Yesterday the hockey gods pulled one out of their back pocket for the Edmonton Oilers and somehow tricked the Columbus Blue Jackets into taking Pierre Luc Dubois over Jesse Puljujarvi. The Oilers were so taken aback that they didn’t even prepare a nameplate for the grinning Finn. Immediately Oilers fans started sending their goodbyes to Jordan Eberle and to a lesser extent, Nail Yakupov. But I think we need to step back and take a look at this roster before we punt those two out of town.
AN AMAZING TOP NINE
Pouliot – McDavid – Eberle
Hall – Draisaitl – Yakupov
Maroon – Nugent-Hopkins – Puljujarvi
WHAT?! That’s ridiculous…
Ideally you’re not going to want to put Puljujarvi on a line with two younger players, right? You’d keep Eberle with McDavid and Pouliot because that line had some success. Hall and Draisaitl came on like gangbusters last year but tailed off but having Yak on that line would add a different element; and then you have Puljujarvi lining up alongside Pat Maroon and Nugent-Hopkins thus insulating him a bit.
THE OILERS SPECIAL TEAMS
IF everything pans out the Edmonton Oilers finally have a right-handed winger who can actually one-time the puck. That is going to be a huge asset on their power-play as Jordan Eberle does not have said one-timer, actually you can probably give it at least two Mississippis before he releases the puck. Puljujarvi changes the complection of the power-play units in such an amazing way.
As for the penalty kill, Pulju has the speed and hockey IQ to be an asset there as well but I don’t expect him to see him there next year unless to give the regular penalty killers a rest.
SOMEBODY HAS TO GO
Well this is the pink elephant in the room isn’t it. We’re all expecting Yakupov to go but what if they kept the Russian and played him alongside McDavid for the year, then dealt him off? His cap hit is reasonable and there’s still tons of potential there for him to put 20 goals up easily.
But maybe the Oilers should hold on to Eberle, that would give the Oilers two ELITE right-handed snipers and that is something not a lot of teams could boast in having.
DRAFT DAY TWO MOVES
The problem is that the Oilers still need to get that upgrade on defence. As far as I know, today should be the day that Yak is actually moved but he might not be the only one. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins seems to be the name being tossed about in trade rumours and Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli was in fact seen talking to Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher on the draft floor yesterday leading some to speculate that the Oilers are looking at one of their young dmen.
Jared Spurgeon is the guy that the Oilers could be looking at. He’s one of the best puck movers in the NHL and of course he’s a local boy. I’ll be honest though, I’m not sure how much Chiarelli buys into the local boy stuff but my theory will be tested today as Vancouver Giants captain Tyler Benson is still available and lots of Oilers pundits are expecting his name to be called by the Oilers in the 2nd round.
Edmonton could also be looking at Jonas Brodin, a good friend of current Oilers blueliner Oscar Klefbom. He can play the right side even though he shoots left, so if he’s actually acquired by Edmonton I’ll be under the impression that other deals for a right-handed defenseman broke down.
Then there’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ former teammate, Matt Dumba. He’s the highest risk/reward of the three. He’s a big time hitter (ask NHL MVP Pat Kane) and he’s got a cannon of a right shot but he’s very unpredictable and I’m not sure that’d be something Todd McLellan would be interested in. I watched him at the World Championships and he looked lost. So there’s that…
Any way you cut it, the Oilers won the draft lottery again. They got one of the Finns they were coveting and the Oilogosphere is a sane place to be in again.
My line up would be
Marron McDavid Eberle
Hall Draisaitl Puljujarvi
Pouliot RNH Yakupov
Any way you put them together the Oilers have potential 3 NHL scoring lines.
My concern aside of the defense is how to protect them all in the Expansion draft. And back to the defense don’t give away Eberle just because we got Puljujarvi remember the Oilers did not score much last year. We finally have depth on all sides of the the forward positions. I would perfered to address the defense in free agency unless the trade is the best for edmonton.
Thats less of an issue than most people think. Any first or second year professionals are exempt. Meaning anyone in their first or second year at the time of the draft, which is before July 1 2017. McDavid, Pujujarvi, Nurse, Caggiula, Slepyshev are all exempt. If we sign, say, Demers we protect 7F (Hall, N.Hopkins, Eberle, Draisaitl, Pouliot, Yakupov (if he hasnt been traded) and Maroon) leaving Letestu and … Someone we sign exposed, and 3D (Klefbom, Sekera, Demers) with Fayne exposed, and 1 G (Talbot)
The best player a new team could pick up from us, is Reinhart or Yakupov if we leave them exposed. That … kinda hurts, but its not like we are the only ones losing someone.
Great points Kane! I wonder if Reinhart gets moved this year or if the Oilers sign a highly rated goalie to expose for the draft.
Love your post. Agree with not trading Yak — I think he becomes the Yak people universally ranked #1 his draft year, the Yak of his rookie year all grown up.
McDavid was dumb luck. Puljujarvi was dumb luck. But, man, can you dig this: Hall-McDavid-Puljujarvi????!!!!!
Frankly, while Laine is the death scoring machine incarnate, for the Oilers, we need the 200 ft guy more, the all-around dream machine: Yes it’s Jesse!
Now, goddamnit, Chiarelli – keep – it – going. My wish list for the next three picks: Fox, Allard, Peeke, all righties. Don’t squander. Don’t squander. You did well getting Jones, Bear, and Paigin. Keep it up. And NO BLOATED CONTRACTS!!!!!!!!!!!! With the forward line we can ice, what self-respecting studly NHL D wouldn’t want to come to Edmonton and support these guys?
It was dumb luck, but things are looking up.
Crikey, the Oilers missed the boat on some nice RH’d shooters today.
Could have had Peeke and Fox instead of Benson, Niemelainen…I’m not smart enough on this subject to know better, but Peeke and Fox are both solid.
Benson was a steal, but we jake bean was a big steal, sucks we didnt get him but oh well, we got really good prospects and we finally can trust in our GM and drafting :).
Agree on Benson. But Fox would have been MUCH better than Niemelainen; Fox is like Bean, and a right-shot, power-play quarterback. He’s not big and so Chiarelli doesn’t even see him, but that’s Chiarelli’s blindness. Calgary snagged Fox a few picks later. Rats.
Buggers down the QE2 they are… They had a nice draft.
BLH — “Buggers down the QE2 they are …” The expression is too colorful for me not to ask for a translation…try as I may I couldn’t find it in my Aussie to Chicago dialect translator …
Ya, some scouting guides had Niemelainen near the 1st round. So in theory the Oilers may have gotten three 1st rounders with Puljujarvi, Benson, and Niemelainen. But I’m surprised they didn’t go with a RH’er like Allard.
A scout friends tells me Fox, RHD, power-play QB, rates out like Bean. We desperately need a player like Fox and already have big lefty Ds in the the pipeline. I agree – we got tons of 1st-round value in the first three, but Fox would have been better for what we need.
you forgot to add that Jesse Puljujarvi has a underrated Shot, His shot may not be as good as Laines but it is close and puljujarvi is the most complete player in the draft. We won the draft again, I`m more happy with this then getting patrick laine. Taylor benson was a steal, he could of easily went first round, hes gonna be a heck of a player. The one thing I am upset about is Jake bean went all the down to the 3rd round and edmonton didnt take him, he was a big steal… oh well, we won the draft again anyway. Now we have depth and the position to trade Eberle and be able to replace him with a better player in Puljujarvi :D.
Didn’t Bean go in the 1st round to Carolina?
ya, i messed up, thought it sean day ahaha. I mixed up the two. Sean day is who i am talking about.
Where does Caggiula fit in?