stuff. I noticed Kane default with a few short passes to 97 a few times last night that didn't find the mark. I wonder if that was possibly because Kane was probably running a bit low on fuel due to inactivity, an attempt to endear himself to McDavid, or his actual style of play? I haven't seen Kane play enough to know.

Part of me hopes that it was one or both of the first two. Only because I'd like to see the results of McDavid playing with a winger that plays with a dose of selfishness. Sounds dumb, and I acknowledge that it very well could be. I'm far from a pro. I do feel as though most players that get the tryout on 97's line seem to be extra eager to just get the puck back to him.

I know, "When you line up beside the best hockey player on Earth, your job is to get him the puck and stay out of his way.". That's a fair point. Part of me is just curious to see a highly skilled winger that lets himself fully elevate on Connor's wing. Somebody with a touch of selfishness that really wants to cash in on the extra time and space that McDavid provides him. Kind of like a Pat Maroon, but with a higher skill level.

Ive always felt that as amazing as McDavid is we still haven't seen the best of him in the sense of his linemates being elevated to the point of unlocked levels that we didn't expect to see. Sure they will cash in points on his line but I don't know if I've seen a linemate of 97s yet that was able to flat out hit another personal level on his line.

I could be out to lunch. I could be spoiled having watched McDavid play for years now. I could be stupid. I'm still curious though.

 

[Mr Positive]

Hes coming at the perfect time, getting a couple soft opponents. This is his preseason. He is better than what we've seen, and he didnt even play badly. He did the right thing and played more conservatively while he's been rusty. Getting the goal is great for him. I expect him to be a bit better against Ottawa and then to start heating up

 

[Dazed and Confused]

That was a balanced effort. It was great to see all four lines chip in and Kane get his first goal out of the way early.

One thing that I am curious to see over time is how 91/97 develop. Connor seems to me to be selfless to a fault, with the puck. With the exception of when the team NEEDS him not to be he almost begrudgingly takes the game on his back and does Connor stuff. I noticed Kane default with a few short passes to 97 a few times last night that didn't find the mark. I wonder if that was possibly because Kane was probably running a bit low on fuel due to inactivity, an attempt to endear himself to McDavid, or his actual style of play? I haven't seen Kane play enough to know.

Part of me hopes that it was one or both of the first two. Only because I'd like to see the results of McDavid playing with a winger that plays with a dose of selfishness. Sounds dumb, and I acknowledge that it very well could be. I'm far from a pro. I do feel as though most players that get the tryout on 97's line seem to be extra eager to just get the puck back to him.

I know, "When you line up beside the best hockey player on Earth, your job is to get him the puck and stay out of his way.". That's a fair point. Part of me is just curious to see a highly skilled winger that lets himself fully elevate on Connor's wing. Somebody with a touch of selfishness that really wants to cash in on the extra time and space that McDavid provides him. Kind of like a Pat Maroon, but with a higher skill level.

Ive always felt that as amazing as McDavid is we still haven't seen the best of him in the sense of his linemates being elevated to the point of unlocked levels that we didn't expect to see. Sure they will cash in points on his line but I don't know if I've seen a linemate of 97s yet that was able to flat out hit another personal level on his line.

I could be out to lunch. I could be spoiled having watched McDavid play for years now. I could be stupid. I'm still curious though.

Much like Crosby in his prime, Conner is a difficult player to play with; and for him (Crosby), the only line mate he had that seemed to push both of them to the next level was Hossa.


For me, I think the long term solution is Holloway. Though one guy I'd be curious to see get a few games with Conner is Benson. Good skill and vision, has a willingness to go to the dirty areas, but his issue at the NHL level is not enough time and space. Two things McDavid can provide his linemates.


This is one element I hope the Hyman-RNH line allows for, that the McDavid and Draisaitl lines aren't viewed as power vs. power lines, and thus you can toss a kid there without being afraid that they'll get eaten alive.

