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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
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Oil on Whyte (Lynch)

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Who should be the third line centermen this coming season?

• The first option is probably the most obvious: Ryan McLeod. McLeod in my opinion seems like the clear candidate to start the season on the third line, but his limited experience probably will keep him out of the lineup at times or could change things for the prospect.
• A line is only as good as its center. That is why a pretty good candidate in my opinion might be Devin Shore. Shore put up pretty good numbers with the team last season, and he already has experience on the roster. Shore can win faceoffs and will definitely provide some stability.
• Kyle Turris and Derek Ryan both could fit the bill on the third line, but really the best option would be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. I hope that the team decides to give him his own line to really help spread things amongst three different lines.

BLH’s Thoughts: Turris’ time as a full-time center in the NHL is over in my opinion, but I could see RNH centering the 3rd line at one point or another over the course of the year. Especially in the event that Dylan Holloway is recalled as the club would be remiss to start him any where other than on the wing in the NHL. 

Devin Shore won’t get any time at center on the third line, he’s a 4th liner at best and if I had to take a guess, I think it’ll be Derek Ryan’s job from the start of the year and Ryan McLeod’s to win back as he begins the 2021-22 season as the club’s 4th line pivot.

The reason I’d put Ryan at 3C is because he can still skate well enough, he’s right-handed, and he can win draws. McLeod has yet to add “faceoff specialist” to his toolbox, so he’ll get passed over when the time comes for the coach to make a decision on who to throw over the boards in key times during a game. 

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Oilersnation (Lewis)

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WWYDW(TE): Team Canada at the 2022 Olympics

• …it looks as though NHL players will return to the Olympics in Beijing in 2022.
• …the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement agreed on between the NHL and the Players’ Association featured intent to allow players to participate in the Games in 2022 and 2026.
• The COVID-19 pandemic will be an issue… Another major hurdle is who pays for player insurance. It appears that problem will be solved as the IIHF is playing for insurance for Olympic qualifiers this month.
• If you were putting together Team Canada for 2022, who would make the squad?

Huberdeau	McDavid	MacKinnon
Marchand	Crosby	Bergeron
O’Reilly	Couturier	Stone
Marner	Tavares	Point
Theodore	Pietrangelo
Nurse	Doughty
Chabot	Makar
Fleury
Price

BLH’s Thoughts: I’ll be honest, the Team Canada exercise is really tiresome. There are simply too many good players to consider to even participate anymore. I mean, look at that roster from Oilersnation, Brayden Point is a 4th liner on it and I imagine Drew Doughty would be a 3rd pairing defender with the emergence of Cale Makar.

Bob Stauffer seems to think that Zach Hyman is going to get some consideration for the roster, but personally, I’m not sure who he’d be beating out to win a spot in its starting lineup. I know Kunitz did it when he was Crosby’s wingman, but boy, there are some really good wingers out there who happen to be Canadian (Stamkos, Scheifele, Horvat, Barzal, etc) and I’m not sure this is the time to bring out the specialists. 

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NHLRumors.com

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Dan Kingerski on Pittsburgh Hockey Now:  The Pittsburgh Penguins do have some holes in the lineup which is a little surprising at this point in the offseason. Don’t expect Penguins GM Ron Hextall to make any trades in October and November.

• The Penguins could use a proven right-handed defenseman and haven’t added much offense this offseason. You won’t find any offense on the free agent market now. They are little light down the middle, especially if Evgeni Malkin misses any time during the season.

Jimmy Murphy: Free agent goaltender Tuukka Rask said on WEEI/NESN radio that he plans on playing later on this season and possibly next year as well.

• He said he will only play for the Boston Bruins and that it’s not about the money. He wants another run or two with the Bruins.
• Rask said that he’ll likely be recovered and ready to go around Christmas/early January. He hopes to be able to get back on the ice in the next month, month and a half.

MIke Heika of NHL.com: Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg is entering the final year of his deal with carries a $4.25 million cap hit with a $6 million salary.

• The Stars and the 29-year old defenseman are trying to get an extension worked out but he may have priced himself out of Dallas. He could be looking for more money and term than the Stars are willing to go.

