It’s my Parting Shot for my Monday Musings…..

I’m beginning to wonder if I should re-think my least favourite N-H-L team – or should I say, my most detested team?! You’d think the Edmonton Oilers, supposedly the next Stanley Cup winner out of the Canadian squads, could beat the Montreal Canadiens yesterday! Of course not!! I think my hate for them is equal now!!

Count me as someone who thinks the Oil’s trade with Pittsburgh was a good one. Tristan Jarry was a champion between the pipes in Edmonton before! Yes, I know that was in the W-H-L, junior hockey, not the N-H-L, The Show! But, I think that comfort and familiarity will serve Jarry well, so long as Edmonton remembers to at least try and play some defence in front of him! Having said that, Oilers fans need to understand that Calvin Pickard wouldn’t have gotten Jarry back in a deal, hence that’s why it’s not a Tristan Jarry-Stuart Skinner goaltending tandem in Edmonton!!

The other big trade from Friday is a classic team on the rise helping themselves out now compared to a team trying to rebuild and looking ahead to the future. Just like in Edmonton, where the fans are grousing, the so-called supporters in Vancouver don’t feel they got enough back from the Wild. I think the Canucks did a boffo job, receiving three former first round draft picks – all aged 25 or younger – for a guy who wasn’t going to be a Canuck past the spring of 2027 and wasn’t able to hoist the whole, underachieving group on his back and help them be a contender! Quinn Hughes does look good in a Minnesota jersey!!

With that said, my Winnipeg Jets need to pull up their socks! Last season’s President’s Trophy winners currently sit four points out of a Western Conference wild-card playoff berth with two games in hand on both Edmonton and San Jose. Getting Connor Hellebuyck back, a little early, from an injury is big. Now they need some secondary scoring to help out the big line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi! Make it happen G-M Kevin Cheveldayoff!!

That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk – and it turned out nice again!