Category Archives: NHL

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

Edmonton Oilers Talk: “The Oilers might have found themselves a hidden gem in the middle of the 2020 draft.”

September 2, 2021 Beer League Hero

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

Lowetide.ca

FLY AT NIGHT, IN THE MORNING WE LAND

How many recalls will Edmonton make from the Bakersfield Condors this winter? I think at least one goalie, two defensemen and a forward will be sent north to Edmonton during the year.

PROJECTED CONDORS OPENING NIGHT LINEUP

- Brendan Perlini-Dylan Holloway-Cooper Marody
- Raphael Lavoie-Adam Cracknell-Seth Griffith
- Kirill Maksimov-Brad Malone-Ostap Safin
- Tim Soderlund-Luke Esposito-Devin Brosseau
- Extras: James Hamblin, Matteo Gennaro, Dino Kambeitz
- Dmitri Samorukov-William Lagesson
- Philip Broberg-Filip Berglund
- Markus Niemelainen-Vincent Desharnais
- Extras: Yanni Kaldis, Phil Kemp, Mike Kesselring
- Alex Stalock, Stuart Skinner, Ilya Konovalov, Olivier Rodrigue

If this ends up being the roster for Woodcroft and crew, I would bet the recalls are any and all of Holloway, Perlini, Marody and Lavoie among forwards; Samorukov, Lagesson, Broberg and Niemelainen among defensemen, and Stalock, Skinner and Konovalov from the goalie group.
Holloway is likely to stay in Bakersfield longer than Leon Draisaitl did at 20.
Both Mike Zanier and Corey Pronman have suggested to me that Broberg may benefit from some time in the AHL this year, and Samorukov’s KHL season ended with a shoulder injury. Both men likely begin in Bakersfield and we’ll see from there.
Lavoie, Maksimov and Safin will be fighting each other (and some established AHL types) for playing time.
Markus Niemelainen is another defender who could get a cup of coffee. Kesselring and Kemp will need a year at least…
I’m on the Konovalov train but do believe the organization is convinced of Skinner

BLH’s Thoughts: Yeah, I’m not sure they don’t move one of those defensemen. Will Lagesson make it through waivers? It would just be a shame to have Kemp and Kesselring spending time in the pressbox when they should be getting as much ice as possible.

Same goes with the goalies. They can’t have Stalock taking Konovalov or Skinner’s starts.

All of that depth on defense and in net, It’s a good problem to have

Oilersnation (Lewis)

ON’s 2021 Prospects Countdown – No. 9: Carter Savoie

Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Nationality: Canada
Date of Birth: January 23, 2002
Drafted: 2020, No. 100 overall (EDM)
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 190 lbs

The Oilers might have found themselves a hidden gem in the middle of the 2020 draft.
Savoie’s showing in the AJHL in 2019-20 was huge. He scored 53 goals and 99 points over 54 games in a year that was ultimately cut short due to COVID-19.
Heading into the draft, Savoie was ranked as high as the No. 32 prospect. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic said that “on pure, raw skill, most evaluators will agree that Savoie is a first-round talent.”
He played in 24 games for the University of Denver, scoring 13 goals and racking up 20 points. Those 13 goals ranked second in the NCAA among U-19 players, behind only Ty Smilanic, who Florida drafted in the third round of the 2020 draft. For the sake of comparison, Matthew Beniers, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft by Seattle, scored 10 goals in 24 games in his Freshman season. He’s 10 months younger than Savoie.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m really looking forward to Savoie because he’s one of a handful of snipers the Oilers are trying to develop into NHL players. Between him, Lavoie, Petrov, and Holloway, the club should be able to find themselves a proper goalscorer in the next few years.

I think we’ll hear more about Savoie this year and part of that will be because his brother, Matthew, is a top-prospect for the 2022 NHL draft and I wonder if there’s a chance Hockey Canada invites him to camp. But even aside from all of that, Carter should be lighting it up for Denver along with Bobby Brink (PHI) and Cole Guttman (TB). Denver’s defense has got some elite puckmovers in Mike Benning (FLA) and Sean Behrens (COL) as well, so Savoie is going to get the puck, all he has to do is deposit it behind the opposing netminder.

