BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Alexander Ovechkin, Tuukka Rask, Nick Robertson, Connor Hellebuyck, and more!
Oilers pundit says the club might be down ANOTHER forward before camp starts! Who could it be?
Have you read this hilarious Joe Thornton story about the time he was chirping Connor McDavid from the bench and he made everyone within earshot burst out laughing? Do it now!
Have you ever seen the video of the time Doug Risebrough sucker-punched Marty McSorley and then had his ass handed to him? You have to check it out here.
Did Connor McDavid have a hand in bringing Jesse Puljujarvi back to Edmonton? Read about it here.
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NHL Rumors and Speculation
Jim Matheson (Edmonton Sun): Says Dominik Kahun and Devin Shore took physicals and fitness testing Tuesday and could be back on the ice soon.
Sara Olesky (TSN):Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck is aiming to play between 40-45 games this season.
Jim Parsons (NHL Trade Talk): On Tuukka Rask future with the Boston Bruins,
“If the Bruins don’t see him sticking after this season and Rask doesn’t see himself playing anywhere else, that could be it for him in the NHL.”
Tom Gulitti of NHL.com: writes that Alexander Ovechkin discussed his pending negotiations with the Washington Capitals and said,
“I think we understand everything that’s happening right now, so whenever it’s done, it’s done.” He added, “If it’s not done, we’re going to talk and we’ll see.”
Ken Campbell (SI.com) Writes that there is a real frustration in Columbus over the news that star centre Pierre-Luc Dubois wants out. No one seems to know why he doesn’t want to be there any longer and they’re not sure if it’s the coach, the market, or the GM?
Joe Smith (The Athletic): Expects next summer to be as painful as this past off-season for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“The Lightning should be Cup contenders for the next several years, as long as their stars stay healthy. Next summer is going to be painful in terms of seeing more familiar faces depart.”
Ryan Dixon (Sportsnet): Has the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Tampa Bay Lightning in his “top tier” of NHL clubs who have the best chance at winning the Stanley Cup this season.
Re: Edmonton Oilers – “The Oilers are doing a nice job of filling things out around Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but losing Oscar Klefbom for the season really stings and the goaltending is just too big of a question mark.”
Luke Fox (Sportsnet): Nick Robertson finds himself on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ non-NHL “B” squad at training camp and appears to be on track to open the season as a taxi-squad option.
Just like Kass protects his boys, you can protect yourself with this sweet mask! Click the pic and get yours today!This is how Pavel used to tell you who was #1 back in the day! Click the pic and grab a shirt or a mask!
BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Dougie Hamilton, Trevor Zegras, and more!
Who Might Newly-Signed Slater Koekkoek replace in the Oilers Lineup? Read about it now!
Oilers pundit says the club might be down ANOTHER forward before camp starts! Who could it be?
Have you read this hilarious Joe Thornton story about the time he was chirping Connor McDavid from the bench and he made everyone within earshot burst out laughing? Do it now!
Have you ever seen the video of the time Doug Risebrough sucker punched Marty McSorley and then had his ass handed to him? You have to check it out here.
Click the pic and find the NHL94 player from your team!
NHL Rumors and Speculation
Kurt Dusterberg (NHL.com):Reports that Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Dougie Hamilton wants to re-sign with the Canes but is letting his agent do the negotiating while he prepares for the new season.
Lyle Richarson (Spector’s Hockey): “Hamilton was considered a serious contender for the Norris Trophy last season until sidelined by a broken leg last January. Another Norris-worthy performance could price him out of the Hurricanes’ comfort zone.”
Corey Pronman (The Athletic): Has these five players on his 2021 World Junior All-Star team now that the tournament has finished,
F: Dylan Cozens (CAN)
F: Tim Stuetzle (GER)
F: Trevor Zegras (USA)
D: Bowen Byram (CAN)
D: Ville Heinola (FIN)
G: Devon Levi (CAN)
#CBJ have signed Oliver Bjorkstrand to a five-year, $27 million contract extension, the club announces.
“I think Philadelphia considered it a few months ago, but backed away due to asset cost and salary.”
