Edmonton Oilers Talk: Kass is Back for the BoA PLUS the latest NHL Rumors!

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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Lowetide.ca

THE PRO DEPTH CHART

(3G) Stuart Skinner. One thing this training camp proved, Skinner is next in line. They like him for an NHL job as soon as next season.
(7LD)Philip Broberg. In 41 preseason five on five minutes, all of his possession numbers (and expected goals) are well over 50 percent. I don’t know if he’s close or far from the NHL…
(8LD) Dmitri Samorukov. He’s injured, but I think he’ll be the first recall among defensemen this year.
(2RD) Cody Ceci. He is a better passer than expected, and his defending has improved since the Sens days.
(5RD) Phil Kemp. Another eye opener at training camp, we knew he had shutdown qualities but his puck moving was a pleasant bonus.
(5C) Ryan McLeod. He hasn’t played well. Remains a solid prospect with a large chance to have an NHL career of some length. He’s so fast!
(5LW) Tyler Benson. I’m the only one who sees waivers as possible. It’s unlikely, especially with McLeod’s performance, but Benson is in some danger.
(6LW) Kirill Maksimov. This is it for the Russian, who showed well as a depth winger and PK man two years ago in Bakersfield. Edmonton needs him to emerge as a productive scorer in pro this year.
(7RW) Cooper Marody. Lost in the flood again, and with injuries galore he doesn’t get a massive look. At some point, I think Europe will be an option.
(9RW) Rafael Lavoie. One of the most important prospects in California this year, Lavoie’s scoring ability is going to get him an NHL chance if he can bring most of it with him to pro.

BLH’s Thoughts: If things continue to shape up as they are, Stu Skinner may very well be Edmonton’s backup next season. That said, I get a real Jimmy Howard feel out of him and that guy spent a lot of years getting yo yo’d up and down with the Red Wings before staking his claim. I don’t know if Edmonton can afford to risk a waiver claim on Skinner in the future. The former Lethbridge Hurricane’s progression is also why I’m not as bullish on the Oilers going out and trading their first round pick for a goalie.

If I had to guess, I’m not sure the Oilers will go into 2022-23 with Broberg and Samorukov on the roster. So I think he might not make the club FT until 2023-24 whereas Samorukov has to play himself off the team in order not to be a regular NHLer in 2022-23.

I’m quite bearish on Benson and Maksimov right now and McLeod isn’t doing himself any favors early on this year. That said, there’s lots of time to turn things around for these young men.

Forget about Marody… If he wanted to be an NHLer, he would’ve made the necessary adjustments by now.

Rafa Lavoie will definitely be getting some games this year at some point I feel and there’s a real chance he could be a wildcard to start the year with the team in 2022-23. He’s got the size, the shot, he knows where to go for the most part on the ice, and his skating has really come along.

Edmonton Sun

Kassian still willing to drop gloves despite scare in fight

Nine days after Zack Kassian’s bare head crashed to the ice at Rogers Place in the last second of a brief fight with Zack McEwen — the 39th bout of Kassian’s 10-year NHL career — he will be back and rambunctious Saturday against Calgary.

“Obviously when you see pictures of my situation, first thing that comes to mind is stop fighting. But fighting’s been in the game a very long time, it’s what makes hockey unique,” he said. “For me personally, it should always be in the game. I don’t think there’s a place for staged fighting, that’s been weeded out quite drastically, but standing up for your teammates … it’s an emotional game and things boil over.”

Kassian was back on the third line with Derek Ryan and Warren Foegele for practice Friday and while Tippett says he’ll need one more session with medical people before Saturday, he expects to dress after missing the Oilers opener.

BLH’s Thoughts: Guess who’s back. Back again. Kass is back. Tell a friend.

First ten minutes of this game is going to be a beauty, folks! Let’s see how the return of Zack Kassian goes. Who’s going to set the tone early on? Which team doctor will be the busiest in the intermissions?

It’s funny, in the past, Sam Bennett has been the one to get Calgary physically engaged from the onset in past Battle of Albertas. He’s gone now though and I’m not sure if Tkachuk, Lucic, Zadorov, and Ritchie are the types to go looking for trouble. Well I guess Tkachuk will do it, but those other meat jockeys are reactionary types I’ve found.

One thing to keep an eye on tonight, the refs. Are they going to make the calls or let the boys play?

The Hockey Writers Rumors

As per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, although everyone is acting like they are on the same page and Tarasenko is back with the Blues and playing for the team, he would still like to be traded by the St. Louis Blues.
Brady Tkachuk didn’t get a ton of signing bonuses and his annual average salary isn’t outrageous compared to what some might have expected considering the length of time it took to get the extension finalized. According to TSN’s Chris Johnson, it was the structure of the deal that was taking some time.
According to a report by Emily Kaplan on ESPN’s The Point, the Jack Eichel trade watch is still in effect. She notes there are five teams still interested and that believe they can fit his $10 million salary into their cap situation. And, every one of those five teams have said they are on board with Eichel getting the disk replacement surgery he wants.
The teams believed to be looking at Eichel are the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and the San Jose Sharks.
While he was set to make big money regardless, the new eight-year $9.5 million per season deal for Charlie McAvoy solidifies the fact that defenseman Adam Fox will be making a huge chunk of change from the Rangers.