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!

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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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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!

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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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What’s it going to cost the Oilers to get a 3rd team to take on some salary for them at the deadline? Is there one team that could help Edmonton get all the pieces on their trade deadline shopping list all at once AND offer a discount? What’s up with the goaltending? Are the Oilers going to shore that up or ride Skinner until he drops dead of exhaustion?

We’re answering all of that and more today!

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!

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The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Chop Shop

“The biggest hurdle for Edmonton is if they add any top-six forward they likely need two other teams involved so Edmonton would only have 25% of the total cap. Dallas had to give New Jersey a fourth rounder to take on 25% of Tanev’s $4.5m salary. Guentzel has a $6m cap hit, while Anthony Mantha has $5.75, Jordan Eberle ($5.5m) and Tyler Toffoli ($4.25m). Toffoli would cost a fourth to chop, but will the others cost a third then? Likely.” – Jason Gregor, Oilersnation

• Man, I thought it was going to be WAY more expensive to get a 3rd team involved.
• Does anybody else think that Buchnevich might be this year’s Ekholm trade? It feels like that, eh?
• I am curious if a new name comes out of nowhere around Tuesday or Wednesday though… Like Lawson Crouse (ARI), Josh Anderson (MTL), or Brendan Gallagher (MTL).

Dead in the Water

“According to a couple of sources and based on the market for netminders, GM Ken Holland has elected to place his focus on other areas. Ryan Rishaug was among those who cover the Oilers who say the goalie trade buzz is all-but dead. He noted, “By the way, the goaltending talk, the Oilers will go as far as Stuart Skinner is going to take them.” He added, “They’re going to stick with what they have in net, keep an eye out for a couple of changes up front.” – The Hockey Writers

• That’s the way it should’ve been all along. Going back to the playoffs last season when Woody started Campbell instead of Skinner.
• Stu’ll have his ups and downs, that’s just how it is as a young goalie in the NHL. What the Oilers could do for a change is put him in a better position to succeed. Meaning, help him by upgrading the guys in front of him.
• Upgrade the defense. Upgrade the bottom-six. Acquire players who are dedicated to the craft of being the best defensive hockey players in the world because they’ve already got ones who are the best offensively.

A One-Stop Shop for Everything

“You’re going to hear them linked to so many different players and so many different scenarios,” Seravalli told Brenden Escott of Oilers Now. “And the reason for that is they’re probably all true. It’s that right now they don’t have any laser focus on any one topic. There’s a bunch of things they’d like to do and if possible, they would like to try to do them in unison in one fell swoop. That makes it clean from a cap clean from a cap perspective and asset wise. They still want to get a Top 6 impact forward. – Cult of Hockey

• I do wonder if they just do all their shopping in Washington. They’ve got at least three, if not four, players that would be on Edmonton’s shopping list.
  • Anthony Mantha: Top-6 RW
  • Nic Dowd: Bottom-6 right-shot center with size
  • Joel Edmundson: Depth dman
  • Chucky Lindgren: Backup goalie
• You could add Beck Malynsteen if they wanted size/speed/toughness on the wings.
• Nick Jensen is a right-shot dman getting top-4 minutes in Washington if you think he’s an upgrade on Ceci. (He’s not really. More of an expensive lateral move.)
• Stack everything in one place and get the discount?…
• The thing is, Washington has to decide that their giving up on the season this week and they’re only six points behind Philadelphia for a playoff spot.
• Trades might still go down but the ask might be different. Meaning they could ask for warm bodies instead of futures. Warren Foegele, Brett Kulak, or possibly (unlikely) Cody Ceci could get sent over.
• On a side note, I think Lane Pederson might get a call-up before the deadline. I don’t know why, though. I mean, how could you even make a judgement on him as an NHL player in only two or three games?
• I also think Philip Broberg might get a run if he’s deemed healthy enough. Not sure on Lavoie, but you’d hope he is playing in the NHL after March.8th somewhere. He’s earned it.

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The trade prices are slowly being revealed to us and surprisingly, they might favor the Edmonton Oilers more than we thought they might. Waiting until the day before the trade deadline in order to accrue even more cap space might work out to be a genius move. We’ll have to wait and see.

