Category Archives: Rumors

Beer League Hero, Breaking News, NHL, Rumors

Oilers Contact Trio of Big Name UFAs

According to the tweet below from ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun and a report on theScore, the Edmonton Oilers have made contact with three if the bigger UFAs available on the market.

 

Mike Green and Cody Franson are right-handed shooting offensive dmen. Sekera is a two-way dman who shoots left. Of the three I’d prefer to have Green and Sekera but I’m of the opinion that they will cost dearly. Franson is the youngest of the three and he’s more likely to take the body more as his nearly 600 hits over the last three seasons tells us.

Here are Mike Green’s advanced stats:

Mike Green made over $6 million dollars last season and at 29 years of age we can be sure he’ll be asking for at least $7 million per year and term. This could be his last contract and he’ll want to make it a good one. Personally I see Mike Green in the same vein as Dennis Wideman. Signing Mike Green would definitely add that right-handed dman that the team sorely lacks but what Mike Green would the Oilers be getting? The one that put up 73 points in 61 games or the one that put up 38 points in 70 games and is that sort of inconsistency worth $7 million dollars? Justin Schultz could surely put up those numbers for $3 million less.

Sekera’s advanced stats:

Andrej Sekera is also 29 years old and was paid $2.75 million last year. I’d have to bet he’s looking for close to $5 million per season. Sekera wouldn’t be putting up the point totals that a Mike Green or Cody Franson would but he’s a stabilizing force on the back end. He’s a possession defender basically. I like his career PDO (99.6) and his Career Corsi% (51.5), compared with a Duncan Keith’s career PDO (100.4) and Corsi% (54.8) or a Jeff Petry (PDO-98.3, Corsi%-47.4) Things are looking good there. A definite replacement for Martin Marincin who was a guy the stats community liked.

Cody Franson’s advanced stats:

Cody Franson banked $3.3 Million last year and if I were a betting man, he’ll be seeking at least $6 million per season for 5 years or more. The 27 year old comes in as the youngest candidate for signing but I don’t have a lot of faith in the Oilers getting this guy. I believe he’ll go back to Toronto to play under Mike Babcock. IF the Oilers did succeed in convincing Franson to come to Edmonton they’d be getting a physical force and a player who shoots the puck. The fact that he’s 6’5″ and over 213lbs doesn’t hurt either.

Apparently the Oilers media community thinks that Sekera will be an Oiler today at some point.

It’s gonna be a busy day folks! I’m totally stoked for this summer to really get going and today is just the tip of the iceberg! Thanks for reading and please follow us on Twitter @beerleagueheroe and Facebook!

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

McDavid Day Rumblings

Happy McDavid Day! I just want to get out a quick post about some Oilers pre-draft roster rumblings before I head to bed. It’s blistering evening here in Taipei.. Hot… Very hot…

What if I told you the defence of the Edmonton Oilers would start the season looking something like this:

Oscar Klefbom – Brent Seabrook
Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne
Barrett Jackman – Adam McQuaid
Darnell Nurse

Would that be something to perk the ears? Who would you rather pay top price for? Brent Seabrook or Dougie Hamilton? Would you be willing to buy out or take a bad deal to get rid of Andrew Ference and Nikita Nikitin? The bottom three names there just scare me looking at it. Not a trio of dmen I’d want to mess with. Older and more physical albeit but who’d you rather pay $4.5 million for, Nikitin or Jackman?

https://twitter.com/InsideTheRink/status/613934550612226048

https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/614134509886435332

And What if I said the goaltending might look something like this:

Cam Talbot
Craig Anderson

You might say I’m crazy but how would you feel if that was your Oilers goaltending tandem going into 2015/16? Would you be happy to go without draft picks in the 2nd round for a couple seasons? I think I might.

As for the forwards, would these lines appeal to you?

Hall-RNH-Eberle
Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov
Winnik-Lander-Beleskey
Henricks-Gordon-Klinkhammer

If the Oilers don’t go out there and grab Beleseky, you know the Flames are going to and I believe he’d be an awesome RW on the third line with Lander and Winnik. And I know that a lot of people are penciling in Draisaitl but I can’t, at this point, see him starting the year with the team. He’s better off starting in Bakersfield. What about Nurse? Well he’s a beast of phenomenal proportions. On my list he’s a no.7 but surely that wouldn’t last, injuries will catch up to someone ahead of him and that will be that.

