{"id":435451,"date":"2023-12-19T14:10:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T19:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=435451"},"modified":"2023-12-19T14:10:48","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T19:10:48","slug":"nhl-rumours-edmonton-oilers-and-los-angeles-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/12\/19\/nhl-rumours-edmonton-oilers-and-los-angeles-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Welcome to another edition of NHL Rumours! The buzz around the league continues, as coaches are getting dismissed but those teams are playing better afterwards. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/fleurma01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-19_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc-Andre Fleury<\/a> did not get the proper send-off he deserved in his potential final game in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/penguins\/\" target=\"_self\">Pittsburgh<\/a>. Speaking of goalies, the carousel is going fast around the league in that regard. Today\u2019s rumours focus on the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">NHL Rumours<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Edmonton Oilers<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>Rumour: Elliote Friedman on 32 Thoughts <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FriedgeHNIC\/status\/1736768008154992647\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">discusses<\/a> what the Oilers will do with their goaltending<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The hottest topic has been the Edmonton Oilers and for good reason. This is a team capable of contending and having the two best players in the world helps. However, the team got off to a disastrous start and ended up firing Jay Woodcroft because of it. They\u2019ve managed to right the ship recently and have gone 10-5 since the coaching change. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/skinnst01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-19_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stuart Skinner<\/a> has also turned a corner and has been the goalie that has helped backstop the team to those ten wins. However, the team still would like to address the goaltending position. It appeared like it was a matter of time before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/campbja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-19_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jack Campbell<\/a> got brought back up, but he has not played well in the AHL. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">He has lost his <a href=\"https:\/\/theahl.com\/stats\/player\/4465\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">last three starts<\/a> and has posted goals-against averages of 5.08, 4.01, and 4.00. In addition, Campbell has failed to have a save percentage above .900 in those starts and the hit streak appears to have come to an end. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Skinner can shoulder the load for the most part but having him not run out of gas is the priority. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Los Angeles Kings<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><span class=\"s1\">Rumour: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/w\/weekeke01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-19_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Weekes<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KevinWeekes\/status\/1736768383817810325?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">discusses the goalie situation in Los Angeles<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The next set of NHL Rumours keeps us in the Pacific Division and regards the same position. Los Angeles has been one of the better teams in the Western Conference and is getting the proper goaltending. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/talboca01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-19_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cam Talbot<\/a> has been everything you could ask for in a free-agent signing. He has the <a href=\"https:\/\/moneypuck.com\/goalies.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fourth-lowest goals-against average<\/a> (2.02), eighth-lowest save percentage (.928) and the sixth-best goals saved above expected (10.9). Furthermore, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/copleph01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-19_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pheonix Copley<\/a> had also been good but has been dealt a big blow. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Copley will miss time but will return at some point this season. Between him and Talbot, Los Angeles has the seventh-best save percentage and has been a key reason for the Kings success. Weekes says they are looking for help to get by before Copley returns. It\u2019s a wise decision, as Talbot is creeping up there in age and you want him for a playoff run. Keeping him fresh and charged up is huge for them as we advance. However, adding does have its downfalls. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Kings are up against the salary cap and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/a\/arvidvi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-19_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Viktor Arvidsson<\/a> is looming as a return. He comes with a hefty price tag and having that salary cap on the roster makes it hard to add anything significant. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The goalie carousel continues as numerous teams are potentially going to upgrade in the crease. Add the Kings to that list of teams to watch. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Main Photo: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to another edition of NHL Rumours! The buzz around the league continues, as coaches are getting dismissed but those teams are playing better afterwards. Marc-Andre Fleury did not get the proper send-off he deserved in his potential final game in Pittsburgh. Speaking of goalies, the carousel is going fast around the league in that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4194,"featured_media":435452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4321,23,2,4547,24,4548],"tags":[5540,7166],"class_list":["post-435451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rumours","category-oilers","category-featured","category-hockey","category-kings","category-nhl","tag-edmonton-oilers-rumours","tag-los-angeles-kings-rumours"],"modified_by":"Alec Roberson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}