Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from 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!
I know that the offseason is starting to ramp up when I’m getting multiple DMs from sources over the course of a week and I’d like to share with you what I was told,
- “No to Giordano and Dumba. Maybe Ryan Murray.”
- “Good chance the Oilers land Duncan Keith.”
- “Edmonton is working their asses off trying to move Neal and Koskinen. They don’t want any dead money buyouts on the books.”
- “Oilers aren’t trading Puljujarvi. They love him and he’s part of the core. You know Holland loves his Euros.”
- “If Chicago doesn’t retain salary on Keith, the odds of that deal landing are poor.”
- “Money in, money out is holding up the Keith deal. Caleb Jones is most likely the playing asset heading to the Hawks.”
I know it’s kind of all over the place, but that’s how I get these messages.
You’re probably wondering why Pulju’s name is in there, right? Well, I heard from a good friend on Twitter that his name was coming up on some Philadelphia Flyers sites and I wanted to check in to see what was going on there.
But to circle back to Duncan Keith. It wouldn’t surprise me if the following deal was very close to what’s on the table right now,
- Caleb Jones, Kyle Turris to Chicago for Keith (30%-50%) salary retained.
See, the Hawks could turn around and bury Turris in the AHL which is in Chicago last I checked and they’d save I think $500k.
I’m still not that convinced the Oilers land him though. Does Caleb Jones really move the needle that much in Chicago’s attempts to get his brother? I mean, is Caleb going to beat out Nikita Zadorov, Calvin DeHaan, or Riley Stillman for a spot next season? They’ve also got Wyatt Kalhyuk and Nic Beaudin after that and THEN Alex Vlasic coming along soon…
Who knows? Maybe Chicago moves some of those players to get Seth and that opens up a hole for Caleb to fill.
Duncan Keith is the guy who has the power to push this through, so it’ll really depend on him. Is he looking to spend the remainder of his career on a winner or would be be willing to take a gamble on the Kraken? Either way, he’ll be closer to his family, but one deal might be easier to make, that’s all.
From The Cult of Hockey
Mass speculation on Caleb Jones to Blackhawks, Duncan Keith to Edmonton Oilers, and big question about salary retention
Here are a few excerpts from David Staples’ latest blog where he gives his thoughts on the Edmonton Oilers and Duncan Keith,
- “1. Duncan Keith is no longer worth $5.5 million per year. If Chicago isn’t willing to retain a major amount on Keith’s contract, why would the Oilers trade for him?”
BLH’s Thoughts: For sure, ideally management on both sides, if they’re willing to make this work, will get creative and involve a third team possibly.
- “8. Maybe Keith is still a top drawer puck mover and for some reason he just didn’t get as many points as he deserved. We certainly saw this with Caleb Jones this year, who moved the puck well but wasn’t rewarded with that many points. It could be Keith is also still a solid defender, though his on-ice analytics suggest otherwise. But on-ice analytics — Corsi, Fenwick, Expected Goals Percentage — are notoriously misleading. You want an example? In 2019-20 Connor McDavid was one best players in the National Hockey League, but when it came to CorsiFor% he ranked 310th out of 428 regular NHL forwards, for FenwickFor% he ranked 303rd and for Expected Goals For% he ranked 279th. All these stats had him ranked as a below average NHLer. Hmm.”
BLH’s Thoughts: And this is why you don’t rely solely on the information you get from a pro-analytics Twitter account who provides the statistics in the form of an eye-catching graphic.
- “9. Stauffer mentioned that Keith played mostly with two rookie d-men in Ian Mitchell and Adam Boqvist on a Chicago team that was somewhat open to trading chances (which led to a high number of shots and scoring chances against when he was on the ice). This is leading to a big debate in Edmonton, Stauffer said. “We’re getting kind of the analytics vs. the ‘see him good.’”I’m going to suggest that, in general, the debate among Oilers fans is fun and interesting, but if the analytics crowd is relying on iffy and potentially misleading on-ice numbers and if the “seen him good” gang actually hasn’t seen Keith play much this year then this debate is between two groups with suspect opinions on this player. Take what they say with a grain of salt.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Do you think there’s a common belief that Holland is looking at Duncan Keith and thinking that as soon as he brings in the veteran defenseman he’ll be done improving the Oilers defense?
I mean, doesn’t that sound a little bit premature? My feeling is that the Oilers could add another left-shot defenseman in addition to Keith IF that trade were to go through. You know how much Ken Holland loves his training camp competition. Maybe he brings one in on a professional tryout agreement…
- “10. I don’t think the Oilers necessarily need more veteran players, even if McDavid and Leon Draisaitl see it that way. They need to make room for talented young players to advance and, most of all, they need better players.But if a veteran can be had at the right price and term, of course you sign him.If Edmonton does not get Keith at the right price, there will be plenty of other strong veterans, and perhaps much stronger veterans, on the market. For example, I hear Nate Schmidt wants out of Vancouver.”
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