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!
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The Athletic (Allan Mitchell)
Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, summer 2021
- It’s been years since the Edmonton Oilers boasted one of the NHL’s top prospect lists, and based on the number of picks being sent away in recent summers, the club is unlikely to be near the top again in the near future.
- Evan Bouchard, RHD
- Dylan Holloway, C/LW
- Philip Broberg, LHD
- Xavier Bourgault, C/RW
- Raphael Lavoie, RW
- Ryan McLeod, C
- Dmitri Samorukov, LHD
- Carter Savoie, LW
- Ilya Konovalov, G
- Tyler Benson, LW
- Tyler Tullio, RW
- Stuart Skinner, G
- William Lagesson, LHD
- Matvei Petrov, LW
- Olivier Rodrigue, G
- Cooper Marody, RW
- Jake Chiasson, C
- Filip Berglund, RHD
- Maxim Berezkin, LW
- Markus Niemelainen, LHD
BLH’s Thoughts: LT’s list is fantastic and fair, that said, I’d have a few players a little higher and some not even on the list, to be honest.
1. Bouchard 2. Broberg 3. Holloway 4. Bourgault 5. McLeod 6. Samorukov 7. Lavoie 8. Konovalov 9. Petrov 10. Niemelainen 11. Skinner 12. Savoie 13. Benson 14. Skinner 15. Tullio 16. Kesselring 17. Kemp 18. Rodrigue 19. Berezkin 20. Maksimov
I reckon Lagesson is a tad old for a prospects list now and the two righty dmen, Kemp and Kesselring, are two underdogs who might end up surprising a lot of people next year. Niemelainen had a very promising season in 2020-21 and if he can do it again, the Oilers are going to have an outstanding problem on their hands with him, Broberg, and Samorukov more or less ready to make the jump to the NHL in 2022-23.
The Edmonton Oilers may be a team that is interested in Nick Foligno, per Michael Russo.
— Oilers News and Updates (@oilersaccess) July 27, 2021
Oilersnation (Jason Gregor)
Ken Holland’s Shopping List
- With Hyman signed, they still have four holes they’d to fill: one top-nine left winger, a third line centre, a second pair right defenceman and a third pair left defender.
- On the right side:
David Savard, Travis Hamonic, Tucker Poolman, Jason Demers, Cody Ceci and Jani Hakanpaa. - Derek Forbort, Jake McCabe, Mike Reilly, Ian Cole and Ryan Murray. (On the left side)
- Some options include: Ryan Getzlaf, Alex Wennberg, Paul Stastny, Nick Bonino, Erik Haula, Luke Glendening and Tomas Nosek. (Third line C)
- Options include Tomas Tatar, Mike Hoffman, Jaden Schwartz, MIkael Granlund and Nick Ritchie (wasn’t qualified by Boston) and Jordan Martinook. (Left wing options)
- Ritchie is a big body who has decent finish and plays with an edge. Last season was his best goal scoring season, but not his best points/game. He will get a lot of interest, due to his unique skill set. He probably gets priced out of Edmonton’s range, but a few years ago Patrick Maroon settled for $900K to sign in St.Louis. Maybe Ritchie won’t get the payday he wants and if so Edmonton should be very interested.
- Jordan Martinook is more of a 4th line LW option. He is very vocal and energetic, which the dressing room needs. He’d be cost effective at around $1.1m and can kill penalties. He can also take some faceoffs if needed.
BLH’s Thoughts: Ceci, Hamonic, Poolman, and Demers make some sense for me as right-shot options on defense for the Oilers. Hamonic and Ceci most likely the best candidates to replace Adam Larsson.
On the left side of the defense, Derek Forbort is getting a lot of love from the Edmonton media over at TSN 1260. Boston is rumored to be the front-runner on him though. I dig Ian Cole as an addition to Edmonton’s bottom pairing as he brings that old school game I love.
At centre, I’d say that Nick Bonino will get a bit of attention from the Oilers and perhaps Tomas Nosek. The others are probably pipe dreams with the wild card being Ryan Getzlaf. According to Bob Stauffer, Getzlaf could be had on a base and bonus deal worth between $3.5M and $4.5M.
Of the left-wingers presented, Jordan Martinook makes the most sense for me. He’s a heart and soul bottom sixer who plays the game very hard, almost a younger version of Matt Hendricks I see in him. Also, there’s a prior working relationship between him and Dave Tippett from their time in Arizona.
Interesting unqualified RFAs:
Heinen, F. Gauthier, D. Hunt, Hayden, O. Kase, N. Ritchie, D. Simon, Kampf, P. Suter, Kole Sherwood, E. Svechnikov, Khaira, Kahun, Luff, Steenbergen, Dal Colle, Timashov, Amadio, Jankowski, Donato, N. Merkley, Petan, Hawryluk, Michaelis
— Brennan Klak (@nhlupdate) July 27, 2021
NHLRumors.com
Joe Smith of The Athletic: Steven Stamkos remains one to watch out for. The rumors do not go away with the center and that is a big cap hit to shed. Alex Killorn could be moved but that leg might cause a small issue. That will be a tough one.
Vince Z.Mercogliano: Sense is that Rangers GM Chris Drury won’t give in to including certain players in a Jack Eichel deal. The Sabres may be trying to get more from teams like the Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings than what the Rangers were willing to offer.
NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on his 31 Thoughts Podcast on Dougie Hamilton: “From what I understand, Carolina’s target area, at least at the beginning for (Dougie) Hamilton was Torey Krug, which is 7-years, $45.5M… I don’t think that’s going to do it and I think the one team we are all kind of looking at is New Jersey.”
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: If the Hurricanes lose out on Hamilton, and if Tyson Barrie doesn’t re-sign with the Edmonton Oilers, Barrie could be a fallback option for the Hurricanes.
The Carolina Hurricanes have three pending UFA goaltenders and hope to get at least one signed before Wednesday – Jonathan Bernier, Petr Mrazek and James Reimer. The Hurricanes could be among the teams interested in trading for goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Rick Dhaliwal: Agent Kevin Epp on the negativity about Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Vancouver: “Vancouver is a tough market media and fans wise, so driven by negative media, so unfair. They are already all over OEL, it is why some free agents stay away from VAN, the media scrutiny.”
Adrian Dater: Believe that things have turned for the worse with Gabriel Landeskog and the Colorado Avalanche.
Andy Strickland: There was a mutual interest between free agent defenseman Ryan Suter and the St. Louis Blues, but have been told that the Blues won’t go to the term that Suter wants.
David Pagnotta: The Detroit Red Wings continue to talk to teams about restricted free agent Tyler Bertuzzi. He has arbitration rights.