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

Oil on Whyte (Mallon)

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Oilers Should Consider Selling High on Jesse Puljujärvi

• Back up against the salary cap, with big money committed to a number of players, the team will certainly look different in 2021-22, and only time will tell if Holland’s roster design can lead the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup.
• One player, in particular, has a boatload of rediscovered value and has the potential to net Edmonton a nice return if they were to put him on the market, namely Jesse Puljujärvi.
• I don’t know if I’d make the trade, and beyond that, I’m not certain that Holland has the negotiating skills to move Puljujärvi without losing the deal.
• The one weak area in his game seems to be offensive finish.
  • But while he scored 15 goals this past season, he did so playing a large number of minutes with #97.
• Puljujärvi could be packaged with someone like backup goaltender Mikko Koskinen, who only has one year left at $4.5million but is otherwise unmovable, making the overall deal much more attractive, but also freeing up salary for an incoming player, be it a starting goalie or a proven scoring forward.
• …if the player we saw last year is peak Puljujärvi, there will never be a better time to sell.

BLH’s Thoughts: If you think that a 23yr old Jesse Puljujarvi has hit his peak, stop analyzing hockey players immediately because you’ve got way too much to learn. 

Now, if you believe that this player’s production is going to spike and lead to some contentious contract negotiations, that’s a much more believable road to go down. 

The “McDavid Bump”, sure some players feel the impact, but what can be said for the players who have the ability to play with Edmonton’s captain? My belief is that they are better together than they are separated and you can check out this link if you reckon otherwise.

Another thing, most of Jesse’s production was 5v5… That’s him scoring at hockey’s highest difficulty level… Should the Oilers be moving on from somebody who can do that when that’s one of their Achilles’ heels?

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Cult of Hockey (Staples)

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The Edmonton Oilers draft pick with a bullet who has a bullet

• Carter Savoie is the Edmonton Oilers draft pick with a bullet who has a bullet.
• There were few more offensively gifted players in the 2020 draft class than Savoie.
  • “Savoie reads defenders like few other players in the draft. He is acutely aware of opposing sticks and actively baits them. Savoie is deceptive; he looks off his targeted play and keeps the same grip on his stick, whether he’s passing, dangling, or shooting. Savoie fires with power, precision, and with some trickery; using screens to his advantage.” – Elite Prospects
• There are questions about his hustle. Perhaps that’s why he fell to the fourth round of the 2020 draft where the Edmonton Oilers selected him 100th overall.
• If someone had told me that Savoie had been the Oil’s first round pick in 2020, I would not have been disappointed. The kid was that good.
• Right now, though, in my back-of-the-envelope assessment of the 2020 draft, I’ll suggest that while he was the 62nd forward taken in that draft, he’s shot up fast and would now be the 35th to 40th highest forward taken, going somewhere in the second round on a redraft.
• Expectation for 2021-22 season: Last season, Savoie was tied for 11th in conference scoring with 0.86 points per game. The Top 4 players all average at least a point per game. If he keeps developing, Savoie can be expected to put up a point per game, if not 1.2 points per game, which would have him challenge for the conference scoring title.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve said in the past, if Savoie keeps on filling the net at the NCAA level, the comparisons to Cole Caufield will start. 

What the organization may have in Savoie is something very special, I’m talking Brett Hull special with that shot of his and his innate ability to find the soft ice combined with his relaxed approach to the rest of the game, but in order for that to happen the team cannot force a square peg into a round hole like they tried with Nail Yakupov.

It’s a lofty comparison, I know that. Hull played in eras where skating competence didn’t need to be high, players used training camp to get into game shape, and team defense was horrid (at least early on in his career). However, the attributes that made him the dangerous player he was are shared by Savoie. Hell, even the parts of Hull’s game that drove fans made Savoie has, but if this Oilers prospect can carve out an NHL career for himself, it will be because he can fill the net on a consistent basis. 

