Oilers Beat Writer: “The Oilers had better start planning for life without veteran defenceman Adam Larsson.”

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 Athletic

Replacing Adam Larsson: Who the Oilers could turn to if the veteran defenceman leaves in free agency

Dougie Hamilton is the biggest fish in the defenceman market and just so happens to be righthanded. The Oilers could afford him based on projections here, but it would severely hamper their ability to improve key areas and patch other holes.
Tyson Barrie: Holland is on record saying he wants to re-sign only one of Larsson and Barrie. Larsson has always clearly been Plan A. If he drifts out of the picture, it opens the door for the possibility of Barrie to return.
David Savard: Savard is the closest comparable to Larsson set to hit the open market, though he is two years older. Their cap hits were almost identical this past season — just under $4.2 million for Larsson and just over for Savard — and their playing styles are very similar.
Jason Demers: Demers has started almost 45 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone at five-on-five over the past two seasons. That’s not quite as high as Larsson’s usage in Edmonton, but it’s something.
Travis Hamonic: He played almost a fifth of his ice time with Quinn Hughes, an offensively inclined partner in the top four. Though his advanced metrics weren’t good, the Canucks were a lousy team that was hit hard by COVID-19 late in the season. Hamonic had excellent numbers at five-on-five the last time there was a full season in 2018-19 — 54.3 CF%, 53.5 GF%, 55.5 xGF%.

Via Seattle

Brenden Dillon or Nick Jensen: Dillon is a lefty and brings more offence. Both players turn 31 in the fall and had very similar, solid advanced metrics on a good Capitals team. Holland knows Jensen well, having selected him in the fifth round of the 2009 draft in Detroit before trading him in 2019.
Dylan DeMelo: Teaming up with Josh Morrissey for the Jets, DeMelo did a masterful job of slowing down the Oilers’ offensive attack in the playoff series. (Yes, there might have been a few illegal moves in there.)
Radko Gudas: Gudas is 31 and has two more seasons on his contract with a $2.5 million AAV. He spent 45 percent of his ice time against middle-tier competition this past season and managed a 54.8 Corsi for percentage.

Via Trade

Rasmus Ristolainen: He has four 40-point seasons on his resume, but his game is often maligned. Those who rely on the eye test more see the gaffes. Those more inclined to use analytics can’t help but notice he’s never cracked the 50 percent mark in CF%, GF% or xGF% at five-on-five in any year in his career — ever.
Josh Manson: He’s taken on tough defensive responsibilities his entire career and his metrics have largely been quite good. When you consider his health challenges, it’s possible — even probable — that this past season was an outlier.

BLH’s Thoughts: Of the names DNB listed there, my personal favorites are Radko Gudas, Rasmus Ristolainen, Brenden Dillon, Travis Hamonic, and David Savard.

See a theme? All rugged shutdown defenders in the same mould as The Iron Swede.

Ristolainen would cost the most, but he’d have the highest ceiling. He’d probably be the best option come playoff time too considering his game is very similar to Darnell Nurse’s.

The most fiscally responsible choice might be Travis Hamonic. I can’t see him coming to Edmonton for more than $3M/yr, but yeah, his health is an issue.

Overall, the best choice would be David Savard though. He’s nearly a clone of Larsson AND he’s got a Stanley Cup ringing weighing his hand down now. He might be charging more than Larsson though. Maybe something closer to $5M/yr.

Now, I might seem insane not to be picking Dougie Hamilton and that’s fair to say. I just don’t think he’ll sign in Edmonton and his ticket would cause some issues down the road.

From The Daily Goal Horn

NHL Rumors: Wild and Habs in on Eichel

I am on the record and will continue to insist that much of the noise around Eichel is media generated in terms of who is interested. The two teams that have the assets and cap space to make a deal are the Ducks and Rangers. When the trade is done, I believe one of them gets him.
Still, despite already having the Kings, Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, and Golden Knights quickly removed from potential landing spots we are now hearing the Wild and Canadiens.
The Habs are a late entry based on the idea that if Shea Weber is out for the season and placed on LTIR, they can use that money to acquire Eichel. Again, this seems like more media speculation trying to connect dots.

BLH’s Thoughts: Montreal is up to something… They’ll have to do some serious work if Price is claimed or can’t play for a good portion of the season because I don’t see them returning to the Stanley Cup final without a healthy Carey Price or 50% of Shea Weber. Plus if Phillip Danault and Joel Armia move on… I’m all for a good hockey story though and for the Habs to have an All-Star like Jack Eichel on their team would be an outstanding story.

From NHLRumors.com

Hailey Salvian of The Athletic: There is definitely mutual interest between Zach Hyman and the Calgary Flames. The question becomes can Calgary sign the forward. Better yet, can they agree on a reasonable amount and term.
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey NOW: The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking at Zach Hyman. Hyman can get an eight-year deal. This is because if something can get agreed upon, Toronto will do a reverse sign and trade.
Bruce Garrioch: The St. Louis Blues are trying to acquire Matthew Tkachuk but they aren’t the only ones.
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic: The Toronto Maple Leafs knew they could lose Alex Kerfoot in the expansion draft so they traded for Jared McCann as insurance.
Allan Walsh: Boston Bruins pending UFA goaltender Jaroslav Halak expects to hit the open market on July 28th.

BLH’s Thoughts: If Calgary signs Hyman, that all but seals it for one of Matthew Tkachuk or Johnny Gaudreau and if I was Brad Treliving, I would move on from Tkachuk and try to get the best return possible for him. The reason I’d do that is because I know that Gaudreau is interested in playing in Calgary and I’m very hesitant that is the same with Tkachuk.

If the Leafs lose Kerfoot, they’ll miss his aggression for sure. That’s not McCann’s game at all.

Jaro Halak, I wonder if that’d be someone Ken Holland would have interest in should Mike Smith move on?