Monthly Archives: May 2016

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors, Trades

Dealing Down at the Draft

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zach-bogosian-nhl-philadelphia-flyers-buffalo-sabres3-850x560

I’ve been talking about the Oilers standing pat this summer and not doing a whole lot with regards to dealing out a big core piece but I haven’t talked about the Oilers trading down in the draft as much yet.

Today I’d like to present a scenario to you and you let me know in the comments below if you think that it is a realistic possibility. So here goes nothing!

You might’ve read Jonathan Willis’ latest post over at Oilersnation wherein he goes into depth framing a picture where the Oilers and Sabres could very well be excellent trade partners for each other. Read it here.

Basically he talks about the Oilers having too many LHD and the Buffalo Sabres having too many RHD. Willis also hypothesizes at a possible swap that could include the 8th overall pick and Zach Bogosian to the Oilers for Griffin Reinhart and the 4th overall.

To me that sounds fine. It could give the Sabres some reprieve cap-wise and a top 5 pick to which they could use to draft Matthew Tkachuk. It would alleviate some of the logjam the Oilers have on the left side of their defense and it would give them a legitimate shut-down defender at a great age (25yrs).

So for me it wouldn’t just stop there. I’d take that 8th overall pick and move it to the Avalanche plus Eberle or Yakupov for the rights to Tyson Barrie and the 10th overall pick. Elliotte Friedman talked about the Avs wanting a dman in return for any deal including Barrie on Friday’s Oilers Now but I have to wonder how much the relationship between Barrie and the Avs has deteriorated. Perhaps other pieces are included to make a deal work.

I think the Avs would love to get their hands on the left-shooting right-sided dman from Russia, Mikhail Sergachev and Edmonton could very well use that pick to take the gigantic Logan Brown, swift skating Jakob Chychrun, Johnny Gaudreau 2.0 Clayton Keller, or uber-intellect Tyson Jost. Patrick Roy loves his Russians but it’d open up a major hole on their D but is Sergachev NHL-ready? If so, that might ease the Avs’ worries.

If you really wanted to go all blue sky, they could use that pick (#10) and deal it to Anaheim for Sami Vatanen…

Imagine that. Peter Chiarelli picking up Barrie, Bogosian, and Vatanen and thus solidifying the Oilers defense for the next 5-7 years. Wouldn’t that be something.

Klefbom-Barrie
Sekera-Bogosian
Davidson/Nurse-Vatanen

Now THAT is some serious wishing.

What do you think? Do any of those scenarios make sense to you?

 

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2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, Beer League Hero, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Zach Laing

2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup: Knights surge past the Rebels 6-2 in the tournament’s opening game

Multi-point efforts from Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak led the London Knights to a 6-2 win over the host Red Deer Rebels to open the 98th MasterCard Memorial Cup. Rob Wallator/CHL Images

The game started off strong for the Red Deer Rebels.

The first half of the first period was driven by the Rebels and they looked very much into the game. Banging, crashing and taking straight lines to the Knights, they certainly gave the London Knights a warm welcome to what playing WHL hockey is all about.

Both teams traded chances early in the game until Rebel Defender Hayden Fleury got into it after the whistle with Knights Winger Matthew Tkachuk. Despite the fact that the two had been pushing and shoving, the Knights got the last laugh as Fleury was penalized two minutes for roughing.

“We got a good start for the first ten minutes but penalties changed the momentum of our game,” said Rebels Head Coach during his post-game availability. “London was able to regroup and create some offense.”

It didn’t take long for the the Knights to capitalize, as on the powerplay drawn by Tkachuk, Mitch Marner and Tkachuk contributed assists on an Aaron Berisha goal.

From that point on, the Knights began to pour it on the Rebels. Christian Dvorak capitalized on two great set ups in front of the Rebels net in thanks to assists from Olli Juolevi and Mitch Marner on both goals.

Much like the second period, the first chunk of the second was quite even. However, Mitch Marner continued to shine and put the Knights up 4-0 seven minutes into the period.