NHLRumors.com

Michael Russo of The Athletic: The KHL season opens and Minnesota Wild RFA Kirill Kaprizov hasn’t signed with CSKA Moscow. There had been speculation from a Daily Faceoff report in early August that Kaprizov could have a tentative agreement in place for this season. Wild GM Bill Guerin immediately said he wasn’t concerned and CSKA recently said he wasn’t heading back there.
Arthur Staple: Have heard that Casey Cizikas‘ contract with the New York Islanders will be for six years at around $2.5 million per season. Elliotte Friedman had heard last month that the deal would be around that as well.

“AAV could be a bit higher, but anything under $3m per is a huge boost for the #Isles and their cap situation. And they have their Identity Line center.”

Classic Captain Wendel, taking care of business once more! Click the pic and grab a shirt for yourself!

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

Edmonton Oilers Talk: “The biggest question mark going into 2021-22 won’t be the goaltending…”

September 2, 2021 Beer League Hero

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

The Cult of Hockey (McCurdy)

After fine season in KHL, Dmitri Samorukov is knock knock knockin’ on Oilers door

In 2020-21 with the pandemic in full bloom, Samorukov returned to his native Russia for the first time in five seasons, joining the storied CSKA Moskva club with which he had apprenticed as a youth. Given plenty of opportunity in the Kontinental Hockey League, the best circuit in Europe, he thrived in a defence-first role.
- …he was an outscoring machine with a terrific +24 before his season got cut short by a shoulder injury.
- he played under the tutelage of veteran head coach (and long time national team assistant) Igor Nikitin, known as the “Tzar of Defence”.
Perhaps notable that despite playing with a new partner Dahlbeck led all KHL d-men with +9 (+15/-6 = 71% goal share) in the post-season, even as CSKA lost out in a tense final with Avangard Omsk.
Considering his trajectory of up, up, up in recent years, there’s every reason to expect he’ll make a strong bid for a job with the Oilers in the season to come.
Expectations for 2021-22: Expect Samorukov to earn a major role in Bakersfield to start the season and a spot at the top of the recall list when the need arises. Or when he proves he’s ready for a new challenge and represents a better alternative to the depth defenders on the big club.

BLH’s Thoughts: It takes quite a few years to develop a really good defensive defenseman and with Dima, it looks like he’s working out some of that chaos that was in his game when he was drafted. He seems to be more patient and building his “Steady Eddie” persona.

I think going back to Russia for the 2020-21 season, getting hitched, and playing at home in that first year of married life was a blessing. I feel like things for him might’ve been less complicated than if he’d tied the knot and then came back to North America immediately.

Now, in 2021-22, he’s going to have a new challenge as it’s time to move back to North America with his beautiful bride in tow, and he’ll be counted on in Bakersfield to anchor the Condors’ defense.

To date, his career trendline has been going up consistently, the question is, will that continue? I’d like to think so, but aside from the elite, there are usually a few bumps in the road for young defensemen. We’ll see though, I think Samorukov is a special player.

Copper N Blue (Chapman)

Just About 97 And A Half

The Oilers’ over/under has opened at 97.5 points over at BetOnline.
Whether you like the Oilers to cruise past that number or not at all, there are a few variables to consider after a wild offseason for Ken Holland’s Oilers.
- If Smith can hold the fort down somewhere near his impressive 2021 numbers, and if Mikko Koksinen can bring his numbers up to at least league average, good things will come. If they don’t? Holland will be working the phones.
- The biggest question mark going into 2021-22 won’t be the goaltending, it’s going to be Ken Holland’s defence. There’s a lot riding on a likely pair of Darnell Nurse and Tyson Barrie, while new acqusitions Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci will be asked to shore up the back end along with Oiler first rounder Evan Bouchard and a mix of Slater Koekkoek, Kris Russell and William Lagesson.
- There’s a lot of moves that will make the forward lines better on paper, how much of it will translate to the win column?
If they can avoid pitfalls in goaltending and on defence, they ought to be on their way to exceeding 97.5. If the Oilers stumble out of the gate for whatever reason, it could be a climb.

