Tag Archives: Alex Petrovic

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Oilers Trade Deadline Thoughts and Rumors Heading Into the Final Hours

Here we are, the 2019 NHL trade deadline is upon us and the Oilers could make some big moves but are unlikely to do so. Interim-GM Keith Gretzky’s mandate is to clear cap space NOT make a big splash and Bob Nicholson is overseeing everything like a David Hasselhoff protected beach. Nothing is getting by him.

From what I understand, the following players are being shopped heavily as you read this but according to my sources, the Oilers are likely to be quiet today.

  • Matt Benning
  • Kyle Brodziak
  • Alex Chiasson
  • Zack Kassian
  • Milan Lucic
  • Tobias Rieder
  • Alex Petrovic

Now, the Oilers can offer these players out but that doesn’t mean they’re going to get traded.

I also hear conflicting reports on Kris Russell. Some say there’s no way he’s being moved and I’ve been told there’d been exploratory conversations with Columbus. Probably a summer move if he’s to be traded.

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If Brodziak didn’t have another year on his deal, he’d have been traded already. There are some retirement rumors floating out there. Not sure how legit those are.

Chiasson had been connected more prominently to the San Jose Sharks but then they went ahead and traded for Gus Nyquist. That said, I was told there’s still a small possibility he ends up there. Lowetide mentioned two players yesterday in his blog, Rourke Chartier and Antti Suomela. Both older forwards playing in the AHL at the moment.

I’m still waiting for Vegas to drop the bomb here. They play things tight to the chest but Edmonton was just scouting the Golden Knights recently too… It’d be great for the team if they could bring in Brandon Pirri and Daniel Carr.

Edmonton has been scouting Boston and Chicago A LOT this past month and it would surprise me a little if the Oilers didn’t make a deal with at least one of these teams.

I think that since there are a few more shoes to drop (Wayne Simmonds and Mark Stone namely), players like Chiasson and Kassian are likely to be dealt later in the day or not at all. The Oilers have been really impressed with their work ethic and compete and the team does need bodies on the roster for their game tonight.

https://twitter.com/TheOilKnight/status/1099850072005566464

SPR makes a good point here. The Oilers couldn’t give Kassian away earlier in the year (when he asked out) and now there are quite a few teams knocking on Gretzky’s door asking for Kass. I’m not sure if you want to deal him straight across for Cehlarik mind you but that gets the conversation going, right? Maybe Cehlarik and Zach Senyshyn for Kassian and Matt Benning?

I’ve been told that the fleet-footed Senyshyn can be had as he’s fallen out of favor in Boston to some degree. His development has stalled a bit since joining their AHL affiliate in Providence. But Keith Gretzky was all over that pick when he selected him for the Bruins in 2015 (instead of Matt Barzal, Thomas Chabot, or Brock Boeser…).

Either way, keep a close eye on any transactions coming from the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. If a forward gets called up, that might mean that the Oilers have dealt a forward for picks and/or prospects.

Also, there are going to be a lot of players going on waivers today. We might see Edmonton dip their toes into that pool should the need arise.

JESSE PULJUJARVI

I found the timing of these rumors incredible when I discovered them. Jesse Puljujarvi is in NY getting a second opinion on his banged-up hip at the moment. I would think his agent, Markus Lehto, is there as well. Is it too convenient that these hot takes would get released now?

Lehto has clients in both Boston (Rask) and New York (Pionk)… #Weird

Interesting to read Jimmy Murphy say that the Oilers had been talking with Boston for a couple of months now. How long has Lehto wanted his client moved and has Jesse been dealing with this hip issue since then?

If you remember there was the game vs. Vancouver on January 16th where Puljujarvi only played 6 minutes and a bit of a huff was made over that. Was that the catalyst?

Would you have traded Puljujarvi for Ryan Donato? Or included him in a trade to move Lucic’s contract?

I think there’s a VERY outside chance he’s traded today but I wouldn’t bet on it. The best thing for him now is to get whatever procedure done that needs to be done, rehab, and come back stronger than ever next season either to win a spot on the Oilers or to increase his value enough to have him traded.

Just one last thing on this Puljujarvi mess. For those of you who think that the relationship is too far gone to repair, remember how rocky it got between Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets. Where there’s a will, there’s a way and you’d be surprised how fast minds change when winning is involved.

