Category Archives: Around the Oilogosphere

2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, Armchair GM, Around the Oilogosphere, Bakersfield Condors, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

2023/24 Edmonton Oilers GM40: Oilers VS. Maple Leafs – 3P2W – “Keep your eye on a team like Edmonton. I think that they..will certainly have some interest.”

Hey y’all! Welcome back for another season of Edmonton Oilers hockey! I’m BLH and I’ll be giving you the skinny on today’s game!

If you’re new here and are wondering what 3P2W means, well, it stands for Three Players to Watch and seeing I’m as lazy as I am, I figured we’d shorten it to 3P2W.

So with that out of the way, let’s talk a little bit about what’s been going on lately in the Oilogospehere and then get into the player’s I’ve put under the spotlight for today’s matchup!

Give us a follow on the socials!

Random Pontifications

“There’s anywhere between 4 or 5 teams… that have interest in Corey Perry… I know there’s been some talk about Toronto – I don’t see that as a fit…Keep your eye on a team like Edmonton. I think that they..will certainly have some interest.” – Chris Johnston

  • Perry’s on his way to the Oilers. It’s only a matter of time and man, do they need him in their bottom six because those boys have fizzled right the f*ck out. I would assume that’s why the games have been a lot closer as of recent.

“The Oilers are actively exploring the possibility of adding veteran forward Corey Perry to their roster, according to insider reports. Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers Now, has revealed that the team is diligently assessing the potential acquisition of Perry.”

“TSN’s Frank Seravalli notes that the Oilers have been in pursuit of Perry for several weeks and are expressing genuine interest in securing his services. Perry, who is reportedly considering various options, is said to have Edmonton high on his list of preferred destinations.”

  • I don’t always believe what Seravalli says but I do think he’s an entertaining guest on Stauffer’s show because he sticks it to Bob every now and then and doesn’t give stock answers.
  • Now, what I’m afraid of is the Oilers considering Perry to be their “top-six” winger addition that Holland was speaking to recently. That won’t work. The former Duck is way to old to be getting that kind of TOI and he’s been way better down the lineup.
  • One thing that could materialize out of a possible Perry addition is that Warren Foegele gets moved. He’s got ten points in his last ten games and seems to be a good winger for Leon but I could foresee a scenario where Draisaitl gets pissy due to the lack of finish out of McLovin’.
  • Perry could replace Foegele in the bottom six easily and #37 could be used in a deal to bring in somebody like Vladdy Tarasenko out of Ottawa. We know the Sens and Oilers have been talking and the Staios connection is there…
  • Just as an aside, do you think there’s a chance Edmonton moves Evander Kane? I’ve not heard anything and he’s been a lot better than some projected him to be (on and off the ice) when Holland brought him in, but I just wonder if the Oilers cut bait on him before he gets into Milan Lucic territory.

Quotes come from NHL Trade Talk

The BLH Instagram account is growing like crazy! Three weeks ago when we started to get it back going we were at a shade over 1900 followers and now we’re gunning for 2000. So please, head on over and give us a follow as we’re posting exclusive content over there that won’t be published here or on our Twitter page.

Three Players to Watch for the Bad Guys

  • #34 Auston Matthews (33g 15a 48pts) – There is something to be said with regards to scoring goals at nearly a goal-per-game pace but if you’re one of those hockey people who are saying Matthews should be in contention for the Hart, you’re kidding yourself. He’s not even the MVP of his own team this year. The next guy on the list is…
  • #88 William Nylander (21g 36a 58pts) – I think he’s the best player on the Leafs but there’s an argument to be made there. He’s definitely the most entertaining and that’s not even close. He’s scored five goals and seven assists in his last ten games played.
  • #16 Mitch Marner  (18g 28a 46pts) – Surprisingly enough, Marner is the team’s hottest player in their last five games with four goals and three assists in that time. Now, I don’t watch the team enough but at the moment, Sheldon Keefe has him lining up on his 3rd line RW for some reason alongside Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi. That line could be problematic if they’re on their game.