Do you think it’s even possible to trade for Brent Seabrook, Cam Talbot and Craig Anderson and keep all the major pieces intact for next year? Would signing Daniel Winnik, Barrett Jackman, Adam McQuaid, and Matt Beleskey as well as re-signing Martin Marincin be too much?

What do you think Oilers fans? Is it all a bit hasty for one off-season? I fear it may be.

With that said, I hope you enjoy the draft! I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and see what all the fuss is about this 3rd jersey everyone is talking about. Will it be better than the Beer League Heroes official jersey?

Ok that’s all! Have a great day! If you’re going out to one of the draft parties, drink responsibly and don’t let one bad decision ruin McDavid Day.

Take Care!

-BLH

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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Proposals from Fans

Let’s be honest with ourselves here. We tend to overvalue the players on our team and undervalue players on other teams and most time to the extent of side-splitting hilariousness. So I’m going to try and make this a weekly thing where I look for the most ridiculous or realistic fan trade proposals regarding the Edmonton Oilers circulating the oilogosphere and comment on them. I imagine a majority of them will come from HFBoards. So without further ado, there are some humdingers!

This first one is what I call “The Ditka”.

To Arizona Coyotes: Nail Yakupov and the #16, #33, #56, and #78 picks this year
To Edmonton Oilers: The #3 overall

The gist of the deal is obvious. Reunite McDavid with Strome or add Noah Hanifin… Boy that’s a lot to give up for one guy. On the other hand, what are the odds that any of those other picks have the same impact in the NHL as a Strome or Hanifin?

The second deal on the docket is as follows:

To Edmonton Oilers: Alexei Emelin and the rights to Magnus Nygren
To Habs: Teddy Purcell (50% retained salary) and a 2015 4th round pick

I don’t know… I like a good hard hitting defenceman as much as anybody else and God knows that Purcell is as useful as tits on a boar but $6m seems like a hard hit to take to get rid of Purcell.

The third proposal:

To Edmonton Oilers: Tom Wilson
To Washington Capitals: Nail Yakupov

There’s a part of me that really likes this. Is Wilson the modern day Dave Semenko?… Could he be? I think there’s one foregone conclusion though, someone on the right wing is going to get moved sooner or later and this team needs someone willing to let the other team know that roughing up our stars will not be tolerated.

Proposal #4:

To Edmonton Oilers: Derek Stepan, Cam Talbot, Carl Hagelin and Kevin Klein
To Rangers: The 1st overall pick

So the guy that wrote this believes that he’s helping the Oilers so much by getting them a top center, a goalie, a complementary winger and a “solid” defenceman at the minimal cost of Connor McDavid… What I don’t understand is how people come up with these ideas sometimes. Would you deal that for Mario Lemieux or Gretzky, Crosby or Ovechkin? Crikey! What have any of those Rangers done lately?

Here’s another beaut!

To Edmonton Oilers: MA Fleury and Evgeni Malkin
To Pittsburgh Penguins: The 1st overall pick and Ted Purcell

I guess Edmonton’s salary cap is infinity times a million and thanks for being nice enough to take Purcell….

This proposal has me thinking:

To Edmonton Oilers: John Gibson, James Wisniewski, 3rd round pick (2015)
To Anaheim Ducks: Nail Yakupov, Ben Scrivens, and the #16 pick this year.

As I said earlier, one of Yakupov or Eberle will be moved at some point and the Oilers could use player like Wisniewski on the point. Gibson is sure to be a helluva goalie sooner than later but do you make this deal knowing that the Oilers defence is strife with overpaid veteran defenders?

Here’s another with the Rangers:

To Edmonton Oilers: Dan Girardi and Cam Talbot
To Rangers: The #16 and #56 picks this year and Nikita Nikitin

There’s something to really like about this one. Dan Girardi would be a perfect fit on the Oilers and a great presence for the younger players like Nurse. Could he be the kind of partner that would calm Justin Schultz’s game down?