” If Columbus believes it can get Laine to commit, that’s one to watch, eventually — assuming a trade can be worked out.”
“One player the Islanders have tried to move (with a sweetener) is Thomas Hickey. Half of the defenceman’s salary for this year is already paid via a bonus, and he’s got one more year at $2.5 million.”
“I think Montreal really wanted to add Mike Hoffman.”
” Brett Ritchie is the mystery PTO possibility for Calgary.”
“Another vet the Senators pursued: Tyler Toffoli.”
“I do expect to see Ben Hutton somewhere soon. Boston and New Jersey are among those with interest.”
“Every time I see a Sidney Crosby/Nathan MacKinnon commercial, I wonder if they’re going to find a way to play together some day.”
“Wildest off-season rumour I chased: that NBA teams who shared arenas with NHL clubs wanted their hockey partners to move out for this season because of concerns COVID was more catchable in lower humidity.”
Sean McIndoe (The Athletic): “If we do get something approaching a normal trade deadline, Getzlaf could make for an attractive target for some team that wants a mix of experience, jam, scoring and name value.”
“Here’s what I was told just a week ago by a well placed source, the Rangers have too many highly rated prospects and all are not going to play here. The expectation is if they don’t make a move at this deadline, the Rangers will be aggressive in the offseason.”
The Florida Panthers have announced they'll be allowing "a limited capacity of up to 25%" for their home games this season, subject to change (in either direction). Various health and safety protocols will be in place for fans entering the arena.
“There were whispers around the league that Bruins GM Don Sweeney was taking calls on Rask in the offseason.”
Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL): Top prospect for the 2022 NHL Draft, Matthew Savoie has left his AJHL club and will be joining the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints for the upcoming season.
Just like Kass protects his boys, you can protect yourself with this sweet mask! Click the pic and get yours today!This is how Pavel used to tell you who was #1 back in the day! Click the pic and grab a shirt or a mask!
Later on today, the 2021 World Juniors in Edmonton, AB, are going to kick off. So, I apologize for not getting this post out earlier! I’m near certain all of the big names that you should watch out for have been covered. I’m talking about the likes of Kirby Dach (pre-injury), Cole Caufield, Alexander Holtz, Rodion Amirov, Anton Lundell, Martin Chromiak, Marco Rossi, or Edmonton Oilers prospects Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg.
So for this post, I want to introduce to you some players that might not get much ice time or put up a lot of points, but should, in theory, stand out in their limited appearances. Some of these players are eligible for the 2021 NHL draft and some won’t be drafted until 2022, but I’m very certain at some point you’re going to hear their names getting talked about.
If you’d like a more in-depth preview to the tournament this year as well as some fantastic profiles for the upcoming draft, please check out the $5 guide that Dan Stewart’s Draft Pro team has put together.
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) December 24, 2020
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*2021 Draft Eligible **2022 Draft Eligible
#24 Oskar Olausson (SWE)* – LW/RW – 6’2″ 181lbs – I recently watched some game video of Olausson and came away very impressed. He’s very fast and strong. His quickness off the start is suprisingly good for a kid his size. He injects himself into as many plays as possible on both sides of the puck and he’s a responsible two-way winger. The zip on his shot is stunningly good and I just look at him and see future NHL power winger. Even if he doesn’t develop into a pure goal-scorer, his work ethic and ability in the muck will allow him to contribute in other ways.
“Olausson is not quite as physical as his older Swedish counterpart (Filip Forsberg). But there are other aspects of their game that mirror each other. Both have great shots and skating, are brilliant at effecting zone entries. The two would also both rather fire the puck than defer to a team-mate. They both shield the puck exceptionally well on the cycle and are dangerous on the rush, with hands and confidence. The two also share the ability to find space in danger areas. They also both play the game at a high-tempo, and can be effective penalty-killers. Forsberg is a slightly more natural play-maker though.” (source)
#6 Semyon Chistyakov (RUS) – D – 5’11” 180lbs – I was really impressed with Chistyakov last year. He’s not a big guy but he stirs the drink for his teams. He’s offensively gifted but he’s also fearless and will take on all comers no matter the size. I dig his leadership abilities as being one of the older players on Team Russia. He really is a little Russian tank and I feel like this kind of player could really dominate a tournament like this.