Three Players to Watch for the Good Guys

  • #18 Zach Hyman (14g 10a 24pts) – Is this stat true? According to hockey-reference, Hyman has only played against the Maple Leafs three times. He’s got one goal and one assist in those games. Anyways, he’s still trucking along in the goal-scoring department with five goals in his last five games.
  • #97 Connor McDavid 0g 3a 3pts) – 16 points in his last ten games and historically versus the Leafs he has 31pts in 21 games. Now Careful with him though, January seems to be one of the months where Connor slows down a bit.
  • #74 Stu Skinner (9g 30a 39pts) – He’s 4-0-0 with a 1.24 GAA and a SV% of 0.957 in his last five starts. They’ll need him on his game tonight because Toronto has enough firepower to blow it wide open if Skinner shits the bed in the tiniest of fashions. That said, so much for his sophomore slump I was pitching earlier in the season. He’s now made it so that the co-GMs Holland and Jackson don’t need to stump up for a starting goalie. All they need now is a 1B.

The King of the North is here! Click the pic and grab a shirt!

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

Around the Oilogosphere – May 4th Edition – Hurricanes’ #2 Overall Pick Available According to McKenzie, USA Downs Canada, Remenda on Oilers Fans, and Many NHL Rumors

Click the pic above to check out our merch!

I hope you had a chance to take in that Canada/USA game World Championships game. Boy, it was a beauty! Connor McDavid and Matt Barzal were smiling like butcher’s dogs with so much room out there and they were electrifying!

Sadly Team Canada didn’t get much support from its goaltending and defense.

Darcy Kuemper looked like an AHL goalie and Darnell Nurse got caught out a couple of times on a bad pinch that resulted in goals against.

Canada plays Korea next on Sunday… What?! Korea?

BYE BYE AUVITU

Yohann Auvitu is off to Europe and that’s a shame. I really liked his game once he got comfortable. He moved the puck the right way and was a Coffey-like threat on the rush.

Unfortunately, Todd McLellan didn’t feel the same way. He never put Auvitu in a position to succeed (*cough* THE POWERPLAY *cough) and in my opinion didn’t allow himself to gain the trust in this player.

I truly feel that if McLellan had given Auvitu some more leash that the Frenchman would’ve been able to replace Andrej Sekera…

Everybody says the Oilers lacked a puck moving defenseman last year. No, they didn’t. They had one right under their noses…

HURRICANES MAKE #2 OVERALL AVAILABLE

On this week’s Bobcast, Bob McKenzie told us that the rumor was that after the 3 finalists for the 1,2,3 spots in the draft were drawn (at the draft lottery) during the break Carolina was very much interested in letting the league know that if they won the 1st overall pick it would be available for the right price.

Now once the draft lottery was over and the order had been said, Tom Dundon made it known that the no.2 was very much up for grabs and that they were going to consider all of their options according to McKenzie.

The kicker to all of this is Rick Dudley being hired away from the Montreal Canadiens, to be their VP of hockey ops.

In a 5-year span, Rick Dudley traded the 1st overall pick THREE TIMES according to Bob McKenzie. Between 1999 and 2003 Dudley moved that pick thricely.

  • 1999: Tampa Bay had the #1 pick and traded it to Vancouver for the #4, #75, and #88. Was all part of the Sedinery as McKenzie calls it because Vancouver found a way to move it in order to be able to select both Sedin brothers. Atlanta ended up with the 1st overall and picked Patrik Stefan.
  • 2002: Florida had the #1 but didn’t want to take Rick Nash, they wanted Bouwmeester, so they flipped picks and the option to swap 1st rounders in 2003 (that wasn’t exercised) with Columbus if Florida wanted. Interesting side note here is that Dudley sent two more picks to Atlanta (a 3rd rounder in 2002 and a 4th rounder in 2003) in order for them NOT to draft Bouwmeester at no.2.
  • 2003: Florida had the #1 and traded it along with the #73 to Pittsburgh for #3, #55, and Mikael Samuelsson. FLA took Horton 3rd overall and PIT took MA Fleury 1st overall.

