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Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: Oilers Get Left Behind at Deadline in Holland’s Last Kick at the Can

Well, it’s been a helluva run here. As I write this the trade deadline is about four(ish) hours away and I don’t think the Oilers are going to do much. I hope they do but it’s looking unlikely. Holland doesn’t want to upset the apple cart here and he’s happy with the group on hand.

So, if that’s it, I think Edmonton is in a really good place as long as the health bug doesn’t catch up to them. They’ve not been as deep as they are right now for a really long time. They’ve got solid goaltending, the defense is one of the best in the league, the offense is one of the best in the league and the roster is extremely flexible. I think there are only a couple things that might be able to bring this ship down and they are:

  • Connor/Leon going cold.
  • Bad coaching decisions in the playoffs.

I think this team will go as far as its two best players will take them. As we witnessed last night, when they’re off their game, the whole team suffers. You hope that the addition of Henrique will help avoid such a scenario, but you never know.

With all that said, I’m taking a break from the daily blogs. I’ll be back a little later. I hope you enjoyed the coverage and Let’s Go Oilers!

(I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!)

But before we get to the post, do us a favor and give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

We’re Done

“If we’re done, I feel good,” Holland said. “But I am going to kind of wait until tomorrow (Friday). Tomorrow morning I’m going to get up and I’m going to just kind of call a few people to see if there’s anything out there that might be of interest to people, but if this is it, again, we got seven D, I feel good about the two forwards.

I’m always worried about the chemistry. I think we’re bringing in three people into the locker room that will fit in, be competitive, and understand where they fit.” – Ken Holland quotes via The Cult of Hockey

  • Basically everything I said yesterday, Holland is saying today. Edmonton’s focus is depth and not upsetting the chemistry.
  • There were some Eberle rumors earlier but it appears as of the time I’m writing this (4 hours prior to the deadline) that he’s getting set to re-sign in Seattle for two years according to Jeff Marek.
  • So, if the Oilers are going to do something with their 2nd line RW or 2nd pairing RHD, it won’t include Ebs.
Brown Out

“Mark Spector: The Edmonton Oilers could make forward Connor Brown available for trade as GM Ken Holland looks for more depth on the blue line.” – My NHL Trade Rumors

  • Now, as poor as Brown has been 5v5, he’s still a fast player who gets in the muck which might be useful in the postseason. The Oilers didn’t exactly get any faster by bringing Sam Carrick in.
  • At the same time, if the Oilers can bring in that top-6 RW and that gives them the ability to slot players in where they’re supposed to go, that’s really tough to argue against.
  • That said, Mark Spector has been going on about Connor Brown being shipped out of Edmonton for a few weeks now.

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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: Is Eberle About to Come Home?

King Kenny’s decided to go for depth as opposed to a top-heavy club going into the playoffs and I have to say, I kinda like it. They know they’re going to face 4-line teams and without one of their own they’d be skating uphill both ways.

If you’re a longtime reader, you know that my whole thing with roster construction is the strength of the spine. Meaning how strong is a club right down the middle with its four centers, it’s top-4 defense, and the goalie. Well, with the additions of Henrique and Carrick, two players who will have ZERO questions with regards to their roles on the team, the Oilers’ spine up front has never been stronger in the McDavid era.

After the trade yesterday, I was left wondering which minimum wage no.7 defender they’d go out to grab but Holland sent Dylan Holloway down this morning to open up another 900k and that’ll give them over $2M to play with. I’m not trying to figure out if they’ve got one or even TWO more moves left in them. They could still bring in Jordan Eberle or Alexandre Carrier or BOTH if they got creative!

That said, I’m not sure if anybody in the organization is looking to turn much of this roster over. Even if there are players struggling in certain roles.