 

[Evilsports]

Much like Crosby in his prime, Conner is a difficult player to play with; and for him (Crosby), the only line mate he had that seemed to push both of them to the next level was Hossa.


For me, I think the long term solution is Holloway. Though one guy I'd be curious to see get a few games with Conner is Benson. Good skill and vision, has a willingness to go to the dirty areas, but his issue at the NHL level is not enough time and space. Two things McDavid can provide his linemates.


This is one element I hope the Hyman-RNH line allows for, that the McDavid and Draisaitl lines aren't viewed as power vs. power lines, and thus you can toss a kid there without being afraid that they'll get eaten alive.

Benson is absolutely an interesting possibility. Something seems to get lost in translation between the two pro leagues for him, which is too bad. I respect the fact that he's willing to reengineer his game into that of a pesky checker in the NHL, but I also believe that he's leaving a lot of potential on the table, skill wise.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Yeah he looked rusty / slow but still looked pretty good and got a goal. He’s going to get a lot of points here when he warms up.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I missed the first half of the game, by my eye he looked a little rusty but allowing Nuge and Hyman to drop down a line or two really worked well in Kane's first game.

He had a near perfect first period. McD was the one looking rusty. I was so frustrated in the first that the Oilers weren't executing, making passes, taking the open ice that was there. Kane was doing the sensible things, first shift he goes out and nails somebody with a good hit to get into the game. 12mins in he scores the first goal in a game we've had for months. Overall he looked like a boss and that started out on the plane..heh Sharp dressed dude. I'm not one for fashion but he's sure got some cool going on. In the telecast they were talking about his enter the rink swagger, and something that the Oilers have been oddly lacking in. Its an attitude, expectation you're going to walk into a rink and own it. The mind games in hockey start well before the games do. Just like in boxing where ring entries and confidence are as important as the first round.

Yeah, Nuge had a real solid game along with Hyman. But Kass was a decent third the shifts that he got on there and helps to keep things honest. The huge thing with Kane is we have a guy on a top line that can play like wild but he's an enforcer too.

Shit man. Kane can score 30 goals, play pk, play PP, punch donkeys, and run people through the boards in addition to being a power forward. We get this guy for low rent money. Wow. Good times.

 

[Czechboy]

Glad he got a goal early.. even the symbolic 'first goal' which we never get. I was off by 10 minutes in the pool as I said 20 seconds in.

Connor got zero points and the third line was what carried us to a win in the most boring 7 goal game I've ever seen. Lot of missed passes and pucks lost on their line.. wonder what would happen if Connor got mad at him like he has at JP a few times?lol

I've said my peace that I think it was a bad acquisition and we should've avoided him (mostly because I fear he'll be extended just like other '1 year' players like Smith, Chiasson, Russel and Shore). Holland likes his 30 year olds paid and kept for while.

Having said that we all know this fixes bottom 6 and 3C and that's a good thing. Similar to how I wanted Kubalik and the trickle down effect.

I don't think he's a .ppg player.. he's a .7ppg player. I don't think 30 goal pace is the same as 30 goal scorer (which he's done 2x in over 10 seasons). His best season was in the inflated and weird covid season where a lot of guys had career years (Nurse and Smith). So in a half season he should get around 10 goalds and 15 assists which would be great. Assuming he can play all the games (something he also doesn't have a history of doing). I have no doubt he'll be on great behavior till April.. zero.

Half a season and those 25 points and this is good. Let's see what happens.

I also don't think this 'fixes' us. It fixed the bottom 6 and 3C which is great. D and G is still in bad shape and we have a really hard string coming up after this. Including the hat trick of doom against Florida, Tampa and Carolina at end of month and something like 6 games in 9 nights right before that. I worry about our team depth going into that as we will lost players during that stretch like any team would. Hope Kenny is on the phone and trying to trade Barrie, get a G and some some D.

 

[walktheboulavard]

I missed the first half of the game, by my eye he looked a little rusty but allowing Nuge and Hyman to drop down a line or two really worked well in Kane's first game.