The Bobfather says that historically teams haven’t been willing to pay huge prices to move up because the teams further down the draft order aren’t willing to pay a massive premium to get up to no.2 because the player they take at no.2 isn’t all that different than the player they’ll get at 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th overall.

But is this year different? The Hurricanes are positioning themselves in way that hints to them moving that pick and as McKenzie tells us during the podcast, Rick Dudley was working very hard on the draft for the Canadiens before leaving for Carolina. So he’s going to have a deep knowledge of this year’s crop of players coming in. Moving down and pickup up more selections makes sense.

Now, how does this tie in with the Oilers?

Well, like it or not Oilers fans, Peter Chiarelli has been active at every draft he’s run for Edmonton. Be that talking about hockey trades or moving up in the draft, he’s had his nose in the thick of things every year and I don’t see this as any different.

IF Chiarelli wants to rid himself of some salary, he could do it here BUT it wouldn’t be a contract like Russell, Lucic, or Sekera. It’d be a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or a Leon Draisaitl in my opinion. I talked a bit about this yesterday (link).

I’m not saying I’d support a trade of that magnitude but the Hurricanes need a no.1 and I think that RNH or Leon would be that in the Eastern Conference. The Oilers could use to shed a few dollars and add depth on the wing. Svechnikov or Zadina will score 20 goals next year for sure. Would it be more on McDavid’s wing?

You can work out a trade proposal yourself but there are a few teams who are looking to shake their foundations, Carolina, Ottawa, and Buffalo. If the Oilers were smart, they’d be trying to fleece those guys.

Please SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel! We’re on the hunt for 1000 amazing subscribers!

OILERS NEWS

Oilers at the Worlds: McDavid watching shootout from sin bin encapsulates a mixed bag on Day One

Should Oilers Go for Justin Faulk?

Drew Remenda talks Oilers coaches, fans hating him, and broadcasting notes from Sportsnet

Woodcroft discusses his first Head Coaching job

Yet a third Euro leaves Edmonton Oilers as Yohann Auvitu heads back (towards) home

NHL RUMORS

NHL Rumors: Blues and Sharks … Evander Kane’s Pending Free Agency

NHL Rumors: 2018 Draft Picks In Play and Players Who Could Be Moved This Offseason

NHL Rumors: Coyotes, Hurricanes and Senators

Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shop to grab some sweet BLH merch.
Armchair GM, Around the Oilogosphere, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors, Trades

Around the Oilogosphere – May 3rd Edition – Could the Oilers Draft the Next Jake Guentzal? RNH to the Canes Proposal, See Ya Slepy, and Many NHL Rumors!

Click the pic above to check out our merch!

It’s always tough to say goodbye to an Oiler who you think could’ve been a great contributor to the club had he been given some more opportunity. I really liked watching Anton Slepyshev progress through the club from his days in the AHL to bottom 6 spot duty to being top 6 in the playoffs in 2017 but it seems as if the Oilers management and coaching staff haven’t seen enough from the Russian skiller to be able to give him what he needs to stay in North America and so he’s off back to his homeland to play with CSKA Moscow.

I hope the Oilers retain his rights somehow because there’s a player there and maybe he just needs a bit more time to refine his game in a different environment. Could he be Evgeni Dadonov 2.0?

THE NEXT JAKE GUENTZAL/KYLE CONNOR

Last week we talked about  three of the draft options the online scouting community were projecting for the Oilers at #10 which included Isac Lundestrom and Jesperi Kotkaniemi as well as the player we’re going to talk about below whom I’m ready to throw my support behind 100% as the player the Oilers should take.

I imagine the reason I really like this kid has recency bias playing a major part. I think he looks very similar to Jake Guentzal or Kyle Connor and both of those players are having good-to-great playoffs right now. And Farabee had an outstanding U18s as well.

But I’ll let you judge for yourself.