The last proposal of the day:

To Edmonton Oilers: Alex Edler, Eddie Lack, and Zack Kassian
To Vancouver Canucks: The #16, #33, #56 picks this year and Martin Marincin

I guess the overall point of this charity is so that the Canucks can accelerate their rebuild?… What? Because inter-division rivals LOVE helping each other out…

Well I hope you enjoyed the read. I had a good laugh going through the trade boards over at Hockey’s Future in order to bring this to you. If you heard any proposals that have made you piss your pants, feel free to send ’em over in the comments below!

Before you go, I’d love it if you headed over to the Beer League Heroes T-Shirt shop and took a gander. Maybe pick one up and help keep this team afloat if you’re so inclined. We’d really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading!

– BLH

Armchair GM, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rob Cooke, Rumors, Trades

Lowered Expectations

1 Comment

I have seen a lot, and been involved in more than a few, conversations about what could occur in Florida between Friday evening and supper time Saturday. It’s a no-brainer that Edmonton is going to select Connor McDavid with the first overall selection and that the heavens will open and all the angels rejoice at the rebirth of the saviour. Well maybe that last part won’t happen but McD is a lock to be in Oilers silks come June 26th. Every basement dwelling blogger, myself included if I had a basement, will be going insane with anticipation on Friday night watching the first round to see what will actually occur after this horrendously long off-season. Yes I know there are a ton of rumours flying around about the Oilers 16th overall pick and I for one am hoping that they turn out to be completely baseless and false. Most times I am seeing this pick mentioned in trade it involves acquiring goaltender Cam Talbot and I am adding my voice to the overwhelming number of Oilersnation faithful in saying that the guy just isn’t worth it! Don’t get me wrong the guy played fantastic down the stretch when the King went down but he has limited games played and I for one don’t feel comfortable paying that amount for an as of yet unproven goalie. Especially one on the final year of a contract that sees him reach unrestricted free agency should he be so inclined.

The rumour mongers are going absolutely ape shit like normal at this time of year and all I am here to ask is that fans and bloggers alike, please be realistic in your expectations for Friday night and early Saturday morning. Talbot very well could be acquired by Chiarelli but I think it is much more likely for the 33rd pick. No I am not including Marincin as I have seen some others do because again that is an overpay in my opinion and the Rangers are not in that strong of a position to demand it. The 16th overall pick, if moved at all, will be better spent on acquiring help on defense as that is the biggest hole that is going to be the hardest to fill. No we are not going to see Brent Seabrook or Brent Burns as Oilers next fall so don’t even bother suggesting it.

I have no idea who the team could be targeting with the pick if it is traded but should the team do the boring thing and use the selection there is a better than good chance that this will add another elite prospect to an already young franchise. That’s not necessarily a bad thing considering where the team finished last year and what we will likely see as far as improvement this coming season. When I am saying that people need to be realistic I’m not just talking about the upcoming draft and free agency. I am also including the 2015-16 NHL season. Last season the Oilers finished 35 points out of the playoffs in this league a deficit like that is nearly impossible to make up in one season. I mean teams have gone from bottom dweller to playoff team in one year, most recently the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013-14 season and the vastly over achieving Calgary Flames from this past season. Neither did much in the playoffs but at least they made it there is my thought. IS Edmonton going to be the odds defying team this season? They very well could be the belle of the ball but I really have my doubts on that. With the outside possibility that the team will actually bring in two legit defenders and a new starting goalie there could be a possibility but I don’t think Mr. Chiarelli finishes his shopping list this summer with another top defender hopefully joining the team next summer if Nurse and Klefbom don’t develop into the role first. I think that if we are being realistic and even a little optimistic we can expect a jump of roughly 25 points next year which unfortunately in the extremely deep western conference wouldn’t even move the team up 1 spot in the standings but would like see some meaningful hockey come February and March. And at this stage of the game that is really all that we can ask for!

I really hope that I am wrong and we do get the players we need this summer and go on a miracle run that takes us to the second season for the first time in a decade. God knows that the fans sure deserve it but when have what us fans deserve ever entered into the equation? If you think I’m wrong let me know. What do you expect to happen over the next couple of weeks as we pass the draft and head into free agency? Hit me up in the comments or get at me on twitter, @cooke_rob. Until next time Beer Leaguers!