BLH’s Thoughts: It’s interesting that Chapman sees the defense as the club’s big uncertainty. I mean, sure, but shouldn’t the goaltending be what everybody is worried about?

The way I see it is if the forwards are better defensively, that’ll take some of the pressure off of the defensemen and if they don’t have to spend so much time in their own end, the goalies are the last line of concern. If the rest of the skaters are holding up their end of the deal but things are falling apart in net, that’s a big problem because it puts Holland in a helluva spot with regards to a trade… He wouldn’t exactly be ahead of the 8-ball, if you know what I mean.

I don’t know if the Pacific Division is going to be as cut and dry as some are expecting. Vegas lost Fleury and Reaves and those two guys were HUGE to that team. Vancouver added OEL and Garland, but I suppose what happens with Hughes and Pettersson will dictate where they go. I like the additions LA made to go along with their elite young talent coming up and even though Calgary might not make the playoffs, they’re going to be a pain in the ass to play against.

What I’m getting at, is it shouldn’t surprise anybody if Edmonton is a top-8 team in the league this year. Meaning, they get well over 100pts in the standings. Conversely, if they just squeek into the post-season, that shouldn’t be a surprise either given the question marks we’ve just discussed.

Either way, buckle up!

Spector’s Hockey

THE ATHLETIC: Kevin Kurz suggests it might be wise for Tomas Hertl and the San Jose Sharks to wait a little while before engaging in contract discussions. The 27-year-old winger is entering the final season of a four-year, $22.5 million contract and is eligible for unrestricted free agent status next summer.
- Kurz indicates Multiple sources say he’s among the Sharks players unhappy over how the club handled Evander Kane’s poor conduct last season.
TVA SPORTS: Louis Jean doubts the Montreal Canadiens will match the one-year, $6.1 million offer sheet Jesperi Kotkaniemi signed on Saturday with the Carolina Hurricanes. He believes the Canadiens already have a strategy and a really good idea of what they intend to do but will keep the Hurricanes waiting until the last minute.
NBC SPORTS: James O’Brien examined the Canadiens’ options. Among them is using that compensatory package to acquire a replacement for Kotkaniemi via the trade market.

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

Edmonton Oilers Talk: “Whatever the chemistry between McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins, it didn’t work in 2020-21…”

September 2, 2021 Beer League Hero

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

The Athletic (Mitchell)

Lowetide: Why Oilers can expect an offensive rebound from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

One of the most predictable scorers on the team dating back to his rookie campaign, Nugent-Hopkins’ five-on-five points per 60 total fell to 1.15 from 2.23 season over season.
Based on each players’ 2019-20 numbers, the Nuge should have been one of the division’s top performers at the position (Nik Ehlers, Elias Pettersson and Tomas Tatar finished ahead of him at five-on-five points per 60 in 2019-20). Nugent-Hopkins was last, and by a country mile, in 2020-21…
He played with McDavid for more than half of his five-on-five minutes. What happened?
Nuge has been known to exit the offensive zone early, and even all-time great centres (Dave Keon, for one) have admitted eschewing offensive opportunities over playing button-down defence.
Whatever the chemistry between McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins, it didn’t work in 2020-21 and general manager Ken Holland changed personnel (sans Nuge) during the offseason for a reason.
Over the last three seasons, including 2020-21, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins have been successful as an outscoring tandem.
It should be mentioned that in 2020-21, Nuge-Draisaitl played just 137 minutes without McDavid and were also challenged (45 percent shot and goal share)
It turns out, a 10-year NHL veteran whose offence drops from 2.23 points per 60 at five-on-five to 1.15 year over year is highly unusual.
It might have been the contract, the pressure of not scoring on the top line or any number of issues that had an impact on Edmonton’s top two-way forward.
Expect 55-60 points over an 82-game season in 2021-22…

BLH’s Thoughts: Last year was a weird year and if I recall correctly, even Bob Stauffer was nodding at the idea of RNH bring in a contract year that was affecting his production.

