If fantasy hockey worked like fantasy football, you’d have been tempted to start the Edmonton Oilers defence in Week 1, given their weaker schedule. You would’ve been punished.

But if you were belligerent on Saturday night and said, “Surely this can’t go on,” you’d be rewarded.

“We didn’t give up a touchdown,” said coach Mike Babcock with a comedic fist pump to begin the post-game scrum after Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Seattle Kraken.

The Edmonton Oilers are 2-0-1 to start the season, and they’ve given up just 21 high-danger chances in all strengths in the three games. That’s pretty good.

How they got there over the course of the week is another story, of course, but Saturday’s snoozer against Seattle is the classic snapback to normality after a zany 27-goal firework display against the Vancouver Canucks.

Nothing wrong with it considering the strange anxiety of a 9-7 game on Thursday that at one time featured a six-goal Edmonton lead, and even better that Devon Levi did not let the lacklustre Oilers debut persist.

Truthfully, I expected Tristan Jarry. It seemed like an easier decision to protect the young goalie, but fans’ optimism about Levi’s long-term prospects as Goalie of the Future was quickly restored with his effort.

That’s where Frederik Andersen made his first impact on the team. Of course, Andersen’s injury opened the door for Levi in the first place, but both Babcock and Levi talked about his veteran presence following the Seattle victory.

“Freddie has been awesome so far,” said Levi. “He’s been around. I’ve had some great conversations with him. A lot of support from him, too.

“I’ve never really had a veteran goalie on my team in the goalie system with me. Having his support and hearing what he has to say, and his leadership, has been really helpful. I’m happy he’s around.”

I think the new opponent helped. We’ve seen the Oilers play down to competition before, and although the Kraken ain’t the Hurricanes, they are at least actively trying to win games this season as opposed to the Canucks.

There are some distinct pauses between games coming up as the Oilers embark on a three-game road trip, including a break until Wednesday and two days off between games on a Southern California swing. I don’t recall such a staggered road trip like this.

Time to practice. Maybe a player or two will return from injury.

Record this week: 2-0-1

Record vs Pacific: 2-0-1

Record at home: 1-0-1

Record on the road: 1-0

This week:

Wednesday at Anaheim

Saturday at San Jose

Babcock’s injury math

Here’s my theory.

Kris Knoblauch’s approach to the media was reminiscent of a politician, so his injury reports were not helpful. Day-to-day could mean several weeks. You couldn’t trust an injury report under the old regime.

Mike Babcock read out the injury report before the home opener, using such phrases for Matt Savoie’s injury as “At the start of the week, he was eight weeks away.” (It was Tuesday). But he’s also used his own algorithm. Babs Math is day-to-day equals two weeks. That’s the timeline for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman at the moment.

So, in light of learning to decode what he means, and knowing that his charisma doesn’t mean he’s telling the truth, either, I wonder if he’s the Reverse Knoblauch. He’s prepping you for two weeks out, so if the player returns early, then you’re pleasantly surprised. 

For example, the Savoie timeline of eight weeks seemed to contradict Stan Bowman’s from the day before on The Jason Gregor Show. Couldn’t day-to-day just mean… day-to-day?

Time will tell whether Babs Math is overexaggerating the injury timelines or not.

Quick hitter Oilers takes:

I enjoy Max Jones as much as the next guy, but him playing more minutes than Isaac Howard has me puzzled. Certainly putting Alex Formenton, of ill repute and four years removed from the NHL, ahead of Howard opening night caught my eye. The Oilers are doing their classic make-the-young-guy-earn-it thing with Howard, and if there’s ever been an opportunity with these injuries to see what it looks like, they haven’t wanted to see it. Howard has been just OK at best through three games, certainly not seizing the moment the way Owen Michaels has, but it’s in the organization’s best interest to find out if this guy can play with some skill at the NHL level. Is this just a stopgap until Nuge and Hyman return, then they put Howard back on that line as they had during pre-season? I hope so. 

