Mike Babcock got asked about the value of a rangy defenceman like Shakir Mukhamadullin, and he answered with landscaping.
It's simple. It's a tree versus a shrub, right? You try to get around a tree versus a shrub.
Shrub, you step over. And a tree, you got to go drive your car around. That's the difference, Babcock said.
That's the most Babcock sentence anybody will hear this month. It's also a genuine scouting note wearing a joke as a costume.
Reach changes what a forward can do on an entry. You beat a small defenceman to the outside. You go the long way around a big one.
He's been saying versions of this since camp opened. He wants detail without the puck, and he wants depth to go find it.
He also told everybody last week that a practice wasn't good enough, and that his group hadn't competed hard enough out there.
Babcock Quote of the Day: on the benefit of having a "rangy" defenceman like Shakir Mukhamadullin:
"It's simple. It's a tree versus a shrub, right? You try to get around a tree versus a shrub. Shrub, you step over. And a tree, you got to go drive your car around. You know what I'm saying? That's the difference."
-
Mike Babcock's bizarre “tree versus shrub” quote has Oilers fans talking
Nurse is in San Jose now. Somebody in that room has to absorb what he used to eat every night.
Evan Bouchard handled 25:09 in Saturday's 5-2 win over Winnipeg and handed out 4 assists doing it.
Ryan Shea got a goal and 2 assists in 22:31 beside him. That's the pair Babcock leaned on hardest.
Ty Emberson went 21:37 with an assist. Spencer Stastney added one of his own across 18:03.
Four defencemen already eating real minutes, and this roster is nowhere near settled.
Mark Spector had Babcock pulling the McDavid line 15 seconds into that game after a Draisaitl turnover.
Neither Connor McDavid nor Leon Draisaitl cracked 20 minutes on the night. Both of them scored anyway.
Tristan Jarry stopped 15 of 16 behind all of it and took the decision.
Edmonton visits Winnipeg tonight for the rematch, with the same roster questions riding along.
So does a tree beat a shrub in April? Building a blue line around reach works like hiring for height on a basketball team. Helps plenty, right up until somebody skates past it.
Babcock has now described what he wants twice in a week. Whether this particular defenceman is the answer gets settled by cuts, not by quotes.
Should Shakir Mukhamadullin make the Oilers opening night blue line?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
NHL waiver wire heats up as two former first-round picks become available