So, I’m with LT on this one, I do think we’ll see a return to form from Nuge. He’s simply too young and too good of a hockey player to be entering into his downtrend as a productive hockey player. I’m going to say he puts up closer to 70 points though, that’s how much I believe in his bounce back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tIzO05swwk

The Hockey Writers (Parsons)

No Pressure on Puljujarvi to Explode for Oilers in 2021-22

While some players turn on the jets in a contract year, other players can buckle under the need to play at their highest level.
Whatever the outcome of the 2021-22 campaign for Puljujarvi, it won’t change an awful lot and all signs point to this not being an issue for the young winger.
Puljujarvi is one of the few players on this Oilers roster that will have an expiring deal but also the freedom to simply ‘play a little hockey.’ He’s not going to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders, he won’t have to hit a certain level to maintain his spot on the roster…

BLH’s Thoughts: Seeing as he was removed from the first line in the playoffs, I don’t think we should be jumping the gun here and saying he’s guaranteed a spot in the top-six.

I think the club likes him in the top-six as long as things are working, but in the event that they are not, there’s a chance he could find himself down the lineup. All it takes is one nod from the captain and that’s that.

Puljujarvi is doing exactly what the coaching staff could have hoped for. He’s working hard, starting to use his frame, being versatile and doing the dirty work that comes with being a player of his size and speed. Players like Connor McDavid appreciate it too. McDavid has said he’s loves Puljujarvi’s energy and said back in January,

“He’s a huge part of our team. If he can make strides like he looks like he has, it’s big for our team.”

Puljujarvi is doing exactly what the coaching staff could have hoped for. He’s working hard, starting to use his frame, being versatile and doing the dirty work that comes with being a player of his size and speed. Players like Connor McDavid appreciate it too. McDavid has said he’s loves Puljujarvi’s energy and said back in January,

“He’s a huge part of our team. If he can make strides like he looks like he has, it’s big for our team.”

Because Puljujarvi is an RFA, he doesn’t hold much leverage in negotiations with the Oilers at the end of this season. He is arbitration eligible, but he’d have to have an insanely good run of 82 games to be able to ask for the moon and get it.
What a breakout season for Puljujarvi does is give the Oilers a bit more confidence to talk about a long-term deal, should they want to.
Even a 25-goal season isn’t going to make Puljujarvi rich coming off this upcoming campaign. The Oilers simply aren’t in a position to have to pay a lot and the player isn’t in a position to demand it. That comes down the road when he’s looking at UFA years

BLH’s Thoughts: I disagree, the next contract that Jesse signs will either walk him to unrestricted free agency or the team is going to have to “buy” some of those UFA years and they aren’t cheap, especially if he’s a 25 goal scorer.

The Daily Goal Horn

Casey Cizikas signed; Kirill Kaprizov deal close; and is the Jack Eichel trade off for now?

Two reputable sources are confirming that Cizikas has a possible 6-year deal in place with the Islanders at around $2.5 million. If it this is true, that would be substantially less that his deal with an AAV of $3.35 million.
Michael Russo who covers the Wild for The Atlethic wrote;

“it does sound like there have been compromises from both sides of late.”

According to Russo Kaprizov became willing to go beyond his initial two year deal which would have made him a UFA when done. He also believes that the money will still be significant, in the $9 million dollar range.
Yesterday, TSN’s Shawn Simpson reported that Eichel may have surgery “very soon” and his timetable to return would be December.
- Additionally, Simpson states that the Sabres are still asking for somewhere between 4-6 pieces. They continue to demand mostly futures, including any interested team’s top two prospects which no one has remotely been willing to do.
- One thing appears to be likely is that a trade for Eichel is off the table until he recovers.

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