Monthly Archives: February 2017

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

Celebrations and Trade Deadline Whispers

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I just wanted to share a bit of good news with you before getting into today’s post but a little background first.

When I started this blog way back in 2012 over on Weebly, my goal was to hit the first page of google without having “Edmonton” or “Oilers” in the URL because I figured that it’d be that much more challenging.Now I’m no SEO expert, I may have read a few blogs on the topic but if I’m not mistaken, one would like all the advantages he/she can get when it comes to making it easier for people to find your website, right?

Next, I wanted to step up the site’s coverage back in 2015 and take it to the next level, so I picked up the domain and registered www.beerleagueheroes.com with the idea that maybe, just maybe, it’d help the site reach the first page.

Well after 5 years of existence and 2 years as a dot com…

BEER LEAGUE HEROES HIT THE FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE UNDER “EDMONTON OILERS BLOGS”!!!

So I’m pretty stoked about hitting Google page one as I can honestly say I did almost the bare minimum to get it there. That being said, you are the ones that made the most impact. You chose to read our content! And we thank you so much for that. I hope we’re still up there when you get around to reading this.

Trade me right f*cking now! Happy 40th Birthday to the Greatest Hockey Movie of All-Time!!!

Trades Completed and Otherwise

  • Patrick Eaves going to the Ducks for a conditional 2nd rounder is interesting. It turns into a first rounder if the Ducks make it to the Western Conference Finals AND if Eaves plays 50% of the games in the rounds previous. So even if the Ducks do make it to the conference finals, that 1st rounder will be akin to a 2nd rounder anyhow.

I would’ve liked to have seen Eaves on the Oilers previously but I have to question if he’d be surplus to requirement on the Oilers now that Pakarinen is healthy, Slepyshev, when he’s in the lineup, is looking dangerous and he’s not shying away from the dirty areas. Leon Draisaitl is racking up the points again and Jordan Eberle appeared to have some real jump in his game vs. Washington. And Lastly, I’m loving Zack Kassian more and more each time I watch him.

How much would Eaves have really helped? And don’t forget, Puljujarvi is lighting up the AHL right now. So he’s there to call up if need be.

  • Tomas Jurco for a 3rd rounder

I asked my source if the Oilers had any interest in this guy as a depth scorer with speed and a good possession game. I was told the Oilers had ZERO interest.

Source Says…

  • PC is talking to STL about Shattenkirk. He’s open to coming to Edm. He sees what’s happening in Edm with McDavid, Draisaitl, and Co.

So this is an interesting twist. If you’ve been following any NHL media whatsoever in the last 48 hours, you’ve probably read or heard all the talk about Shattenkirk turning down deals to go to other teams, Edmonton included. But what I was told was that as far as an extension goes, the Oilers would have to win a couple of playoff rounds to convince Kevin Shattenkirk to re-sign in Edmonton. Otherwise, the Oilers aren’t willing to go any higher than what the market is currently dictating for rental defensemen. Michael Stone went for a third and Hainsey went for a 2nd rounder plus a career AHLer, so read between the lines there.

I got a bit of flack on Twitter for asking why a team would pay more than a 3rd rounder for a player that isn’t interested in re-signing with their club. I understand that Shattenkirk is a MUCH better player than Michael Stone and Ron Hainsey but would you give up a 1st or a 2nd round pick for a rental? Providing he’s gone on July 1st?

I know a few GMs (Bergevin/Rutherford) who might but the Oilers GM won’t be unless Shattenkirk agrees to re-sign in Edmonton. And if that happens, we should be able to put the Kris Russell 2017 contract debate to bed.

  • Speaking of Russell, the Oilers have broken off talks with his camp. I guess he’s still angling for a 4 year deal with $4M per year. Surprisingly price isn’t the problem, term is.
  • Derek Ryan should be an Oiler soon. They’ve been scouting him something fierce lately.
  • The Oilers are trying their damnedest to move Pouliot and Fayne but doesn’t sound like anything is going to happen on that front.
  • No on Hanzal and Vrbata and Iginla.

Edmonton wants a sniper and would prefer a bit more speed and size up front. But none of those players are fleet of foot and their price tag is too high.