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I will say this though, if the Oilers don’t manage to make any more trades, I will view this effort as a fail on their part.

They’ve done well bringing in Gagner and Stolarz but they should absolutely be able to move some of the players I mentioned above to teams looking to add depth for their playoff runs.

Speaking of the runs, congratulations to Josh Currie on scoring his first NHL goal! Atta go to the net and make things happen bud!

So enjoy the day and don’t get too pissy if the Oilers don’t make any moves. Everyone is saying they’ll be quiet but I for one will be hoping they make one notable roster transaction. At least something to really make watching them worthwhile for another 20 games.

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Gagner, Sekera In. Talbot, Puljujarvi Out. Who’s Next?

What. A. Weekend! I was convinced that the Oilers were going to really make a go of it against Pittsburgh, Carolina, and the Islanders but man did they show me how wrong I really was. So much for getting rewarded for hard work eh? Those boys must be absolutely spent mentally. It’s come to the point to where they can’t even get a win when they do the right things…

Well, no need to dwell on that. The Oilers have started the sell-off with a couple of deals. One that I expected very much and the other that I’d heard rumblings of but didn’t actually think it would go down.

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Cam Talbot Gets His Trade

We talked about this WAY back in November, eh?

The recent rumor was that Brian Elliott was going to be the goalie coming back from Philadelphia, but it turned out that the management team lead by Keith Gretzky found a way to get 25-year-old Anthony Stolarz instead and cleared up almost $3.5M in cap space in the process.

Has anybody found out how Chuck Fletcher is going to deal with having Brian Elliott, Michael Neuvirth, Carter Hart, and Cam Talbot on the team?

I approve of this deal because I’m tired of seeing goals being scored on Edmonton in the first few shifts of a game or a period. Not a knock on Dadbot the person because he was a great citizen in Edmonton, but he didn’t want to be there anymore, the Oilers didn’t want him anymore. He’ll be a good mentor and backup for the Flyers.

Another plus to that deal was that Edmonton didn’t have to retain any salary. So good on them for that.

I don’t know a lot about Stolarz. When Bob Stauffer asked Gretzky for the scouting report on this kid, all he could say was that he was big and athletic… Alrighty then. Well, hopefully, the Oilers goalie coach doesn’t get him to leave the top corners open as he has with Koskinen and Talbot.

https://twitter.com/TheOilKnight/status/1096645322510557184

The Return of Samwise

I’d heard whispers of this maybe a month ago and I also remember it hypothetically being brought up on Oilers Now but I never thought it would actually go down. It was widely believed that Ryan Spooner would either be a buyout this summer or he’d be buried in the minors until his contract had expired, Mark Fayne-style.

My belief is that while Sam has still got the mind for the game and his hands are still there, his skating is not. I really think he was brought in for his leadership qualities and to gain a bit of favor with an irate fanbase. There’s nothing like bringing back a fan favorite!

It didn’t take long for him to get up to the 2nd line either eh? Jesse Puljujarvi couldn’t buy a second on the Oilers 2nd PP unit but Gagner gets thrust right into it with Colby Cave and Ty Rattie… If that doesn’t tell you how far Hitchcock’s coaching has fallen, I don’t know what does.

Were These Going to be Chiarelli’s Trades?

We were told that both of these deals were being negotiated for some time before they’d been finalized. So why all of a sudden is Keith Gretzky getting the push from the Oilers media to be the team’s next GM? All he did was say ok.

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/1096827711262212098

I think that for the sake of the Gretzky name, Keith should take his name out of the running for the job and stay behind the scenes. Just because he’s got his name on a trade that the Oilers have won and another that is a wash doesn’t mean he’s qualified for the position. And let’s say he does get hired and nothing changes with the performances of the team. You think the fans are angry now… Just wait until they start vandalizing the Gretzky statue outside the arena.

Kretzky can be a very effective member of this team’s management structure without having to be the general manager.

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Who’s Getting Traded Next?

Let’s take a look at some of the Oilers most likely to be moved between now and the deadline. Keeping in mind here that the plan is to clear as much cap space as possible.