Yeah he looked rusty / slow but still looked pretty good and got a goal. He’s going to get a lot of points here when he warms up.

Yeah he mentioned he had rust and timing wasn't there but it's to be expected. I like the way he forechecks and he laid a hit on Petry first shift, shook the boards as Petry nearly fell over.

You could tell the muscle endurance isn't there yet and maybe why he looked slow at times, but he's also extremely fast without looking like he's pumping his legs. He showed blazing speed at around 18:55 in the third when he caught up to McDavid from deep in our own end, beating multiple Montreal players and creating a 2 on 1. In fact McDavid actually passed behind him forcing a back hander. I'am not sure even McDavid realized Kane was that explosive.

 

[illegalsmile]

You could see Kane wasn't overjoyed by his first Edmonton goal, he knew it was a deflection. Something tells me, if we'd have been playing in front of home fans, it would have been a far more joyous event!

 

[Drivesaitl]

Much like Crosby in his prime, Conner is a difficult player to play with; and for him (Crosby), the only line mate he had that seemed to push both of them to the next level was Hossa.


For me, I think the long term solution is Holloway. Though one guy I'd be curious to see get a few games with Conner is Benson. Good skill and vision, has a willingness to go to the dirty areas, but his issue at the NHL level is not enough time and space. Two things McDavid can provide his linemates.


This is one element I hope the Hyman-RNH line allows for, that the McDavid and Draisaitl lines aren't viewed as power vs. power lines, and thus you can toss a kid there without being afraid that they'll get eaten alive.

The disparity in speed and skill would be off the charts. I don't think Benson could play with McD for a moment. But would be funny to see him trying to keep up. That would be like putting a cooler with McD. This is a player with one career NHL point, why would we put him with McD?

McLeod is the guy that will gradually get more looks in there that can skate with McD and that offers the unique ability to have two guys on the line that can both gain offensive zone with ease. That would be huge going forward. McD needs to be working more of a possession game instead of forcing plays too much. Start to work the opponent D to the bone like Drai tends to do. Make clubs play in own zone more. McLeod is a great young possession player that loves the puck. Something like McD, Kane, McLeod could work.

Benson is somebody thats supposed to be a skill player that isn't even comfortable with the puck at this level. Supposed to be his bread and butter and he shits his pants with the puck several years in. Its never happening here for Benson. The NHL game slows down for players that look like they will make it. Benson is hardly any different here now than he was years ago. I mean he's not even good enough to even crack a lineup let alone a topsix.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Yeah he mentioned he had rust and timing wasn't there but it's to be expected. I like the way he forechecks and he laid a hit on Petry first shift, shook the boards as Petry nearly fell over.

You could tell the muscle endurance isn't there yet and maybe why he looked slow at times, but he's also extremely fast without looking like he's pumping his legs. He showed blazing speed at around 18:55 in the third when he caught up to McDavid from deep in our own end, beating multiple Montreal players and creating a 2 on 1. In fact McDavid actually passed behind him forcing a back hander. I'am not sure even McDavid realized Kane was that explosive.

Big player speed. Like Drai. Man do I want to see Drai centering Kane and Pulju at some point. holy crap, make it happen.

 

[walktheboulavard]

Big player speed. Like Drai. Man do I want to see Drai centering Kane and Pulju at some point. holy crap, make it happen.

That's incredible line as well. I feel he fits like a glove with either center. It could be like Drai/Hall all over again as he likes driving play with his speed, and is a beast on the boards. But he also keeps up with McDavid and causes mayham on the rush and separates players from pucks on the forecheck. One other thing I've noticed is his adept at finding quite ice around the blue paint: the deflection and in the 3rd Laggesson found him all alone again but Kane heeled it.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Kane has been here one game, against the weakest possibly NHL opponent, and he has to wonder why Yama would be playing on a topline, or a topsix, or even in the league. Yamamoto was getting erased most of the times the pucke went to him, or was supposed to have gone to him. Of course with his dimunitive size this isn't changing, ever. Soon as Holloway arrives we need to move Yama as part of a package for a goalie. There's just no role for him here and made more obvious with the addition of another legit top forward.

