EDMONTON — Among the many ways the Edmonton Oilers found to lose games over the past couple decades, getting pushed out of games by bigger, stronger opponents was near the top of the Family Feud board.
“And the survey says…! Too small!”
So the moment Peter Chiarelli sat down in the general manager’s chair in Edmonton, the Bruin-ization of the Oilers began. In came Zack Kassian, then Patrick Maroon. On July 1, a seven-year deal for big Milan Lucic.
Three big guys — but two of them had a reputation for being too big, if you know what we mean.
So what does a team do about that?
“You get guys like Patrick Maroon to lose 20 pounds. Get lighter and quicker,” said head coach Todd McLellan. “When your size can move, it can be very effective. If your size can’t move, then you’re too slow. Our biggest player (Lucic) will play with our fastest player (Connor McDavid), and that combination should be fine.”
It’s a fine line today, with the game changing so rapidly. Sure, Edmonton has been pushed off of far too many pucks over the years. But in beefing up their lineup for the 2016-17 season, could the Oilers be building a team that could win a Stanley Cup five years ago?
Of course, the big guys tend to disagree.
“Everyone says the league is getting faster, but you’re going to need heavy guys and physical play,” said Maroon Wednesday morning. “You’re going to need big guys who protect pucks, like the L.A. Kings and Anaheim Ducks have. They’re big, strong guys, and they know how to wear teams down.”
On Wednesday night in Vancouver, Maroon set up Edmonton’s first goal by being quick enough to seal off the boards on Ryan Miller, knocking down his clearing attempt and centering the puck from his knees for a Drake Caggiula goal. He left late in the game last night with an apparent left leg injury.
“Big guys with good hands? Who can play the game with some hockey sense?” Maroon had said before the game. “If you can play the game and think the game fast … the teams still need big guys. The cycle game. Net presence. Dirty goals. The guys who bring the edge every night and stick up for their teammates…”
An old scout once told me, “Big and good beats small and good every time.” But when a big man’s weakness is a knife and a fork, they can find themselves out of the game in a hurry.
So the common thread between a Maroon, who slots in as a second- or third-line left-winger in Edmonton, and Kassian, a third- or fourth-line right-winger, is that each took control of their weight issues.
Kassian, who flamed out in Montreal and landed in rehab before the Oilers threw him one final lifeline, arrived in shape and looks even better this fall.
Kassian weighed 225 lbs when he broke his nose and ankle in an early morning car wreck in Montreal. He weighed in at 212 lbs this training camp, the best evidence that he has been true to his rehab.
“We wanted a real healthy Kassian. Healthy lifestyle, healthy at the rink, and I think he’s done a tremendous job at that,” said McLellan.
Beyond the lifestyle concerns, Kassian knows that he needs to evolve with the game.
“The game is getting a lot faster,” the 25-year-old said. “Teams are faster. There’s no heavyweight on the fourth line that you need to fight anymore.”
OK. But if the heavyweight is pretty much extinct, it is certain that the next head on the chopping block belongs to the big winger that can not keep up.
“Oh yeah,” Kassian said. “You have to be able to skate to play in the new NHL. With all the help the Oilers give us, Pelts (former figure skater David Pelletier) being the skating coach, there’s really no excuse to be that slow guy.”
Maroon played with McDavid last season and had 14 points in 16 games. But by the time his summer rest had ended, he was pushing 250 lbs. He came to camp at a much leaner 227 on his six-foot-three frame, and you can see it in his step – up until the injury at least.
“I’m 28. I’m getting older,” he said. “Your lifestyle needs to change if you’re going to stay in this league. I want to play five more years.”
The Oilers got these guys to get bigger. Now that they’re here, they’re all losing weight.
What gives?
“I can still play my physical game. I can still fight heavyweights,” Maroon promised. “It’s maybe that half-step faster that can make me a different player. I just wanted to get leaner and faster, and just feel better.”