4 days ago
Why this Edmonton Oilers star deserves to shine on the biggest stage: 9 Things
It is the dog days of August.
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Some people think that is a baseball term that describes that jockeying for position in the standings during the sweltering summer. In actual fact, it is a phrase dating back to Roman times and has more to do with the stars than sports.
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Although for one Edmonton Oilers star in particular, August has turned out to be a hopeful celestial event indeed.
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9. Barring injury, Leon Draisaitl will easily surpass a milestone that all but guarantees his spot in The Hockey Hall of Fame, if it is not already. Draisaitl is just forty-four points away from 1,000 NHL regular season games.
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8. I tend not to comment on player's personal lives. They share enough of themselves already. But on the occasion of Draisaitl's wedding, I did reflect on how startlingly short of a time it seems since Edmonton drafted the young man. My, how time does fly.
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7. Draisaitl and Connor McDavid will break another long-standing Edmonton Oilers record this season. One of them may even break in in Game One. Both men are tied with the great Glenn Anderson with seventy-two game winning goals in franchise history.
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6. One young Edmonton Oiler who I will have an eye on this fall will be Beau Akey. Taken 56 th overall in the 2023 draft, injuries have set back the talented blueliner. But he is finally 100%. He will not make the big club out of camp. But a full season in Bakersfield should tell the team exactly what they've got. Can he develop into a two-way, bottom-pairing D-man?
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5. Another young guy to watch but who is not a prospect anymore is Noah Philp. The biggest season of his life is ahead of him. In a fifteen-game audition in the NHL, the right-shot center showed he could handle the defensive responsibilities at this level. But can he crack a lineup bent on a Stanley Cup? That is a different challenge. Philp is now also waiver eligible.
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4. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation is sinking $21m into its Every Kid Deserves a Shot program. It is a terrific initiative in that it helps kids in all socio-economic situations participate in a sport that is increasingly expensive. I will never forget how much time and money my own Dad gave so that I had a shot. Not all families can manage that, which is a real shame. Well done.
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3. Connor McDavid is more than entitled to dictate the timing of his decision on a possible extension. But while I 100% defend the player's rights in situations like that, it also opens the door to some of the wild speculation you have probably read the past few weeks, from a trade to L.A. to how his 'best days may be behind him'. You might write that in stuff August when there is nothing else to print. One assumes his agent warned him of that side-effect.