Joel Farabee
Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Height / Weight: 6’0, 164 lbs
Born: February 25, 2000 | Cicero, NY
Nation: United States

First off, you can’t go wrong taking a highly touted prospect who’s playing for the USNTDP these days. That program is fast becoming one of the best for developing high-end NHL players like Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy, Matthew Tkachuk, John Gibson, Jacob Trouba, etc. I could go on and on.

Basically, you’re going to get an NHLer if you take a player who is thriving on this team.

Secondly, I like players with some jam to their game. Not taking anything away from the skilled Marners, Ehlers, or Johnny Hockeys. It’s a personal preference. To me, it means there’s a bit more depth to that player apart from offense. Joel Farabee has this in spades.

“The best thing about Joel is that he competes so hard, and he goes to the areas most people don’t want to go to, and he scores tons of goals at the front of the net. He’s talented enough to score nice goals, but he adds so many goals because of his willingness to go to the hard areas, and he’s comfortable in those areas because he’s legitimately tough.” – NTDP Coach Seth Appert (link)

That’s not to say that Farabee is simply all blue-collar with respects to his game. No, he’s also got the skills to play in today’s NHL.

  • Shot? Check!

“He has a quick release and can snap the puck with pace.” – NHL Central Scouting’s Greg Rajanen (link)

  • Stickhandling? Check!
  • Playmaking? Check!

“Farabee has good hands and stick skills allowing him to control the puck while moving at top speed. Defenders must respect his speed, and so they back off him on the rush, creating shooting and passing lanes.” (link)

  • Skating (Speed/Agility)? Check! Check!

“Joel Farabee is an excellent skater, with the agility and edge work to get by defenders in one-on-one situations. He also has an outstanding first step and lightning quick acceleration” (link)

  • Hockey IQ? Check!

Farabee has good vision and is an outstanding playmaker off the wing. He anticipates extremely well and seems to be a step ahead of the play. Farabee finds open ice without the puck and makes smart plays with it. (link)

  • Two-Way Attentiveness? Check

What sets Farabee apart is how effective he is defensively. He uses his smarts to put himself in position to intercept passes and break up plays. Once he gets the puck on his stick, he’s excellent at transition offense. He’s one of the best 200-foot players at the top of the draft. (link)

  • Compete? Check!

“His fearlessness and work ethic make him a load to handle in the offensive zone.” (link)

“One thing you notice instantly is his work ethic on the ice — Farabee has a nonstop motor and will bust it from start to finish on every shift” (link)

“He excels in all zones, providing his team with a tireless work ethic” (link)

That’s a lot of checks and one would think if he’s that good he’d be no.1, right? And that’s true. What I’d say to that is he’s not at the same level in some of those areas as the forwards listed ahead of him (Svechnikov, Zadina, Tkachuk, Wahlstrom) and vice versa.

What is holding him back from being ranked higher is his physical stature. He’s on the smaller end being 6’0″ and 165lbs at the moment and what that means is that his shot isn’t where Wahlstrom’s or Zadina’s is and his skating isn’t as powerful as Svechnikov’s or his checking isn’t quite as good as Tkachuk’s, but by no means is that an indication of the kind of player he’ll develop into.

A player as smart as Farabee is will find a way around his limitations and turn them into strengths as a professional and if his floor is as a 3rd line special teams specialist, I’m fine with that because his ceiling is that of a top-6 scoring winger.

AN INTERESTING HURRICANES/OILERS TRADE PROPOSAL

I’ll just lay it out here and let you mull it over.

To Carolina: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins + Jesse Puljujarvi OR the #10 pick
To Edmonton: 2nd overall pick this year + Justin Faulk

We all love Nuge, myself included, and we all know Chiarelli and McLellan love him but does the salary cap love him? Could the Oilers use a bit more room under said cap to add a free agent or two?

