Oil Spills: A Podcast On The Edmonton Oilers

Oscar Klefbom is leading the NHL in average time-on-ice and looking more and more like a true No. 1 defenceman, while Ethan Bear has been the surprise of the season on the blue line and has fit right in among the Oilers’ top-four blue-liners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The rumour has been persistent since early in this NHL season, that Taylor Hall — former Edmonton Oilers star — would welcome a trade away from the New Jersey Devils, who have faltered on the ice thus far. And his rumoured preferred destination? The Oilers. Host Craig Ellingson talks to hockey beat writer Derek Van Diest about the rumours and what a Taylor Hall trade to Edmonton would mean for the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After playing Eastern Conference teams for more than half of their games through the first third of November, the Edmonton Oilers will face their fellow Western NHL squads exclusively for 10 straight games through the start of December. The stretch includes six road games and seven clashes with their Pacific Division siblings. What it could mean is we’ll see some separation from the pack by the Oilers or find Edmonton jostling with their rivals to stay in the playoff mix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Win some, lose some. Recent games are suggesting the Connor McDavid- and Leon Draisaitl-led Edmonton Oilers are human after all. After a torrid start to the 2019-20 NHL campaign, the Oilers have lost games they probably should have been in on — and have won games they likely should have lost. Considering the team is still getting very good goaltending and scoring from its stars, however, there is reason to believe these aren't last season's Oilers, which saw things go sideways come mid-December. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Edmonton Oilers' so-called 'bottom six' forwards have yet to score a goal — and most have yet to notch even an assist — almost a month into the 2019-20 NHL season. Hockey beat writers Jim Matheson and Rob Tychkowski talk to host Craig Ellingson about the team's secondary-scoring woes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Edmonton Oilers are flying high to start the 2019-20 NHL season, but even teams that touch the top of the standings can see their star players fall off a bit as seen in recent games. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl didn’t crowd the scoresheet in a win over Detroit and in a shutout shootout loss to the Jets, which once again underscores the need for the Oilers to conjure goals from their secondary lines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Edmonton Oilers' strong start to the 2019-20 NHL season is certainly a pleasant surprise to the team's fans. Hockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson talks to host Craig Ellingson about how the Oilers can keep producing at this level, barring setbacks due to injury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ll take Connor McDavid at less than 100 per cent if that’s what it looks like given his performance in the Edmonton Oilers’ first two games of the NHL regular season. McDavid and linemates Leon Draisaitl and Zack Kassian were in fine scoring form against the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings as the Oilers start the 2019-20 campaign with a pair of home wins. Also: • goalie Mike Smith’s wandering ways. • the impact of Adam Larsson’s long-term injury to the Oilers' defensive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new season, a whole lot of new faces at forward to play alongside Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins et al. And as usual when new players are added to the Edmonton Oilers’ mix, it remains to be seen if the moves and gambles made by the general manager and the coaching staff will result in more sparks. Hockey beat writers Jim Matheson and Rob Tychkowski join host Craig Ellingson to talk about the start of the 2019-20 NHL season for the Oilers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Connor McDavid was rusty handling the puck but his knee, injured at the end of last season, looked fine in preseason action against the Arizona Coyotes as the NHL star saw his first action since he tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Hockey beat writers Jim Matheson and Derek Van Diest join host Craig Ellingson to talk about McDavid, and the state of the team in training camp on both offence and defence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joel Persson has some definite offensive skills the Edmonton Oilers could use on the blueline. The Swedish defenceman is one of the brightest of the new faces at training camp this year. Host Craig Ellingson talks to hockey beat writers Rob Tychkowski and Derek Van Diest about the blueline corps, plus they wonder aloud what it would mean to the Oilers if star Connor McDavid missed any time — even a measly half-dozen games, let's say. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Goalie Mike Smith will bring a puck-handling savvy, veteran presence and a strong second-half showing with the Calgary Flames last season to the Edmonton Oilers in 2019-20 to split duties with Mikko Koskinen, who was shaky down the stretch.  Hockey beat writer Derek Van Diest and host Craig Ellingson discuss how things could play out in Edmonton’s net this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Minnesota Wild chose another rookie in Bill Guerin to fill their general manager’s chair less than a month after firing Paul Fenton, who lasted in the job just 14 months as a first-time GM. Guerin ticked off many boxes for Wild owner Craig Leipold, whose team plays in the rabid U.S. ‘State of Hockey.’ But Guerin apparently wasn’t even a finalist, if he really interviewed at all, for the Edmonton Oilers job that went to Ken Holland in early May. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Edmonton Oilers don't have a bonafide No. 3 centre heading into September's training camp. Hockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson and host Craig Ellingson talk about what the Oilers could do to address the issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, James Neal had a forgettable 2018-19 campaign for the Calgary Flames. But in swapping Milan Lucic for him in a July trade, the Edmonton Oilers may have made a masterful move. Host Craig Ellingson and hockey beat writer Derek Van Diest talk about the possibilities of Neal as an Oiler, particularly if the perennial 20-something goal-scorer regains his scoring touch alongside the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins this coming NHL season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s with the ongoing drama between the Edmonton Oilers and Jesse Puljujarvi's camp? Hockey beat writer Derek van Diest talks to host Craig Ellingson about the Finnish winger and his trade demands. The fourth-overall pick from the 2016 NHL Draft requires a new contract, but given his paltry pro performance thus far in his career, his market value is relatively low. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson and host Craig Ellingson talk about the Edmonton Oilers’ rivals in the Pacific Division and the moves they’ve made early in the summer and what to expect from them before the start of the 2019-20 NHL season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson and host Craig Ellingson talk about what the Edmonton Oilers could do this summer to acquire a winger to play among the NHL team's Top 6 forwards, particularly someone who could pair up on the second line with centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hockey Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson and host Craig Ellingson talk about the challenges Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland faces this summer in his quest to find a winger who can play among the NHL team’s top six forwards for this coming season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An NHL goalie and a forward with some scoring prowess are high on Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland’s shopping list as this summer’s NHL free agency comes closer. Hockey beat writers Jim Matheson and Rob Tychkowski talk to host Craig Ellingson about this and about its bounty from the recent NHL Draft, which saw the Oilers take defenceman Philip Broberg in the first round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices