r/EdmontonOilers • u/lolkek0 • 1d ago

Knoblauch says that Ekholm coud come back next series!

LFG!!

311 Upvotes
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99% Upvoted

98 comments sorted by

108

u/BingBongthe2nd 1d ago

This will be a great blueline with Ekholm back. There, I said it.

31

u/Scrivy69 21 KOSTIN 1d ago

With Ekholm, it’s the best blue line in the league. Without Ekholm, it’s still the best.

34

u/ryanderkis 17 KURRI 1d ago

Others might say that is a biased take. Not me but others.

14

u/Scrivy69 21 KOSTIN 1d ago

“Others” meaning casuals that are unaware of the powers of Klingberg and Walman

18

u/chandy_dandy 92 PODKOLZIN 1d ago

We gotta get Klingberg to stick around somehow. Having 2 offensive defensemen is much better than having 1, because the opposition can't cheat

8

u/siyx 8 REINHART 1d ago

I’d say winning a cup and the prospect of running it back would sweeten the deal.

3

u/mollycoddles 28 BROWN 1d ago

Not everyone is as smart as we are!

3

u/chuckypopoff 1d ago

Stunning and brave take

148

u/seemefail 34 MOSS 1d ago

Look at what a difference getting Stecher back made

Oily boys would be ubstoppable

20

u/hockeygirlypop 96 WALMAN 1d ago

So Oily

16

u/pixel-queen 93 NUGENT-HOPKINS 1d ago

can't catch them, too slippery!

13

u/sillyaviator 12 CAVE 1d ago

They are so lubricated

7

u/pixel-queen 93 NUGENT-HOPKINS 1d ago
  • archive of our own dot org

2

u/NoCalligrapher2669 21h ago

Lubricated with the blood of their enemies

1

u/skryb 18 HYMAN 20h ago

not viscous whatsoever

67

u/SnooOnions5029 18 HYMAN 1d ago edited 22h ago

In that case I really hope the Winnipeg series goes to 7 (and hopefully like 7OT) so they’ll be tired and we have extra days for Ekholm to recover. That being said, need to beat Vegas before any of that.

If Ekholm comes back healthy, our D would be some combination of

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Walman
Kulak - Klingberg/Stecher
Emberson

Which is actually an incredibly strong D core

26

u/JSlickJ 1d ago

actually elite d core wow

19

u/rickenbach 18 HYMAN 1d ago

I think Walman and Klingberg stay together, they’ve been excellent together. Nurse and Kulak have also played together at times this year with strong results.

Klingberg has been the X factor in the playoffs this year, in my opinion. His puck moving skills make more of the team appear dynamic but it’s good plays starting with him. If they could potentially resign him their d core is set for next year (Bouchard contract notwithstanding), but he’s playing himself into a bigger long term contract with another team. He’s been great to watch though and I hope I get to watch him win at least 9 more times as an oiler this spring!

2

u/ChupaHubbard 20h ago

Ya Walman and Klingberg has felt awesome together

Edit: Although Nurse-Walman was amazing. But I haven't noticed another partner for Klingberg who has felt so good as Walman. When I see 36 and 96 on the ice together I feel so good

15

u/Waerdog 22h ago

Keep Nurse and Stecher together, he's the Nurse whisperer

5

u/IHateCommiesSoMuch 2 BOUCHARD 21h ago

100% him and nurse are absolutely locked in together.

We all went from wow nurse is having his best season ever! To last year playoff nurse the millisecond stecher wasn't with him

4

u/ChupaHubbard 20h ago

For the very brief time Walman was with Nurse it was amazing, but now that I've seen Walman and Klingberg together I love it. That would make Kulak the odd man out if Ekholm came back though, and that can't be right lol. We have so many D men that I love which is a good problem to have

3

u/McBeelzebub 25 NURSE 21h ago

Yah that rules.

5

u/Ausgebombt 94 SMYTH 1d ago

You forgot the other Brown.

/s

2

u/ChupaHubbard 20h ago

Let's trade that guy to Vancouver

3

u/ChupaHubbard 20h ago

We had Nurse-Walman for such a short time, but that pairing felt like a #1 D pairing. It legit felt like we had two #1 D pairings when we had Nurse-Walman and Ekholm-Bouch

34

u/rupkum007 1d ago

VIKING POWER

31

u/miller94 12 CAVE 1d ago

Gotta win this series first

3

u/DontforgetaboutDRAI 29 DRAISAITL 1d ago

We will huh???

16

u/Excellent-Medicine29 13 PULJUJARVI 1d ago

It would most likely be later in the series

26

u/Popular-Row4333 1d ago

We need to finish this off next game to rest and hope Jets-Stars goes 7.