Ty Emberson seems to be the magic elixir for Jake Walman, who seems like he needs a solid, quiet, but hockey IQ’d partner to play with. Mind you, he played under 14 minutes on Saturday. Meanwhile, Connor Murphy just hasn’t been himself to my eyes. He had something going with Darnell Nurse, but with his partner gone, who’s the best fit? Again, it’s early. Maybe Shea will be that guy.

Apparently, the Oilers are looking to make a lateral trade to nab another forward and move out one of their 8 defencemen. Trading Emberson would be a mistake but would net the best return. Hopefully that doesn’t factor into Bowman’s thinking, and he would resist that type of trade. All summer we talked about how Spencer Stastney would probably get moved out, and this seems like the perfect time to actualize that. Then again, last season the Oilers had too many defencemen, lost Stecher to waivers, traded Brett Kulak, and then were thin.

Tristan Jarry might become the designated remote-work goaltender to save him from the Edmonton crowd? Independent of results, it would make sense to get Jarry back in the net soon, probably Wednesday. With Andersen’s injury, Jarry is here and has to play some games. Right?

Speaking of goalies, Samuel Jonsson and Nathan Day were sent to the ECHL, so the AHL pair is Connor Ungar and Matt Tomkins. Ungar started Bakersfield’s season opener against Henderson, making 27 saves in a 4-3 loss.

Did Jordan Eberle ever reach his potential?

Just a random thought about Jordan Eberle, sparked after Devon Levi’s robbery.

At one time, he was seen as one of the most exciting prospects in the game. He produced maybe the greatest Team Canada moment at the World Juniors and was a natural hero before his NHL career even began. Since then, Eberle has played 1,142 NHL games and produced 785 points. So what’s to complain about?

It just seems he’s played so few consequential games. There’s never been a moment that’s approached his one-time potential, other than his first NHL goal.

But then you look at his HockeyDB, and you consider he has played 76 playoff games, buoyed by those random New York Islanders runs in COVID times, so he’s played a fair amount in the postseason. That criticism isn’t entirely accurate. Obviously, he wears the ‘C’ in Seattle; he’s well respected, but most of his career he’s played on irrelevant teams, and while playing well on those teams, he never truly popped into a star.

He’s going to finish his career playing something like 1,400 games: an impressive career compared to 99 per cent of the league, while being respected and genuinely liked by hockey fans.

And yet, I feel we didn’t get enough relevant Jordan Eberle hockey, and that would be a great surprise if we were told this in 2009. In his second season back in 2011-12, he scored a career-high 34 goals and 76 points, but hasn’t come close to matching it. He’s become a solid, consistent player, typically on bad teams. That’s not all his fault, but I’m just not sure we saw the best version of his career. 

Did Eberle ever reach his potential? To me, his NHL career has always left me wanting more, largely spent producing decent numbers but being irrelevant compared to the heights he climbed as a teenager. 

Around the league

The Detroit Red Wings are a legitimate tire fire. The latest is that restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson (oh yeah, remember him?) would rather be traded than continue to negotiate. Owner Chris Illitch was serenaded with “sell the team” chants during the home opener. This is the nut low for a once-proud franchise. As interim GM Shawn Horcoff deals with this situation, then the looming hammer of Dylan Larkin, he’ll probably arrange the future plans of Alex DeBrincat elsewhere. 

Tampa coach Jon Cooper after the Lightning’s debut loss: “It was almost like the game was an inconvenience to play and that it got in the way of summer and that’s what was disappointing.” TB won last night against Washington 3-1 to bounce back. The Lightning remind me of a late-stage 70s rock band that has already made their best records and every ensuing tour they grate on each other’s nerves. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ new goal horn sounds identical to the Calgary Flames’. Weird move.

Speaking of the Flames, real sadness awaits. Drilled by the Kraken in the home opener, then dummied in the third period by the frisky Canucks. A long road awaits.

Oilers prospect Asher Barnett plays at Michigan and was paired with possible No. 1 overall pick at next year’s draft, Landon DuPont. Barnett is looking like a player.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of Pregaming and Postgaming. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.

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