“He is willing to play a physical game. His low centre of gravity and his strength allows him to compete on the boards and in front of the net despite his lack of height. Chistyakov maintains good gap control and keeps his opponent in front of him. Forwards attacking his side of the ice need to keep their head up as he looks to land a big hit. He also is well positioned and uses his stick to break up passing plays. Once turnovers are created, Chistyakov starts the transition game quickly with a good breakout pass.” (source)
#10 Matthew Beniers (USA)* – 6’1″ 174lbs – Beniers is the kind of player that inserts himself into every aspect of the game during each shift. It’s impossible not to notice him because he’s everywhere trying to make a difference, be that offensively or defensively. He demands the puck coming out of his own zone as he’s quite good at controlled zone entries. He so smart too, and because of that we’ll probably see him playing in every scenario for Team USA as well. He’s a fantastic two-way talent that some are projecting to be better than LA Kings first rounder Alex Turcotte.
“Matthew displays high end hockey sense and instincts that allows him to be in the right place on the ice consistently. He is not a possession player as much as he is a quick strike player. He makes quick decisions with the puck due to his hockey sense and ability to think the game at another level”. [2019 Black Book]
#5 Stanislav Svozil (CZE)* – D – 6’1″ 172lbs – The first I’d heard of Svozil was when I saw a tweet announcing he’d won the rookie of the year award in the Czech pro league as a 16yr old. I thought to myself, “You’ve got to be pretty good to do that at that age.” Then later one I saw he was drafted in the CHL import draft to Regina, the same team as wonderkid Connor Bedard. If Svozil is as good as the report below, players like Bedard (when they get to the WHL) and Jan Mysak will thrive having a defender who can get them the puck. Svozil has already had a couple of highlights in the preliminary games for the Czech team.
“Svozil isn’t a big kid at 6-foot-0 and 172 pounds but he’s strong enough to fend for himself and doesn’t lose the puck on his stick often. He knows how to put pucks in the net and he’s responsible in his own zone” – (source)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1WzQ7Bjy84
#18 Juraj Slafkovsky (SVK)** – RW – 6’4″ 220lbs – Look, this guy is 16yrs old and already 6’4″ and 220lbs… What in Sam’s Hell do they feed hockey players in Slovakia? I mean is this guy a relative of Zdeno Chara or what? All joking aside, Slafkovsky is slated to play alongside Martin Chromiak on his side’s top line and he is an elite goal-scorer. The release on this guys shot… It’s outstanding. The last time we saw a double underager with this kind of size dominate the World Juniors was Jesse Puljujarvi, no? And he ended up winning the tournament MVP eventually…
“Capable of creating offense with slick hands in traffic, he has a soft touch on the puck, as well as great vision and offensive instincts. He plays a mature game with the puck and he is always aware of his passing options. He has a knack for taking away time and space and creating turnovers. He has a quick release on his wrist shot which makes him a threat from further out. But he can also be straight forward and drive to the net when needed. He has soft hands and can stickhandle in small spaces with ease.” (source)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_YkJ7FowhM
#8 Simon Knak (SUI)* – RW – 6’1″ 194lbs – Knak is a player you’ll appreciate for his tireless work rate and honest game. The Swiss don’t have a lot going for them at this year’s tournament but Knak will get his fair share of attention for being a very good disruptor in addition to most likely being his team’s generator of offense. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not some elite grinder, there’s high-end skill to go with that outstanding two-way game.
“He works to get inside positioning on the puck and rushes up & down the ice to stay ahead of the play. He helped break many opposing rushes by supporting his defencemen with backpressure. In the offensive zone, he worked the walls and the front of the net. Overall, Knak looked like a highly engaged player”. -EliteProspects 2020 NHL Draft Guide
#33 Brad Lambert (FIN)** – C – 5’11” 172lbs – Lambert is a direct rival to Shane Wright’s designation as best NHL prospect for the 2022 NHL draft. To say that he’s electrifying couldn’t be more of an understatement. He’s just so fast, strong, and smooth with the puck. I wonder if he could turn out to be a Sidney Crosby-lite kind of player with those kind of attributes?