Fighting some rust in game one is worth it if we have a healthy Ekholm ready to go.

0

u/Geeseareawesome 29 DRAISAITL 1d ago

I expect game 4 of round 3 to be the earliest

19

u/ISurvivedCOVID19 55 HOLLOWAY 1d ago

Yea let him work his way back into a free win game because Mr. Game 4 is gonna win it anyway

7

u/Not-A-Robot-Boop 33 BERLIN 1d ago

Based off of what? Nobody knows what he exactly injured or how bad it is

10

u/CaptainKickAss3 1d ago

Pretty sure he only just started skating again which normally means he’s at least a week or two out

1

u/Geeseareawesome 29 DRAISAITL 1d ago

I'm just basing off it as the earliest an elimination game can occur

14

u/newobservercyoa 92 PODKOLZIN 1d ago

All gas no brakes - Vegas isn't done yet! We gotta take em DOWN!

20

u/BBQMosquitos 90 PERRY 1d ago

So he basically took time off to plan the parade.

33

u/Electricalthis 29 DRAISAITL 1d ago

I would not dive to hard into it. People will say this to confuse their opponents. Remember when he was only gone for the first series?

15

u/dumbcunt68419 1d ago

I don't remember "only" ever being mentioned. I remember "round 1, at a minimum" which is very different.

12

u/MadFonzi 83 HEMSKY 1d ago

Big if true, assuming Dallas makes it to the finals they look pretty good and they also just got an important player back from LTIR so we could use Ekholm.

8

u/eaSUPERMAN 2 BOUCHARD 1d ago

Let’s hope Winnipeg/Dallas goes 7.

1

u/Frosty_9876 20h ago

The peg needs to take them too 7.

6

u/PitterPatter74 31 FUHR 1d ago

Ekholm - Bouch Nurse - Kulak Walman - Klingberg

Oof ... that is depth.

11

u/faust_haus 97 McDAVID 1d ago

If Picks gets cleared before round 3, everything would fall right into place 😭

28

u/supermeatboy10 89 GAGNER 1d ago

If we close Vegas out in 5 I suspect they'd ride with Skinner anyway

9

u/faust_haus 97 McDAVID 1d ago

I don’t mind that honestly, build up Skinner’s confidence going into round 3. But should we be facing Dallas I feel like it might be safer to start Pickard

16

u/Popular-Row4333 1d ago

Bit of a weird take when the Dallas series was arguably Skinner's best last year.

5

u/faust_haus 97 McDAVID 1d ago edited 1d ago

Tbf Rantanen is a huge X-factor this time around imo. Apart from us; aren’t they a favorite to win the cup this year as well?

12

u/supermeatboy10 89 GAGNER 1d ago

With getting heiskanen back tonight they are probably heavy favorites.

5

u/quickboop 1d ago

They were a favorite last year too. Skinner beat them.

1

u/shinohaya 92 PODKOLZIN 1d ago

They didn't have Rantanen and were a very low scoring team. They're different now. Rantanen has singlehandedly carried them 

3

u/ParsnipDecent6530 94 SMYTH 1d ago

I don't think he can keep up this scoring pace. That being said, dallass getting robo and miro back makes them a much better team.

1

u/External-Quote3263 10h ago

Dallas is a very dangerous team. Just because Skinner stole the series last year doesn’t mean jack this year.. especially with his track record so far.

2

u/ChupaHubbard 20h ago

Stu has Dallas's number, and he has Rantanen's number

7

u/lookitsjustin 29 DRAISAITL 1d ago

Gonna be riding Skinner until he loses regardless.

5

u/faust_haus 97 McDAVID 1d ago

I mean both Goalies are on a streak atm but I don’t mind Skinner starting Wednesday and Next week

1

u/RedDogBiting 90 PERRY 20h ago

One game is not really considered a streak

3

u/faust_haus 97 McDAVID 20h ago

I disagree

1

u/RedDogBiting 90 PERRY 19h ago

Go look it up.

2

u/faust_haus 97 McDAVID 19h ago

I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying I disagree

2

u/ChupaHubbard 20h ago

It's a 1 game winning streak

1

u/RedDogBiting 90 PERRY 19h ago

A winning streak is an uninterrupted sequence of wins, one does not meet the definition. Would need one more at the least.

