#this post may have been inspired by JJK season 2

[lanymme]

Just had the most insane shounen girlyaoi brain explosion for Younger Texas/Lappland.

You know how Texas is quiet while Lappland is actually personable, outgoing, and charismatic? God, that little detail suggests such a perfect shounen enemy backstory, like some real Jojo’s Part 1 shit.

Like. Okay. Imagine when they were younger and living under the same roof.

Young Lappland is a skilled fighter, ruthless, talkative, swaggering: easily beloved by everyone, surpassing everyone’s expectations. The perfect mafioso, who’s worked so hard to meet the expectations of an heir, grown so well out of the troubled, excessively soft-hearted child she used to be—but there’s some dark, swirling discontent in her, a disgust, unvoiced, vague and violent that she keeps trapped behind her smile.

The fact that nobody else notices it just makes her feel all the more disdain for them.

And then Texas arrives—quiet, unwilling to participate in all the dick-measuring and bluster, uninvested in the Mafia’s idea of itself, uninterested in making connections—but she’s so clearly naturally talented that everyone respects her anyway.

She doesn’t have to do any of the work to make people like her. She doesn’t have to play the perfect gangster. She doesn’t even care. And everyone *still* loves her.

And Lappland just hates her hates her hates her. But she’s also jealous, and she admires her, and she connects with her like she connects with nobody else, and she also learns from her, they fight so well side-by-side, they balance each other’s temperaments, and Texas *sees* her, and Lappland hates her, hates her, loves her.

They have a special connection to one another. They spend a lot of time together.

But there’s a rift there, too. Because Texas, she’s upended Lappland’s life, made herself the center of it, and Lappland kind of resents her for it. But Lappland doesn’t seem to have made any sort of indelible impact on her at all. And she can’t stand it.

And as Lappland’s hatred for Siracusa and what they do and what they are and how they think grows, as she starts to get wilder and more violent and more trapped and hopeless, more bitter, more resentful of the unaffected Texas, her facade starts to crack, and the rifts run between them, pushing them farther apart.

And then Texas leaves.

And Lappland starts to spiral, a little bit. She still performs perfectly, but she’s a bit of a loose cannon. Scary. Not “who she was.” All she can look forward too is the next time she sees Texas again.

And then, years later, Texas abandons her obligation, and Lappland betrays her duty, and she gets her duel.

And Texas wins.

But of course, all it seems to mean to her is that she can leave.

She just looks back once, at Lappland, bleeding on the ground, in the rain, the Texas estate on fire behind her, staring up at her with madness in her eyes, and she turns and walks into the forest.

[phyrestartr]

Good evening! Hope you’re doing well and everything is good and sexxxyy~

I discovered your blog a few weeks ago and have been meaning to send a message for the l o n g e s t time, but sadly, it was finals season for me at my uni 🫠 (I survived and passed my shit but jfc).

N e ways, you are an amazing M/GN reader x character author and your writing, style, and seamless grasp of drama x tension x romance x smut is absolutely scrumdiddlyumptious 🤌🏼 😙 like gurl, I started with your Divine Favor series and I was in the trenches. And your MIGUEL O’ HARA STUFF?! (Immediately followed you). I hadn’t even watched JJK prior to this (only passively engaging thx to the hot anime men), but you pushed me to finally watch it.

I wanted to inquire about 3 things:

1) I saw this being done with your anon ask posts, but may I please be added to the list w a 🚂 pls 🙏🏼😣?