“He’s like watching a Nathan MacKinnon clone: Lambert is a dynamic two-way forward with incredible top-end speed, and it’s rare that someone manages to take the puck off him during a rush”. – Steven Ellis (SI.com)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s76Z5m4p5i8
#2 Braden Schneider (CAN) – D – 6’2″ 210lbs – Team Canada doesn’t have a defenceman on their team that they can count on 100% to be a shutdown specialist. They’ve got offensive juggernauts like Jamie Drysdale and Bowen Byram to go with a plethora of high-end two-way d-men such as Just Barron, Thomas Harley, Kaedan Korczak ,and Jordan Spence. Kaiden Guhle would be the closest to Schneider, but I think by tournament’s end, the New York Rangers first-rounder in 2020 will have the pundits talking about how critical his presence was to Canada’s blueline. He’s the new Shea Weber for me.
“He is an absolute behemoth of a dude at this level, imposing his will with thunderous hits, overpowering one-hand pushes, and crosschecks. He’s composed and doesn’t over-do the physicality or take needless penalties; enters every hit with his stick leading and doesn’t hit unless he can’t break up the play otherwise.” -EliteProspects 2020 NHL Draft Guide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsgO62X_GkQ
Enjoy the tournament and have a wonderful holiday season!
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Recently, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler was on the Lowdown with Lowetide (TSN1260) talking about the upcoming World Juniors in Edmonton, but he also took the time to talk about a few of the Edmonton Oilers’ prospects like Tyler Benson, Carter Savoie, Dylan Holloway, and Phillip Broberg.
Click the pic and find the NHL94 player from your team!
On Dylan Holloway
Dylan’s a special player in that he’s a bit of a throwback. He’s not like a lot of these other kids. Canada has brought a roster of talent that is built primarily around skill. We all know that Canada has typically built around roles at this tournament. In this year’s, they went a little bit of the other direction. I think it’s the right direction to go and ‘Let’s just go with the best players available and let’s figure out the rest later”. Holloway kind of fits into that group at the low end of the skill totem pole, if you will.
He’s always going to be one of those players who just fits. He can penalty kill, he’s arguably the fastest player on the team, him and Alex Newhook will play on the same line, I would argue that they are the two fastest players on the team along with maybe Peyton Krebs. So they’re going to play with a lot of speed on that line. He’s more physical than the other forwards and he just brings them something a little bit more different.
He’s going to be able to play that sort of North/South game on the wing and he’s going to finish all of his checks and be pesky. He’s got the skills to finish his plays and get open for his linemates and ultimately score goals as a shooter too.
He’s a modern pro player and often times I don’t think that those modern pro players are great fits for this tournament because they become such a track meet and sometimes they lack that sort of finesse junior skill that these kids have that really pops but Holloway just makes a ton of sense for me.
I think Dylan’s going to be a big big part of this team.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’m very excited about this player. I see him as a sort of Charlie Coyle-type in that he truly can play the game any way you want him to and he’s able to play across the board on forward. He’s such a versatile player and that is going to come in extremely handy for the Oilers in about three years when he’s ready to make the jump to the Oilers from the Condors.
The way I see it, he’ll only get two years at Wisconsin, then one in Bakersfield, and by year three, he’ll be playing on Edmonton’s third line. Could he be part of the new “Kid Line” with someone like Carter Savoie and Raphael Lavoie?
On Phillip Broberg
He’s going to play a HUGE role for that defense (Sweden’s) this year. He’s one of those kids who fits into that top-four when you look at their defence. Heading into the tournament this year you expected Victor Soderstrom, Phillip Broberg, Tobias Bjornfot, and Albert Johansson to be the four and that’s how it’s shaped up more or less.
Victor Soderstrom will I suspect will be “the no.1 guy”, but if you’re looking for a no.2 guy between Broberg and Bjornfot, I think that Broberg has got a really good chance to play 20, 25 minutes-a-night, to be on both special teams units; likely the 2nd PP but maybe the top PK and then his skating and physicality, his athleticism and his ability to play a transition game should really benefit them (Sweden).