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Reading Between the Lines

“I would think if we do something, we’re bringing in somebody to be number seven. How aggressive are we with draft capital for somebody to come in to be a number seven. We’ll see what the next 48 hours brings.” – Ken Holland

  • After the Henrique/Carrick trade was made yesterday I came to the conclusion that the Oilers weren’t going to bring in an high-profile players and they’d be focusing their efforts on depth as opposed to impact players in vital roles.
  • It also tells me that one or both of the following scenarios could be true,
    • Connor McDavid, who Holland has said in the past he consults on roster construction, and the leadership core of the Oilers made it known to their GM that they want to compete for the championship with the group on hand. They believe it to be strong enough to get by any opponent.
    • They couldn’t find anybody to take the deals they were proposing that would give them the ability to add any high profile players.
  • Now, before I get ahead of myself, there’s still a chance the Oilers could upgrade their top-6 RW or their top-4 RHD, but if I had to guess, I think going from that quote above that they’re looking at Joel Edmundson pretty heavily but they’re not happy with the 3rd round pick demand. Stauffer brought him up with Friedman and Rob Brown a couple of times yesterday on Oilers Now! and he fits the bill for what they’re looking for.
  • Another dman they should definitely be looking at is Chicago’s Jaycob Megna because he’s playing almost 18min a night over there and he’s only making a shade under 800k. BIG dude too.
  • I would imagine they prefer Edmundson’s experience over Megna’s youth though.
Depth on D

“If the Oilers wanted to swing a little bigger, they could look at Joel Edmundson and Alexandre Carrier. Edmundson is a name that the Oilers might be interested in. He has a cap hit of $1.75 million and if the Washington Capitals retained salary in the trade, he could be had for as low as $875K. Meanwhile, Carrier is a $2.5 million cap hit that would come in around $1.25 million. His trade would require another move from the Oilers or a third team getting involved.” – The Hockey Writers

  • I’m not fully against a move for Edmundson. I think he’s the kind of player you want on your team in the post-season. Not a game-breaker by any means but the sort of guy that could make a game-saving shot block or someone who can grind away at the other team’s forwards and make their nights difficult.
  • On top of all of that, the younger players could learn a lot from such a player and all of his experience plus it gives a young coach a calming veteran influence to lean on. Bringing in players like this often pays massive dividends down the road for everyone in the locker room.
  • See as the Oilers sent down Holloway, that added another million in cap space. So, if they did get a third team involved, they might be able to add two more players or add another more expensive one in the event that they send somebody out (Kulak/Ceci/Foegele/Brown).
  • I don’t think Carrier is going to get moved with Nashville in the thick of it for a wild card spot but if Edmonton wanted him and were willing to pay the price, they could bring him in.
  • However, We should keep in mind that they’ll need some cash left over for call-ups.

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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: Stauffer Lays Out the Entire Plan

The news today should be all about how Bob Stauffer’s basically laid out what the Edmonton Oilers are going to do at the deadline and how they’re going to do it. Now, your choice as fan here is to either believe it at face value or consider it misdirection and believe Ken Holland is going to take one more massive swing before he sails off into the sunset.

There’s a bit more chatter on Adam Henrique, too.

Three days before the deadline, and the following tweet get dropped… Remember when the Ekholm whispers begun last year?… I’m just saying.

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

The Beat Goes On

“I see Edmonton adding a top nine forward, probably a second line guy who can play right wing, if not a 3C, a third line centre, and then I still think they’re going to add another centre, maybe another right shot.

There is a way they can make those additions, maybe a top 6 right wing with an expiring contract, a fourth line right shot centre and a depth defenceman without moving anybody else out of the forward unit and that would give them a lot deeper forward unit and a depth defenceman that can come in as a seven.” – Bob Stauffer

“On defence, Stauffer said he was “pragmatic” and did not want to see Edmonton give up a first round draft pick unless they’re getting back a player with term. “I wonder whether or not it’s just going to be a depth d.” – The Cult of Hockey

  • Not trading Cody Ceci is going to piss off a lot of fans…
  • So Ken Holland’s plan is to keep the band together and sacrifice the coffers instead. Interesting… I can’t say I mind it. The group has had a tremendous amount of success together this season and it sounds like the team chemistry is really important not only to him but the leadership core as well.
  • Top-six RW on an expiring contract: Vladimir Tarasenko, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Toffoli, Viktor Olofsson, Jake DeBrusk
  • 4th Line Center: Sam Carrick, Nic Dowd, Jake Evans, Mark Kastelic
  • Depth Dman: Joel Edmundson, Johnathan Kovacevic, Mike Reilly, Brendan Smith, Jalen Chatfield, Jaycob Megna, Colin Miller
  • Lastly, Edmonton’s only going to have about $3M to spend here, do you think they’re going to get three players in on that without subtracting a contract? I suppose where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Duck Season