2) I have a tendency to listen to music as I read x reader fics and I was wondering for Divine Favor (or your other Sukuna/Miggy fics) if you had specific songs that helped set the vibe? Personally I thought Generous Palmstroke and Losss by Björk were rlly fitting! Highly recommend and lmk what u think

3) Lastly I’m unsure if you’re taking requests (esp for Toji 👀) but if it’s not much to ask, may I ask for a Toji x shy (downbad) m reader whose incredibly powerful despite his personality. I like the trope of an unassuming character no one expects to be anything managing to surprise/put others in awe or in their place at their prowess and talents. Toji seems like the guy who’d become pleasantly surprised (and a little smitten) with those of strength of equal caliber, so maybe this can take place during a mission against a rather difficult curse or enemy. I’ll give you the liberty to see if it progresses to impromptu smut or maybe a sweet date. For reader’s cursed sorcerer weapon, let’s make it a whip! (Kinky)

This was hella long so have a good evening!

- 🚂

Yo yo! Firstly, I'm glad you survived your finals!! CONGRATULATIONS LET'S GO RISE UP UNI GANG YEEHAW EDUMICATED I remember when I did my finals and I was truly withering away o(--( granted I went to animation school so at least I got to draw ig LOL. BUT WELL DONE, I HOPE YOU CAN REST EASY FOR A BIT!!

YES you are officially dubbed 🚂!

2. YES I listen to music a lot when I write tbh, and sometimes a specific song will influence the entire vibe of a piece/the entire plot. One of my favourite fics I've written (Your Godly Path Leads Back to Him) was inspired by "Western Nights" by Ethel Cain and I could deadass only write that fic when I had that song on lol... For Icarus, I listen to Isabel LaRosa (favorite, older in particular), keshi, Dove Cameron (We Go Down Together), NBSPLV (The Lost Soul Down). Lots of sensual vibe songs mixed with some very quiet romance-y songs at the same time. Those are for the base story at least, but other drabbles I just listen to whatever fits the vibe. I'll check out them song recs too, tysm for the suggestions!! 👀

3. I'LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO!!

Tysm again for the support my dude!! IT'S VERY APPRECIATED ASJDKLFJASLKDJF

[demiesworld]

this is word vomit, me rambling, and basically just saying shit!! at the end i am thanking my followers for helping me reach 1k!!

i started this side-blog back in late april to early may just thinking that this was just going to be a fluke. originally i had only planned to just post more random shit on here, reblog some anime stuff, and just do whatever i wanted. there were times where i was like "im going to delete this blog", "im losing my interest", "this ain't getting me nowhere", just pessimistic thoughts.

that all changed when i started writing for anime. my very first post was a stupid "toman as stupid shit i did in my life" post which garnered some good attention. ppl liked it. then a little bit later i decided to write "tokyo revengers reaction to how you fight" and ppl LOVED IT lol i was so happy reading through the feedback about how the reader was depicted as being badass and strong.

later i got myself more involved into the anime fandom. i started watching demon slayer after a previous co-worker of mine mentioned to me that i should watch it bc it was a good anime. and it is!! demon slayer is one of the most popular animes out there imo. so when i began watching demon slayer i wanted to write content for the demon slayer fandom as well. now originally i wanted to write my first demon slayer fanfic with tengen x reader, but i was already hooked onto season 4 with the hantengu clones and had more motivation to write about them. the hantengu clones x demon!reader thing i wrote, i literally did not expect for it to get any attention. bc i haven't wrote smut like that in FOREVER. literally i thought it would go to shit but i was fucking excited to see it gain over 2.5k notes!!!

now before i got into demon slayer i was watching jjk. but i just never thought of writing for them since i had only ever watched the jjk 0 movie, and season 1. i didn't familiarize myself with the characters and just went with how the fandom portrayed them as. though as soon as season 2 came out with the gojo's past arc i wanted to write some content for them as well.

then... i got lured into the miguel o'hara stan. now i was already a marvel nerd BEFORE i rejoined the anime fandom. i was only watching the marvel films and the tv shows like daredevil, punisher, and loki. when i saw miguel o'hara on the big screen I FELL IN LOVE. not only that but he is voiced by OSCAR FUCKING ISAAC. god i want for this man to yell at me- ANYWAYS LOL UM we're getting off track here!! i went to reading some miguel o'hara fics, watching tiktok edits of this man, looking at fanarts of him, and then i sort of got the inspiration to write some content about him. and i do notice that there is not a LOT of miguel o'hara with a black reader or at the very least with a latin/hispanic reader. so i want to spice things up and contribute to writing things for him.