Look, I know that if RNH plays alongside McDavid for an entire season AND stays healthy, he’ll put up at least 60 pts. He’s probably one of the last players I’d like to see the Oilers trade BUT Andrei Svechnikov will score 20 next season for sure. He’s that good. My good buddy The Oil Knight (Sean) has watched him a bit closer since he’s based in Ontario and he says that Svechnikov plays a very similar power game to that of Evgeni Malkin.

So would the Oilers be better off with Nuge at $6M and 60pts for the next three years or Svechnikov at $3.75M for the next three years with 20 goals or more each year?

Conversely, could McLellan handle another teenager on the roster where English is his 2nd language? (Ridiculous excuse btw)

I think Carolina wants a star centre and as much as I like Jordan Staal, he’s not that guy. Justin Faulk is now Carolina’s Justin Schultz and could use a change of scenery and depending on if they took Pulju or the #10, they could have Aho’s winger for the next 10 or so years.

Thoughts?

OILERS NEWS

Shots fired! Drew Remenda: “Firing the assistant coach to me is ridiculous.”

Edmonton Oilers may have lost Anton Slepyshev to the KHL

Chia Haters vs. Chia Supporters

Sorry state of what Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers rivalry has become

NHL RUMORS

NHL Rumors: Hurricanes, Oilers, Canucks and Maple Leafs

NHL Rumors: Minnesota Wild … Plekanec and Canadiens

NHL Rumors: Canucks Options At Center … John Tavares

NHL Rumors: Dallas Stars and the Philadelphia Flyers

CHECK UPSTAIRS w/ Color! Click the pic to see this design and more!
Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shop to grab some sweet BLH merch.
Around the Oilogosphere, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors

Around the Oilogosphere – May 1st Edition – Koskinen Signs, 2018 Mock Draft, JVR to the Oilers, and More NHL Rumors!

Click the pic above to check out our merch!

For what feels like the first time in a very long time the Edmonton Oilers will go into a season with three capable NHL goalies under contract. Cam Talbot, Mikko Koskinen, and Al Montoya.

Your definition of “capable” may vary but as fans of the team, when’s the last time the Oilers had goaltending depth three deep at the NHL level?

They came close when they had Khabibulin and Dubnyk running the show. Do we have to go as far back as ’06 when they had Roloson, Markkanen, and Conklin? Or WAY back when the team was icing Bob Essensa, Tommy Salo, and Mikhail Shtalenkov…

If the Oilers choose to sign Nick Ellis and/or Laurent Brossoit for next season, it could be argued that two more 3-deep tier of goalies would be present for the AHL and the ECHL.

Talbot
Koskinen
———-
Montoya (NHL/AHL)
———-
Brossoit
Ellis
———-
Starrett (AHL/ECHL)
Wells
Skinner (if he signs)

That spells depth for me.

Today, Koskinen’s signing was finally announced by the team with the term and dollar amount being revealed. 

1 year @ $2M w/ 500k signing bonus.

Immediately, as always, the fanbase of the Oilers went into a frenzy. The hive once again was thrown to the ground. Opinions are all over the place. As usual.

https://twitter.com/Stephane774/status/991459935002152962

Some folks cannot help themselves but to complain about every. single. thing… Must be a hard life.

What I like about the Oilers signing this player is that it gives them some depth and competition going into the season. All three goaltenders on expiring contracts, so the cream will rise to the top there and the Oilers will have a much clearer answer as to who will be minding their nets in 2019 no doubt.

One thing that happened last year that really sunk the team is Talbot’s early struggles and McLellan’s unwillingness to go with Brossoit. In my opinion, I believe that Talbot knew that Brossoit wasn’t ready and took it upon himself to look after the net as long as he could. That’s just speculation of course and we know that McLellan is a one tendy kind of guy that rarely goes to his backup which could actually undo this Koskinen signing in the upcoming season.

But if Talbot were to go down, at least the Oilers would have some competent backup to tide the team over.

I feel like $2M on the cap isn’t completely out of order and Montoya’s cap hit in the minors will be 37.5k, so I can’t argue with that. I don’t mind paying Montoya to help develop the young goalies in Bakersfield. I also don’t mind the idea of having another Finn on the roster for Mr. Puljujarvi to confide in.