Today, more or less another helping of the same dish we’ve been lapping up all week long. Which RWers are the Oilers targeting? Who’s the right-shot bottom six center that Edmonton’s going to get? Will Ken Holland end up stacking some players from the same club to get a cheaper price?

It would be nice if teams started panic buying though. Just from a fan’s perspective, I’m almost at the point to where I want to be talking about actual trades than the rumors.

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!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
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The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Righty Tighty

“We know that the Edmonton Oilers have been targeting a top-six forward, so both teams are looking at players like Tyler Toffoli, Pavel Buchevich of the St. Louis Blues, maybe Jordan Eberle if he doesn’t sign with the Seattle Kraken. I mean, go down the list from there. There is a list of high-level players potentially available and you can be sure the Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights are going to be among the top clubs trying to pick one up.” – Darren Dreger, TSN

• If the Oilers were going to go big game hunting, Buchnevich would probably be the guy, right? Bob Stauffer said Colton Parayko is highly unlikely, so that’ll burst a lot of balloons in Edmonton.
• Now, with that said, there’s been a lot of hot air blown about with regards to the Oilers’ scoring outside of Connor and Leon, so why try to get even heavier in the top-six? Why not start upgrading the bottom-six?
• I mean, would Evander Kane be so upset to play on third line if Adam Henrique were his center?
• Your second line wouldn’t be as pretty, but you’d have McLeod and Draisaitl (who have shared some success together previously), and another winger like Foegele or a trade pickup in the vein of Vladdy Tarasenko or Jordan Eberle. Would that be so painful?
• But personally, if they don’t do something about the 4th line and their defense, it’ll all be for naught because they’re going to need that depth just to stay in the games with real contenders this year (Vancouver, Colorado, Dallas, Winnipeg, Vegas) let alone beat them.
• You look at those clubs and they’ve got the Oilers beat in depth at one, two, or all three positions (F/D/G). Edmonton is so bloody top heavy right now. They need to find balance in the lineup.

Anything Could Happen

“…maybe, the Oilers investigate moving Ceci, even if he’s Holland’s more prototypical size D at 6’3” and 210, who has an extra year at $3.25 million, to Philadelphia for their feisty centre Scott Laughton (this season and two more at $3 million) who could be a 3C with Ryan McLeod moving to left-wing…

The Oilers are also looking for a right-shot fourth-line centre, bigger than Derek Ryan, who is a first-unit, penalty-killer, a dogged worker and good face-off man but could move to right wing…

The chances of a Mattias Ekholm home run might not be there. But Holland would take a ground-rule double and a couple of hard-hit singles. If he feels he needs a right winger for Leon Draisaitl, then maybe he only adds two people. If not, maybe he has enough for an extra defenceman and two bottom-six, hard to play against forwards.” – Jim Matheson

• So if McLeod goes to the LW, that’d shoot Holloway either up the lineup to be on Leon’s wing or down the roster to the 4th line (where he doesn’t need to be)…
• Ceci for Laughton, who replaces Ceci? Seems a tad short-sighted to make that trade, in my opinion. If they’re dealing him, a right-shot defender should be coming back, no? And a better one, at that.
• I don’t see this team hitting a home-run, but I also foresee the deadline going differently now that Jeff Jackson is involved now.
• As for that 4th line center, it seems like fait accompli that Nic Dowd or Sam Carrick end up an Oilers and they’re #2 and #4 in PK TOI/GP in the league. MTL’s Jake Evans is #1 with a staggering 3:08min/GP on the kill.
• I’d suggest Noel Acciari as well because he’s way better at taking faceoffs than those mentioned above and surely the Pens wouldn’t have an issue moving on from him.

Get it Done!

“Seravalli did note that the Ducks are reportedly looking for second- and third-round picks, plus another third-round pick to retain half of Henrique’s salary. The 34-year-old has 16 goals and 38 points through 57 games, a salary cap hit of $5.825 million, and will be a free agent at the end of the season.” – Oilersnation

• If this is true, the Oilers MUST go out and get him.
• This is one trade that Edmonton could manufacture easily and they wouldn’t have to sacrifice off of the main roster. They could use another 4th to get another team to eat some salary as well, making it an even cheaper deal thus opening up the opportunity to upgrade the defense and possible the 4th line, too.
• The team could still move Foegele to upgrade the RW, they could move Ceci in a deal to get a more suitable partner for Nurse.  Also, I think Ceci has to be fed up with the rumors by now. He might be happy to move on to a different fanbase.

