This season the information being passed along behind the scenes has been slow. I have a feeling that’s because the new management that’s running the Oilers has patched up the leaks. As well, there hasn’t been a need to use the media to gauge fan response to potential moves or to influence a transaction.
That said, I was talking to one of my Western Conference sources and we had a good conversation, here are some of the things that came out of it,
- The Canucks are out on the Taylor Hall sweepstakes.
- The Montreal Canadiens are STILL in it for Hall.
- There is a sense that Darnell Nurse’s future with the Oilers is less clear than it might’ve been before. Ken Holland would like to upgrade the offensive depth and Nurse’s name is out there as someone who could potentially bring Holland said depth.
To add to that Nurse comment, I’ve heard names like Nik Ehlers (WPG) and William Nylander (TOR) come up. The Jets are doing pretty well right now but I do wonder if they’d like a player like Nurse to possibly replace Dustin Byfuglien. Nurse’s connections to Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas are painfully obvious, right? Plus it’s no secret that they need some help on the back end.
As I’ve said on countless occasions before, if Holland thinks that re-signing Nurse this summer will be more hassle than not, he might choose to move on from him and attempt to acquire players whose agents he has a better rapport with AND can help his team score more goals.
Would a draft-day deal with Detroit make sense? Maybe Nurse for Athanasiou? Both are RFAs and the Holland/Yzerman relationship helps this along I believe.
As for Hall, it’s anybody’s guess as to where he’s getting traded. It doesn’t sound like the Avs want to give up defenders Sam Girard or Bowen Byram (I wonder if he gets traded from Vancouver to Edmonton in the WHL though…).
If you were on Twitter last night, it appears that St. Louis and Arizona are the frontrunners at this point in time. Are the Blues offering Vince Dunn? I know they’ve got a young Finnish defender named Niko Mikkola that they’re high on but is he ready to go right now and would it make any sense to move Dunn right now. I would think something like a package including Klim Kostin and/or Jordan Kyrou would make sense for the Blues. Then again, they’re one of the best teams in the league, why fix something that’s not broken for a rental? Especially when they’ve got very little prospect depth.
As for the Coyotes, they’ve got less cap-room than the Oilers and they’re also playing very well. It’d be nice to add to that for them, I’m sure, but who’s contract are they dealing to NJ in order to fit Hall’s in?
With Montreal, they have the defenseman and goaltending that the Devils want, but they’re not moving Weber, Petry, Price, or Primeau. So unless Ray Shero is taking back prospects only, I don’t know what the Habs could give New Jersey for Hall. UNLESS, they would take draft picks back. Montreal has an extra 2nd rounder this year in addition to three extra 4th rounders. The Devils lack a 2nd and 3rd round pick in this year’s draft.
Elliotte Friedman brought up the Flyers yesterday morning with Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now and that’s a team I could see making sense here. They’ve got Shane Gostisbehere on the block and he makes $4.5M per year. To even out the deal financially, the Flyers could include a player like Scott Laughton ($2.3M) and Bob’s your uncle.
The Islanders have over $6M in cap room, they could be a wildcard player in all of this too.
Gotta wonder about Florida. Pierre LeBrun said they’ve inquired but then again, who hasn’t… The Panthers have some nice prospects they could use (Borgstrom/Tippett) as well as a defender like Mike Matheson to offset some salary cap challenges.
Unless the Oilers overpay for Hall, I don’t think there’s much of a chance he’s an Oilers until the offseason where he could be persuaded into signing a “team-friendly” contract that might look like something similar to what Leon Draisaitl makes.
What do you think?
The Next Ten Games (31-40)
- vs. LA Kings (11-16-2) – A pissed off Oilers team will make short order of the Kings in this rubber match. (WIN) WIN
- vs. Buffalo Sabres (13-10-5) – No Dahlin for Buffalo but Jack Eichel is on a tear. Captain Jack will get his points but his team will not. (WIN) OT LOSS
- vs. Carolina Hurricanes (16-11-1) – Carolina is too deep for this Oilers team plus Andrei Svechnikov is making a mockery of the NHL as a 19-year-old. (LOSS) LOSS
- @ Minnesota Wild (13-11-4) – The Oilers seem to have trouble against teams like this for whatever reason. Immaturity in the club maybe? (LOSS) LOSS
- vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (13-13-4) – The Leafs defense is soft like a Wendy’s Frosty but they’ve got the kind of offense that could really tear open the Oilers. It’s a toss-up for me but I’ll say Edmonton takes it. (WIN)
- @ Dallas Stars (15-11-3) – Tough match-up for Edmonton here. Dallas already beat them once this year but that was when they were struggling. Now that they’re playing well, will the Oilers’ mindset going into this one be different? (WIN)
- @ St. Louis Blues (18-6-6) – Edmonton’s been performing very well against the league’s top teams. I don’t expect that to stop in St. Louis. (WIN)
- vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (15-9-4) – The first game of a back-to-back at home and the Oilers are one up on Crosby’s Pens. Pittsburgh is going through one hell of an injury crisis mind you but as we’ve seen, the Oilers have failed to take advantage of these situations in the past. (LOSS)
- vs. Montreal Canadiens (12-10-6) – I feel like the Habs usually give Edmonton a hard time when they come to town and their team is a lot better than their record tells us. (LOSS)
- @ Vancouver Canucks (14-11-4) – I like the Oilers chances against Vancouver here and it’s the last game before the Christmas break. (WIN)
(Standings as of December 5th, 2019)
Three Players to Watch for the Maple Leafs
- #16 Mitch Marner – The hottest Leaf on the block with six points in his last five games. He’s this generation’s Denis Savard. Enjoy him while you can.
- #4 Tyson Barrie – His production has slowed over this past week with only one point but he’s got the offensive potential to break out at any moment.
- #88 William Nylander – He’s been ice-cold lately with only a single assist in his last five outings. What better place to snap that streak than in Edmonton?
#LeafsForever lines @ practice:
Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Nylander-Matthews-Kapanen
Engvall-Kerfoot-Miheyev
Moore-Gauthier-Spezza/PetanRielly-Barrie
Dermott-Ceci
Marincin-HollAndersen
HutchinsonExtras: Timashov, Aberg
Muzzin (absent/maintenance day)
— Maple Leafs News (@budsallday34) December 13, 2019
Three Players to Watch for the Oilers
- #18 James Neal – Four points in his last five makes him the 3rd most productive Oiler forward in that time. From the 3rd line no less.
- #91 Gaetan Haas – He’s been one of my favorite players this season for the Oilers. He takes a licking and keeps on ticking. If he could just get that puck to settle down for him, we might see the production arrows start to trend up. His line was very impressive vs. Minnesota and I think that the game tonight might offer some similar opportunities.
- #77 Oscar Klefbom – He was VERY good against the Wild and he’ll be in tough tonight because he’ll either be matched up against John Tavares’ line of Auston Matthews’. He has two goals in his last five games and I hope that’s a sign that he’s starting to heat up.
Mikko Koskinen is expected to start tonight and the defense, as far as I know, will be the same as it was vs. Minnesota,
Klefbom/Larsson
Nurse/Bear
Russell/Jones
#Oilers today:
Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian
Granlund-RNH-Chiasson
Neal-Haas-Gagner
Khaira-Sheahan-ArchibaldP. Russell extra. Nygard not on the ice.
Koskinen in home goal.
— Reid Wilkins (@ReidWilkins) December 13, 2019
