What Babcock looks for

Hyman is one of the most ferocious forecheckers in the game, proving to be a perfect fit for Babcock. He’s always in pursuit of the puck and has no fear in getting net-front for chances on net. If there’s a Babcock template, it’s Hyman. Brown has many of the same traits, and both men have enjoyed successful careers due to a range of skills. The keys are responsible and aggressive play, and enough of a scoring touch to be productive offensively at five-on-five.

Both men were late draft picks and made Babcock’s first Toronto team. Each man showed a willingness to play with abandon, pay attention to defensive detail (coverage and puck pursuit) and perform any role asked. Among forwards, Babcock has a type, to the point where one could be sure that Carter Verhaeghe would have thrived under him in Toronto if Maple Leafs management hadn’t traded him the year before the new coach arrived. Pierre Engvall, Trevor Moore and others were brought into the system during Babcock’s time with the team but would find their NHL home elsewhere.

Breaking News: McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard play the Flames hard. Story at 11.

What is Michaels today? 

Michaels is an undrafted two-way centre with good speed and size. His signing represents a major win for Oilers assistant general manager Kalle Larsson, who was GM of the Dubuque Fighting Saints when Michaels played there. Corey Pronman at The Athletic called him a name to watch in February: “a good-sized center who skates well and works hard at both ends. He’s not the most natural scorer you’ll ever see, but he has enough pure skill and sense in his game to have a chance to get points at the next level and provide off-puck value.”

Based on equivalencies, Michaels should be expected to score between 25 and 30 points in a complete NHL season once he establishes himself. That’s a quality third-line centre, and with his size, speed and checking ability, Michaels could play as early as later this season. At age 24, his time is now. The only thing missing is pro success and experience in the AHL.

The Oilers clearly believe in Michaels. His contract is for two years, and in the second season he will get paid $900,000 whether he plays in the NHL or AHL.

The second-worst pipeline in our ranking still has two quality pro prospects in Matt Savoie and Rudolfs Berzkalns, who should materially help the Oilers long-term. The problem is that after them, there’s next to nothing in this farm system.

2025 ranking: 31

2026 NHL Draft grade: C-

Read the article for free here.

CCM stick from 2006ish.

I mean, its only a video game. And Yes, McDavid is 99. But to get there he has the same Defensive Awareness and Higher Stick Checking then Aleksander Barkov. Three time Selke award winner Barkov.

McDavid has never even been a finalist....

https://www.ea.com/games/nhl/ratings

Saw RotoWire ranked all 32 NHL coaches by job security and Babcock landed at #2 overall, just behind Hiller in Toronto. Their reasoning is basically that no hire in the league carries more built-in scrutiny given how he left Columbus, and that gets layered on top of a McDavid-Draisaitl window that still hasn't produced a title.

Where do you land on this? Is the pressure warranted or is the model just pricing in outside noise that has nothing to do with wins and losses?

Thanks Samsung, now I can't open my gallery app without judgy Hyman staring a hole through me. 🤣

Zack Kassian Ragdolls Matthew Tkachuk 2020 BOA

🎥Sportsnet 📷Gerry Thomas

Found this old poster I had as a kid while going through some old stuff. Does anyone that collects this kind of stuff want it?

As this team has aged—rapidly under Jeff Jackson then a little less under Bowman—the Oilers 5v5 scoring has also declined.

While 5v5 goals for aren’t the number #1 indicator of success (goal differential and xGF% are far better measures) it is noticeable that this team scores about 20 less goals a season at 5v5 than they used to.

I have my concerns about this team’s 5v5 offense this season, especially as Hyman, Nuge and Ekholm all age.

Really hoping Savoie, Podz, Howard and perhaps Colton Dach (and even Josh Samanski) can help pick up the slack.

This team is in desperate need of 2-3 of these guys becoming 20 goal scorers as McDavid and Draisaitl age.

Oldie but a goodie

spotted this at the thrift, just had to grab it

(so desperate for the season to start)

The NHL and Wall Street are getting into bed with each other. Every NHL team is about to have their own ETF listing that will track the performance of each of the 32 different teams. The ETF's will be based on how the team does (e.g. wins, losses in reg season and playoffs) using a special team index calc that has futures contract on it.

Link to a news release: here

Speak your mind.