now mind you all i write my fics with a black reader in my mind!! but i never describe their skin color, their eye color, their weight, i don't describe what they look like bc i want for the reader to feel included!!! i want for the reader to feel as if they are in the story. unless it is stated in my notes that the reader is black, chubby, skinny, etc. then i write as that. but if you read most of my fics there's not really an indication of the reader's race.

so with this blog and through my writing i want to show all writers that you don't have to describe what the reader looks like. that there are ways to avoid describing the reader and to have the reader feel included. inclusivity is my goal here on this site. as someone who is multifandom, i want to bring something to the table and maybe make a change.

to end this all off bc damn this is getting TOO DAMN LONGGG i want to say to all of my followers thank you so much for following me. times have been hard for me, but you know seeing that i have ppl who love my content and my writing makes me happy. honestly it is getting me motivated to get back to writing more again. i hope to give you guys more content, and better up my writing skills in the future. please stick around for more! again thank you babes! i love you all so much!!

♡ with love, demie !

[psychewritesbs]

different anon here but i came across your evil post when i was perusing the tag — i loved seeing your thoughts as someone in the psychology field! i think you only watched the first season (based on the comment of watching 13 eps in 3 days), but if you were to continue watching seasons two and three (and four this summer!) i think you would find that the framing of the catholic church does get a little less "good guys"-y. this is probably in part due to the shift from being a cbs air-on-tv show with season 1, to a paramount+ online streaming show in seasons 2+. it's not a massive difference, to be fair, but they def start discussing some discriminatory aspects of the church, esp in regards to race & a bit in relation to sexuality and views on other religions. there is actually a very interesting plotline in season 3 regarding the catholic church that i would love to see your thoughts on, should you keep watching!

HOLA different anon. THANKS FOR THE ASK!!!! I love nerding out with others about psych. It's my thang.

Ok so, I just finished season 2 and these are my thoughts under el cut'o:

First I want to get this out of the way.

The Leland storyline... you know, where he gets to worm his way into everything that is convenient for the plot? I'm so over him.

I just want to punch him. Mrs. O'Brien and Thomas from Downton Abbey are far better at being cliché villains.

I love cliché machiuvelically tacky evil villains, but I have high standards because of Mexican novelas.

No one can ever trump Soraya Montenegro at being fabulously tacky evil.

Anyways, your comment totally reminded me about how in s1 they address the issue with children in the church and its stance on homophobia. So I love that they continue the theme with the exploration of how the church is racist, and my least favorite--sexist.

I have yet to see beyond the first couple of episodes in season 3, but I can appreciate that the church is framed as not such a good guy after all.

It's just that even if Evil is framing the church in not such a positive light, Evil still frames the Catholic God as "good", and the Catholic Devil as "evil".

At least from what I've seen... perhaps there's more surprises in s3 regarding that idea--the opening has been awfully similar to Westworld's opening since s1 so I get the sense the producers/writers are interested in delivering a similar feast for brainiac types like myself.

Um... ok so... everything comes back to Jujutsu Kaisen 😂.

Feel free to skip this section for more thoughts about the show.

Good vs. Evil

When I said that I preferred morally gray stories, I was specifically thinking about a liveblog post I had written about one of the chapters in the manga Jujutsu Kaisen. I'm not sure if the anon who recommended I watch Evil was thinking along the same lines, or if anon has read my jjk nerderies, but jjk puts a nice twist on the good vs. evil trope that Evil explores.

The mangaka, Gege Akutami, introduced a little symbol that I traced back to William Blake who had taken inspiration from Milton's "Paradise Lost" in his own understanding of the question of good vs. evil.