But back to the cap hit.

The Oilers will have a combined hit of $6.19M for the trio of goalies mentioned above. The Oilers are about in the middle when it comes to how much teams spend on their puck stoppers but there are teams in the NHL that pay their netminders far more than that. I mean Dallas was paying their two goalies over $10M combined! Take a gander at what Carolina was paying their goalies. Paying Chad Johnson $2.5M a year didn’t make them better and the combination of Greiss and Halak couldn’t keep the puck out of the Islanders net even though they were handsomely rewarded ($7.8M combined).

This payment and term are more than some are comfortable with and that’s fine but Koskinen isn’t coming in riding his NCAA or junior hockey stats either. He’s been a very good goalie in Europe for some time and that’s worth something. In the last 5 seasons, he’s had 1 where his GAA was over 2.08 and two seasons where his SV% was under .923 (.915 and .916). To add to that, he’s 29/30 years old and it’s not fair to use the numbers he put up when he was with the Islanders organization to judge him with. Goalies develop later than skaters and the KHL is the closest league in terms of competition that the NHL has. It’s better than the AHL no doubt.

All that Mikko Koskinen has to do is come in and not be the weakest link. He doesn’t have to be an all-star or the next Mikka Kirprusoff, albeit it’d be nice, he simply has to come in and be a solid goalie for the Oilers and the Oilers have to be a solid team in front of him. If that happens, nobody will give a flying squirrel’s nutsack how much be made in 2018/19.

For me, the pros outweigh the cons here. Would I like the Oilers to pay their backup under $1M? Sure! Do I know if Koskinen is going to pan out? I do not but nobody else does either. They’re simply making a judgment based on fear.

As far as the Oilers cap situation, I believe they’ll have around $17M to play around with to sign RFAs Darnell Nurse, Drake Caggiula, Matt Benning, and Ryan Strome.

  • Nurse – bridge deal @ 3.5M per
  • Caggiula – 1 or 2 years at $1M-$1.5M
  • Benning – 2 to 3 years at $2M – $2.5M
  • Strome – 3 years @ $3M

I’m not including Slepyshev because I reckon he’s outtie 5000 and Pakarinen is gone apparently. So that makes the job a bit easier there. There are a handful of RFAs in the minors that might get re-signed but that money will hardly put a dent in the cap, so no need to spend a lot of time on that.

If my predictions come true, the Oilers will spend about $10.5M of the $17M re-signing their RFAs thus leaving $7M for UFA options. What do the Oilers need?

  • RH’d with some offensive prowess
  • Top 6 winger who likes to shoot.

UFA options:

  • (RHD) John Carlson: Nope. Not a hope in hell he’s coming to Edmonton.
  • (RHD) Mike Green: A more realistic option but not the player he was in WAS.
  • (RW) Michael Grabner: Speed to burn and scores a bit. Is he a top-6 option though? Didn’t do anything after going to NJ.
  • (LW) James Van Riemsdyk: Not fast but a great net-front presence. Will cost you though.
  • (LW) Evander Kane: Will eat up all of that remaining cap but he’s fast, gritty, and scores goals. Showing well in SJ (who I think will sign him if not Vancouver or Vegas)
  • (LW) Patrick Maroon: The LW is pretty slow but Patty has hands and will take care of business when the time comes. He scores in bunches but goes on droughts.
  • (LW) Thomas Vanek: Great complimentary player but goes Eberle in the post-season. So if your goal is to get to the playoffs, Vanek will score for you but don’t expect anything after that.
  • (RW/LW) James Neal: Will also take up much of that remaining cap and he’s 30 years old. Injuries are starting to accumulate but he’s never played a season in the NHL where he didn’t score 20 goals. Can be a real SOB on the ice too.

The way I see it is the Oilers should stay away from the big dogs on the UFA market. I really think that Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi will be battling it out for the no.2/3 RW spots next season and one of them will come through with 20 goals but I hope it’s both of them.

