Oilers Notebook: Has Edmonton lost its swagger?

SAN JOSE — One of Ken Holland’s challenges, like he doesn’t have enough of those these days, is to make a trade for a goaltender when no one wants his goalie in return. 

Historically, a team trading a goalie requires one back. Usually, they’re moving their No. 2 guy and need a replacement because now they are short a netminder in their organization. On the other side, teams only need so many goalies — you don’t want too many, or somewhere along the way you run into ice time and practice issues. 

But in trying to replace Jack Campbell, who is expected to start for the Bakersfield Condors tonight in Abbotsford against the Canucks’ top farm team, it’s nigh impossible to ship that contract back the other way. Although most teams could stomach Campbell as a backup, if was being paid as one, nobody wants a backup with nearly $20 million owed over the next four years. 

Holland met with Campbell before placing him on waivers, telling him to work on his game as if he will play in Edmonton again soon. And our sources say he can expect lots of work with Bakersfield, who ironically play in Abbotsford on Thursday and Saturday, then have a Tuesday-Wednesday set in Calgary against the AHL Wranglers next week. 

But that’s Plan B. 

Holland’s Plan A is to find a guy who can share the crease with Skinner, taking the pressure off the sophomore to be “the man” in the Oilers' net. If that plan can be executed, there is no place for Campbell in Edmonton, barring injury. 

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Positive Vibes 

It’s an exercise in trying to stay positive with the Oilers, with so much negativity swirling around a two-win team, 11 games into the season. 

“You always try to look at the positives,” Zach Hymam said. “There’s going to be a regression to the mean, I think any analytics guy will tell you that. Whether it's individual performances or collectively as a team, everything averages out — as long as you continue to put in the work.” 

Does an Oilers player look at the standings more often today, or less? 

Hyman chuckles. He’s exactly like most fans. 

“Just in general, when things are going well I'll check out the other scores around the league an, check out how everyone is doing. And when things aren't going well? I don't want to look at it either.” 

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In The Soup 

It’s a collective gut punch on any NHL team when a well-liked veteran like Jack Campbell gets waived and sent to the farm. It could happen to almost any NHL player, and everybody knows it, if suddenly everything went wrong. 

So every teammate sees a little bit of themselves in this worst-case scenario, as a 31-year-old goalie packs his bags and heads for the bus rides and Boston Pizzas of the American Hockley League.  

“I think it's just a wake up call for everybody in our locker room right?” said Hyman, who played for the Maple Leafs with Campbell before they were reunited in Edmonton. “Jack's a great friend, so I think first we're there for him as a friend and as a teammate. Everybody has ups and downs — some people just have bigger ups and bigger downs. This is just another part of his journey.” 

It’s no different than when the coach gets fired. There is a collective guilt inside the dressing room here. 

“As a teammate, it sucks that we let him down as well when you know we've given up a ton of high-danger chances for our goalies,” Hyman said. “Everybody looks at our save percentage, but not every shot has the same chance of going in. They have to make their saves too, but as a group, we can do a much better job of helping them too.” 

••• 

Swagger Dagger 

“The walk has to match the talk.” — Jay Woodcroft

At 2-8-1, have the Oilers lost their swagger?

Who better to ask than Evander Kane, who has always had swagger and style to spare.

“I think we showed a little bit in the third period (in Vancouver)," he said. "You see a guy like Davo (Connor McDavid) getting into it and trading shots with guys, then everybody jumping into it. I don't know if we've got to get it back, but I think we can elevate it.

“Winning helps showcase that, but internally I know we have the belief.”

Personally, I love a captain and star player who stands up for himself physically. His next shift, he buried Phil Di Giuseppe with a hard hit, earning a penalty late in the blowout.

That's your captain and highest-paid player most overtly displaying his distaste for what's going on in Edmonton.

But there are some players here — Vincent Desharnais, Dylan Holloway, Ryan McLeod, Brett Kulak, Mattias Ekholm — who should be ready to relieve McDavid of that responsibility.

“Are there more guys that can be brought into the fight so to speak? Sure,” said Woodcroft, after the morning skate. “Nobody's happy with 2-8-1.

“As I said, the walk has to match the talk.”

In my books, big guys who play further down the roster — or on defence — need to own that role, when push comes to shove late in a game. There are too many six-foot-two, 210-pound Oilers who are too comfortable simply grabbing on to some smaller winger in a scrum, and not enough of them are doing what we saw McDavid and Hyman do late in that Vancouver loss.

Not enough guys pissed off at what is transpiring here, from where we sit.

Collectively, it gives the impression that Edmonton is OK with losing. That the players are accepting of another loss.

It’s a bad look, IMO.