Ken Holland has found himself in a tricky situation halfway through his first season at the helm of the Edmonton Oilers.
His big-picture plan is to retool the organization, through the draft. There’s a core here of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Oscar Klefbom, and others along with a nice prospect pool in the minors. But there’s still a ways to go, and the most prudent way to add talent is through drafting and developing.
But there’s also a team and a fanbase desperate for playoff hockey. There’s a building that isn’t being sold out on a nightly basis because fans aren’t interested in paying top dollar to see a team that isn’t winning. There are also two superstars in McDavid and Draisaitl doing everything they can to drag this team to the playoffs.
The Oilers are on the bubble. Their hot start has come to an end and a cold stretch in December has the team right on the cusp of the playoffs. It’s pretty much a coin flip at this point. That, of course, is if Holland doesn’t do anything before the deadline. If he makes a big addition or two, the likelihood of the team making the playoffs obviously becomes a lot higher.
So, what do you do now? Do you stick with the original plan and think about the big picture? Or do you lean into what’s right in front of you and try to make the playoffs?
The Oilers are wary of trading picks. There’s no guarantee all work out, but, the more lottery tickets you have, the better. They didn’t have a second- or third-rounder in 2015; their 2016 first-rounder is estranged from the organization; didn’t have a second-rounder in 2017; nothing in round three-to-five in 2018; and six picks last year. That’s one of the reasons they passed on Taylor Hall — not wanting to give up two more high selections.
Friedman went on to make another Oilers-related point, this time in regards to McDavid and Draisaitl’s frustration…
You can see the frustration on Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid as the rest of the Pacific catches the Oilers. St. Louis players in particular noticed in-game how upset Draisaitl was by missed chances in a 2-1 loss to the Blues on Dec. 17. They thought it really affected him.
So there are a couple of things going on here.
First, we have Friedman suggesting that Holland is skeptical of giving up draft picks, which isn’t all that surprising, given the fact we know his priority here is building the Oilers up for long-term success. When Peter Chiarelli came in, he was trigger happy, dealing away everything in his sight in order to fill what he viewed as primary needs for the organization. That won’t happen with Holland.
Second, we have the classic McDavid and Draisaitl are frustrated analysis. I mean, there’s no doubt that they are. They’re first and second in the league in points and they’re dragging the team on their backs to the best of their ability and they might not have anything to show for it at the end of the year. No, this isn’t McDavid and Draisaitl want out of Edmonton but there is merit to them being frustrated with potentially missing the playoffs for the third year in a row.
If the next general manager comes in and tries to remedy the Oilers with a quick fix, things will only get worse. Buyouts will worsen the cap situation long-term. Trading prospects and draft picks for short-term solutions will continue to hemorrhage the organization of depth. Being active in free agency will sink the Oilers deeper into cap hell.
The only solution is patience. It’ll take time, but they have to get it right this time.
That hasn’t changed. After 2020-21, the Oilers have a much neater salary cap situation that’ll afford them flexibility in free agency. They’ll also likely have a handful of internally-developed, young talent establishing itself on the roster. If they’re patient, they can continue to stock the farm this year and continue working towards a very deep farm system, something we haven’t seen since, well, I don’t even know.
But is being patient that easy? Can you tell McDavid and Draisaitl to be patient? Can you ask them to drag this roster all season to a position in which they’re in playoff contention at the trade deadline and then stand pat, hoping they can do a few more months of heavy lifting? That’s a big ask.
I can understand why Holland doesn’t want to deal draft picks away at this stage, but hopefully, he can find some kind of middle-ground, because standing pat and giving McDavid and Draisaitl nothing to work with down the stretch isn’t ideal.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