  • Dallas is strapped to the cap and looking to move some bodies. The names that came up were Sharp, Eaves (already spoken for), and John Klingberg…

I can see Sharp and the Oilers being a potential fit but John Klingberg?!! Why in the world would Jim Nill be open to moving him? If I were the Oilers, I’d have a separate phone special for Jim Nill and I’d be calling him constantly to see what the price is. Klingberg has a beauty long-term contract similar to Larsson and Klefbom’s and that would fit in too well with the Oilers future plans.

  • The Oilers are looking at two players with regards to the backup position. Jaroslav Halak and Ondrej Pavelec. With either of those players, the Islanders/Jets would need to retain salary.

Now, I know which goalie I’d prefer. The one who had a helluva playoff run not too long ago for the Montreal Canadiens. A run so amazing that it had fans of the Habs asking for the team to trade Carey Price away… But alas, we’ve heard from Bob Stauffer that he believes Halak will be bought out at season’s end by the Isles. So, who knows what will happen there. I’m not sold on Pavelec one bit…

Personally, I’m guessing the Oilers go out and grab a right-shooting face-off man for sure. I think if they can’t get the right deal for a backup, they’ll wing it and go with Brossoit or if disaster hits, Nick Ellis. I’m with Chiarelli in that the Oilers are right on the precipice of becoming a great team with excellent depth at the minor league level and the prospect level and there’s no real reason to bet the farm this season. Next season mind you, that will be a different story.

That’s it for now. I’ll update you later on if something comes in! And thanks again for helping us to page 1 on Google! Check out our T-shirt shop! There’s a sale going on right now where you can get some pretty sweet tees for you or your kids or maybe someone else or their kids… Click the pic below and it’ll take you to our shop! You’re a beauty!!!

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

Islanders Looking at a Pair of Oilers?

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I got a message late last night from my source and it said that Eberle to the Islanders was heating up. Oilers were looking at Strome and multiple draft picks in exchange for Eberle but that there was more to it and to wait and see…

I think I called something similar a couple of days ago…

In the summer, could Chiarelli get the Islanders to send him Ryan Strome and a pick or prospect for Jordan Eberle? (source)

Of course, it was a hypothetical but I’ll take it! Oh and just before we really get going into this, my source isn’t the lovely Treena’s Oil even though she just went on a twitter craze with a handful of tweets that mentioned some of the thoughts I will go on talk about below.

It’s funny, a lot of the same names keep popping up in rumours and in various blogs. I mean, Lowetide has mentioned Reto Berra on numerous occasions on his blog and I feel like the Halak to Edmonton murmurings have been on low-rumble since he was demoted to the Islanders farm team.

Personally, I don’t believe the Oilers coaching staff is convinced that Brossoit can handle the backup duties. Brossoit looks to be the kind of goalie that needs the no.1 spot and has to be playing all of the time, similar to Talbot. I also believe that Nick Ellis might be the better of the two.

How much better is Curtis Lazar than Anton Lander?

We’re two veteran dmen down right now after last night’s game vs. the Panthers. It’s unknown how long Larsson will be out and we haven’t heard a lot on Sekera. The Oilers will need Brandon Davidson now more than ever. Is trading him in a deal that smart? Unless said deal was bringing back a defenseman… *Cough* Shattenkirk *Cough*

I can’t see Edmonton dealing Khaira. He seems very much in the mold of a Chiarelli-type player. Big, strong, hard-working, positionally versatile…

The other little tidbit, I was also told that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was another player the Islanders might be looking at…

Not a huge surprise there but would it be a bigger surprise if the Oilers dealt both Eberle AND Nugent-Hopkins to the Islanders? That’s a MAJOR chunk of cap space right there and the Oilers would have to bring some back their way. Would you be shocked if it was Johnny Boychuk waiving his NMC, Jaro Halak (Bob Stauffer did say yesterday that he believes the Isles are prepared to buy Halak out though), and Ryan Strome coming Edmonton’s way? Edmonton taking the short-term hit on Halak and then going out and signing Brian Boyle and/or Derek Ryan in the offseason? If the Oilers can find a taker for Pouliot as well as Fayne, the kind of deal mentioned here becomes more palpable financially for the Oilers.

