Oilers Mailbag: Has Edmonton dug itself too deep in a hole?

EDMONTON — With a turkey sandwich at my side, let’s dig into the post-Christmas Edmonton Oilers mailbag.

Ho, ho, hoping you got your question in on time. 

“Do you think Edmonton dug themselves too deep a hole, and if so, when do they pull the plug? And if they do, how does Jackson sell a lost season on Connor and Leon.” — Alex. 

In order to reach 95 points, the wildcard threshold last season out West, the Oilers will need to play .627 hockey the rest of the way. Since Kris Knoblauch took over 18 games ago, Edmonton is 12-6, which is a .667 pace. 

So, the Oilers will have to hustle, but if they maintain that recent pace, a scenario we could see would be for Edmonton to be the top wildcard team and perhaps have to make their playoff journey through the Central Division. I see Edmonton as a wildcard team either way — they’re not catching third place in the Pacific. 

As for Jeff Jackson “selling a lost season” to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, I would submit that those two players would own their part of the brutal start this team endured. If this team doesn’t make the playoffs it’s not on the GM or the President. It’s on the players.

“Any chance Rodrique gets a look with the big club with the way he’s playing on the farm?” — Jayhawksone. 

Last season, Olivier Rodrigue had a 2.77 GAA and a .912 saves percentage in 29 games played. This season, he’s at 2.22 and .935 through nine games. 

Now, goalies are voodoo. But a goalie who takes five pro seasons to find a game that is NHL-worthy at age 23 is not the makings of a Disney movie. Lots of guys have come from farther away and taken more time before becoming NHL starters. Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour (both undrafted) had similar timelines. 

I think the Oilers will want to flip Rodrigue and current backup Calvin Pickard at some point, just to see what they have in Rodrigue before expending assets in the goalie market. If Rodrigue shows himself an adequate backup to Stuart Skinner — a hopeful scenario that we are not yet ready to predict — GM Ken Holland would be thrilled to spend his assets elsewhere this March and know that Edmonton can go into next season with a Skinner-Rodrigue tandem. 

“Is Holloway back tomorrow? Oilers need a boost for Draisaitl, can that be Holloway or are they looking to swing a deal soon.” — Tyler Berkholtz. 

As we reported Wednesday morning, Dylan Holloway has joined the Oilers on their three-game California road trip. He will practise with the team but is not expected to play in games. We’d guess he could return for one of two home games — Jan. 2 versus Philadelphia, or Jan. 6 versus the Ottawa Senators — assuming all goes well health-wise. 

Adding a middle-six left winger will mix things up for sure, most notably for Ryan McLeod, who had been moved from centre recently to play on Draisaitl’s left side. Holloway’s return may push McLeod back to centre, though we’d argue McLeod’s best hockey this season has come off Draisaitl’s wing, while his 25 games at 3C have only shown Holland that he’ll need to find a better third-line centre for a playoff run. 

Holloway has to play. He’s missed too much time due to injury, and when he was healthy under Jay Woodcroft, the former coach didn’t seem to like him much. 

There’s a player here who Edmonton is not looking to trade. But what’s the old saying? The best ability is availability, and so far, Holloway has had a hard time staying healthy.  

“Do you think the Oilers can realistically trade Campbell? Would it be a trade deadline deal with a pick and some salary retention?” — Kelvin Vandasselaar. 

Edmonton will move on from Jack Campbell, likely this summer. But that will take assets going out to make a deal happen, and right now, Holland would rather spend those assets on acquisitions that will help a playoff run in 2024. 

I don’t see an in-season deal here, and I don’t see Campbell getting the net back in Bakersfield any time soon, the way Rodrigue has performed. Also, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Campbell backing up Skinner come playoff time if he can retrieve his game somewhat. 

But dumping that contract in-season? Anything is possible, but I see them parting with Campbell this summer. That acquisition has been an unmitigated disaster. 

“Why do you delete tweets when your original tweets are way off base or proven to be wrong? It’s okay Spec, you can leave them. Nobody will ever criticize you.” — PaperBoy402. 

Happy to share, PaperBoy. I use TweetDelete, which deletes all of my takes — right and wrong — after three months. 

Why? Because there are people on the internet (and I know you’d never be one of them) who will dig up a two-year-old tweet and put it out there as if it was issued an hour ago, in hopes that most people will just read the tweet and not the date stamp. And most do not. 

You’ve got three months to hang me on a bad tweet, and years to go back and find my columns online. Criticism comes with the territory, and I get plenty, but TweetDelete has helped to limit that to fair criticism. 

Now, PaperBoy402. I’ve got a question for you: Why don’t you use your real name? 

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas.