Monthly Archives: June 2017

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

Lowetide’s Defensive Targets

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Below is a list of targets our beloved Lowetide has come up with (Here’s the link). Now, I’ve been wanting to comment on something like this for a while now but my time is split between running around Taipei for work and my two young children at home, I haven’t had the chance. So I’d like to use Lowetide’s list and comment on each player because if anyone has their eye’s on the ball regarding the Oilers, it’s LT.

RD Josh Manson, Anaheim Ducks. A dream solution to 2RHD.

– Perfect dman for the Oilers right now. I agree with LT here. He’s as mean as his old man but doesn’t quite have the shot. Skates better and is a tad smarter though. Fearless.

RD Radko Gudas, Philadelphia Flyers. Duck killer, if acquired.

– Some might be scared off by his previous run-ins with player safety but he’d neutralize any threats from the opposition and be a mentor to someone like Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning. This guy is an absolute tank and his shot may very well be one of the hardest in the league. Players get hurt when he takes the ice one way or the other.

RD Alex Petrovic, Florida Panthers. Rugged D, good possession numbers.

– I’m not as sold on Petrovic as LT. He’s only okay to me. Kris Russell was a better defender with worse possession numbers for Edmonton in my opinion. There are better players out there and yeah, he’ll drop the gloves but he’s not a great scrapper.

RD Travis Hamonic, NY Islanders. A rumored target.

– Hottest rumor out there has Hamonic coming in for Eberle but I can’t see it. He’s better than De Haan I reckon but isn’t as consistent as of recent. The Isles would be better off finding a way to keep him but if Edmonton could get him, he’d be right up there with Manson as a very nice piece to add to the Oilers puzzle.

RD Mark Pysyk, Florida Panthers. Panthers young and emerging blue.

– Bob Green must be salivating at the thought of reuniting Griffin Reinhart and Mark Pysyk. Not only that but seeing as Reinhart looks to be the hill that Peter Chiarelli will die on these days, I’m sure he’d also be okay with him coming to Edmonton and attempting to re-animate that old Edmonton Oil Kings partnership. Is he a 2nd pairing dman though? Griffin sure isn’t.

RD Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes. He brings a lot of offense, bigger ask obvious.

– Is Faulk a better version of Justin Schultz? As LT says, he brings a lot of offense but he hemorrhages chances defensively and is that the kind of player you want partnering up with Kris Russell next season if KR were to be re-signed?

RD Kevin Shattenkirk FREE AGENT (80gp, 13-43-56). One year at big coin?

– Boy, that is a big ticket for one year. That being said, it’s a great opportunity for both parties to hit a home run as it’s well known Shattenkirk would like to be beamed up to the Rangers and New York needs to rid itself of one of Marc Staal or Dan Girardi before stumping up for Shattenkirk. And the Oilers could use the year to rip up the league offensively before McDavid’s new contract kicks in and that would also give them a year to find a replacement for Shattenkirk internally or externally.

RD Sami  Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks. Talented, inconsistent.

– Apparently, the teams are lining up for this Finnish defender even though he won’t be ready for the beginning of next season. I like him but man, coming back from that shoulder surgery will be hard. I can’t see him being as effective until the 2019 season. Not worth it to me.

RD Jason Demers, Florida Panthers. Veteran D visited Edmonton as UFA last summer.

– Honestly, I think that Matt Benning can do an equal-to-better job than Demers and he’s a helluva lot cheaper.

LD Kris Russell FREE AGENT. GM and coach like him, good chance he’ll return.

– I dig Russell but not at $4Mx4. Anything over $3M is an overpayment in my opinion.

RD David Savard, Columbus. Rarely mentioned but an interesting option.

– Really emerged this season on the Blue Jackets’ blue line. Very much an all-round defender but I think the Oilers are looking for somebody with a bit more offensive flair.

RD Matt Dumba, Minnesota Wild. Power play option, chaos in his game.

– Dumba isn’t a puck rusher like a Kris Letang but he’s got a cannon like Ryan Ellis. He hits like Scott Stevens but he defends a bit better than Justin Schultz. So plainly put, he has his pluses but the warts are pretty apparent too.

LD Ryan Murray, Columbus Blue Jackets. Doesn’t seem a fit.

– That’s a good summary of Murray from LT. Is he better or worse than Kris Russell in your opinion?

RD Cody Franson FREE AGENT. His fancy stats: Out of the blue and into the black.

– I reckon I heard Jason Gregor talking about how Franson has trouble pivoting and is Marshmellow Man soft…

RD Tyson Barrie, Colorado Avalanche. He had a poor year, but has talent.

– His price point is up there at $5.5M per year and he really is chaos defensively but he puts up the points and he doesn’t take shit from anybody. Just ask Pat Maroon. Could cost the Oilers dear to acquire him.

LD Brian Campbell FREE AGENT (80gp, 5-12-17). The man can still wheel.

– I like this option because it could be very helpful to the Oilers salary cap. I don’t think he’d cost very much, he’s a veteran (which I think the Oilers could use more of), and as LT says, he can still skate. Think of him as a 2006 Bret Hedican type.

LD Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins. Played over 23 minutes a game this past season.

– On the last year of his deal, making $4M, still plays a beastly game. I really believe he’d make a positive impact of the Oilers could get him. That said, the relationship between Boston and Chiarelli since his firing has been frosty at best.

RD Michael Stone FREE AGENT (64gp, 3-12-15). Last chance Texaco.

– He’s going to get the same kind of money that Kris Russell is going for, isn’t he? I don’t like it long-term. The Oilers need more offense in a defenseman for that kind of money on the 2nd pairing.

There are a couple names I believe Lowetide failed to mention, one being Jacob Trouba. I think he’d fit in well in Edmonton and surely that trade demand out of Winnipeg is still lingering.  The other being Noah Hanifin.

Don’t ask me why Ron Francis would even entertain the notion of dealing him. Maybe they reckon he’s going to ask for a pretty penny once his entry-level contract is up and they like Slavvin and Pesce in the long run a bit better. And with the likes of Roland McKeown, Hadyn Fleury, Jake Bean, and Klaus Dahlbeck coming up, perhaps they feel they could really cash in on him…

If that really is the case, I’d be happy to send Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to Carolina for Hanifin. I’d add to that to make it happen too. Noah Hanifin is a better version of Seth Jones and we saw how well he’s turned out for Columbus.

If I had to choose a top 5 out of the list of Lowetide’s above who I think the Oilers are after, I’d go with this:

  1. Kevin Shattenkirk
  2. Travis Hamonic
  3. Tyson Barrie
  4. Matt Dumba
  5. Justin Faulk

My top 5 would be different:

  1. Josh Manson
  2. Radko Gudas
  3. Travis Hamonic
  4. Tyson Barrie
  5. Zdeno Chara

Which dmen would you like to see the Oilers pursue? Are there any on Lowetide’s list above you wouldn’t tough with Zdeno Chara’s stick? Let us know in the comments below!

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

Does Jordan Eberle Want Out of Edmonton?

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So I’d say the biggest wheel turning at the rumor mill is Jordan Eberle to the Isles at the moment. A lot of folks don’t like the idea of sending a perennial 20-goal scorer away for pennies on the dollar but I don’t see it in that manner.

RYAN STROME

One of the names that has been out on the grapevine (thanks to Bob Stauffer) has been that of Ryan Strome. Now, I imagine you’ve read all about his underwhelming stats with the Islanders, so I’m not going to regurgitate those to you. I will throw out a couple of points though:

  • Ryan Strome is the brother of Connor McDavid’s best friend. What better way to earn brownie points with the best player in the world than to trade for a close friend who is playing for a team that is known for being terrible at player development and could use a “fresh start”?
  • I don’t really see a 1-for-1 deal here but IF it were just that, it would be Peter Chiarelli moving one piece in order to make room for another. Refer to last summer’s trade that sent Taylor Hall out in order to bring in Milan Lucic if you’re not sure what I mean.
  • Who would the Oilers be making room for? Possibly Justin Williams. Or what about a centre who could play 3C thus moving RNH to 2C and Leon Draisaitl to McDavid’s RW for another season? Nick Bonino, Patrick Marleau (not sure when the last time he play centre full time was though), Brian Boyle?
  • What about dealing for Vladimir Sobotka?
  • One of the most irritating questions that came out of the Larsson/Hall trade was, who will replace Hall’s production? Today we know who replaced it, right? It wasn’t just a single man who did it, it was a handful. Pat Maroon being one of them, Milan Lucic being another, and even Leon Draisaitl might be considered in that breath as well.

    So, who would replace Jordan Eberle’s 20 goals?

    • Anton Slepyshev
    • Jesse Puljujarvi
    • Zack Kassian
    • Tyler Pitlick
    • Ryan Strome
    • Justin Williams
    • Drake Caggiula
  • All of those players, if signed or re-signed, could very well contribute enough to make up the production Jordan Eberle would take to his new home. I mean honestly, this isn’t Alex Ovechkin we’re talking about here.

But, to me at least, Eberle to the Islanders seems too easy. Especially if the return is Hamonic. I’ve been told that the Isles have to decide between Calvin De Haan and Hamonic. So that’s why we’re hearing the Manitoba native’s name come up so much but the Isles aren’t commenting on De Haan’s status at the moment. That tells me that he might be up for trade as well.

Do you reckon there might be better players available for the Islanders to trade for if they are interested in moving Hamonic though? (*Cough* Matt Duchene *Cough*)

I asked my source who else was in on Eberle apart from the Islanders and I was told Dallas and Los Angeles were two of many teams.

Hearing that the Stars were interested didn’t surprise me. We’d covered that before but the Kings being in on him is intriguing. They just re-signed Tyler Toffoli to a 3-yr deal worth $4.6? per year, a deal more akin to what Eberle SHOULD be making. 

I don’t really know what the Oilers would want from LA. They’ve got a lot of unsavory contracts and seem pretty set on the RW with Carter, Gaborik, Toffoli, and Brown taking up their current roster spots.

I’d love if they could wrangle Jake Muzzin away from them or perhaps $2M right-handed pivot Trevor Lewis but I just don’t see LA as a fit for Eberle.

In the end, it sounds like Eberle has instructed his agent to get the ball moving on a trade. This week on Oilers Now! the host Bob Stauffer and guest Mark Spector dug into a quote from TSN insider Darren Dreger that used some vernacular typically spoken by agents. You can read up on that discussion here at the Cult of Hockey.

Dreger: “Sometimes change for the sake of change is good and that might be the case for Jordan Eberle to get out of Edmonton.”

If the agent works on behalf of the player’s wishes, then can we not deduce from the above quote that Eberle now wants out? Can you blame him either? Edmonton is not an easy place to have a bad season in the NHL and you’d have to think that he still talks to his old roommate Taylor Hall and he’s probably told him how much easier life and playing hockey is when you’re not in the fishbowl that is Edmonton.

It’s unfair to judge a player after one bad year but when all is said and done, will the Oilers get better by keeping or dealing Jordan Eberle? Let us know in the comments below!

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Prospects

Oilers 2017 Draft Coverage: Speed And Skill

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The NHL Draft Combine is going on in Buffalo, NY, this weekend and the Oilers media team is all over it covering every angle possible. If you didn’t get a chance to watch the video above, do so, and pay special attention to which players they feature in those cut-away clips and also what Oilers Assistant GM Keith Gretzky says about what kind of players they’ll be looking for.

1. “You wanna know how hard they work. That’s the biggest thing.”
2. “We have size, we can add something, we need some skill and we’ll take the best player.”

Those two quotes don’t surprise me in the least. Ever since Peter Chiarelli has taken over there’s been an emphasis on adding players with the right moral fiber. Players who are more inclined to go to work day in and day out with a team first attitude. Players that “buy in” to what the coach is pitching them.

So far so good.

Now, the more you read on about potential players that the Oilers might draft and what the Oilers system lacks, the more you’ll read that the team needs forwards with speed and skill. I can’t disagree with that sentiment at all. At times during the regular season the Oilers were getting outmatched by smaller quicker opponents and it was also evident in the playoffs versus Anaheim where their highly mobile dmen were very effective against the Oilers’ bigger wingers.

Below are some reports on those players I told you to keep an eye out for in that Youtube clip above. I don’t think that these players were included in that video for nothing. I believe that these players are on the Oilers radar and we should pay special attention to them.

The NHLe I calculated here.

Kailer Yamamoto (RW) – Spokane (WHL) – 5’9″ 160lbs – 65gp 42g 57a 99pts (NHLe = 36pts)

  • Small in stature but a giant when it comes to creating plays, he has an extremely high IQ with vision already at an elite level. Yamamoto is a fluid and graceful skater who skates with his head up at all times, and his ability to snipe off the rush or make precision passes makes him next to impossible to defend. He isn’t big, but he plays with bite and on occasion will duke it out with bigger opponents. – Steve Kournianos, thedraftanalyst.com

Kole Lind (RW) – Kelowna (WHL) – 6’1″ 178lbs – 70gp 30g 57a 87ots (NHLe = 30pts)

  • Fundamentally, Lind is a smart player. He moves around the ice very well and has a good sense of where to be and where his teammates will be. He’s a very effective puck distributor and has an effective, though not amazing, shot – his 30 goals this season are as much a product of his positioning as his shooting. He’s not a huge guy, though he’s got the frame to add some muscle, but that hasn’t mattered; he plays a very effective physical game and often buzzes around the ice hitting everything in sight on the forecheck. Sometimes this gets him into some trouble away from the puck, with the physical side pulling him out of position, but he’s improved in that respect over the last couple of seasons. – Ryan Pike, The Hockey Writers
    (I just want to add an interesting tidbit, Lind has an early birthday and it would make him eligible to play AHL hockey starting in 2018/19.)

Isaac Ratcliffe (LW) – Guelph (OHL) – 6’5″ 203lbs – 67gp 28g 26a 54pts (NHLe = 20pts) 

  • The power forward who can skate and possesses very soft hands has been coming on lately. I think he’s underrated offensively in some circles. He’s a physical beast who can play a very mean game. Almost impossible to knock off the puck and uses his size and strength to maintain possession. Right now, he’s probably the best prospect in front of the goal, battling for space and loose pucks and banging in rebounds. We caught a glimpse of that in the Top Prospects game. The scary thought is he’s still going to grow and get stronger. – Dominic Tiano, OHLwriters.blogspot.com

Eeli Tolvanen (RW) – Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) – 5’10” 170lbs – 52gp 24g 30a 54pts (NHLe = 23pts)

  • Tolvanen is an expert sharpshooter with a quick release, and his ability to pick corners off the pass is reminiscent of countryman Patrik Laine. He’s strong on the puck and escapes from the tough battles right into shooting position. He’s a strong skater who likes to speed down the wing before unloading a labeled shot. His ability to elude opponents and finish off the rush is unmatched by any draft peer. – Steve Kournianos, thedraftanalyst.com

Robert Thomas (RHC) – London (OHL) – 6’0″ 187lbs – 66gp 16g 50a 66pts (NHLe = 25pts)

  • There are few players that think the game better and he can process things at an elite level. Thomas is an exceptional skater with high-end acceleration and top end speed, not only going north-south but can swing east-west, maintain possession while surveying the ice and set teammates up for scoring opportunities. He has an ability to slow the game down as well, buying time for his teammates to move into prime scoring position and then feeding them with slick, tape-to-tape passes. he is one of the Knights hardest workers – if not the hardest. He puts the effort required to be successful game to game, shift to shift. He puts that same effort in the defensive zone as he does in the o-zone. He has become a key member of the league’s sixth best penalty kill for Coach Hunter. – Dominic Tiano, OHLwriters.blogspot.com

Pierre-Olivier Joseph (LD) – Charlottetown (QMJHL) – 6’0″ 160lbs – 62gp 6g 33a 39pts (NHLe = 13pts) 

  • A qualitative jump in his all around play has hurtled him upward into the first round discussions. A player who always looked solid as an improving defender but who this season has gained scads of confidence in his ability to be a key component in the attack. Displays mobility and excellent hockey sense, and has that feel for where a play is going before it does. Breaks up rushes and plays in his end with a good stick and strong recognition. A power play quarterback whose frame will allow him to get bigger and as he gets stronger he will add more mustard to the heat he can bring from the point. – Bill Placzek, draftsite.com

Nic Hague (LD) – Mississauga (OHL) – 6’6″ 212lbs – 65gp 18g 28a 46pts (NHLe = 17pts)

  • Potential big defender in more ways than one. NHL teams continue to have their love affair with huge men at the defensive position who have upside to be top four defenders, since in general, the dmen are getting smaller. For a fellow his size, he has excellent mobility and overall strength He puts his long stick in the passing lanes and covers ground pretty quickly. Uses his size along the wall and can throw devastating bodychecks. When on the back pedal, he doesn’t pivot as quickly as smaller men, but attackers trying to go wide find out how strong he is and long his stick is. Enjoys playing with an edge. He is growing more of his offensive game, by activated on the rush, and attempting to handle the puck more and more. Still needs work and must hone his carries and be more frugal in the time he holds onto it. Not the finished product, but there will not be a shortage of NHL teams considering him before the bottom third of the first round. – Bill Plazcek, draftsite.com

Just before I let you go, I’ve got a new Jesse Puljujarvi shift-by-shift up at the Beer League Heroes Facebook page. You should head over and give us a follow, a like, a share, a comment and anything else you have in your wallet! (Kidding!) Click HERE!

What do you think? Which one of these players would you like to see the Oilers draft in the first round of this year’s draft? Let us know in the comments below!

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Armchair GM, Bakersfield Condors, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Prospects

A New Name For the Oilers RW Depth Debate

At the moment, I’d like to say that the Oilers depth on the right-wing is one of the weaker areas of the team. More so at the minor league level than the NHL one but nevertheless, they both could be improved.

