December 16, 2019 /

2019/20 Edmonton Oilers GM36: Oilers @ Stars – 3P2W PLUS Oilers/Hall, Permission to Talk Contract Granted?

The Oilers are barely hanging on to their spot on the top-three of the Pacific Division after last night’s NHL action completed. Tied with Calgary for 3rd place but now behind a surging Las Vegas team as well as the Coyotes, a loss might see them drop right out and into a wild card spot by the time their game starts against St. Louis on Wednesday.

It’s going to take some Herculean efforts to come out of Dallas and St. Louis with points, but we’ve seen this team do just that already this season with wins over Colorado, Arizona, and Vegas just a month ago.

I’d like to see their forwards work harder on the backcheck and in their own zone. Part of the reason they’re making these little mistakes is that players are being compromised by the fact that their teammates aren’t in the places they’re supposed to be, both defensively and offensively. They’ve got to be more aware of the scenario at hand when they’re on the ice.

Edmonton’s 3rd line is outscoring its 2nd line… That’s nice and all, but it’s bass ackwards.

Now Dallas can be hit and miss sometimes but they’ve always got the potential to kill. We saw Jujhar Khaira put up a brace against them already this season, so we know that they have deficiencies that can be exploited by bottom-six forwards in addition to a team’s star players. I would think the trick will be to try and get McDavid’s line out against Sekera/Polak as much as possible as well as Klefbom/Larsson against Benn/Seguin/Radulov. Not sure of that viability being the road team though.

Puljujarvi Stars at Channel One Cup for Finland

My boy had himself quite the international appearance for his national team over the weekend. It took him some time, but he’s starting to come around. I mean it’s kind of weird to say that because he’s basically been a point-per-game player in the Finnish league, but on the smaller ice surface he was dominant and stood out against a team of highly-skilled KHLers. His team lost mind you, but he was the one giving the Ruskies a hard time and in the end, was voted best player for Finland in that tournament. He finished tied with Vadim Shipachyov for the scoring lead after putting up a goal and three assists in three games.

Did the Oilers Receive a Hall Pass?

The longer the Taylor Hall sweepstakes draw out, the more it seems that the Oilers are in this. Not that it was ever a question but long before Colorado and Arizona were the “frontrunners” for the former MVP, the Oilers were being rumored to be in on Hall IF he were to go to market.

Long been has the reference to the Mark Stone trade been made to Hall’s situation and I believe that was mostly when talking about the return New Jersey might receive for him, but I’ve been wondering recently if it was the consequent long-term contract that was signed by Stone merely hours after being acquired by Vegas.

Continuing with the contract talk, Edmonton Oilers colorman Bob Stauffer has mused on more than one occasion about what kind of contract Hall could sign with the Oilers. A Leon Draisaitl-like deal is what was concluded upon which makes sense because what I’ve always been told is that Hall would like to come back to Edmonton to finish up some unfinished business and he would take a discount to play with the Oilers again.

In his most recent Sunday, Dec. 15 report, Friedman said of Hall: “I’ve mentioned several times I don’t believe Hall will sign during the season, and New Jersey is well aware of that. But, that doesn’t mean the Devils won’t allow a conversation if they get an offer they like that’s contingent on one. Not every team will consider that essential, but a couple might.”

Above, David Staples’ latest for the Cult of Hockey confirms my suspicions, that there’s a chance the Oilers have been granted access to talk about a  new contract. Now, is that because Hall has made it known that he’s unwilling to sign with certain teams? Is he, in a roundabout way, engineering a move to the Oilers by doing this and has his camp through various 3rd parties made it known to the Oilers what he’d be willing to sign for if Ken Holland can manufacture a deal for him?

Now, obviously that’s against the rules, but it’s not unheard of.

