Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

If the Oilers Want to Get Bigger, Tougher, and Better, They Need to Give This Defenseman a Look

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!

From The Cult of Hockey

One sharp move Edmonton Oilers can make to copy Tampa Bay Lightning
  • The one sharp move the Edmonton Oilers can make to emulate the Tampa Bay Lightning? Have a little faith in the over ripe skill players they’ve developed in the American Hockey League.
  • Give Tyler Benson, Ryan McLeod and Cooper Marody every opportunity to make the Edmonton Oilers in 2021-22, maybe even with the three of them on the same line.
  • The Tampa Bay model was said to have been put in place by Steve Yzerman, based on what he learned from Ken Holland in Detroit. If that’s the case, this kind of development and promotion of minor pro players should be old hat to Holland.

BLH’s Thoughts: Staples notes that six of the forwards who played in Tampa’s 8-0 win over the Islanders last night spent at least one year on the Lightning’s AHL affilliate. Now, before I give you their names, I want you to find one common theme amongst five of the six. Here are the players,

  • Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde, Ross Coulton, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson.

Have you guessed the common theme yet?

Aside from Killorn, the rest of those skaters are excellent skaters and they’re quick too. Just those two attributes alone are why Ryan McLeod is in the NHL and why Tyler Benson and Cooper Marody are not, despite leading the AHL (Read: the Pacific Division) in scoring. 

So while I do agree with David’s sentiment, I’m less sure of the specific names being mentioned. I’d love to see both players crack the lineup, but my feeling is that the likes or Rafa Lavoie, Dylan Holloway, Carter Savoie, Maxim Berezkin, and Tyler Tullio have more potential to emulate the graduates who are playing for Tampa Bay right now. 

From Spector’s Hockey

PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Dan Kingerski suggested Rasmus Ristolainen as a possible trade target for the Pittsburgh Penguins to add a physical defenseman to their blueline.

Kingerski speculates offering up a second-round draft pick, plus more, could get it done, or perhaps a team could get away with a solid prospect. The New Jersey Devils are also said to be interested in Ristolainen, who wouldn’t object to getting traded.

The Penguins would need to clear some cap space for Ristolainen’s $5.4 million cap hit. However, they could get some relief from the Seattle Kraken in next month’s expansion draft.

BLH’s Thoughts: Sweet Jesus! If all it’s going to take to get Ristolainen out of Buffalo is a 2nd round pick and more, Edmonton should definitely be looking at that. 

The Finn does have some unsavory advanced metrics but he’s also been playing in the tire fire that’s been the Buffalo Sabres organization his entire career. I mean, how many top-pairing defenders put up 40+ points in a season and end up being -40. Conversely, what kind of production would we see if he was on a good team?

In the right situation, could we be looking at a Jeff Petry scenario with Ristolainen?

Personally, I value him over Ethan Bear because he’s bigger, has more offense, meaner, he has more experience playing against the best the NHL has to offer, and I believe he’s more capable of handling the rigors of the post-season alongside Darnell Nurse.

Give us a follow on the socials!

Get your “Stanley” today!