Marner’s uses his speed and his ability to see the play before it happens gave him the chances to make the Rebels look silly. I always knew Marner was a player, but to have the chance to see him up close you begin to realize how special he is.

Hayden Fleury and Matthew Tkachuk exchange pleasantries during the first period. Fleury took a two minute roughing call on the play. Rob Wallator/CHL Images

“They’re talented and skilled,” said Suter when asked about the performance of the Tkachuk, Dvorak and Marner line.

“When you give them ice and allow them to do things and don’t play a hard game against them, they’re going to dominate you.”

Every time the trio were on the ice, the Knights spent almost all the time in the Rebel end. If teams can’t find a way to shut down this incredibly dominant line it is going to be very difficult to beat the Knights.

Tkachuk, who is the 2nd ranked North American skater by the NHL’s Central Scouting service, had a solid performance notching one assist alongside 10 shots on net and a +3 rating.

“To start off 1-0 is perfect,” said Tkachuk after the game.

“I hope the other team’s notice that we are here and we are here to win.”

Pair that alongside the stellar play of Knights G Tyler Parsons, and they could very well be the team to beat in this years Memorial Cup.

“Tyler Parsons made some amazing saves even when we had the lead, he kept us in the game,” said Knights head coach Dale Hunter.

“He gave us the momentum in the first ten minutes when Red Deer was putting a lot of pressure. It is a big win for our first game tonight.”

5’10, 174 lb 2016 Draft eligible Knights Defenceman Victor Mete scored a great goal in the second picking up a loose puck in the slot and firing it above Rebel G Rylan Toth.

His speed and offensive awareness could make him an interesting selection in this years draft. Mete led all OHL defencemen with a +53 +/- rating, and is currently rated .

The story behind the game wasn’t the fact that the Knights poured it on the Rebels, but simply the fact that Red Deer was unable to shut down the dynamic line of Matthew Tkachuk, Christian Dvorak and Mitchell Marner.

Every time the trio were on the ice, they spent almost all the time in the Rebel end. Simply put, if teams can’t find a way to shut down this line it is going to be very difficult to find a way to beat the Knights.

Pair that alongside the stellar play of Knights G Tyler Parsons, and they could very well be the team to beat in this years Memorial Cup.

“Tyler Parsons made some amazing saves even when we had the lead, he kept us in the game,” said Knights head coach Dale Hunter.

“He gave us the momentum in the first ten minutes when Red Deer was putting a lot of pressure. It is a big win for our first game tonight.”

I will be in Red Deer for the games over the next week covering the Memorial Cup live, so be sure to follow me on Twitter so you don’t miss a beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8mIcgbSRHk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW6S216eoEE

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Poor Number Four

The Edmonton Oilers hold the 4th overall pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo this June. There’s been a lot of banter as to what the Oilers should do with it. Trade it outright, trade down, or select Matthew Tkachuk, Pierre-Luc Dubois, or Olli Juolevi. I’ll tell you what the Oilers shouldn’t do…

Trade the 4th Overall for an NHL player

Apart from the obvious expansion draft exposure to said acquired player, the main reason the Oilers shouldn’t be dealing that pick out for an established NHL player is because the Oilers are finally in a position to develop players on the long-term ala the Detroit Red Wings.

The top 9 is more or less sorted and the defense is on its way. Not quite there mind you but the blue line has some nice pieces coming up that should blossom in the following season or two.

The Oilers could select players like Matthew Tkachuk, Jakob Chychrun or PL Dubois and send them back to junior after they’re drafted and then when their junior careers were up, those players could be sent to the AHL for a season of marinating and learning the pro game. There’s absolutely no need to rush teenagers onto the NHL roster anymore and much more to gain from developing them properly.

Just a side note on Matthew Tkachuk. Yesterday on Lowetide’s show he was talking to NHL draft guru Corey Pronman and he said in so many words that Tkachuk has never been the “Go-To Guy” since coming onto the scene. This past season he was paired up with Mitch Marner and the two previous seasons he was centred by Auston Matthews. So take that for what it is. 

