Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl‘s brutally honest post-game interview after their 4-3 loss to Calgary turned quite a few heads and it also caught the attention of one of hockey’s most plugged-in insiders.
Speaking on the 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman offered his take on Draisaitl’s rare public criticism of both the Oilers’ coaching staff and goaltending. He suggested that the German forward’s pointed remarks about goaltender Tristan Jarry may have been intentional pushback against Jarry’s own recent public statements.
“You know, you rarely hear a player be so direct with the coaching staff like that, even a superstar country flag bearer at the Olympics, like Draisaitl,” Friedman said. “For him to do that, it is so rare for a player to do that. It is so rare.”
Friedman suggested that Draisaitl’s pointed comment about goaltending, now a tandem of Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram, may not have been coincidental.
“He also made a comment about Jarry making the saves. I would bet that’s in some slight retribution to Jarry’s comments at the end of last week,” Friedman said. “And I have no doubt that on some level, they said to Jarry, ‘Hey, you’re new here. You just worry about stopping the puck, and we’ll deal with the rest of this stuff.'”
Jarry, who was acquired by Edmonton earlier this season, allowed four goals on 25 shots in Wednesday’s loss and has faced scrutiny as the Oilers have struggled defensively. The veteran goaltender’s recent public comments about the team needing to be better may have preceded some internal tension that spilled over in Draisaitl’s response.
Oilers are not bringing back Paul Coffey amid questions about coaching
Beyond the direct shots at goaltending, Draisaitl’s most cryptic comment may have been his assertion that the Oilers’ problems “start at the top” with the coaching staff.
Friedman also weighed in on what exactly Draisaitl could have been referring to.
“I don’t know what Draisaitl was talking about there. Is he talking about preparation? Is he talking about energy? Is he talking about enthusiasm?” Friedman wondered. “But when your franchise player, and one of the two of them, talks like that, you got to fix things.”
There has been some speculation that the Oilers might bring back Hall of Famer Paul Coffey in some capacity to help address their defensive struggles but Friedman poured cold water on the idea.
“There’s a lot of talk in Edmonton they’re going to bring back Paul Coffey. I don’t know if I see that,” he said. “I looked into that earlier in the season. I was told it’s not going to happen. I’m not sure everybody involved wants to do that.”
However, Friedman acknowledged that the situation is deteriorating.
“I do recognize that it’s getting a bit ugly, and that forces everybody into decisions that they may not want to make,” he added. “But I didn’t sense a lot of enthusiasm for that idea from multiple places when I brought it up earlier in the year.”
The Oilers now head into the Olympic break sitting fourth in the Pacific Division with a 28-22-8 record having lost three straight games. Edmonton won’t play again until February 25th when they visit Anaheim.
Edited by Anjum Rajonno