CURRENT RIGHT WINGERS

  • Jordan Eberle
  • Anton Slepyshev
  • Jesse Puljujarvi
  • Iiro Pakarinen
  • Greg Chase
  • Patrick Russell

Free Agents: Zack Kassian (RFA), Justin Fontaine (UFA), Tyler Pitlick (UFA)

Players who can play RW: Mark Letestu, Drake Caggiula, Leon Draisaitl

Maybe Caggiula and Draisaitl get a few games on McDavid’s right wing but I can’t see them spending any extensive time there in 2017/18. And Letestu might for a few shifts here are there for faceoff purposes. But don’t expect any of them to be full-time RWers next season.

I believe that Kassian, Fontaine, and Pitlick will be retained, as they should be. Zack Kassian had a very memorable season for the Oilers and is very well liked in the community and the locker room. Justin Fontaine played very well for Bakersfield (11pts in 15 gp) and should be re-signed to add some veteran scoring to the AHL club. And poor Tyler Pitlick, he looked as if he were just scratching the surface and a 1 yr deal would only be fair in my opinion.

We don’t really know what is going to happen with Jordan Eberle, do we? Things have died down a bit with him and if I had to say today if he was going to be on the team starting next season, I’d say yes.

I feel like everybody’s role is going to be clearly defined for next year and there’ll be no need for deviation. Last season I got the feeling like Nuge, Eberle, and Lucic didn’t really know what their roles on the team were because the coach had his line blender out all the time. And with the cap possibly going up to $77M, that’ll give the Oilers a bit more time to figure out their next move.

Speaking of moves, I’d like to propose that the Oilers sign Spencer Foo and use one of their picks in the upcoming draft on right winger, Nikita Korostelev.

We’ve already gone over Spencer Foo, so I’m not going to waste your time doing it again. But you should go here if you’d like to read a well-written in-depth article about the local lad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vADcIAfHn8

Now, Nikita Korostelev, there’s a player I’m not sure you had your eyes on in 2015. He was initially projected to be a 1st rounder but somehow fell all the way down to the laps of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 7th round. Some people say it was his skating that let him down, others say it was his dedication to the offensive side of the game only. But he was one of 33 players that weren’t signed by their teams from the 2015 draft (The Oilers let Czech goalie Miroslav Svoboda walk as well).

I imagine we won’t find out why he fell that far in the draft or why the Maple Leafs decided to cut bait on him but that’s neither here nor there and this is a very skilled player who doesn’t lack size (6’1″ 196lbs) and would fill a pivotal role on Edmonton’s farm club.

Last season he racked up 29 goals and 35 assists for Peterborough and Sarnia, then went on fire in the playoffs scoring 4 goals and 7 assists in 12 games.

Although, I reckon there’ll be some Oilers fans out there that would be wary of drafting a Russian who spent most of his time with the Sarnia Sting in previous seasons. He’s now a Peterborough Pete and teammate of Dylan Wells, an Oilers draft pick.

I believe that one of the assets that the Oilers organization is lacking is a pure offensive forward in its pipeline. You might argue that Slepyshev or Puljujarvi might be that guy but I see more of a two-way game when I watch them. What I’m talking about is a player who is responsible for making plays and scoring goals and nothing more or less. You’re probably saying that the Oilers have a guy like that and his name is Jordan Eberle and I’d agree with you if it was his rookie season or a couple of years ago but not now.

Nikita Korostelev’s profile over at Elite Prospects says he’s relentless on the forecheck and doesn’t shy away from the physical game. So that is a plus.

If the Oilers could draft and groom Korostelev and Foo for a season or two, I think they’d be WAY better off long-term and would give them a few more options going forward instead of having to trade for a scoring RW or signing one through free agency.

Actually, signing NCAA players and drafting overagers who can jump right into the lineup of your minor league team allows you so much control with regards to how to allocate your salary cap funds. Of course this plan’s effectiveness is predicated on those players turning into NHL players on a regular basis.

Now, do I think that Peter Chiarelli would take a chance on this Korostelev kid? I don’t to be honest. Not because he’s Russian either (he actually has dual citizenship with Canada), I’m not sure he’s cut from the right cloth for Chia and T-Mac. It’s obvious that Chiarelli and McLellan want players who have the right attitude and are willing to “buy in” to this new Oilers culture. Also, players that take care of defense first and offense second are right in their wheelhouses.

I’d like to see Korostelev and Foo in the Oilers system playing for Bakersfield next season but I reckon the Oilers are in tough to sign Foo as they’re not the only ones with interest in him. And if Shanahan, Hunter, and Big Lou have no interest in Korostelev, I’m not sure that’s a good sign for the Russian/Canadian.

What do you think? Would you draft Nikita Korostelev? Let us know in the comments below!

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