Every time Yama touches the puck its like seeing Kenny get killed.

 

[Drivesaitl]

That's incredible line as well. I feel he fits like a glove with either center. It could be like Drai/Hall all over again as he likes driving play with his speed, and is a beast on the boards. But he also keeps up with McDavid and causes mayham on the rush and separates players from pucks on the forecheck. One other thing I've noticed is his adept at finding quite ice around the blue paint: the deflection and in the 3rd Laggesson found him all alone again but Kane heeled it.

Tippett is somebody who would mix it up and give opponents some different configs to worry about but if it lands there and works, Drai, Kane, Pulju would be unstoppable. I mean think of them out there in a unit with a decent D pair. Owning. "Want the puck" go find another one..

Imagine you're trying to double team Drai, then losing battles with Kane and Pulju and somebody is always open because you can't cover all and Drai makes surgical passes.

 

[Drivesaitl]

One more comment on the team swagger thing with addition of Kane. Suddenly now everybody can walk taller in the lineup. First Kane game here and Zach intentionally runs the opponent goalie. That was no accident, he got half of him, he wasn't trying to avoid him at all. Then theres Nurse being usual Boss. Kane occupying slot like nobodies business. Habs jsut want the game and 60mins to go away. I mean they got their goalie run and there wasn't a response until late in game.

I mean this is a game where we had a 3 player breakaway. Every hab except for maybe Anderson and Toffoli were waving white flags and checked out.

As rocky as the Oilers played they won this game before they skated on the ice. They were already in the Habs heads. Theres going to be mojo with this Oilers lineup going forward. All we need is a goalie. Wouldn't mind seeing Nemo back before the playoffs.

 

[walktheboulavard]

Tippett is somebody who would mix it up and give opponents some different configs to worry about but if it lands there and works, Drai, Kane, Pulju would be unstoppable. I mean think of them out there in a unit with a decent D pair. Owning. "Want the puck" go find another one..

Imagine you're trying to double team Drai, then losing battles with Kane and Pulju and somebody is always open because you can't cover all and Drai makes surgical passes.

I have no doubt that line would be beastly and maybe will see it against heavier teams, ex Nashville. I pray for pairings that are deployed to matchup against a line like that. Still long ways to go, I am positive we'll see that line at one point. Curious though, what would your other lines look like? I am assuming you would run a 1st or 2nd line of Hyman McDavid Yamo? I kind of like the chemistry Hyman and Nuge have right now.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I have no doubt that line would be beastly and maybe will see it against heavier teams, ex Nashville. I pray for pairings that are deployed to matchup against a line like that. Still long ways to go, I am positive we'll see that line at one point. Curious though, what would your other lines look like? I am assuming you would run a 1st or 2nd line of Hyman McDavid Yamo? I kind of like the chemistry Hyman and Nuge have right now.

Holloway would seem like a fit for McD. I mean everything in time. We wouldn't want to rush the kid in there. Its all dependent as well if Nuge and Hyman continue to work as a pair. If we go with Legion of Doom 2nd line and a third line it leaves things sparse for McD, but he should be able to carry and make do with less once in awhile. Like Drai is often doing.

 

[walktheboulavard]

Glad he got a goal early.. even the symbolic 'first goal' which we never get. I was off by 10 minutes in the pool as I said 20 seconds in.

Connor got zero points and the third line was what carried us to a win in the most boring 7 goal game I've ever seen. Lot of missed passes and pucks lost on their line.. wonder what would happen if Connor got mad at him like he has at JP a few times?lol

I've said my peace that I think it was a bad acquisition and we should've avoided him (mostly because I fear he'll be extended just like other '1 year' players like Smith, Chiasson, Russel and Shore). Holland likes his 30 year olds paid and kept for while.