“Chris Johnston on TSN Insider Trading reported the priority for Edmonton is to acquire Henrique. It is assumed the Oilers see him as a strong third-line center option who can also play wing and take key matchups. He is a reliable two-way forward and the Ducks can retain salary in any trade.” – The Hockey Writers

“It seems at this point, the top priority for Edmonton is to try to acquire Adam Henrique from the Anaheim Ducks,” Johnston said in the latest edition of Insider Trading. “He’s viewed as a good fit on multiple levels.” – Daily Hive

  • Now, remember when I said to pay attention to the verbiage is when these things are reported. Not so long ago I remember talking about Stauffer saying the Oilers want someone “who can play top-6 RW”, right? And I’m noticing that Adam Henrique’s name isn’t in my list above, but we know that the Oilers really want him. So, might he be somebody that is considered a player “who can play” as a top-6 RWer or has the ship on Henrique sailed?
  • Although, you do wonder if Holland strikes out on a winger for Leon, he knows that McLeod can skate there. Maybe he brings in Henrique and has him run the 3rd line. It’s not a bad option at all.

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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: Stauffer Says Big Deadline Deal this Year Will be “Difficult” to Replicate

Are the Oilers going to do all their shopping with one team this year? It sounds like they’ve got their eyes on a romantic coming home story featuring a former Canadian World Junior hero. Also, I’ll say this, Ken Holland and his team have their work cut out for them because they’re competing with other top clubs who’ve got actual trade capital and prospect depth and aren’t bent over a barrel because they’re handcuffed by the salary cap.

As you’ll see in the tweet below, we’re probably not going to get Pavel Buchnevich going to Edmonton nor will the team see Jake Guentzel. I’m still on the boat that has them buffing up their bottom-six and grabbing an upgrade on their blueline depth.

And I’ll keep saying it, the Oilers don’t have the necessary trade capital to get the big deals done. They moved it all in previous seasons plus we’ve heard that Holland doesn’t really want to move Holloway or Broberg nor does he want to trade his 1st rounders for rentals.

So if that’s the case, all that’s left is tinkering with the depth of the club. Maybe bring in some energy players or specialists on the cheap. Nic Dowd has been spoken about since the beginning of the year, Stauffer’s been on about Sam Carrick for well over a month and we know how much he likes Henrique.

With Holland, he telegraphs his deadlines and his 1st round draft picks. Last year with Ekholm might be considered a bit of surprise but even then his name came up prior to the deadline. All I’m saying is don’t be surprised if you’re not surprised with who Edmonton trades for.

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

R

“A league source told this newspaper that the Florida Panthers would be high on his list of possible destinations. They are among the teams that have kicked tires along with the Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers.” – Bruce Garrioch, Postmedia

  • A lot of teams are waiting for the Guentzel domino to fall so they know who to go after next.
  • I think there’s a group of scoring RWers that comes in right after the Pens winger that includes Anthony Mantha, Tarasenko, Jordan Eberle, Reilly Smith, Viktor Olofsson, Rickard Rakell, and Tyler Toffoli.
  • Once Guentzel goes, we’ll start to see the others find new homes.
D

“The Edmonton Oilers spoke to the Anaheim Ducks about a multi-player deal involving forwards Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.” – The Score

  • Carrick doesn’t do much for me but I do like the idea of getting a right proper 3rd line center who can score and has a ton of experience to play alongside the likes of Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway.
A

“Seattle also wants to extend Jordan Eberle. Let’s see how this week plays out, but Eberle would prefer to stay with the Kraken.” – Darren Dreger

  • Bob Stauffer went out of his way on yesterday’s Oilers Now! to tell the listeners to keep an eye on Eberle if you’re an Oilers fan in the event that he doesn’t re-sign with the Kraken before the deadline later this week.
  • It’s a romantic story, eh? Bob also mentioned Eberle could re-up with Seattle on a deal in the mid-4s per year and that made me wonder what he’s sign with Edmonton for? It’d be a new GM (presumably) getting that deal done, so it’s tough to say whether or not the Oilers would be able to get him to take a bit of a discount.

