Oilers Notebook: COVID schedule challenges, Bouchard plays waiting game

Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) makes a move to get past Vancouver Canucks' Alexander Edler (23) during second period NHL action in Edmonton on Thursday, January 14, 2021. (Jason Franson / CP)

EDMONTON — For a team that has not had a legit COVID-19 scare of its own all season, the Edmonton Oilers have been touched by the pandemic schedule more than anyone.

Now, it’s another make-up game in Vancouver Friday night, a game we are still not sure the Canucks will be able to field a team for.

“We are anticipating it is on,” head coach Dave Tippett said. “Our travel plans, our practice schedule are set up like we’re going. We’re scheduled to go there (Thursday) afternoon.”

Edmonton landed in Montreal last month just as the Canadiens COVID scare began, with two players landing on the NHL’s list. So the Oilers sat for five days on the road without a game, then had one added at the tail end of their trip, a 4-0 loss to the Habs, a back-to-back on the 10th day of their road trip.

Then, when Vancouver’s caseload arrived and the Canucks missed a pair of games in Edmonton on Monday and Wednesday of this week, the Oilers got the double whammy. The league gave them a game in Calgary that fell at the end of a week-long road trip out East — and also landed on the same day as the previously scheduled Colby Cave celebration of life — and now they get a back-to-back in Vancouver and Winnipeg on Friday-Saturday.

“It’s not ideal, we know that,” Leon Draisaitl said of the schedule changes. “I think it hit our team pretty bad, especially since we’ve been so good and haven’t had any cases. You just hope that, through this last little stretch here, the NHL is going to help us out a bit.”

Those two games were scheduled losses for Edmonton, plain and simple.

“You’re talking about a couple of games where it looked like we were emotionally drained — the Montreal game and the Calgary game (5-0 loss),” Tippett said. “As a coach, you’re around your team every day. You know when they look tired or emotionally drained. The Calgary game, that was a hard day. You’re dealing with a funeral for a teammate, trying to get the emotions up to play a game, I understand where the players are coming from there.”

McDavid took the league to task after the 5-0 loss, saying, “You’re asking a lot from guys, to sit through something like that, remember your teammate, see what the whole family is going through, and be expected to perform that night. I’m not sure what the league was really thinking there.

“You’d like the NHL to maybe think that one through a little bit.”

On Tuesday defenceman Adam Larsson weighed in.

“The league should know better,” Larson said. “I support Connor’s comment. It was just a tough day for everyone involved.”

On Friday Edmonton will lose two hours flying from Vancouver to Winnipeg after the Friday game, where the Jets will be coming off a day off in their schedule.

“That’s the hand we’ve been dealt here. It’s not an ideal situation, but there are no excuses,” Tippett said. “We’ve got an early game (6:00 p.m. PT start) on Friday, and the game in Winnipeg on Saturday is not ‘til 9 o’clock (Central time).”

Right To Play

It’s public knowledge that Edmonton was — and is still — looking for a top-six left winger. They’re light on the left side, an issue GM Ken Holland will address in the offseason.

But what about the right side?

If you want a window into why Holland didn’t think this was a year to spend assets at the trade deadline, consider the fact that Edmonton will need considerable improvement on the right side as well before it can call itself a Cup contender. Hopefully, that improvement comes from within.

Jesse Puljujarvi has spent most of the season on the right flank of the NHL’s runaway points leader, McDavid, yet sports the humble totals of nine goals and 15 points. Puljujarvi has one goal and just three points in his last 10 games, and just six points in his past 20.

Plain and simple: Puljujarvi is not yet a first-line player. Until he grows into the position the Oilers remain light in their top-six.

“You hope that comes,” Tippett said of the big Finn’s production. “We chart a lot of the scoring chances and stuff like that, and he’s still productive in those regards. Hopefully, that turns into results here, at some point.

“Pure production-wise? It’s probably not what you’d like to see. But he’s growing into that, so we’ll continue to push him along.”

Below him is Kailer Yamamoto, who was almost a point per game player with 26 points in 27 games last season. This year Yamamoto, who has just 55 shots on goal despite a season spent next to one of the NHL’s premier passers in Draisaitl, has just 18 points in 40 games.

Somehow though, those are the only two players in the top-six who haven’t been switched out.

“As much as we’re moving some pieces around, you’ve got to have some consistency in some places,” Tippett said. He likes Yamamoto with Draisaitl, and has been relatively happy with Puljujarvi, “a hard forechecking guy who creates a lot of loose pucks,” with McDavid.

If Tippett is going to continue to play his top two players on the same line, we’d flip right wingers and get some size on the second line by adding Puljujarvi to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ unit. It can’t hurt Puljujarvi’s production.

Sitting Pretty

Evan Bouchard has not played a game since March 1, mired on the taxi squad as the fourth right-shot defenceman while the top-three guys have all remained healthy.

He’s been deemed too good for Bakersfield, but isn’t getting a shot to show he can play in Edmonton, not ideal for a top prospect. In a normal season, he’s waiting his turn in the AHL. But with quarantine issues, he’s had to tough it out on the taxi squad, waiting for a turn that never comes.

“Evan is going to be a big part of this organization, unfortunately for Evan, it’s not right now,” said Holland. “He’ll be on the ice playing in ‘21-‘22 and I can’t tell you what will happen now, maybe there will be injuries. It’s up to the coaching staff (when he plays).”

Now that the deadline has passed, and the Oilers strengthened their blue line by acquiring Dmitry Kulikov, do they farm out Bouchard?

“I don’t anticipate that will happen,” Holland said. “but if we go another two weeks and he doesn’t play, maybe we’ll reassess that. Right now? No.”

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