Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!
From NHL Trade Talk
During his most recent show, Elliotte Friedman said on 31 Thoughts that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Buffalo Sabres decided to move forward Jack Eichel in a trade this offseason. Specifically, he noted, “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Sabres answer to this is to potentially punt the situation to another team.”
Friedman cited that the Sabres and Eichel have huge issues of mistrust going on and that the two sides are not at all on the same page when it comes to how he wants to handle his injury. The NHL insider adds that any team that acquires Jack Eichel has to be cool with how he goes about recovering and rehabbing/surgery and there’s some speculation teams that have inquired about Eichel’s availability are asking if the player is willing to bend to a new team because he wants to make a good impression?
(LINK)
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve wondered about this as well. Surely the trade return is going to be heavily affected or heavily laden with performance clauses with the way things are going here or both. Do you think a team is going to pay a premium for a player who’s going to have an unconventional procedure done on his neck as soon as he gets the go-ahead? I don’t.
My feeling is that he might be in Buffalo a bit longer than intended.
Seth Jones to Edmonton Rumors Continue…
Mike Johnston of Sportsnet cites reports that there are a few teams leading the way as it pertains to teams who might call and kick tires on the Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman. Among them, the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks.
If the Oilers could, somehow, manage to work a trade with the Blue Jackets, it would give them Darnell Nurse as their top-pair left-shot defenseman with Jones as their top-pair right-shot defenseman. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but no one else would need to play as these two guys could easily log close to 30 minutes each a night.
This would likely mean that Adam Larsson and Tyson Barrie are both leaving, with Ethan Bear left to back up Jones on the right side. We’d say Evan Bouchard would be available, but our guess is that the Blue Jackets would be asking for Bouchard as part of any trade.
Would GM Ken Holland be willing to part with a young prospect like Bouchard or Phillip Broberg if it meant having two Norris-Trophy caliber defenseman in your top pair? I think the answer would be yes if you could ensure that Jones was willing to sign an extension for multiple years at around $8 million per season.
There’s also a potential brother connection as Caleb Jones is currently part of the Oilers organization.
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think it would mean Adam Larsson would be walking if the Oilers got their hands on Seth Jones. I believe they would regret it if they did as the team doesn’t have another Larsson ready for that kind of TOI and deployment yet. As much as we’d like to think Nurse and Jones could play 30 minutes/night, ’tis a bit of a pipe dream and I’m not so sure Ken Holland would trade Broberg or Bouchard for Jones, to be honest.
From The Athletic
Daniel Nugent-Bowman, the beat reporter who covers the Oilers, published part 2 to his recent mailbag blog where he fielded questions regarding Edmonton’s prospects and trade proposals.
It’s quite a long post, so I’ve found the best snippets and spread them out over today’s three blogs. This will be part 2!
Would someone like Blake Coleman be a good fit as a third-liner who can move up the lineup? If so, how much do you think he would realistically cost?
- “I’d want to see a contract of no more than four years and an average annual value that starts with a four or lower. Those types of hard-nosed players tend to have contracts age badly. The last thing the Oilers need is another Milan Lucic deal on their hands.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Four years would be perfect for a Coleman or a Zach Hyman as long as the price point is $4M or under. If I was confident on Coleman, I’d like to see that come down to around $3.5M though.
I rarely hear the idea of the Oilers pursuing pending UFA Chris Driedger. Do you think he could be a good fit in the organization, and what do you think he comes in at for his next contract?
- “Great minds think alike. I wrote about Driedger as a good option recently. I like the idea of the Oilers going after him or Linus Ullmark, a goalie still in his 20s who can grow with the team. A Driedger contract is a tough one. I’m sure he’ll be highly sought after. But he’s played just 38 NHL games.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Is this a realistic scenario? The Oilers trade for Driedger’s rights, then sign him to a 5yr deal around $3M/yr and protect him for the expansion draft. Follow that up by selecting Sebastian Cossa in the entry draft and then spend the next half-decade developing Cossa so that he’s primed and ready to be the Oilers starter by 2026-27.
What level of interest do you think Holland would have if Nolan Patrick and his agent were leaning to a move in the offseason?
- “I’d say sure if the Oilers were rebuilding. But they’re not. Can you count on a guy who has 70 points in 197 games, missed the entire 2019-20 season due to injury and is coming off a four-goal, nine-point campaign? Patrick could be a good depth option if the Flyers are giving him away. Spending too much, however, probably isn’t advisable.”