So maybe a version of the roster before July 1st hits would look similar to this:

Maroon/McDavid/Puljujarvi
Lucic/Draisaitl/Strome
Slepyshev/Boyle/Ryan
Khaira/Letestu/Kassian

Klefbom/Larsson
Sekera/Boychuk
Nurse/Benning

Talbot
Halak

When it comes to Nuge and Eberle, I really think we’re going to find out how much of the things we’ve ingested are true before the 2017/18 season gets going with a lot of what the Oilers can or will do in the future riding on what the upcoming RFAs will be demanding, right? So we wait… Will Draisaitl demand north of $6M or can Chiarelli convince the kids who are driving this bus to take a bit less for the better of the team? It’ll be interesting nevertheless.

Just before we conclude and I shamelessly plug our wicked t-shirts, I do wonder how much of the news we get is information vs. disinformation, this time of the year. How much of what Stauffer says is genuine as opposed to something just being tossed out to keep prying minds away from precious truths. Same goes for the news that I hear from my source or the rumours you hear or read from the sites or people you know.

The other thing is, I think it’s pretty common for the GMs to use the insiders to influence negotiations? For example, yesterday on Oilers Now! Frank Seravelli was really pushing the idea of the Oilers acquiring Kevin Shattenkirk and earlier in the week Dreger was saying how the Islanders/Eberle talks had taken place earlier but had cooled off more recently. Yet, here we are today getting news of trade talks heating up between the Isles and Oilers and my feeling before today on Shattenkirk was that the Blues were going to keep him. Bob MacKenzie has stated that he believes otherwise here.

So are the Islanders looking to put pressure on the Oilers to make a deal here while they are in the thick of a pretty kickass resurgence? Are the Blues laying some heat on Chiarelli to get his butt in gear because the pieces they’d like would be of better use now than later?

Lastly, in the back of my mind, I’d like the things I share here with you to come true because it’d make me ego feel good and who doesn’t enjoy a good stroking of the ego 🙂 But the reality is, even if the reports I get are true, they may never come to fruition because the line is always moving in negotiations and trades fall apart all of the time. I mean, what is an insider’s batting average when it comes to rumours anyhow?

How would you feel about a blockbuster trade like the one proposed above? Let us know in the comments below! But don’t forget to check out our Teepublic shop as EVERYTHING IS ON SALE!! (For the time being) Click on the pic below and clothe yourself or your loved ones in some sweet sweet BLH attire! I recommend the Kris Army Tee!

Join the Kris (Russell) Army and forever be protected from slap shots, wrist shots, or shots from the analytics crowd!
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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Dreger on Eberle/Isles

Yesterday over at Fan Rag Sports (Elliotte Friedman’s favourite blog), Chris Nichols had a little tidbit on Darren Dreger talking about how the Islanders were one of three teams “kicking the tires” on Jordan Eberle.

“I would say a month  or so – maybe six weeks ago – there was some tire-kicking. I know that there were three teams that were calling Peter Chiarelli in Edmonton, but no one really willing to jump and take the bait. I believe that the Islanders were one of those teams. But obviously it didn’t go anywhere.” (Source)

Well, this is nothing new. Anybody who watched their magic at the World Junior’s back in Ottawa circa ’09 and has followed them during their NHL careers would want to re-visit this combination as well. And it makes sense. The Islanders have been trying RWers all year on Tavares’ line concluding with minimal luck. Okposo was the man there last year and they let him walk…

A lot of people online say that Eberle has no value right now. He’s in the middle of his worst season as a pro hockey player and fans are lead to believe that that is the utmost important factor with which NHL GMs take into consideration when dealing for a player. And to that I say,

And to that, I say, Ni! (here’s the reference if you don’t get it.)

More seriously now, GMs will be looking at a player’s entire career. Not just a small portion. Of course it works in their favor if said player is having an off year but GMs aren’t stupid and they know that players go through tough years, players sometimes have trouble fitting into a new coach’s systems, and they know that a change of scenery can occasionally be just the remedy for a player who is down on his luck.

So if you’re a fan that is saying the Oilers should:

  • leave Eberle exposed for the expansion draft
  • trade him for picks
  • sit him in the pressbox for an evening

All of these things do more to handicap the Oilers ability to win games and we know, for a fact, that players eventually bust out of these slumps and despite what you believe as a fan, there’s definitely a market for Eberle.

