![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Draisaitl-224x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (NHL Images).<\/p>\n
At the time, Draisaitl said the NHL is too hard for the Oilers to be lollygagging through games, adding that the team\u2019s improvement begins with the coaching staff. He felt the club wasn\u2019t defending well enough, and that there were many things it wasn\u2019t doing well enough to win. <\/p>\n
On Saturday, Draisaitl told TSN\u2019s Ryan Rishaug that he spoke out of frustration and was trying to send the message that the team has to play better. <\/p>\n
\u201cI said in that interview, I said our leadership had to be better, and talking about the leadership group \u2013 I\u2019m part of that, so I can be a lot better,\u201d Draisaitl said. \u201cThat goes for our coaches, that goes for everybody in our organization. We all have to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n
SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Some observers believe Draisaitl should have left those remarks in the dressing room for his teammates, rather than publicly airing them before the press. Regardless, he\u2019s not wrong in his assessment of the Oilers\u2019 recent performance. Their sloppy play (especially defensively) cost them games against teams they should\u2019ve defeated.<\/p>\n
The Oilers went into the Olympic break sitting second in the Pacific Division with 64 points, but only four up on the Los Angeles Kings, who sit ninth overall in the Western Conference standings. <\/p>\n
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW<\/a>: Bruins forward Pavel Zacha will not play for Team Czechia in the upcoming men\u2019s Olympic hockey tournament. Zacha, 28, suffered an upper-body injury on Jan. 29 and has not returned to action since. <\/p>\n SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: That\u2019s a tough blow for Zacha, who was obviously looking forward to playing for his country in the Olympics. <\/p>\n Injuries also sidelined<\/a> Canada\u2019s Anthony Cirelli and Brayden Point (Tampa Bay Lightning), Finland\u2019s Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers) and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres), Latvia\u2019s Rodrigo Abols (Philadelphia Flyers), Sweden\u2019s Leo Carlsson (Anaheim Ducks) and Jonas Brodin (Minnesota Wild), and the United States\u2019 Seth Jones (Florida Panthers). <\/p>\n THE TENNESSEAN<\/a>: Creative Artists Agency (CAA), hired by the Nashville Predators to help the club find a new general manager, informed the team on Feb. 6 that it will no longer be involved. <\/p>\n CAA withdrew after the NHL Players\u2019 Association expressed concern about a potential conflict of interest involving certified agents. Several Predators players, including forwards Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault, are represented by CAA agents. <\/p>\n The Predators\u2019 search for a new general manager began last week after GM Barry Trotz announced he would be stepping down for family reasons as soon as a suitable replacement could be found. <\/p>\n FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW:<\/a> The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers face a daunting challenge to clinch a playoff berth this season. <\/p>\n Entering the Olympic break, the Panthers are eight points out of a wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference. They must win at least 18 of their remaining 25 games and collect some \u201closer points\u201d along the way. <\/p>\n SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Injuries have walloped the Panthers this season, with several core players (including Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk) sidelined for lengthy periods. Three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances resulted in shortened offseasons, which have also likely taken a toll. <\/p>\n NHL.COM<\/a>: The league\u2019s department of player safety fined Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron $2,343.75 on Friday for slashing Washington Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk on Thursday. <\/p>\n DAILY FACEOFF<\/a>: The St. Louis Blues claimed forward Jack Finley off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Due to the Olympic roster freeze<\/a> (Feb. 4 to 22), Finley doesn\u2019t have to report to the Blues until Feb. 17. <\/p>\n SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Players can be sent down to the AHL if they are waiver exempt, except for players who appeared in 16 of the team\u2019s 20 NHL games before the freeze, or have been on the roster for 80 league days before Jan. 21. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest on Oilers center Leon Draisaitl and Bruins forward Pavel Zacha, an update on the Predators\u2019 search…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-461995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}