I haven't looked too deeply into either of their work, so read this with a grain of salt since I also can't confirm the accuracy of what I've read about them online, but I understand they both considered themselves to be Christian men who did not necessarily agree with the traditional interpretation to the problem of good vs. evil.

Regardless of the differences between Christianity and Catholicism, my understanding is that Blake saw "evil" as instinct free from reason, and "good" as reason (instinct may or may not be the right word).

Along the same lines, you have Jung's definition of libido.

Again, it's been years since I've read Jung's collected works, but if I remember correctly, the way Jung spoke of libido was as if it were psychic energy. In other words, unlike Freud, Jung did not necessarily see libido strictly as sexual desire, but rather our aliveness, our will, our desires, our instincts, etc.

Our neuroses, Jung thought, were often the cause of conflicts in the flow of said energy, like say, curbing your desires with reason.

From this perspective "evil" is not necessarily, you know... stereotypical selfish villain who is evil for the sake of evil evil...

... but rather the expression of libido unchecked by reason for self-serving purposes.

This all relates to jjk because jjk explores the idea that the stronger the ego sense of self, the stronger the character, which inevitably means that the character in question is selfish af and has no regard for others.

This is where it gets complicated because... how to say... is it truly evil for Kristen to have killed that serial killer dude when she was doing it to protect herself and her family?

I don't have the answer to it. All I can say is that Kristen had an impulse and acted on it without applying much reason outside of "I am doing it to protect my daughters and I will be careful not to incriminate his wife".

The show, however, explains this away as demonic possession (?) which doesn't sit right with me because it reduces her impulse to something "dark" and "undesirable" that only God (reason) can heal.

But like... reason devoid of instinct is basically artificial intelligence. In the end, you need them both. That is why people like Jung and Blake and even Buddhism advocate for a marriage of opposites, or walking a middle path.

It's really complicated and I feel like I am oversimplifying the whole thing lol. It's like Kant's trolley problem.

Maybe you have some insight about it or some nuance I may be missing that you'd like to share.

Anyways... it is the IRS episode that most felt like what good vs evil is from this Depth Psych perspective. And it kind of sucks because it only got such a brief mention with the Satanist t-shirt guy saying that he likes to do what pleases him as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.

So my over-thinking brain can't get over the fact that Evil still frames the "devil" and "evil" as inherently bad. It reduces the concepts to black and white terminology when there is a lot of nuance to be had.

Evil

That out of the way... I was honestly getting bored with s2, ESPECIALLY with Leland, but the way it ended was so powerful. It's like they were saving the best for last.

Between Kristen's emotional confession and how s3 begins, I think I'm going to keep watching, just probably won't be as invested.

By the way, I LOVE Nun Andrea. What a fun and relatable character.

Ok, that's that. Thanks for reaching out! Looking forward to hearing from you again.

[your-dietician]

Who on Edmonton Oilers' extended NHL roster is likely to be promoted to a "Core 12" spot next season?

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nhl/who-on-edmonton-oilers-extended-nhl-roster-is-likely-to-be-promoted-to-a-core-12-spot-next-season/

Who on Edmonton Oilers' extended NHL roster is likely to be promoted to a "Core 12" spot next season?

Breadcrumb Trail Links

Cult of Hockey

Author of the article:

Bruce McCurdy  •  Edmonton Journal

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) checks Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan McLeod (71) in the third period at Rogers Arena. Oilers won 5-3 on May 4, 2021. Photo by Bob Frid /USA TODAY Sports

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The other day we began our off-season review of Edmonton Oilers’ roster with a detailed look at the club’s “Core 12” players, a group that includes the starting goalie, top two defence pairs, top two forward lines plus third-line centre. While one or two of those spots might be open to debate, I chose the following dozen: 

Lots of holes in this version of the Oilers Core 12, of which no fewer than 8 players (white background) played under expiring contracts in 2021 and are poised to become free agents next month. Of the others, 2 have a year to run on their current pact (blue background), and 2 are locked up long term (orange). Thankfully, that latter category includes both of Edmonton’s “franchise” players.

