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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Edmonton Sun (Matheson)
What does Kailer Yamamoto get after Joel Farabee signing?
- …the Philadelphia Flyers signing of winger Joel Farabee, with no leverage and almost identical NHL stats to Yamamoto, to six years and $30 million, certainly is a “whoa, what’s up with that?” moment.
- Farabee, 21, who has one year left on his $925,000 entry level deal, has 59 points in 107 NHL games. Yamamoto, 22, who has completed his three-year first NHL contract, has 52 points in 105 games.
- …the best Yamamoto might get on a bridge contract is in the range of what Luke Kunin has left ($2.3 million) on his deal, or the $2 million for two years Tyson Jost is getting in Colorado now.
- …the cap-starved Oilers, with 14 forwards (including their best farmhand Tyler Benson) already signed, might be looking more at Jesse Puljujarvi’s $1.175 million because Yamamoto has no leverage here.
- With camp opening in three weeks, the Oilers clearly hold the hammer. They will get something done, either for one or two years for the 160-pound winger, although Casey Mittelstadt’s three-year contract for an average of $2.5 million with the Sabres is maybe in play too if they get around to talking three years.
- Yamamoto is still the No. 2 RW behind Puljujarvi, but if they want to move Zack Kassian up to give them more size in the top six because Kassian, as one pro scout says, “is more alert playing with skill players” then Yamamoto could be the third-line RW because of his compete level.
BLH’s Thoughts: For the love of Pete, Jimmy! What are ya thinking with this one? Farabee and Yamamoto aren’t comps! They’re not even similar hockey players. There’s no way Killer gets that kind of scratch after shitting the bed last year.
Oilers GM Ken Holland has found a way to get most of the players who’ve signed with his club this summer to take a bit of a haircut. I’d argue that Darnell Nurse should’ve signed a deal closer to what Colton Parayko makes, but that’s a conversation for another day.
That said, Middelstadt’s deal looks like the ceiling on any new bridge contract for Yamo and you know what? I wouldn’t be shocked one bit if he actually ended up signing something closer to what Pulju makes. That’s a good shout from Matheson there.
Oilersnation (Lewis)
Predicting The Pacific
1. Vegas Golden Knights – “Vegas will be rolling with a very similar group this year as they did last, so it’s safe to assume they’ll be good again. The big question is whether Robin Lehner can carry the load without Fleury.”
2. Edmonton Oilers – Edmonton’s roster appears stronger this year than last, but the wild-card yet again will be goaltending. Can Mike Smith be as good as he was in 2021? Will Mikko Koskinen rebound?
3. Seattle Kraken – Seattle didn’t have as exciting of an Expansion Draft as the Golden Knights did a few years ago, as they didn’t make any side deals with other teams, but they seem to have put together a pretty good roster. After what Vegas did and has continued to do, I wouldn’t ever bet against an expansion team.
4. Calgary Flames – A huge season from Markstrom could certainly help the Flames rebound, but they aren’t a stronger team this year than last. Not having Giordano will surely be a huge loss for Calgary.
5. Los Angeles Kings – L.A. still has a couple of cornerstones in Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty which is a great foundation for their wealth of young players breaking into the league. Gabriel Vilardi, Tyler Madden, Alex Turcotte, Arthur Kaliyev, and Quinton Byfield are in the mix to make a difference this season, giving L.A. serious breakout potential.
6. Vancouver Canucks – The key to Vancouver’s season in 2021-22 will be how OEL looks in new scenery and how Pettersson, assuming he signs, bounces back from an injury-riddled year. It’s not easy to be optimistic about this group after last year.
7. San Jose Sharks – The Sharks are a mess. They’ve now missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, and, if they miss again this year, it’ll be their longest drought in franchise history. It’s difficult to see the Sharks bouncing back with their current group, which certainly isn’t getting any younger.
8. Anaheim Ducks – Anaheim didn’t do much this off-season so the only way they’ll have a better showing in 2021-22 is if young talent like Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras have huge, breakout seasons and John Gibson is unbeatable in net.
BLH’s Thoughts: If the Canucks can get Hughes and Pettersson signed, they’re going to be a dangerous club. They’ve got OEL and Garland coming in to bolster the forwards and defense, Vasili Podkolzin will be on the club and he’s going to be fantastic, and Jaro Halak should really shore up the goaltending where Holtby failed last year.
I don’t know why folks are sleeping on them. COVID screwed them last year and they still performed decently. I think they’ll be in the playoffs and Seattle will miss out. But they’ve got to get their big RFAs signed…
1.Vegas 2.Edmonton 3.Vancouver 4.Calgary 5.Seattle 6.LA 7.Anaheim 8.San Jose
I’ll go with those predictions for now!
NHL Trade Talk
- If the Montreal Canadiens elect not to match the offer made by the Carolina Hurricanes for center Jesperi Kotkaniemi — talk is that they are shopping the compensatory picks around the NHL in their seven-day window — the groundwork for a deal between the Calgary Flames and Canadiens once the player is moved would be laid.
- That could lead to an opportunity for Calgary to pick up a first-round selection, with the the Canadiens receiving Sean Monahan in exchange.
“Perhaps a change of tune would be good for Sean Monahan, who posted lower stats than he’s accustomed his teammates to in his eight years with the Calgary Flames. Author of 10 goals and 28 points in 50 duels in the last campaign, Monahan had a year of 82 points in 78 games in 2018-2019.” – TBA Sports (translated)
