Speculating from an Oilers fan’s perspective, BLH comments on the latest NHL news and rumors feat. Mike Hoffman, Travis Hamonic, Mackenzie Weegar, Mattias Janmark, and many more!
So Turris and Puljujarvi combined are less than AA’s qualifying offer…… love it. Well done Mr. Holland. I’m pretty sure Kyle is a decent face off guy too#LetsGoOilers
— jason (@AlbertaOilfire) October 9, 2020
The News and Rumors
Obligatory preface: By the time you read this the content could obsolete as players have been signed or traded. It is half-past midnight on Oct.10th of 2020 as I’m writing this post and free agency is flying! Proceed with caution.
- The Athletic: There remains mutual interest between the Penguins and forward Dominik Simon’s camp, even though he was not given a qualifying offer.
BLH’s Thoughts: I would normally say that Simon could be a nice addition to the Oilers, but I’m not sure Ken Holland is looking to add any more forwards right now and if he is, I would think they’d have the potential to be a lot more offensively impactful than Simon.
- Pierre LeBrun (TSN): The Toronto Maple Leafs had internal discussions about Travis Hamonic as well as Brandon Montour but there’s a belief that the Sabres will not trade with Toronto.
- More LeBrun: The Canucks have had more talks with Tyson Barrie’s camp tonight. More to come tomorrow morning I think.
BLH’s Thoughts: Brian Lawton was saying on Oilers Now (630CHED) that he thinks Barrie will head to Vancouver to play with his old junior defense partner in Tyler Myers… It’s a good fit if you ask me now that Chris Tanev has moved on to Calgary.
- Mark Lazerus (The Athletic): The Chicago Blackhawks don’t want to sign another goalie. The plan is to let Colin Deila, Kevin Lankinen, and Malcolm Subban get their big NHL opportunities.
BLH’s Thoughts: Wow, they’re really hoping they’ll be so bad that they’ll be able to draft the hulking 6’5″ Owen Power who just happens to be lacing them up for the Chicago Steel in the USHL. He’s pegged to go in the top-5 of the 2021 NHL draft.
- John Shannon: Don’t be surprised, if at some point, that Justin Williams joins the Hurricanes’ front-office. He had a good relationship with owner Tom Dundon.
- David Pagnotta (The Fourth Period): Buffalo wants to go after Tyler Toffoli, Mike Hoffman, or both. Been talking to Viktor Olofsson’s agent for a while and things are almost done there.
BLH’s Thoughts: Jack Eichel playing with Mike Hoffman would be sweet to watch. Expensive for the team but hella fun for the fanbase.
Did you see that erroneous report yesterday about Hoffman signing in Edmonton? I nearly shat my pants when I read that.
- More Pagnotta: There is a growing belief Patrick Marleau will be returning to the San Jose Sharks. We’ll see if it comes to fruition.
- Pagnotta cont: Sounds like the Boston Bruins presented Taylor Hall with a short-term contract offer today. There are other suitors. I believe he’s still considering his options.
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think I’m the only one that has a hard time seeing Hall in a Bruins uniform. Colorado is a much better fit. Hell, Montreal would be a good fit for him too! I guess as many as 25 teams have contacted the former MVP to see where they stand with him, including the Edmonton Oilers.
Here’s the catch with Hall signing in COL though. We’re led to believe that he wants to show the world that he can lead a team to success and prove that his MVP wasn’t a fluke, right? So how exactly would he be doing that as part of the Avalanche or the Bruins? Really, if he wanted to secure that legacy, he’d need to head into one of the Canadian markets and lead one of those clubs to the Cup.
- Elliotte Friedman (Sportsnet): One name that isn’t the biggest but is gaining traction is Panthers d-man MacKenzie Weegar. He is exactly the type of player that the Maple Leafs would look at.
BLH’s Thoughts: I think this is a guy Edmonton would be good to get in on too. He’s a left-shot 26-year-old defenseman who had 18pts in 45gp this past year. His fancies are fantastic. They really blow Darnell Nurse’s right out of the water. Problem with that “on the surface” diagnosis is that Weegar has played about 1200 minutes fewer than Darnell since he graduated to the NHL full-time.