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Today, I want to talk about a massive mega-deal Edmonton could make with the Boston Bruins. It’s not the kind of thing that happens often at the deadline, a big trade between Cup contending clubs, but considering the names involved; I wouldn’t put it past either GM.

Now, the Oilers have pundits scrambling to figure out what they’re going to do at the deadline and if I had to guess, their options are limited to shoring up the weaknesses of the roster. Meaning, upgrading on Ceci, bringing in some energy for the 4th line, and getting a better backup goalie.

I don’t feel like they’ve got the assets to make any massive moves like Vegas is setting themselves up to do, but they do have enough to tweak the roster every so slightly that if they do it perfectly, they could come out of the deadline laughing.

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!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
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The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Really?

“While the Oilers should be looking to bring in Guentzel to bolster their top-six forward group, there is another player they should look at if they still want to bolster their goaltending depth: Alex Nedeljkovic.

…the asking price for Nedeljkovic shouldn’t be too high. Realistically, a trade between the two looks like the Oilers acquiring him in exchange for Pickard, a 2026 third-round pick, and a 2025 seventh-round pick.” – The Hockey Writers

• Edmonton has Jack Campbell and Ollie Rodrigue playing very well in Bakersfield. I can see the concerns but do they outweigh the potential costs of shoring up the position even more?
• Now, if the club really wants to go through with it, why aim for Nedeljkovic when Tristan Jarry might be available?
• Or what about this scenario, Pittsburgh picking up Jack Campbell’s ticket in a package for Jarry or Nedeljkovic? Kyle Dubas has a history with Soupy that goes all the way back to junior if I’m not mistaken.
• A trade like this, you don’t want to screw this up. My feeling is that if the Oilers were going to trade for some help in net, they’d be going after a bona fide netminder. Your Jake Allens, John Gibsons, goalies with a history and tons of experience and no inconsistency. That’s where Jack Campbell has fallen short.

DeBrusk Rumors Heating Up Again

“Here’s what I do know: If the Bruins don’t sign him – and, I don’t know if they will or won’t, I’m sure they value him – I guarantee an Alberta team will offer him a major contract. I guarantee you, whether it’s Edmonton or Calgary, he’s going to be taken care of in the province of Alberta.” – Pierre McGuire

• This is a top-6 winger that a lot of people have forgotten about but he’s back to fillin’ the net. So, that begs the question, why would Boston want to trade him if he’s playing so well for them?
• The obvious reason is that they don’t want to lose him for nothing, but still, he’s contributing a lot to Boston this year. Are they in the market for an upgrade there? Do they have the assets? I’m skeptical.

A Mega Deal in the Works?

“…according to Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne on Sportsnet on Sunday morning, it sounded like the Boston Bruins would be willing to part with consistent goaltender Linus Ullmark for the right price. I think that is where they should aim if the need a goaltender. It is an Eastern Conference team so perhaps the value will be less for Ullmark since it is not a rival team.” – The Oil Rig

• Combining the first two parts of today’s post, goaltending and a top-6 winger, is there a chance the Oilers could find a way to bring in both Linus Ullmark AND Jake DeBrusk and what would it cost?
• The Bruins wouldn’t be interested in getting worse, so, either they’d need to move laterally in the short-term with an eye on upgrading in the future or they’d need equal value now.
• If it’s equal value now, a deal like that says Stu Skinner, Evander Kane, and futures.
• If it’s the lateral move, I wonder if Campbell, Foegele, Holloway/Broberg, and futures would be enough. Those futures would have to be high-end too. I’m talking 1st rounders, 2nd rounders, and/or somebody decent off of Bakersfield.
• To me though, these kinds of trades are for the offseason when the salary cap isn’t an issue and when your goaltending isn’t needed, but seeing as DeBrusk is going to be a UFA, I can understand why they might try to get something for him. Perhaps Foegele and picks/prospects for him would work. Ullmark, they need him now.

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