Let’s look a little further down the line-up this time:

Every skater here played 8 or more NHL games with the Oilers this past season, nobody else played even 1. The list does include a tiny shuffle between the pipes, where mid-season waiver pickup Alex Stalock dressed as a backup goalie a couple of times, but saw no game action. He was on an NHL roster all season long so clearly belongs with this group. Stuart Skinner on the other hand did play an NHL game, but primarily was a core player for Bakersfield Condors so will be considered later.

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Whereas there are tons of pending free agents in the Core 12, the secondary players — including at least 2 at each position — are largely under contract. That’s not necessarily a good thing, especially on a team whose bottom 6 forwards have gotten owned at 5v5 on an annual basis.

Before we slice the chart vertically and review on a position-by-position basis, it’s instructive to do so horizontally and look at them as 6-man units. The first of those — Neal-Turris-Kassian-Russell-Bear-Koskinen — is not only under contract, but for a collective $18.35 million in ’21-22. That’s over $3 million a man. Not too many value pacts to be seen, especially up front where veterans Neal, Turris and Kassian each played only half the season for various reasons, combining for just 9 goals at a cap hit of $10.6 million. And not one of those contracts is expiring. Ouch.

The second set of Shore-McLeod-Archibald-Jones-Bouchard-Stalock at least has the virtue of being inexpensive, to the tune of less than $1 million per. At that level, contracts can be buried in the AHL, making those spots more open to competition.

Just 6 guys on the entire list who don’t have a contract, 2 of them already committed elsewhere. At first blush the other 4 are in deep simply due to the numbers game.

Left wing

Mixed reviews on the big contract-driven trade that brought James Neal to Edmonton in exchange for Milan Lucic. Some saw it as a Ken Holland-inspired miracle, but the net effect to this point is that Edmonton’s cap hit went up, not down. Instead of absorbing $6.0 million per season on Lucic, the Oilers are on the hook for a net $6.5 million, of which $5.75 is Neal’s AAV and the other $750k cap retention on Lucic. Neal came out guns blazing in Oil Country, but since the calendar turned to 2020 has struggled with injury and COVID and scored just 5 goals in 42 games. With 2 years yet to run on that contract and Neal about to turn 34 before camp opens, the Oilers may well be considering a buyout. That would open a little over $3.8 million in cap space the next 2 years, but claw back 50% of that amount in the following 2. This per PuckPedia.com: From the organization’s perspective the buyout option is the one significant advantage of the Neal pact vs. that of Lucic, which was and is virtually buyout-proof. But that only comes into play if the Oilers actually pull the trigger. Best guess here is that they will.

Devin Shore was RFA at season’s end, but has already signed a 2-year extension at $850,000 per.

Tyler Ennis was acquired for a draft pick at the 2020 trade deadline, then signed to a 1-year extension which has run its course. The 31-year-old vet showed some nice offensive flashes, but ultimately scored just 3 times in 30 games while twice clearing waivers and spending plenty of time on the taxi squad. A small forward with no meaningful role on special teams, I’ll speculate Ennis won’t be re-signed a second time.

Joakim Nygard‘s NHL dream was ruined by a badly-broken hand. He has already committed to a 6-year (!) contract back in his native Sweden.

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Centre

Just 3 centres listed in our chart above, though its worth remembering our initial Core 12 had an “extra” centre in Jujhar Khaira, identified as a 3C which by definition is a bottom 6 player. Indeed, Khaira played fewer than 10 minutes all season long with each of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and scarcely more than that with anyone who might identify as a “skill winger”. He’s RFA with a qualifying platform of $1.3 million. We discussed JJK’s situation in the previous post, and also in the podcast associated with this one.