Or let’s say that Edmonton decides to go with a defenceman like Olli Juolevi or Mikhail Sergachev. Well since they are Europeans, they’re eligible to go straight to the AHL after being drafted. See Julius Honka. Not too sure why they would do that given the amount of LH’d shooters already down there but the option is there nevertheless. I imagine somebody like David Musil would be moved if this scenario were to actually play out.

As fans of the Oilers we should know better than to want the Oilers to rush things. They rushed all those 1st overall picks into top 6 roles and that turned out marvellous. This dovetails with yesterday’s post on patience. If the Oilers take their time and do things the right way instead of forcing things, they will be fine. But should they listen to some of the fanbase and move a valuable piece, like the 4th overall pick, for immediate help; that may very well do more damage than good.

 

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Oilers Fans Need This More Than Ever

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Coming off of one of the most disappointing seasons on recent memory, the Edmonton Oilers are in quite the conundrum. Do they take one of their major pieces on forward and try to upgrade their defense in a big way or do they tinker with the roster and add little pieces without disrupting the team?

Oilers fans, I’m here to tell you that this is a time where you need PATIENCE more than ever. The team has just gone through one of its worst, if not THE worst, injury ravaged seasons of its existence and they still made up 40 goals in its scoring differential. Not only that but the goaltending has been sorted and the team finally has a forward group that will compete with the best teams in the league. What would a healthy roster be able to do?

Brenden Ullrich, who is taking over for Bob Stauffer this week, was talking to Mark Spector on yesterday’s Oilers Now and they were speaking to how the best teams in the league have THREE quality scoring lines and the Oilers are so bloody close to having that!

Hall – Draisaitl – Eberle
Maroon – McDavid – Yakupov
Pouliot – Nuge – Parenteau

Hendricks – Letestu – Pakarinen

What about adding a PA Parenteau to that 3rd line for say $2M. He’s 32, a UFA,  and has proven to be a quality player playing that floating role on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche in recent years.

Within that top 9 are players that can easily flow from line 1 to line 3. Take Hall out of that for a dman and you’ve got a huge hole there that would probably be filled by the 18-year-old that the Oilers end up drafting this June. Take Eberle out for a defender and you’re out 25-35 goals. Deal Nuge and you’re centre depth is gonzo.

Now you might say they Oilers could replace them in free agency but that is a mighty big gamble if you ask me. Sure you could overpay someone to come in but there’s no guarantee they’d perform nor is there a guarantee that anybody would even sign in Edmonton. The only guarantee the Oilers have right now is that the players they have now are signed and they’ve set the bar as to what we can expect from them.

There is one option that wouldn’t hurt the team all that much that would allow the Oilers to trade a RWer like Eberle or Yak OR a LWer like Pouliot or Hall. Moving Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the wing for the entirety of next season. This would give the Oilers the option of signing a 3C along the lines of Riley Nash or Frans Nielsen without leaving a gaping black hole on the wing in the top 6.

I’m not a huge fan of it but if a healthy Oilers defense is THAT bad, then I suppose this is a viable option I would support.

The defense only needs one piece really though. And to be honest, that’s all they’re probably going to get this summer. Maybe that piece is Vatanen if Anaheim doesn’t re-sign him. Pretty good for the no.4 slot I say

Klefbom – Sekera
Davidson – Vatanen
Nurse – Fayne

There’s no need to blow up the top 6 with either a huge trade or a mega-overpayment on a free agent when just tinkering with this team would benefit it greatly. The Oilers don’t have to trade Hall, Nuge, Eberle, or Yakupov. Look at that roster above with only 2 minor moves made. This is a competitive roster and the Oilers are not in the position to be nit-picking over how many RH’d dmen they have (Vatanen and Parenteau are RH’d by the way).

When it looks like the team needs to make a change in the most desperate of ways and it’s most important players and draft picks are rumoured to be in play, that is the exact time that the ownership, the GM and the fans need to display patience because if they don’t, that is when mistakes are made.

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

The Doors Are Closing

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The Edmonton Oilers defensive upgrades are becoming less and less as the weeks go by. Last week It was Travis Hamonic apparently coming off of the market and now according to Dallas News writer, Tom Cowlishar, Jason Demers could very well be re-signed by the Stars. Source

Demers at the right price I think they will try to keep as well. But they have to make room for Oleksiak and Nemeth and they have to assume those players are beyond just development stage now.