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NHLTradeRumors.me

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Washington Capitals: 2 Players Most Likely to be Traded

• Evgeny Kuznetsov: The 29-year-old is on his way out in Washington as the team is sick and tired of his antics on and off the ice.Expect to see Kuznetsov heading west and some feel a deal to St Louis could make a ton of sense.
• Draft Picks/Prospects: The Capitals will be going for it again next season and with an aging core, you can’t blame them.

Toronto Maple Leafs: 2 Players Most Likely to be Traded

• Morgan Rielly: He’s going to get a huge raise from his $5 million per season and it’s likely the Leafs don’t want to watch him walk away for nothing, much like Zach Hyman just did. 
• Travis Dermott: Dermott is signed for two more seasons at $1.5 million, which certainly holds some value on the trade market.

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

The Hockey Writers (Parsons)

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Oilers Ranked 5th-Worst Run NHL Team, “Squandering” Best Players

• According to fans who read The Athletic and closely follow the Edmonton Oilers, the franchise didn’t rank terribly well among 32 teams in the NHL when it comes to how the organization is being run. In fact, it ranked No. 28 out of 32 teams, putting it fifth from the bottom.

“I genuinely think the Oilers will be a strong team next season, but that’s in spite of management and not because of it. They were given a gift with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, two of the league’s best players on two of the league’s best contracts. The front office is squandering that opportunity.” – Dom Luszczyszyn 

• As The Athletic admits, their ranking system of fans “may not be the truest reflection of the entire hockey population, as it’s selectively biased toward those dedicated enough to subscribe (and likely have a more analytical slant).”
• They also argue that the results “should still be close enough to gauge the temperature of how strong each front office is” and there’s certainly enough evidence of vitriol on social media when it comes to the Oilers
• Until games are played, this is just a ranking and the opinion of a section of the fan base.

BLH’s Thoughts: Jim Parsons nails everything on the head in this post with his own responses. You should click the link above and read the whole thing.

Here’s my two cents in the meantime, 

• “Spite” – a desire to hurt, annoy, or offend someone.

So… Let me get this straight, the players signed and traded themselves to Edmonton and if they win some hockey games it’ll be because they’re pissed off at Ken Holland?

Well, that makes sense because professional hockey is simply chalked full of children who do things like that. 

Man… The Brainiacs that come up with this shit never cease to amaze me. 

As for this club’s fanbase… The Oilers could win five Cups in a row and there’d still be a fraction of it that is pissed off about the Taylor Hall trade. Hell, every summer there’s a moment of silence city-wide to mourn the trading of Wayne Gretzky.

So I wouldn’t take fan polls too seriously when it comes to determining if a team is being run well or not. All you have to do is look at the previous handful of seasons and count how many post-seasons the Oilers have been apart of compared to the previous decade and that’ll tell you if the team is being managed well or not. 

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The Cult of Hockey (Leavins)

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A suddenly crowded port-side presents a big challenge for Edmonton Oilers prospect Tyler Benson

• Tyler Benson is probably an NHL winger… The question is: Will that be with the Edmonton Oilers, the club that selected him…
• He is an excellent NHL-level play maker who sees the zone very well and has high-level instincts and passing abilities.
• While not a giant, Benson also benefits from a solid build that enables him to handle the heavy going. That physical attribute is the perfect combination with Benson’s knack for making things happen along the walls.
• Benson’s injury history is worrisome although that was largely during his junior career.
• He does not have NHL boots, as his 7-game NHL audition showed. I am made to understand that Benson has hit the gym hard this Summer and is in peak physical condition.
• One more positive sign that Benson is closer to Prospect than Suspect: When Ryan McLeod was recalled just in advance of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Benson’s performance remained steady from then on. 

BLH’s Thoughts: From a statistical POV, this is not true. McLeod was recalled on the 21st of April and Benson scored only one goal, was -7 from that point on to the end of the regular season (nine games), and was kept off the scoresheet four times.

Prior to Benson losing his center, he had 30pts in 27gp and was +21. Also, his longest scoring drought was two games, which happened only twice. The first two games of the season and the week prior to McLeod’s recall when San Diego and Ontario shut him down.

That said, TB did see a slight resurgence in the post-season as his production improved slightly (6gp, 3g 2a, -1 and 12 SOG). It must be noted that he scored the GWG in the championship game as well and if I had to guess, I’m thinking that might be why Leavins is saying Benson did fine without McLeod. That’s just an assumption on my part though.