Signed to a 2-year contract on the first day of free agency, Kyle Turris showed plenty off the ice, where he received Edmonton’s nomination for the King Clancy Award for his exemplary work at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. On the ice was another story, however, where he struggled right out of the gate at both ends of the sheet. The would-be 3C soon wound up as a bit player, clearing waivers at one point and playing on the wing on those rare occasions when he got a game. He finished with just 2-3-5 and a team-worst -11 in 27 games. Alas, he still has a year to run at a cap hit of $1.65 million. Oilers could consider buying him out but are more likely to send him to Bakersfield which would allow them to bury $1.125 million and retain “just” $525,000 against the cap. Not impossible he rebounds and makes the club, of course, but that seems the unlikelier outcome from this distance.

Ryan McLeod made terrific strides in 2020-21, first getting some productive time in the Swiss National League before ripping it up in the AHL (28 GP, 14-14-28, and a league-leading +23). That earned him the distinction of an in-season recall to the NHL, the only player in the organization to do so successfully. He got his feet wet with 10 games and 4 more in the playoffs, scoring just 1 point but showing decent promise. McLeod projects to being a #3C in due course, but surely is better pencilled in at 4C next year until such time as he plays his way up the line-up. Shows real promise to be a draft-and-develop success story, a rare bird in this part of the world.

Gaetan Haas was a quirky, fun player to watch with some real defensive utility but zero offence that translated to the NHL. Like Nygard, he’s signed a long-term deal (5 years) back home, in his case Switzerland.

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Right wing

Zack Kassian‘s counting numbers in 2021 were literally that: 1 fight, 2 goals, 3 assists, dash-4, 5 points. His season was limited to just 27 games due to 2 significant injuries. After a monster 2019 riding shotgun with McDavid that saw him score 24-26-50 in 82 games between Jan 01 and Dec 31, he was signed by Holland in 2020 January to a 4-year extension at a whopping $3.2 million AAV. But the wheels came off right away; he’s scored just 4 times in 47 games since the calendar turned to 2020. Now 30, his career is at (another) crossroads. While there are some whispers that eastern-based clubs might be interested on the trade market, one wonders if they might balk at that cap hit. Best guess is that he’ll still be an Oiler come the fall, with Holland foremost among those fervently hoping for a bounceback season.

Josh Archibald was signed in the summer of 2019 to a 1-year-deal, then re-upped for 2 years with a 50% raise that raised his cap hit to $1.5 million. That deal still has a year to run. Oilers fans can expect more of the same fast-skating, hard-hitting, aggressive-penalty killing style Arch has brought to this point, along with maybe 10 goals.

Alex Chiasson came to Edmonton in 2018 at a crossroads, having just won a Stanley Cup but unable to land a contract. He had to come to camp on a professional tryout before winning an NHL minimum pact from the Oil and using it as a springboard to a career-best 22-goal season. Holland signed him to a 2-year extension in the summer of 2019 at a pricier $2.15 million, for which he delivered responsible even-strength play and net-front excellence on the league’s best powerplay, but only 20 goals combined over the 2 years. That pact has now expired and the cap space likely to be used elsewhere, though it’s not impossible he could be brought back at a significantly lower figure. Best guess here? He’s gone.

Patrick Russell has gotten way further than anyone could have expected since he was signed as a college free agent back in 2016, ultimately signing 4 different contracts with the org. He spent parts of the last 3 seasons with the Oilers, appearing in 59 games overall. Alas, the promising offence he showed in the AHL did not survive the trip to Canada, and he remains stuck on 0 career goals. The Dane was OK-ish as an occasional fill-in on the 4th line, but with his latest 1-year pact expired it seems likely the org will look elsewhere to fill his spot. Almost the definition of a “replacement-level player”.

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Left defence

Kris Russell has been an Oiler for 5 years now, the last 4 of them at a $4 million AAV. His ice time dwindled the last 2 seasons, and he appeared in just 35 games in 2021. Partly due to expansion draft requirements, the organization saw fit to sign him to a 1-year extension at less than a third of his old cap hit. That’s a more appropriate price tag for a guy who projects to a part-time third-pairing role. The diminutive 34-year-old still has defensive chops but has never excelled at the transition game.