The Oilers could outbid any team looking to trade for Hall, no doubt in my mind about that and that’s one reason I reckon they’re slow-playing this and letting the Devils attempt to create a bidding war for the former Oiler. They could end all of this and offer Philip Broberg, Ethan Bear, or Evan Bouchard in addition to what’s being rumored right now. Although, It’s my belief that at this moment in time, Edmonton is only willing to part with Caleb Jones and Jesse Puljujarvi as well as a 2nd round pick that could turn into a first-rounder if they make the playoffs (h/t to Jim Matheson). That doesn’t take into account the financial aspects of the deal though and on that though. It wouldn’t shock me if one of Sam Gagner, Alex Chiasson, or Brandon Manning were sent to New Jersey with Jones and Pulju and another be sent to Bakersfield to free up the required cap room along with the Devils eating 50% of Hall’s remaining contract.

To put it more plainly,

To AHL:
Brandon Manning (frees up $1.075M)

To NJ:
Sam Gagner ($3.15M)
Jesse Puljujarvi
Caleb Jones ($720k)
Conditional 2nd round pick in 2020 (could turn into a 1st rounder if Edmonton makes the playoffs)

To Edmonton:
Taylor Hall with 50% salary retained

The Oilers should come out with around 200k more in cap room if this exact deal is consummated. That said, I am pretty confident that the only way this deal gets done is if there’s a mid-long term contract in place the minute he arrives in Edmonton.

I feel like Edmonton is in a potential win-win situation here, whether they win in the short-term with a trade (and sign) or long-term they sign him in the summer without giving up any assets. Another way they might win out in all of this is by NOT trading for him or signing him and using the money and roster space to create more depth throughout the lineup starting next season.

An interesting side-product of this trade is that it’d open up two contract spots under the 50-man limit that would offer Holland some more flexibility going forward in his bid to rebuild the Oilers into a championship team. The importance of this while an expansion draft is coming cannot be understated.

Just as an aside, there’s some talk of a one-year deal for Hall. A “show-me” type of contract that would expire the same time Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ deal would. Would they, in two summers, for a second time, sign twin long-term contracts and potentially end their careers as Edmonton Oilers?

Uncle Evan there speaks a lot of sense there. It’s not even just a waste of those players, but the high-end draft pick involved. I suppose they could try and flip Hall’s rights at the draft to try and recoup in that scenario… More interesting would be the excuses all those people would make for Hall in the event that things didn’t work out. I wonder who would be to blame? The coach, the GM, the Zamboni driver?

For the record, I still think there are teams better positioned to make trades for Hall, namely the New York Islanders, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Philadelphia Flyers. I also wonder if Nashville is a wildcard team in all of this. Right now, the only teams being reported in it officially are Arizona and Colorado along with the Oilers.

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) LOSS
  • @ 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 Stars

  • #91 Tyler Seguin – He hasn’t scored in a couple of weeks and you know how that will play out against Edmonton. They love playing the role of slumpbuster.
  • #24 Roope Hintz – He’s emerged as Dallas’ most electrifying forward. He’s so fast and hard on the forecheck, plus he has got a laser of a shot. I really like him.
  • #4 Miro Heiskanen – Another player I really enjoy watching. He’s part of a new revolution of young puck-moving defenders who can break ankles with their edgework. He’s such a smart defender too and for his age… That’s something.

These are the lines Dallas was rolling with in their most recent game. They’re obviously subject to change as I imagine Ben Bishop gets the start vs. Edmonton.

Three Players to Watch for the Oilers

  • #93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – two points in his last ten games isn’t going to cut it for Nuge. He MUST get his offense going and fast.
  • #74 Ethan Bear – Tough tough outing vs. TOR. How will he bounce back against an equally challenging opponent? The Oilers need him to be on his game, his transition game is paramount to the success of his pairing with Darnell Nurse.
  • #89 Sam Gagner – The only Oilers forward without a goal in his last ten games. He’s added five assists mind you and he’s been playing well on a line with RNH and James Neal.

The Oilers haven’t released their lines from this morning’s practice and after that last game against Toronto, you can be sure there are going to be changes.

Hockey players are the toughest athletes on the planet. Click the pic and purchase this shirt right now!
The one time it’s okay to be a JERK! Grab this shirt while supplies last!
Elias Pettersson
Elias Pettersson’s nickname is “Alien”. Here’s a shirt to celebrate it! Click the image to buy one!

CategoriesBeer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

TagsDallas stars Edmonton Oilers NHL Taylor Hall

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!