Edmonton needs to shore things up by adding cheap veterans who have something to prove going into 2018. At the very least, if things don’t work out, they can be moved on at the deadline if not beforehand.

The Oilers have to stop trying to force things to happen either by trade or free agency. Let the tried and true method of drafting and developing take over.

Please SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel! We’re on the hunt for 1000 amazing subscribers!

OILERS NEWS

Edmonton Oilers sign free-agent goalie Mikko Koskinen

Edmonton Oilers raise the stakes, sign veteran KHL stopper Mikko Koskinen to challenge Cam Talbot

Oilers sign Mikko Koskinen to a one-year contract with $2.5 million AAV

For a second time as an Edmonton Oiler, Cam Talbot enters his “contract year” with things to prove

Mock Draft 1.0 – Post Lottery Edition

Should Oilers Go for James van Riemsdyk?

NHL RUMORS

Where Do The Toronto Maple Leafs Go From Here?

NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs – Dubas, Hunter, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares, Tanev and Bozak

NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens and the New Jersey Devils

NHL Rumors: Columbus Blue Jackets – Dubinsky, Panarin, Bobrovsky, Johnson, Calvert and Cole

NHL Rumors: Bruins, Hurricanes, Oilers, Canadiens, Rangers and Canucks

CHECK UPSTAIRS w/ Color! Click the pic to see this design and more!
Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shop to grab some sweet BLH merch.
Around the Oilogosphere, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors

Around the Oilogosphere – April 27th Edition – McDavid Snubbed for Hart, Oilers Send Coaches Packing, Final BLH Top Ten Draft Rankings, and Many NHL Rumors!

Click the pic above to check out our merch!
THE HART TROPHY DEBACLE

I think David Staples summed it up pretty well but I’ve got a couple comments to add as well.

It’s interesting how the nonsense of “your team must squeak into playoffs for its top player to win MVP” took over the narrative with hockey writers this year. It eliminated McDavid but also Malkin, Wheeler and Kucherov from serious contention.

Can we go over why each of these candidates were nominated?

Taylor Hall – Outstanding individual season. No doubt about it. But would NJ have made the playoffs without the ridiculous heater that backup goalie Keith Kincaid went on? $6M starter Cory Schneider was AWOL since Christmas and was no help during the playoffs either.

I say that without the goaltending the Devils got they would’ve had a 90pt Hall and a good shot at Rasmus Dahlin. Basically the same situation Claude Giroux is in.

Nathan MacKinnon – Here’s a guy who until the end of the season had the team on his back and took them from being a 40pt team to a playoff team but he also played on one of the best lines in the league all year. Mikko Rantanen was on fire with 70+pts! But the former 1st overall selection did fade later on and only had 1 goal in his last 10 games.

Anze Kopitar – Kopitar is THE best 2-way centre in the NHL today and what a bounce-back year for him. Not only is he a threat 5×5 and on the PP but he’s a premier penalty killer. Something that Hall and MacKinnon can’t say for themselves. But LA had an elite goaltender in Jonathan Quick and a Norris candidate in Drew Doughty to play alongside.

If it were my pick, Hall wouldn’t even be a consideration. I’d go with Kopitar over MacKinnon.

I know there’s tons missing from the argument but I don’t want this section to drag on. All three players were on teams that squeaked into the post-season and combined for a total of 3 wins. So what happened? Did their Hart Trophy mojo go away once the puck dropped in game 1 of the playoffs?

Nikita Kucherov led the league in scoring for much of the season AND was a major factor in their 1st round series vs. Hall’s Devils. Not an easy thing to do. Claude Giroux changed positions this year and still maintained his high-scoring pace. Evgeni Malkin was bossing it this year but all of that is forgotten because Hall, MacKinnon, and Kopitar just made it into the playoffs.