Caleb Jones still has a year to run on the 2-year, $850k AAV pact he signed early in 2020. At the time it projected as a value contract, but a year later the player has struggled to make the next step and optimism about his future is waning in some quarters, though not in others. He had a great chance to step into a second pairing role but instead stepped into his coach’s doghouse on occasion. He remains a promising young player who may well be targeted by Seattle Kraken in the upcoming expansion draft.

William Lagesson got an extended look on a defence-first pairing with Adam Larsson. He played a robust game and won his share of physical battles, but brought very little in terms of offensive or even transition game. The Oilers averaged just 16.34 shots per hour that he was on the ice at 5v5, by far the lowest among the 712 NHL skaters who played at least 120 minutes. (Teammate Haas was next at 19.63, over 20% (!) higher.) He’s halfway through the 2-year pact he signed last summer, but as he enters his Draft +8 season it’s surely fair to conclude “limited upside”.

Slater Koekkoek signed a 1-year deal late in free agency, won some fans with his early play before getting injured. He’s poised to become UFA again, even as many folks have penciled his name in as a likely returnee. This observer is less sure about that, given the organization’s depth at left defence. Detailed write-up here.

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Right defence

Finally, a chance to discuss a player who has a legitimate shot to move from this group into the Core 12 next season. That would be Ethan Bear, who was a top 4 defender in his impressive rookie season in 2019-20 who found himself in a third-pairing role on many nights in 2021. Both guys who were ahead of him, Tyson Barrie and Larsson, are currently UFA. Only one of them is pat to be back — I’m guessing Larsson — with Bear well-positioned to step back into his old pairing with Darnell Nurse. He has a year to run on a bridge deal that carries a $2.0 million cap hit.

Evan Bouchard also projects as a Core 12 type in the future, though it’s likely he will first be eased into a third pairing role. He was blocked by all 3 of Barrie, Larsson and Bear in 2021, and played just 14 games in what many saw as a failed developmental opportunity.

Goaltenders

Mikko Koskinen had a hugely disappointing season that failed to build on what was a fairly strong 2019-20. He was OK for a while in the backup role, but struggled mightily any time he got more regular ice time. He definitively lost the #1 job to Mike Smith, whose base salary was just a third of Koskinen’s. That $4.5 million cap hit still has a year to run, leading some to speculate that the Oilers might buy him out. If they try to move him in a trade it will come with a cost of a sweetener, cap retention, and/or a hefty pact coming the other way. Detailed write-up here.

Alex Stalock was plucked off the waiver wire at mid-season, but came with an ongoing health issue and spent plenty of time in a non-roster position before eventually being activated as a third goalie. He played no games. He’s cheap ($785k), experienced, and might battle for a backup job in the fall, though he’s more likely to stay as the #3 man in the depth chart. That’s problematic in an organization that has 3 promising young goaltenders with North American pro contracts and limited places to play.

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Summary

19 players in all discussed here, a meaty post to say the least. Primary takeaways are three-fold:

too many weighty contracts in the lower echelon of the roster, and no easy path to clear them out that doesn’t leave residual dead cap space like buyouts or cap retention.

too few players on the list who project into the Core 12 in the near or intermediate term. I count just Bear in the former category, with Bouchard, Jones and McLeod (as the token forward) in the latter. Given all the potential vacancies due to free agency, internal help still seems to be a fair ways off.

including the Core 12 plus those detailed here, just 2 players (McLeod and Bouchard) on the NHL roster will still be on their Entry Level Contract in ’21-22.

Of course the club has other players in the pipeline who were outside the NHL last season, including several promising ones. We’ll dive into this last group next time.

Recently at the Cult of Hockey

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McCURDY: Holland has a big problem with Oilers’ depth lines

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McCURDY: The next few weeks will define Holland as Oilers GM

Follow me on Twitter @BruceMcCurdy

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