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!
Give us a follow on the socials!
- Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
- Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
- Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
- Facebook: Beer League Heroes
Oilersnation
Report: Edmonton Oilers were unable to land goaltender Darcy Kuemper due to discrepancy in offer
On the 31 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the Oilers were right in the discussions, but the prospect they offered wasn’t as valuable to Arizona as Timmins:
- “I think they lost out on Kuemper because whichever prospect they offered, and I don’t know who it was, Arizona liked Conor Timmins more than whoever Edmonton was willing to offer. And that is why Arizona went with that package.”
It’s pretty safe to assume the Oilers would’ve been willing to move their 1st round pick this year in the deal, and if they hadn’t I doubt they would’ve gotten so far into discussions with the ‘Yotes.
BLH’s Thoughts: Further to this, Bob Stauffer recently intimated that if Philip Grubauer hadn’t left Colorado for Seattle, the Oilers might’ve had both Kuemper AND Ryan Murray on their roster for the upcoming season.
Copper N Blue (Jeff Chapman)
Finishing Touches?
- Defence is going to be an especially volatile position this year, and I think there’s a fairly good chance there’s plenty of movement in and out of the lineup for players. Slater Koekkoek (850K cap hit last season) seems like a good candidate to return to the club if the Oilers want to add one more. If Erik Gudbranson isn’t on a club by the end of August, I think he’ll get a look from a couple of teams. Kris Russell (1.25MM this year) will be seen on the third pair (and maybe the second pair too).
- Save for a depth defenceman, I think this is it. The Oilers got better up front this offseason. If they’re really crafty, they might be able to put three scoring lines on the ice. I think they’ve downgraded an entire letter grade on defence, and the goaltending is the same as last season. The, Oilers are going to once again rely heavily on their top six, and they’ll need a defence corps to hold it together enough to win some high scoring games. Getting another .920SV% season from Mike Smith would go far as well.
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think they have to be crafty on their third line. The addition of Foegele coupled with Ryan McLeod’s progression (or Derek Ryan’s veteran savvy) and Kailer Yamamoto presents and enormous amount of scoring potential compared to recent 3rd line combinations that the team has trotted out in past years.
There’s no way the defense has degraded to the extent Chapman is claiming. The don’t have a pure shutdown defender anymore, but Ceci and Keith are upgrades on Jones and Bear. Now, that might sound like an outstanding claim, but I’ll ask you this, would Ceci and Keith have been healthy scratches at any point last year if they were on the Oilers? Swapping those four skaters will eliminate some of the chaos that having young skaters in the lineup brings.
As I’ve said before, the team might be done for the time being, but don’t discount them doing anything at the end of training camp when PTOs are ending and teams are needing to make tough decisions on training camp hopefuls with waivers in mind.
NHLRumors.com
Ben Pope: With Marc-Andre Fleury and his $7 million cap hit saying yes to the Chicago Blackhawks, GM Stan Bowman may need to get creative to create room to fit in new contracts for Brandon Hagel and Alex Nylander.
They could look trade defenseman Calvin de Haan, forward Dylan Strome or goaltender Malcolm Subban.
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Rumors and notes involving some of the top remaining free agents.
- 1 Tuukka Rask – Has contemplated retirement before and after hip surgery in July, he’ll be out until January or February. He said back in June that he’ll only play for the Boston Bruins.
- 2. Kyle Palmieri – Nothing has been announced but reports have him signing with the New York Islanders.
- 3. Tomas Tatar – The Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken could have some level of interest.
- 4. Casey Cizikas – May have a handshake deal with the Islanders. Drew interest from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Seattle Kraken, Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks.
- 5. Jason Demers – 33-year old logged over 17 minutes per game last year.
- 6. Marcus Johansson – Could be a good short-term signing for someone looking for a versitial forward.
- 7. Nikita Gusev – Can play either wing and has received some interest. KHL is an option if he doesn’t find anything to his liking.
- 8. Travis Zajac – It’s believed he has a deal in place with the Islanders.
- 9. Sami Vatanen – 30-year old right-handed defenseman could be a good third-pairing defenseman for someone.
- 10. Zdeno Chara – He’s in no rush to make a decision to play again next season or retire.
