Edmonton Oilers Talk: Are the Oilers Destined to Lose One of Jesse Puljujarvi or Kailer Yamamoto?

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The Athletic (Nugent-Bowman)

A dark horse candidate to make the Oilers? What happens if Duncan Keith retires? Trade for John Gibson? Mailbag

Edmonton has a goaltending depth chart of Mike Smith, Mikko Koskinen, Alex Stalock, Stuart Skinner, Ilya Konovalov and Olivier Rodrigue. There doesn’t seem to be enough playing time for everyone. What’s the plan to clear up the glut?

…the Oilers’ preference is to have Stalock attend training camp and see what happens.
…the Oilers only plan to carry two goalies on the active roster this season.
It’s more likely Koskinen makes the Oilers as Smith’s partner because he played in the league last season and the Oilers might need to showcase him in the NHL if they want to trade him.
…there’s a reasonable chance a goalie is bought in before the trade deadline passes.

BLH’s Thoughts: My feeling is that Stalock is going to clear waivers and be sent to Bakersfield, then the three-headed goaltending tandem becomes Keith Gretzky’s and Jay Woodcroft’s problem until a solution can be found.

Best case scenario is that Ken Holland can pull off the kind of trade that his predecessor pulled off. Remember when Chiarelli turned Ben Scrivens into Zack Kassian? Pretty decent trade…

What are the odds Duncan Keith retires after this season to sign a front-office deal with the Oilers for a reverse recapture penalty?

Stranger things have happened, but I wouldn’t count on it… there’s another thing to consider, which I was reminded of this week: Keith changing agents (to Gerry Johansson from Ross Gurney) before the trade to Edmonton. It would take another contract for Johansson to get paid, aside from new endorsement deals.

BLH’s Thoughts: The whole switching agents puts a hold on any retirement talks. Johansson is going to want his cookies too and the only way he’s getting those is if he can get Keith another contract after this one expires.

What timeline do you think Holland is on to ice a serious contending lineup?

Holland has three more years on his contract, and I fully expect he’ll get to see this project through.

BLH’s Thoughts: Yeah, I’m with DNB here. I’d go as far as to say that it’s David Tippett who’s on thin ice and this season being the last on his contract. So, with that in mind, Holland has at least one more coaching hire until his seat starts to get hot.

What are the moves he can make between now and then, given the contractual commitments he’s made?

He’s starting to paint himself into a corner.
Maybe Kassian or Barrie is eventually moved for futures to clear up a bit of room. Regardless, based on what Holland has done this offseason, we all should have a pretty good idea of what the Oilers are going to look like for the foreseeable future.

How can the Oilers reasonably expect to keep Yamamoto and Puljujarvi based on the cap situation they’ve created for themselves?

It could be particularly problematic if Puljujarvi breaks out this season, especially since he has arbitration rights next summer.
Perhaps there are ways to clear up some money by then like trading out someone like Kassian.
The Oilers are hoping these top prospects make an impact. But if they do, it’s going to be hard to keep them all. It’s a Catch-22 in the salary cap system.
The issue… is how they’ve put themselves in this mess. The Nurse situation is perhaps the most obvious example.

BLH’s Thoughts: I have a feeling that in 2022-23 there will be at least one, if not two, different wingers on the right side of Edmonton’s roster. I reckon the team likes Puljujarvi a bit more given his physical build, as dumb as that sounds, so the pressure will be on Kailer to make himself as useful as possible and in as many different in-game scenarios as possible or he could be used as trade bait. Not being a Holland pick works against him too.

Do you think a John Gibson trade is possible? If so, does Mikko Koskinen, Philip Broberg, a 2022 first and a 2023 second get it done?

Gibson’s traditional and advanced numbers have been average at best for the past two seasons, albeit on bad Anaheim teams.
His salary, though perhaps not prohibitive, could cause major headaches for the cap-crunched Oilers, especially if the Ducks aren’t taking back notable money in the form of a long-term deal.
He also has a 10-team no-trade clause…
An NHL executive told colleague Jonathan Willis in March that he’d do this deal if he were Ducks GM Bob Murray: Gibson for 2021 and 2022 first-round picks, Koskinen, Chiasson, Raphael Lavoie and Olivier Rodrigue.

BLH’s Thoughts: Damn! I’d do that deal too. Chiasson a UFA, Koskinen off the books a season later, Lavoie’s projections wavering from 4th liner to top-sixer, and scouts thinking that Rodrigue may just end up a backup only… The only bet is on the draft picks really and even then, who knows what those players will be down the road in five years.

Now, Broberg, a 1st, and a 2nd? Personally, I don’t think that gets it done because there are financial considerations in play here, but even if there weren’t, I still don’t think that gets it done.

I think the Oilers would need to go down a road that’d see them give up one of Yamamoto or Puljujarvi, one of Broberg or Samorukov, somebody with a fatter contract (Koskinen, Kassian, Ceci, Barrie), and a 1st rounder.

The bottom line is that it’s an inter-divisional trade and I’m not sure there’s an appetite for Holland or Bob Murray to do that.

Lowetide.ca

ALWAYS CRASHING IN THE SAME CAR

BENSON AND MARODY

Do you think they’ll make it? I am less convinced of Marody, about 50-50 on Benson.
How does Marody get to the NHL from here? Suspect it involves waivers, either to a new NHL team or back to Bakersfield. A mid-season recall and some scoring success on arrival would be the clearest path available in my opinion.
What does Benson need to do? I think PK success will be a key.
What about Brendan Perlini? Perlini is opposite Benson in that he’s a big, fast man who can score goals. He is an uncertain checker though and that’s a lot to overcome in the role Tippett will audition him for. In my opinion, Benson and Perlini aren’t applying for the same job, although one making the team may mean a demotion for the other man.
What are Benson’s chances? He’s an orphan prospect. Holland could add a PTO today that would put him lower on the depth chart. I don’t count Benson’s skating issues as eternal damnation, but he doesn’t shoot the puck much and passing wingers are not a team need in Edmonton. Benson needs to reinvent himself, going from a terrific playmaking winger with the ability to win battles to a two-way winger who can forecheck aggressively and play a regular PK shift.

BLH’s Thoughts: LT pretty much lays it all out for Benson and Marody. Myself, I don’t even think that a season of playing on Bakersfield’s PK during a COVID year where there was very little travel and the club only played the teams in their division will help him get on Dave Tippett’s special teams units. I’m just not confident that he’s got the boots to get it done, but I’m eagerly awaiting training camp to see if he’s changed that.

Spector’s Hockey

OTTAWA SUN: Bruce Garrioch reports Senators general manager Pierre Dorion confirmed contract discussions with Brady Tkachuk’s agent are continuing and progress was being made

TSN: Shawn Simpson reports via Twitter a source tells him the Tkachuk camp is getting frustrated. The winger is staying positive but can’t understand why it’s taking so long to get a deal in place. “I asked what had been offered, and it was termed that they have not received a legitimate offer from the Sens,” said Simpson.

EDMONTON JOURNAL: Jim Matheson wondered how much Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto will receive after the Philadelphia Flyers signed Joel Farabee to a six-year, $30 million contract. The pair have almost identical stats, with the 21-year-old Farabee tallying 59 points in 107 NHL games while the 22-year-old Yamamoto has 52 points in 105 contests.

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