• That suggests Benson was not a passenger on that dangerous trio with McLeod and Cooper Marody but one of its drivers.

Yeah… Again, unless Leavins is talking about the playoffs, I disagree.

Benson’s (and Cooper Marody’s) regular season performance was definitely impacted by the absence of McLeod. No longer did that line have a big center with speed and hands who could open up space in order for Benson and Marody to do what they do best, or at least that’s my guess. Maybe both guys were dinged up too… Who knows, maybe there’s somebody out there on my Twitter timeline who could chime in. 

• But one should not fault the organization for bringing in the likes of Hyman, Foegele and the others. Putting all their eggs in an unproven rookie winger is not the sort of move winning organizations typically make.
• PROJECTION: Given the waiver wire risk, the club will give Tyler Benson every chance to earn a spot, be it through an eye-opening performance or an injury that opens one. Failing that, another budget-challenged team could come calling. So, I think he’ll be in the NHL in 2021…somewhere.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve been told multiple times that the Kraken are watching this situation closely. Now, maybe you can help me out here, but does Seattle have first “krak” on those put on waivers? If so, they can just wait the Oilers out, right?

Anyways, it’s a story worth keeping a close eye on if you’re a fan of local lads making their clubs. For me, barring injury, I think the Condors will lose their top two scorers in 2021-22.

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Spector’s Hockey

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THE ATHLETIC: In his latest mailbag segment, Eric Stephens was asked about the speculation linking the Anaheim Ducks to Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel. He believes Ducks general manager Bob Murray had some level of talks with the Sabres but doubts he would part with Trevor Zegras or Jamie Drysdale as part of the return. The Sabres asking price of four top assets for an injured player is another obstacle. Waiting could drive that price down.

• Stephens believes the Ducks have fielded offers for Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, Kevin Shattenkirk and Adam Henrique or attempted to move some of them.
• It’s believed teams were offering a first-round pick or a top prospect for Manson or Rakell, but the Ducks want both pieces.

NHL.COM:Mike Zeisberger believes the Ottawa Senators still need some veteran depth at center for the coming season. The departures of Artem Anisimov and Derek Stepan leave the club thin at center. Promising Shane Pinto could help but he’d be another young center on the roster.

BLH’s Thoughts: If what I heard around the trade deadline was correct, the Oilers probably could’ve had Manson AND Rakell for their first rounder in this past draft and one of their top prospects be that Philip Broberg or Dylan Holloway. I know the Ducks were trying to move those two as a package in attempts to obtain another first round pick in the ’21 draft but it was too much salary to take on for the Oilers at the time and they are quite high on Broberg and Holloway. Maybe they revisit a Manson trade this year since he’s a pending free agent and they’ve got a handful of promising young players who’ll be RFAs at season’s end. 

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

The Athletic (Mitchell)

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Lowetide: Did the Oilers find the new Fernando Pisani when signing Derek Ryan?

• Ryan displays a range of skills, including efficient offensive numbers at five-on-five, strong faceoff success and impressive penalty-killing ability.
• I believe Ryan could be the much sought after third-line forward who can help the team outscore opponents at five-on-five while also mentoring young forwards as they arrive in the NHL and find their way.
• The Oilers have been looking for just that player since Fernando Pisani patrolled right wing for Edmonton 15 years ago and helped develop youngsters like Jarret Stoll and Raffi Torres into productive NHL players.
• At five-on-five, his points per 60 (1.91), shot differential (58 percent) and goal differential (62 percent) are exceptional.
• His faceoff percentage last year (52 percent) is a positive although shy of his career average (55 percent).
• On the penalty kill, his shots-against per 60 (41.12) ranks No. 20 among forwards who spent 50 or more minutes in the discipline during 2020-21.
• His goals-against per 60 on the PK (5.53) ranked No. 47 among qualifying forwards via Natural Stat Trick.
• Ryan made his NHL debut on March 1, 2016 — he was 29.
• Pisani was also older when he played his first game in the league at 26.
• In both cases, as rookies, Ryan and Pisani played on lines with fellow rookies who were much younger.
• If he can mentor young forwards like Kailer Yamamoto, Jesse Puljujarvi, Ryan McLeod, Tyler Benson and Dylan Holloway while doing it, Ryan will be the first man in an Oilers uniform to fill the Pisani role since the man himself.