The Cult of Hockey’s David Staples has already given his two cents on the topic here.

Demers is going to be looking for top dollar and good on him too. He’s earned his chance to do so. I don’t think that Dallas would be smart letting him go to market as a UFA and moving forth with Klingberg, Johns, and an AHL call-up. Nor do I think that giving him $5M+ long-term would be a good move for the Oilers. Shades of Fayne come to mind.

As I’ve been saying for weeks since the season ended and I’ll repeat it again. Don’t be surprised if it’s an underwhelming summer for the Oilers. At this point the rumoured defensive upgrades have fallen to:

  • Sami Vatanen – An undersized PP specialist that would most likely be no.4 on the depth chart. I’m not convinced he’d help as much as people think he could. He’s perfectly slotted in Anaheim and his deficiencies would very well be exposed in Edmonton.
  • Tyson Barrie – Things are… Rocky… In Colorado at the moment for Barrie and his team but unless the Avs move one of their young stars for a dman, the Avalanche are better off signing Barrie and keeping him than getting rid of him. It’s not like they’ve got a plethora of offensive defenders on the rise to replace him.
  • Justin Faulk – Elliotte Friedman basically tore Bob Stauffer a new one during his segment on Oilers Now last Friday when they were discussing this “hypothetical” as Stauffer usually puts it. Fact of the matter is, Carolina’s D is young and way too green to be dealing away it’s best dman to shore up the offense.

Simply put, this is just not the summer for the Oilers and that’s just bad luck. Could they land a dman that will make their team better, sure. But it might just cost them Taylor Hall to get it done. Nuge’s value has never been so low, Yak might bring you Vatanen, and Eberle is definitely still an option but who’s going to fill that goal scoring void?

The team may very well have to settle for the likes of:

  • Cody Franson (BUF) – Big RH’d shooter who didn’t have a great year with Buffalo last season. The ticket is questionable though.
  • Seth Jones (CLB) – Offer sheet the man and put Columbus to the screws. $5M+ for 6 years and it should only cost a 1st and 3rd in 2017. I might be wrong on that compensation so don’t quote me on it.
  • Josh Manson (ANH) – Friedman speculated that the Ducks may very well sign Lindholm and Vatanen to one year deals and Manson played very well vs. the Oilers last season. He’s also rated very high on Woodguy’s list of defensemen the Oilers should go after.
  • David Savard (CLB) – Is popping up in the Oilers rumor mill a bit nowadays. Big, puts up respectable numbers (65gp – 4g – 21a – 25pts). Not sure if he’s really going to upgrade the D that much though.
  • Damon Severson (NJ) – The oft-rumoured return for Nail Yakupov in any NJ/EDM proposal. Same sort numbers as David Savard.
  • James Wisniewski (CAR) – Big ticket but he’s a bonafide RH’d puck moving defender. The knee is a concern but the same thing happened to Andrei Markov didn’t it? He seems to be doing okay.

I think one of the points that needs to be made is that the player the Oilers end up acquiring this summer to be that improvement on the back-end, he shouldn’t be a no.4-6 dman. He needs to be a top three or what’s the point? We’ve got Brandon Davidson, Jordan Oesterle, and Griffin Reinhart who have all played on the right side. Ethan Bear is also a very distant possibility. But we want either Mark Fayne or Eric Gryba to be that no.6 guy who can play a steady mentoring role to the younger players coming up, do we not?

Shattenkirk isn’t coming, Brodin needs to stay in Minnesota, Trouba is going to cost somebody an arm and a leg, Weber no, Subban no, and Karlsson no… So there you have it.

I’m just forewarning you, the moves that Chiarelli makes may very well disappoint you in the end. So do yourself a favour and don’t get hung up on the uber-rumoured players that are being connected to the Oilers.

How would you feel if the Oilers only tinkered with the line-up and didn’t go all wholesale on it? Let me know in the comments below!

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