“So when you start seeing signs like this, then – look, I’ve been around the league long enough to know how most (teams’ executives) think, and I’d be surprised if Chiarelli doesn’t get calls in the days ahead here just inquiring about Eberle.”

“The ask for Jordan Eberle has always been high, understandably so, because he’s been one of the Edmonton Oilers’ players that is a big part of the core. But if he’s no longer that, even on a short-term basis, that’s going to ignite some kind of short-term market.”

“But that doesn’t mean the Oilers are any more willing to trade him, unless the value is there.” – Elliotte Friedman (Source)

Now, I do believe that the Oilers will trade Eberle this summer because I’m of the belief that he doesn’t fit into McLellan’s system and when I think back to San Jose’s rosters of past, I’m not finding any Eberle-types. He’s had two seasons (about) under Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli and when he’s not scoring, he doesn’t do the other things on the ice well enough to make a difference there. That’s not saying he’s not doing those other things though. He is. Very much so. And I reckon that his attention to the 200ft game is partially to blame for this dry year on the scoresheet.

Chiarelli and McLellan are going to want someone who can be more of a “presence” if they’re not going short-side cheddar. A name that comes to mind… TJ Oshie.

Now before you jump all over me, consider that a good GM adds good players first and deals with the consequences (cap hit) later. I’m aware of the RFAs that need to be re-signed…

So if the Oilers can find a way to move Jordan Eberle for a package with a minimal cap hit, that would alleviate some of the pressure on the cap that signing TJ Oshie would bring. Another thing that would help is if Darnell Nurse signs long-term for Adam Larsson/Oscar Klefbom money.

Let’s bring this conversation back full circle and get back to Eberle and the Islanders.

In the summer, could Chiarelli get the Islanders to send him Ryan Strome and a pick or prospect for Jordan Eberle?Is there a deal there where Halak gets tossed in if the Islanders agree to take one of Mark Fayne or Benoit Pouliot?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below but first you should head over our Teepublic shop and take part in our T-SHIRT SALE!!!

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

*Re-Post* Is Chiarelli Looking at an Ex-Oiler?

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**I tried to post this article yesterday evening but the site crashed as soon as I posted it. So I hope it’d be okay if I re-posted it. If you’ve read it already, feel free to move on. If you haven’t read it, great! I hope it doesn’t crash again… I might lose what remaining sanity I have left if it does. – BLH**

On this morning’s opening segment of Oilers Now!, Bob Stauffer and Brenden Ullrich were talking about Benoit Pouliot’s status with the team, health and otherwise, and Stauffer broke off point for a moment and said something that perked my ears a bit. Here’s the quote:

Kevin Lowe used to tell me all of the time, “Never say never.” and that was about two days before the Oilers brought Mike Comrie back a number of years ago. You now, Ryan Smyth came back as well. 

 Skip ahead to the 15:03 mark to hear the quote.

I mean, why would Stauffer even bring that up? Are the Oilers looking at bringing an Oiler from the past? Maybe someone that was previously thought to be lost for the season but looks like he’ll indeed return to play before the year is out. Maybe a player that played in the Cup run of ’06? A player that was once loved before injuries ravaged his career.

You know the Oilers are looking for depth on the RW and for some help on the powerplay…

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below right after you click on the image below and check out the killer t-shirts at our Teepublic Shop!

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

Is Chiarelli Looking at an Ex-Oiler?

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On this morning’s opening segment of Oilers Now!, Bob Stauffer and Brenden Ullrich were talking about Benoit Pouliot’s status with the team, health and otherwise, and Stauffer broke off point for a moment and said something that perked my ears a bit. Here’s the quote:

Kevin Lowe used to tell me all of the time, “Never say never.” and that was about two days before the Oilers brought Mike Comrie back a number of years ago. You now, Ryan Smyth came back as well. 

 Skip ahead to the 15:03 mark to hear the quote.

I mean, why would Stauffer even bring that up? Are the Oilers looking at bringing an Oiler from the past? Maybe someone that was previously thought to be lost for the season but looks like he’ll indeed return to play before the year is out. Maybe a player that played in the Cup run of ’06? A player that was once loved before injuries ravaged his career.

You know the Oilers are looking for depth on the RW and for some help on the powerplay…

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below right after you click on the image below and check out the killer t-shirts at our Teepublic Shop!