BLH’s Thoughts: I love a good story and the story of Derek Ryan is a fantastic one for young hockey players everywhere. I hope that he can fulfill the gigantic shoes left by Fernando Pisani all those years ago and become a cult hero for Oilers fans. It’s been a long time since we had one of those… 

That said, he’s got to perform. If he doesn’t, the young players will lose faith in him and all that mentorship talk won’t be worth much… Just ask any veteran who was on the Oilers in the Hall/Eberle era…

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The Cult of Hockey (McCurdy)

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Edmonton Oilers netminding prospect Ilya Konovalov faces tall odds to make the modern NHL

• Enter Ilya Konovalov, who at just 5’11 is a throwback to another era. Specifically, the 20th Century. Can he find his way in the 21st?
• The percentage of goalies under 6 feet tall has nose-dived from 63% in the ’80s and ’90s to just 10% in the current century.
• Let’s take one last step forward to 2021, in which 98 goalies saw NHL action. Among them, just three stood under 6′ tall, all of them the same 5’11 as Konovalov. All are fine goalies including Anton Khudobin and Jaroslav Halak, both now 35+ and nearing the end of the line. The last of a dying breed?
• The third guy on the, ahem, short list is closer to a contemporary for Konovalov. Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators has himself beaten tall odds to make it in The Show.
• Expectations for 2020-21: A short period of adjustment to the narrow ice and different flow of the North American game while also acclimating to a new language and culture. But his primary job remains the same as it ever was — stop the puck. Reasonable to think he will get a regular opportunity to do just that in Bakersfield. If he can maintain a save percentage close to the 92% range in yet another league, notice will have been served.

“Konovalov basically has all the tools except size, which isn’t his fault, without any of them particularly standing out. He’s quite athletic although he does not play a really “acrobatic” style. He deals with the angles well and has good reflexes. I would say that his main strength is that he has few, if any, bad habits…” – Patrick Conway (Conway’s Russian Hockey

BLH’s Thoughts: After reading Mr. McCurdy’s full post where he tosses in some fine statistical research regarding shorter goalies and their success from year’s past, my hopes are high for Konovalov. 

I’m a big proponent of players who buck the odds and the netminders have been getting taller, thicker, and more boring for years. It would be a lot of fun to see a shorter more electrifying goalie have some success, wouldn’t it? I mean would you rather watch Andrei Vasilevskiy or Dominik Hasek?

Bring back the entertaining goalie!!!

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The Daily Goal Horn

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On David Krejci and Tuukka Rask

David Krejci went into “retirement” by heading home to play hockey in the Czech Republic. Bruins GM Don Sweeney told the media that Krejci can comeback any time he likes, calling it an “open-ended” situation.

• “I will be staying with Olomuoc all season.” The 35 year-old pivot noted he will honor his one year deal and that “returning to Boston in the spring is definitely not in my plans.”

Rask is currently doing well as he recovers from hip surgery. He is expected to be out for the next five to six months as he rehabs in preparation to return. The UFA has only one place he wants to be.

• “I’ve been so lucky to be part of only one team in the NHL, and for me it’s about that,” Rask told Greg Hill. “I have no reason to chase the money anymore. I feel the Bruins is my home and Boston is my home, and I want to stay here.”

On Evgeny Kuznetsov

The Seattle Kraken currently have Alex Wennberg as their number one center, and need to upgrade at the position. It been rumored that GM Ron Francis has been talking with teams about trying to acquire more centers. At one point there was talks of them trying to trade for Ryan Strome, however there also rumblings regarding Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov.

• “He’s a good player, we like the player and I don’t know, we’ve never said we’re trading Kuznetsov. I said we’re open to discussions with most of our players for the trade market,” he said. “It’s never been, we are moving Kuznetsov.”