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!
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The Athletic
Assessing Edmonton Oilers’ remaining roster needs ahead of NHL free agency
- “The Oilers now have $8.9 million in cap space with six players to add to the roster.”
- “Holland said Bouchard will have to take a short-term contract — something that’s been obvious for weeks. (The same thing is almost certainly the case for McLeod.)”
- “Holland also said that 2019 first-rounder Philip Broberg won’t be traded this summer. He feels the team is going to need at least seven defencemen and Broberg is worthy of competing for ice time among that group.”
- “After re-signing Bouchard and McLeod — which should cost them around $5 million — the Oilers must add more forwards.”
- “Bringing Janmark back is expected to cost roughly $1 million.”
- “…the Oilers will have to scour the bargain bin to find a low-cost veteran forward or two, possibly enticing the likes of Connor Brown or Jonathan Toews (if he wants to continue his career) with incentive-laden contracts.”
Expect Mattias Janmark to stay with the Edmonton Oilers. 1-year, around $1M.
— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) June 30, 2023
BLH’s Thoughts: Capfriendly has Edmonton’s remaining cap space at $8.1M not $8.9M but’s talk as if DNB’s number is the more accurate one.
If Bouchard, McLeod, and Janmark are set to cost around $6M total, that leaves $2.9M and Holland needs to keep $1M in the bank for transactional expenses (AHL call-ups) for the year. That gives the team with about $1.9M to sign Connor Brown and another forward not to mention fill out the AHL roster.
I don’t trust this team to work by the skin of their teeth like this… So, I’m thinking another trade might need to take place be that Kulak or Foegele heading out.
Now, there’s always the option of playing Derek Ryan at center (even though he’s been solely a winger for the last couple of years) or Holloway and running bare bones on the wings but I don’t know how that game plan translates to a Stanley Cup.
Honestly, I still think it’s early days in Edmonton’s journey to an NHL championship. As I’ve said for a few seasons now, this is looking more and more like an Ovechkin/Washington Capitals style run. Unless Holland and Co. can pull a rabbit out of their asses, there are teams around the Oilers that are going to pass them in terms of quality of depth in 23/24. I mean, many Holloway and Lavoie could emerge, but Woodcroft is so anti-youth, I don’t see how they’re given the necessary reps in order to make the required impact.
I’m thinking that it might be a better option to look forward to the 24/25 season and beyond when the cap ceiling starts blossoming.
NHL Trade Talk
Oilers Trades Puts Team In “Driver’s Seat” to Sign Connor Brown
- “As per a report by NHL insider Chris Johnston, “It’s natural for us to connect the dots here with Connor Brown…I think you’ll see a likely signing, a low-dollar deal, perhaps with some performance bonuses.” He adds, “I would say the Oilers are in the driver’s seat to get that contract done.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Oh shite! We’re back on!
But are we? Really?… After reading the less-than-stellar cap space breakdown of what the Oilers are working with, should we take Johnston at his word or are we to believe Stauffer and Seravalli’s latest take on the situation? I’m paraphrasing and spicing it up a bit but bear with me, they’re of the belief that Brown is going to have a plethora of teams lining up for him with term and AAV ready to put any offer Edmonton has to shame.
So, once again, are we to believe that Connor Brown is going to leave millions and millions of dollars on the table to sign a one-year bonus-laden contract just to play with McDavid (even though he’s already done that and it didn’t exactly end in either of them raising any trophies) and the Oilers?
The safest way to go about this one is just to believe it when it happens and perhaps the best way to keep the conversation going until the weekend is to discuss what Edmonton might do if they miss out on Brown because THAT’S a juicy conversation!
Matt Duchene (NSH), Mike Reilly (BOS), Blake Wheeler (WPG) and Kailer Yamamoto (DET) have been placed on unconditional waivers to be bought out before tonight's 5 p.m. ET deadline.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 30, 2023
Trade Rumors
Spector’s Hockey
- Pierre LeBrun reports the trade talks regarding Erik Karlsson appear to be calming down.
- Nick Kypreos wonders if Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving should approach team captain John Tavares about waiving his no-movement clause.
- Pierre LeBrun reports several teams, including the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, have contacted the Calgary Flames to express an interest in Noah Hanifin.
- Josh Yohe reports the Pittsburgh Penguins are heavily shopping Jeff Petry.
- Sheng Peng cited Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reporting the Vancouver Canucks could attempt to ship defenseman Tyler Myers to the San Jose Sharks.
- …winger Mike Hoffman is a player Canadiens GM Kent Hughes could look at moving before training camp opens in September.
BLH’s Thoughts: There it is! I was waiting for Boston to hop into the Hanifin sweepstakes and I could swear I’ve read that the Bs aren’t happy with Hampus Lindholm, so why not straight swap the two?
The feeling I get is that Treliving will swap Nylander out to increase the truculence factor on his team.
I don’t know if Myers is Mike Grier’s kind of dman. I’m thinking the ex-Oiler would prefer a but more grit with that kind of size.
How about those buyouts? Duchene, Wheeler, Yamamoto, Reilly… Watch the Avs sign at least two of them and Yamamoto return to Edmonton on a $1M/yr deal.