BLH’s Thoughts: You never know with Holland. I think if he could Nolan Patrick could be had for a song, Kenny could hop on that and get himself a good young bottom-six forward who has the potential to develop into something more.
If Sam Reinhart wants out of Buffalo, what would it take to get him?
- “Reinhart would be a great fit for the Oilers, I wouldn’t be dealing Puljujarvi, though. He’s just scratching the surface of his potential. Plus, he’s on a cheap deal next year and is under team control until 2025. Reinhart can be a UFA next summer. As for the acquisition cost, as I’ve said in previous answers, I really don’t know how the Oilers get it done.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Well, there’s your right-shot pivot. Edmonton hasn’t had much luck with Reinharts in the past though… It’s really hard to try and project what kind of return the Sabres will be asking for with their stars. I wouldn’t be dealing Puljujarvi, but is Kailer Yamamoto off limits? What about a package that included Rafa Lavoie, Phil Kemp, and a 1st round pick? Are the Oilers at that point to where they can mortgage more of their future to pad their already top-heavy lineup?
Want to hear your thoughts on some of their defence. What’s the ceiling for Phil Kemp and Michael Kesselring? (Michael M.)
- “This is the question I went straight to the source for. Here’s Woodcroft:”
- On Kemp: “He’s a defensively oriented D-man. He’s a big body that plays physical. A penalty killer. Someone who can handle defending big bodies down low. He showed some really good moments throughout the year. He’s somebody who works at his craft. In his path forward, it’s in more of a shut-down, third-pairing type role.”
- “On Kesselring: “He’s a long body and hasn’t fully matured yet into his body type. He has some work to do on the strength side of things. He’s still really young (21 years old). He’s got this frame that you can’t teach, and you can’t coach. He’s a big, rangy guy. He has the ability to make good plays on breakouts. He made some good plays for our team offensively down the stretch.”
BLH’s Thoughts: At some point some of these guys won’t make it, right? I mean, Dave Manson has the Midas Touch right now, doesn’t he?
With Kemp and Kesselring, I feel like if they make it to the show it’ll be a little later than most. Maybe around 23 or 24 years old. They’re not dynamic offensively as far as I can tell and they both look to be future defensive dmen that can skate and move the puck well. Penalty kill guys.
If they weren’t righties, I don’t know if I could see them playing out their NHL careers in Edmonton for long, if at all. It’s possible Edmonton develops them into assets they could use as trade fodder and them being right-shots just adds to the value.
Is Stuart Skinner going to stay in Bakersfield for another year now that Holland said he’s going to re-sign Mike Smith?
- “Yes, Skinner is likely to remain in Bakersfield. He’s an RFA, but because he signed his entry-level contract in his age-20 season, he’s waivers exempt next season.Ideally, Skinner has another solid season, then moves to the NHL in 2022-23 to back up a more established partner. We’re assuming Smith is gone by then, although so much can happen in the interim. And perhaps Ilya Konovalov has something to say about that.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Something that really has me thinking is what the Oilers are going to to with Skinner, Rodrigue, and Konovalov next season. Surely they won’t send the Russian to the ECHL after what he’s done in the KHL and why would the assign Rodrigue there after he backed Skinner up last season? Speaking of Skinner, I don’t see him graduating to Edmonton yet and they’ve got Smith, Koskinen, and Stalock already up there…
If I had to guess, somebody will be loaned out.
Hot take: Do you think Woodcroft replaces Dave Tippett as head coach this year?
- “I’m not saying Woodcroft isn’t or couldn’t be the guy. He’s very detailed and an excellent teacher and communicator. For what it’s worth, Sheldon Keefe is in that situation in Toronto with that core of young stars. But McDavid has only ever played for experienced coaches: Todd McLellan, Ken Hitchcock and now Tippett. Just worth noting.”
(LINK)
BLH’s Thoughts: There’s a part of me that is really intrigued by the idea of Woodcroft taking over in Edmonton with a group of players he’s very familiar with.
One thing we will know is that by the end of next season the team will have either taken the next step or they haven’t and a coaching change might be in the cards. But with the way Woody and Dave Manson are churning out NHLers for the Oilers, why would they want to change that? Especially if there are some notable veteran NHL coaches with long histories of winning on their resume? Mike Sullivan and Jon Cooper come to mind should things go sideways in Pittsburgh and Tampa.
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