Lastly, Connor McDavid blew the Art Ross Competition away and was a point-per-game player even when he was sick as a dog and lost 15 pounds. If they only counted his ES scoring, he’d have been in the top-15 in league scoring. His 84 ES points had him 18 points ahead of the next person. But because the Oilers couldn’t get their PP together and they missed the playoffs, significantly I should add, he’s not considered for the Hart? Bull shizzle!

COACHING CAROUSEL

Fleming out! Bergford out! Johnson out! Herbers out! Woodcroft, pack your shite! You’re the new coach in Bakersfield.

There’s not much more to say here that you won’t read in the links below. McLellan is thrown a life preserver and Chiarelli uses his get out of jail free card on the assistants instead of the entire coaching staff.

If the rumors are true and the Oilers are indeed adding Trent Yawney and Glen Gulutzan, then I’m looking forward to the team doing a complete 180 from last year and being a top 5 in both the PP and the PK as well as making the playoffs.

Now if Woodcroft is heading to the AHL, I wonder who his assistants will be there? Also, there’s room for one more coach in Edmonton, will that be Manny Viveiros?

Chiarelli had better get the roster moves right this summer. I don’t think there’ll be a massive trade like there’s been in the previous summers but I could be wrong. Maybe they’ll deal someone out and bring in a guy like Evander Kane which would require a massive exodus of cash in order to do that. Meaning one of Lucic (very unlikely as long as Chiarelli is GM), Sekera (more likely), RNH (unlikely as long as Chiarelli/McLellan are employed in Edmonton), or Draisaitl (ain’t happening) would have to go.

BLH’S FINAL TOP TEN 2018 NHL DRAFT PROSPECTS

This is the last ranking of the year folks. Thanks for following along on the YouTube channel and I’m thinking this year’s draft is going to be some entertaining. There are some real high-end players available and I’m hoping the lottery is going throws everything for a loop again like it did last year.

However, I do reckon that the Oilers will not be picking in the top end this year and like the Puljujarvi draft, they’ll move down in the ranking probably. They’ll get a very good prospect like Joe Veleno, Joel Farabee, Rasmus Kupari, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Ty Smith, maybe Noah Dobson if they’re lucky, or if the hockey gods are really feeling generous, Quinn Hughes!

Please SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel! We’re on the hunt for 1000 amazing subscribers!

OILERS NEWS

Edmonton Oilers fire pair of assistant coaches, reassign another to AHL – Jay Woodcroft has logged more than 1,000 games as a National Hockey League assistant coach, which has a nice ring to it, but there comes a time when you take a step out of that comfort zone and run your own pro team.

The Edmonton Oilers arrive at compromise, as the club re-works its coaching staff – I also believe that Peter Chiarelli was frustrated with some (or many) aspects of how Todd handled his lineup and bench. And while Chiarelli believes McLellan is a good coach and believes in his choice to hire him, the G.M. could also see some stale and/or ineffective tactics being employed.

Chiarelli talks coaching changes – After last season went sideways, it seemed inevitable that the Oilers were going to make some kind of changes in terms of coaching or management personnel, and today we got a first look at what’s to come.

Glen Gulutzan & Trent Yawney expected to help coach Edmonton Oilers, Jay Woodcroft to Bakersfield – The last I heard from Bob Stauffer of the Oilers on this he was saying Wednesday that it was more likely the Oilers would bring in Yawney than Gulutzan.

The Edmonton Oilers need to better measure Great Expectations – And so, for Peter Chiarelli, here are a list of things that he’d be best to take a more cautious approach to, in the coming 12 months

NEW RUMORS

31 Thoughts: How different will Maple Leafs look in 2018–19?

NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs and Other Potential Coaching Movement

Pacific Division Offseason Primer: No. of Contracts, Cap Hit, Draft Picks, UFAs and RFAs

NHL Rumors: Philadelphia Flyers – Pending UFAs, Buyout? Possible Trade Targets

NHL Rumors: Ducks, Flames, Blue Jackets, Stars, Devils, Flyers and Capitals

CHECK UPSTAIRS w/ Color! Click the pic to see this design and more!
Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shop to grab some sweet BLH merch.