I’ve never been super fond of Broberg’s game in the offensive zone. I think there’s a little bit of sloppyness to it. In terms of that track meet I previously talked about, he’s perfectly built for that. He’ll be a big transition defender for them.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he had a big tournament and he’s one of those four or five defenders that’s in the conversation for the 2D spot on the tournament all-star team.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve heard some lofty comparisons for Broberg in the past (Hedman), but to me, he looks like he’s developing into a player Oilers fans know well, Jeft Petry.
Phillip is big, rangy, can skate, is powerful, has an offensive element to his game, plays solid effective defence, and passes the puck very well. I’d be willing to be that if there was no pandemic this year, he’d be in Edmonton by now forcing one of the vets out, especially with Klefbom being hurt.
On Carter Savoie
He’s a player who attracted a lot of attention for good and bad throughout his draft year and a lot of it was, frankly, warranted. A lot of the sort of disappoinments with him, he was the kind of player who would drift in and out of games, he cheats up ice, he floats, he is a perimeter player in many cases when he doesn’t have the puck, and there are shifts when he goes out there and he’s having a negative impact on the defensive zone play of his team.
But then, in a split second in terms of raw talent and the ability to crack open a game, you could count on one hand the sort of players who could make those dashes like he can. I wouldn’t say he’s a terribly athletic kid, that’s another thing that was a knock on him. He’s always carried a bit more weight that most strenght and conditioning coaches would like out of a player who’s an elite athlete, but he can shoot the puck as well as anyone in that draft (2020) and his hands are up there. It was all kind of there for him. He was one of those kids, on skill, was just too talented to pass on once you were, say, out of the 2nd round.
BLH’s Thoughts: Remember Mike Comrie? Carter Savoie might be a better version of him.
Full disclosure, I was put off by the reports of his less-than-savory character. But as Lowetide and Wheeler talked about, when you base your judgment of a player solely on his faults, it can come back to bite you in the ass and in spades when it comes to players who are so talented at goal-scoring. Sure, he might take the odd shift off, but as we’re seeing, he has a Brett Hull-like ability to put the puck in the net.
Now, I’m not saying Carter Savoie is going to be a 500-goal scorer in the NHL, I’m just using the comparison to illustrate how good Savoie is at finding the twine with his shots. Also, nobody ever got far complaining about the Golden Brett’s two-way game.
So, and this applies to myself as well, maybe it would be more prudent to give players like Savoie or Noel Gunler and I’m suspecting Fabian Lysell in this year’s draft, as I’ve already heard whispers about him, a bit more leash and really focus on the things they do best.
On Tyler Benson
Benson is an interesting prospect because he was such a name growing up in the minor hockey circuit early on in his WHL career and he’s kind of gone the opposite direction of a player such as Savoie where he had all of the skill in the world and then the skill never took that next step and he had to remold his game.
He’s never going to be a high-end goal-scorer by any means, but I think if he can give you 10-15 goals and 25 assists and be a 40pt player at the NHL level, he still has some of the other tools now that he’s developed over the last couple of years to be able to round out that game and be a useful even strength player.
He’s just a player who’s, and it’s a cliche, but he’s become one of those “good at everything” players” who’s great at a small number of things.
He’s a fun player to watch. I really enjoy watching him, I think he’s smart and intelligent and kind of sneaky/crafty when he’s on the ice. He’s got really good playmaking instincts, but he’s not going to be the player that we probably thought he was going to be growing up many in the Western Canada hockey circle that he was going to be.
Now, the clock is ticking and can he make the jump from very good AHLer to decent NHLer?
BLH’s Thoughts: This is a pivotal season for Benson, in my opinion. In the two years prior to this one, his skating was the issue. Now, I haven’t watched his games in Europe, so I can’t comment on whether his boots have improved, but if they haven’t; I just cannot see how he makes it to the NHL when the league is transitioning to roster construction where three skill lines are the onus.