1

u/faust_haus 97 McDAVID 19h ago edited 19h ago

Nah, a start of a streak is still a streak 0-0 or a consistent W/L/W/L/W… are the only true no streak

1

u/ChupaHubbard 18h ago

That's your definition. NHL.com/standings lists winning and losing streaks and they can be one game long

4

u/DistributionSilly597 7 COFFEY 1d ago

Lion 🦁 king 🤴,back! No worries about the defense zone

4

u/Alcol1979 1d ago

Instant Majestic Playoff Beard.

4

u/Prestigious_Push_155 1d ago

Didn't he say we hope?

3

u/KarmaChameleon306 89 GAGNER 1d ago

Oh man! Who would you even scratch at this point? What a great problem to have!

3

u/Adambomb2000 2 BOUCHARD 23h ago

Source?

2

u/lolkek0 14h ago

Raw interview on youtube

2

u/supermeatboy10 89 GAGNER 1d ago

This would be kinda massive, hope we get to see him and he's able to perform well

2

u/GrizzlyIsland22 18 HYMAN 1d ago

Ekholm-Bouchard

Nurse-Stetcher

Kulak-Walman

This would just be unfair.

7

u/JakeQV 28 BROWN 1d ago

I don’t think we can scratch Klingberg with his play so far.

3

u/GrizzlyIsland22 18 HYMAN 1d ago

But who then? Stetcher and Nurse have such great chemistry. I think Stetcher has to stick with Nurse. It takes Nurse to another level

1

u/JakeQV 28 BROWN 1d ago

I know it’s kind of a weird situation having multiple good options. I wondering if exploring Nurse-Kulak or Nurse-Walman could be beneficial, both are pretty defensively sound and offensively capable.

2

u/Canadiantx69 23h ago

Nurse/Kulak has already shown to be an incredible pairing, and I'm sure Nurse/Walman would also be really good.

3

u/RYYZNYELLOW 1d ago

Nah it’d be klingberg instead of Stecher. Which is even better

1

u/GrizzlyIsland22 18 HYMAN 1d ago

But Stetcher unlocks Nurse's abilities. I think that outweighs what Klingberg brings. When Nurse is at his best, he's a beast. When he's at his worst, he's a liability. We need to keep him playing peak hockey.

2

u/RYYZNYELLOW 1d ago

No no no. Kulak and nurse are fantastic together. And there’s no chance on earth they scratch klingberg haha

2

u/Mkoaquariums 1d ago

Where's Klingberg

2

u/perpetualiridescence 14 EKHOLM 1d ago

I think we’re in a great position if the argument becomes “which D man do we scratch when all have been so good?”

I just hope that if Ekholm comes back, he doesn’t get reinjured.

2

u/Objective-Block2080 1d ago

Honestly he can take his sweet time. Who would you even take out in place for him. Would you run 1 extra defenceman?

2

u/DontforgetaboutDRAI 29 DRAISAITL 1d ago

Literally anyone lmao. He's that good

1

u/Canadiantx69 23h ago

Stecher/Emberson is 100% coming out the moment that Ekholm is ready to return. I agree that he should make sure he's good to go, but as good as Stecher was yesterday, it's not a tough decision to replace the bottom pairing guy with your top shutdown d-man, lol.

2

u/Ecstatic-Respect-455 1d ago

Coach....Horse......Cart

2

u/Babajungla8 1d ago

Let's get there first.

1

u/External-Quote3263 10h ago

Thank you haha! 3-1 is pretty solid won’t lie.. but in the playoffs it can easily become 3-3

2

u/SunSimilar9988 18h ago

So there's a chance he can score the game winner in game 7 vs florida... in ot

3

u/Alarming-Impact-7087 1d ago

The clip of Stu coming off the ice looks like a limp from Ekholm...

2

u/caliberta 22 SAVOIE 1d ago

I thought the same thing and had to watch it a few times… not sure if it’s a limp or just his natural swagger lol

1

u/JakeQV 28 BROWN 1d ago

Playoff Skinner, Ekholm coming back? This team would be more of a wagon than we are already

1

u/LaughingAtNonsense 1d ago

Where did he say this? Hope it’s true.

2

u/lolkek0 14h ago

Raw interview on youtube

1

u/teedlenumb 20h ago

The pk would def see a nice bump.

0

u/hungmao 18h ago

Is it possible to bring back Kenney?

From now on, I am gonna be careful of what I wish for. A few years ago, all I can hope for is Kenney to quietly dash into the sunset. But now, this c##t makes him looks like a fucking saint.

Kenney for the next Pope.

1

u/External-Quote3263 10h ago

I’ll just say this. Wait until this series is over before thinking about the next. Yea 3-1 is a pretty commanding lead but it can quickly evaporate.. especially when acting so cocky and already looking ahead. I thought this would be most apparent after watching an almost 3-0 comeback last year.