The only thing I’ve heard is that the Panthers want to get a bit tougher and Edmonton needs to keep some of the toughness on its roster less they want to get pushed around every night like they used to back in the Hall/Eberle/Schultz days.
- Adrian Dater (Colorado Hockey NOW): Hearing Mattias Janmark to the Colorado Avalanche as a free agent signing and the LA Kings might make an offer to Matt Nieto.
BLH’s Thoughts: I remember there being some chatter amongst the Edmonton media regarding the Oilers going after Janmark. Now with Kyle Turris in the fold, there’s no need to add him. Janmark would be a good 3C in Colorado behind MacKinnon and Kadri. It would mean the end of Tyson Jost most likely though.
- Rick Dhaliwal (TSN): With Tanev gone, I wonder if Canucks circle back to Stecher. There has been good interest in Stecher on the market.
BLH’s Thoughts: There’s a strong belief that Tyson Barrie is going to sign in Vancouver. If he does that there would be no need to look at Stecher again. In fact, Stecher might get some eyes from the Oilers if he’s willing to sign something similar to what Matthew Benning signed in Nashville ($1M/yr)
- Jim Matheson (Edmonton Sun): With Crawford signing in NJ, that maybe leaves Greiss as a free-agent or Mrazek in a trade for Oilers goal-tending, doesn’t it?
BLH’s Thoughts: Mrazek is kinda pricey for what he brings to the table and Holland has already dealt him once already. Why would he want to bring him into the fold in Edmonton and why not James Reimer instead. He’d at least have some real trade equity with Reimer since his AAV is way higher than the money he’s actually paid this year. Plus, he’s a better goalie than Mrazek.
- Aaron Portzline (The Athletic): The sense leading up to free agency was that CBJ trading a goaltender – either Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzlikins – was difficult w so many UFAs on the market. The list of UFAs has thinned in the first two hours, so some teams may be circling back on the trade market.
BLH’s Thoughts: If the Oilers can’t get their hands on Greiss at somewhere under $3M/yr, they may need to dip into the trade market. Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins, in my opinion, would be solid additions to the organization. They’re young, talented, and are poised to become full-time 1A goaltenders in the NHL. Some growth and development is still required but I believe they’re on the cusp. Merzlikins is pretty much there already.
Now, the problem is, the Blue Jackets have all the leverage. They’ve got the commodity that others want AND they’ve got more coming with no pressure to move either netminder anytime soon.
— B.L.H. (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast) (@BeerLeagueHeroe) October 10, 2020
The Oilers Speculation
So the Oilers filled out their 3rd line yesterday, that’s great! Tyler Ennis had a really good audition with the team and he’ll be able to go up and down the lineup as Coach Tippett sees fit. Kyle Turris is one of the best faceoff men in the o-zone in the entire league in the last three years, so he will definitely be useful. Plus it doesn’t hurt to have a soft-minutes 3rd line that can go out and give you some depth scoring.
As for Alan Quine, Seth Griffith, and Anton Forsberg; I fully expect them to help mentor the young players getting started in Bakersfield as well as give the club a better chance at being one of the top clubs in the AHL.
Going forward, the Oilers need to sort out a couple of defensemen, a backup goalie, and possibly a left-winger. I don’t expect them all to come via free agency, don’t forget Ethan Bear and William Lagesson need to be re-signed yet, but the names Thomas Greiss, Tyson Barrie, and Sami Vatanen are some names that the club is looking into.
A lot is going to depend on what other teams are doing, right? Once the big names drop, the clubs that missed out on them will go after the second-tier free agents. The teams that miss out there will most likely look to the trade market. So it’s just a matter of time and who goes where that will determine where the Oilers get their players.
I’ve got a feeling that if Edmonton plays their cards right here, they’re going to get at least one, if not two, bargain buys.
Holland has done really well so far. Let’s see what day two holds for us Oilers fans!