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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: This is One Oilers Trade Target We’ve Not Talked about Much But Should Be

During today’s 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek Discussed the upcoming trade deadline plans that the Edmonton Oilers might have. We’re going to talk about that and we’re going to talk about a winger I’ve not spoken to much in recent weeks, but he’s somebody who’s won a Stanley Cup, he’s a guy who’s definitely a fit for what the Oilers need, and he’s somebody who is very familiar with playing in a Canadian market.

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

32 Thoughts… Ho Hum… Status Quo

“I think Tanev was intrigued with the idea of playing in Edmonton… We mentioned Henrique, we still think they’re around him… We’ve mentioned Sam Carrick, I do think they’re still around him… You (Marek) mentioned Anthony Mantha and I do think they’ve been around him… I’ve been told they’re not the most likely destination for Jake Guentzel but they’re looking at all of these players… I do think they’re around Sean Walker… I think the Oilers were looking for a bit of edge on their blueline…” Elliotte Friedman, Sportsnet

  • So nothing new yet. Jeff Marek brought up the possibility of the Oilers doing something with Jack Campbell but Friedman poo pooed that.
  • You noticed that Knoblauch switched up the d-pairings against PIT, right? Desharnais was back up with Nurse and Ceci was down with Kulak. I think that’s definitely a tell as to what the Oilers are doing at the deadline and the reason I say that is in the post-gamer the coach was asked about said d-pairing deployment and had very little to say; which leads me to believe it was not his decision.
  • More to that point, my belief is that the Oilers want that bite in their top-4 and are willing to sacrifice it on their bottom pairing. I don’t know if Kulak will remain there, they might bring in Joel Edmundson and try to replicate Walker’s partner in Philly, Nick Seeler OR they could simply trade of Seeler and Walker and move Kulak somewhere else, maybe Calgary after they punt Hanifin.
  • With all of that said, would you rather have Sean Walker or Alexandre Carriere? We know that Holland wants bigger dmen but he’s not totally averse to smaller ones IF they punch above their weight class.
  • Now, I hope they stick with the defense combos for another game or two so they get a better idea of what they’ve got there or else things could backfire in the worst way.
  • Friedman said countless times in this podcast that he’s been trying to figure out where the Oilers focus will be most at the deadline and as I said above, I think it’ll be on a top-6 RW or somebody who can play RW as Bob Stauffer said during the intermission last night.
The Devil You Know

“On a recent episode of Insider Trading, TSN’s Darren Dreger mentioned Toffoli as a potential fit for the Oilers. It makes sense given that the 31-year-old will be a free agent this offseason. With the Devils falling further and further out of the playoff race, he may very well be on the move in the coming days.” 

  • Toffoli’s an interesting name that’s come up sparingly in the rumor mill this year. I think other teams like Carolina, Colorado, the New York Rangers, Vegas will have more to give the Devils, but the thing I’m not sure about is what NJ wants. They’re a pretty young team as it is, are they still looking for draft picks or are they ready to bring in players who are NHL-ready or very close to it? Personally, I think it’s they should focus on NHL-ready players. They do have the Holtz kid, however and he’s made it abundantly clear on social media, he’s not happy with his deployment this season… So there’s that.
  • I like that he’s got a shite ton of experience in the post-season (88gp) and he produces at about .5 pts/gp then. He’s only 31yrs old, too.
  • The Hockey Writers had this to say about a potential deal between Edmonton and New Jersey:
    • “It would also make sense for the Devils to consider the Oilers as a trade partner for Toffoli should they call it quits for a playoff push. It’s long been reported that defenseman prospect Philip Broberg has been on the market and looking for a change in scenery, and it’s possible that they’re willing to part ways with Xavier Bourgeault or Beau Akey as well. On top of that, the Oilers also have their first and second-round picks in this year’s draft, though they are missing their third and fourth-rounders. Warren Foegele might be an enticing option for the Devils, too, and might be in need of a change of scenery as well.”

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