Having said that we all know this fixes bottom 6 and 3C and that's a good thing. Similar to how I wanted Kubalik and the trickle down effect.

I don't think he's a .ppg player.. he's a .7ppg player. I don't think 30 goal pace is the same as 30 goal scorer (which he's done 2x in over 10 seasons). His best season was in the inflated and weird covid season where a lot of guys had career years (Nurse and Smith). So in a half season he should get around 10 goalds and 15 assists which would be great. Assuming he can play all the games (something he also doesn't have a history of doing). I have no doubt he'll be on great behavior till April.. zero.

Half a season and those 25 points and this is good. Let's see what happens.

I also don't think this 'fixes' us. It fixed the bottom 6 and 3C which is great. D and G is still in bad shape and we have a really hard string coming up after this. Including the hat trick of doom against Florida, Tampa and Carolina at end of month and something like 6 games in 9 nights right before that. I worry about our team depth going into that as we will lost players during that stretch like any team would. Hope Kenny is on the phone and trying to trade Barrie, get a G and some some D.

Not sure anyone thinks the addition of Kane fixes everything that ails team. However as you said it addresses the forward depth chart. This acquisition and obtaining a D and G are not mutually exclusive. Holland can still fill 1 or 2 of those holes, the problem is finding a dance partner after showing other GM's how desperate you are.

 

[walktheboulavard]

Holloway would seem like a fit for McD. I mean everything in time. We wouldn't want to rush the kid in there. Its all dependent as well if Nuge and Hyman continue to work as a pair. If we go with Legion of Doom 2nd line and a third line it leaves things sparse for McD, but he should be able to carry and make do with less once in awhile. Like Drai is often doing.

Yeah not sure air lifting the kid from AHL straight to first line NHL minutes is the best way to break him in.

 

[Drivesaitl]

With fans of other teams finding any reason to hate the Kane acquisition so much it basically confirms what a topnotch add he is to the lineup. Its good for the NHL that this occurred. You have to have a team with McDrai and Nurse making headway. More reasonable fans recognize that for the NHL, for marketing, for viewing, for gate, you have to have the Oilers in the dance.

One wonders how much 4D chess Kane was playing to get here...hehe. I'm liking the marriage so far.

But you just know if Calgary lost last night their fanbase would be melting again. Was hoping Nucks would score on PP with minutes left but hoping for the Nucks to score is like hoping for eternity.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Thank God a team like Calgary didn’t land Kane.

 

[Czechboy]

Holland can still fill 1 or 2 of those holes

He's had a lot of time fix both... a lot. So I'm skeptical. I think he's doing a terrible job as our GM. Eg. next year - Keith, Barrie and Nurse make 20 million. That's not good. Smith is back ... that's not good. 1000 days of Mikko and Smith .. that's not good. Need to pay JP... that is a good problem to have but no cap space. There is even a post showing how many goalies have moved in that time. As far as I know, we have the longest serving tandem in the NHL and it's not a very good tandem. Old, oft injured and inconsistent.

So I 'hope' Holland does something and Ill cheer when he does. Skeptical. Keeping Tipp is another questionable move. I think we'll have a real clear picture after the mid February stretch - right now we are running Koskinen/Stalock into a very heavy schedule with a lot of good teams coming up. Hope we run streak to 5 and 0 after Ottawa on Monday! February is a very hard schedule. I'm not expecting many 7-2 or 5-0 wins coming up... I'm also not expecting to be playing many 3rd and 4th string goalies like we just did against Habs and Nucks. 4 games after Ottawa could very well be Lehner, Vanecek/Samsonov, Shestorkin and Fleury. We'll see but the time to address needs is now not March IMO.

 

[Czechboy]

You could see Kane wasn't overjoyed by his first Edmonton goal, he knew it was a deflection. Something tells me, if we'd have been playing in front of home fans, it would have been a far more joyous event!

Every goal the sound guy just kind of muted the sound.lol We get 7 goals to zero fanfare. Made me sad.haha