In an Edmonton Oilers news and rumors update, Connor McDavid is one assist away from 100 on the season. Leon Draisaitl scored his 40th goal of the campaign, and Cavin Pickard has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he’s a capable backup goaltender for the postseason. But, not everything is golden in Edmonton. Corey Perry snapped on Evander Kane during Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames and the assumption is some friction isn’t going away when it comes to Kane’s on-ice mistakes.
McDavid at 99 Assists
With the 4-2 win over the Flames on Saturday, McDavid notched his 99th assist on the season. He almost reached 100 when he and Zach Hyman had a 2-on-0 and they overpassed the puck in an attempt to try and fool the goaltender. They essentially out-fooled themselves, each being too unselfish.
While McDavid might have been guilty of passing on the play (one that Hyman would typically finish), he will get to 100 assists on the season and become one of few players in NHL history to do so. McDavid has fallen a bit behind in the scoring race, now at 130 points to Nikita Kucherov’s 136.
Draisaitl Hits 40 Goals and 100 Points
Leon Draisaitl is also having another amazing season. On Saturday he hit the 40-goal marker and notched 100 points on the year, becoming one of only 14 players to have at least five seasons with those totals on their NHL resume. His numbers continue to climb as the playoff approach and that’s good news for the Oilers as both he and McDavid have gotten extremely hot at the right time.
One of the big offseason questions will be what to do with Draisaitl’s contract negotiations. To prevent those talks from becoming a looming distraction next season, the Oilers will aim to secure him to a new deal this summer. It’s anticipated that his next deal could fetch him an annual salary ranging between $13 million and $14 million.
Perry Snaps on Kane During Win Over Flames
Network footage recently captured another incident of a teammate criticizing Evander Kane while on the Oilers bench, marking the second such occurrence in a short span. This time, it was veteran Corey Perry expressing frustration with Kane’s on-ice awareness during Saturday night’s game. Perry appeared visibly upset, chastising Kane for an apparent errant pass that led to a turnover in front of the net.
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The heated exchange was captured by Sportsnet, with former teammate and hockey analyst Kevin Bieksa noting that Perry’s outburst was uncharacteristic, indicating potential ongoing issues with Kane’s behavior on the ice. It’s unfortunate timing consider that line of Perry, Kane, and Ryan McLeod was just starting to gain momentum.
The good news is that coach Kris Knoblauch said the two players spoke ahead of the third period and hashed it out. Still, there has to be a little concern as just weeks earlier, cameras also captured a heated exchange between Kane and Leon Draisaitl, suggesting a pattern of tension within the Oilers’ locker room regarding Kane’s play.
Pickard Looks Ready to Go for the Playoffs
After making 33 stops in Saturday’s 4-2 win, Calvin Pickard talked about the character in the locker room and the will to win that the team has as the regular season winds down. One of the questions was how Pickard would hold up as the season came to a close and with a 12-6-0 record, a goals-against average of 2.38, and a save percentage of 0.913, he’s maintained his solid numbers.
There is little doubt now that he is ready to play the backup role in the playoffs and should be just fine. He has been a pleasant surprise for the team and he’ll play a critical role in allowing Stuart Skinner to get the rest he might need if the Oilers go deep into the postseason.