It’s true, he’s a very VERY smart hockey player, and in some cases that intelligence on the ice can supersede a player’s lack in other areas. We saw glimpses during his showcase in 2020 for the Oilers, but with the way Ken Holland has built his roster this year adding Ennis, Kahun, and keeping Nygard for another year, it doesn’t bode well for young Benson.
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Watch Connor McDavid help Team Canada end a five-year WJHC gold medal drought right here!
Evan Bouchard has been recalled from his loan in Sweden, now he’s got to make the Oilers or his future could be cloudy. Read about that here.
Read what TSN’s Craig Button had to say about Carter Savoie, Dylan Holloway, and the 20201 World Juniors right here!
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NHL Rumors and Speculation
Travis Yost (TSN): Reckons the Sens or Red Wings are in a good position to capitalize on an excellent opportunity to improve their depth on the wing for cheap if they were to trade for Jonathan Marchessault (VGK).
“A player like Marchessault would immediately move into the top six (and stay there for years) for both of these franchises, and, quite frankly, it’s not often a player of his caliber becomes available in this manner. This is where being opportunistic with cap space – and knowing how to mitigate the risks associated with putting all of your eggs in the prospect basket – can really put rebuilding organizations in a position of strength.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Yost takes things down an analytical route in that article, but aside from that, picking up a player as good as Jonathan Marchessault for pennies on the dollar when you’re a club chalked full of young impressionable hockey players is nothing but good GM-ing in my opinion.
Here’s the rub with Marchessault though. His production has declined at a rapid rate since he was picked up by the Golden Knights three seasons ago. In year one he had 75pts in 77 games, in year two that eroded to 59pts in 82 games, and in year three he couldn’t even breka the 50pt barrier in 66 games…
So, while on one side of the coin, you look at what he’s done in the past and the kind of player he is and you think that’s a really decent player there. But on the other side of it, there’s a rapidly diminishing asset and Vegas might be the real winner if they can move Marchessault.
Mark Masters (TSN): Jack Quinn having never been invited to a Hockey Canada event before is starting to find his feet this year but he’s not just satisfied with making the team.
BLH’s Thoughts: Quinn is going to surprise a lot of people who’ve never seen him play I think. He plays old-school Canadian hockey and he’s a sniper to boot. I hope the d-men on the other squads are ready for him because he’s going to be a handful for them.
Emily Sadler (Sportsnet): Says the Philadelphia Flyers have crept into the Mike Hoffman sweepstakes.
BLH’s Thoughts: Any reason why Philly would be serious players for Hoffman? They’ve only got a shade over $2M in cap space and the Flyers depth at forward is quite deep. I don’t see it personally.
Adam Gretz (NBC): Has made a list 25 players deep of the best second-year players for this upcoming 2020-21 NHL season. The top-ten are as follows,
1. Cale Makar (COL) 2. Quinn Hughes (VAN) 3. Adam Fox (NYR) 4. Ilya Samsonov (WAS) 5. Nick Suzuki (MTL) 6. Elvis Merzlikins (CBJ) 7. John Marino (PIT) 8. Dominik Kubalik (CHI) 9. Victor Olofsson (BUF) 10. Denis Gurianov (DAL)
For Oilers fans, Ethan Bear was #18 but no Kailer Yamamoto.
The Score: Check out this minimalist list of the remaining UFAs available sorted by position.
Pierre LeBrun (The Athletic): “What I see here is the (Florida) Panthers trying to deploy the kind of time and resources into goaltending that Major League Baseball teams do for pitching.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Speaking of diminishing talents. The Panthers have $10M Goalie Bob on their books for another six years and there’s no way he’s getting bought out or traded, so they’re doing the next best thing, attempting to find a way to get him back into form in addition to developing what the have coming up so that when it is time to transition to the next guy (Spencer Knight), it will be seamless.
I like this idea of having a specialized department for positions. It’s a step in the right directions for Florida and you can’t really argue with who they have running it in Roberto Luongo, his brother, the legendary Francois Allaire, and former NHL goalie Rob Tallas. That’s shit ton of knowledge to tap into.