  • Alex Petrovic – If not waivers, it sounds like the Pens are interested in him. I don’t think the Oilers will get much back in return. Hopefully, a draft pick but if I were gunning for a prospect, I really like a kid by the name of JS Dea. He’s a small skilled center that doesn’t look like there’s a future for him in Pittsburgh at 24 years old. I think he’d fit seamlessly onto Bakersfield’s roster.
  • Matt Benning – Toronto, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Dallas, and Arizona are teams I’ve heard with interest in the rugged defender. He’s on the IR right now though. Once again, I’m sure a draft pick is the aim but if I could get a player out of these teams, I’d try for these ones,
    • TOR – Calle Rosen (D) – offensive dman who’s lighting up the AHL for the Marlies.
    • MTL – Joni Ikonen (C) – Highly skilled pivot scoring in bunches in Finland. Could be the key to unlocking Puljujarvi?
    • ARI – Nick Cousins (C) – No offensive output but he’s a dedicated 3C who can win draws. Edmonton needs players who pride themselves on their defensive acumen.
    • DAL – Julius Honka (D) – High-risk dman who can move the puck. Has worn his welcome out in Dallas though.
  • Brandon Manning – If the Oilers can find a way to get rid of Ryan Spooner, I’ve got some faith they might be able to do the same with Manning. If not, a waivers he will go!

**EDIT: To make room for Andrej Sekera, Manning was put on waivers for the purpose of assignment. Finally taking some of the power out of Hitchcock’s hands…**

  • Zack Kassian – If there’s a guy who I’d like to see stay, it’s Zack. Maybe he’s changed his mind from before and he feels the same but one has to wonder why he’s getting such a push on McDavid’s line recently if it’s not for a showcasing. I guess Boston has been asking around with regards to his availability.
    • BOS – Edmonton has been watching a lot of Bruins games in the last couple of weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised if a bigger deal was being negotiated but Don Sweeney is all-in this year and they’re younger players are up for grabs. Forwards like Danton Heinen, Anton Blidh, and Peter Cehlarik are available. I know the Oilers have liked Heinen in the past and he’s a player with some zip/speed to his game that Edmonton could certainly use and he did put up nearly 50 points last season.
  • Alex Chiasson – Gretzky said he’d like to keep him because if they traded him the Oilers wouldn’t have enough NHL forwards on the team. So he’s basically given him an NMC unofficially but I think they’ll be getting calls on him. Chiasson is exactly the kind of player teams who plan to go deep into the playoffs acquire. He’s big, he works his ass off, and he’s effective along the boards. Plus he starts off really well with new teams in terms of goal-scoring. No word on who’s interested here. I think Nashville would be though with Austin Watson out. Possibly Montreal as they could use a bit of size on the flanks.
    • NSH – Give me Tolvanen! Just kidding! I don’t see a lot on their roster that would be feasible in terms of a player-for-player trade. So a mid-round draft pick would suffice
    • MTL – Charles Hudon (F) recently went through waivers. I’d have time for him.
  • Toby Rieder – Edmonton is having trouble giving this guy away but I feel like a team who’d like a player who can contribute on the PK might come calling for him on deadline day.

I could probably do the whole roster but I’m going to stop there. Can’t see Manning getting claimed and in my opinion, Kevin Gravel has earned himself a new contract. So that means Petrovic is probably the next shoe to drop folks!

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Details on Chiasson Contract Negotiations, Oilers Shopping Wingers, and How Sekera Will Fit Back In

Alrighty, let’s make this Edmonton Oilers rumor update a quicky so you can get back to your lunch! But first, the preface!

  • Oilers offered Alex Chiasson a 3-yr deal worth $1.5M per year, Chiasson’s camp countered with $2M per year and Edmonton hung up the phone… 

I wouldn’t give this guy $1.5M per year… What in the world makes anybody think that he’s going to replicate this again? As much as I like Chiasson’s performances, he’s cooled off severely since his hot start, just as he said he would when he was getting interviewed at the beginning of the year. He starts off hot with new teams and then goes cold. IMO, if he doesn’t want to sign for $1M on a one-year deal, thank him for his services and move on.

  • Andrej Sekera is most likely making his return to the Oilers roster by the weekend and Edmonton is going to have to make a couple of roster moves to do that. Word is that they’ll waive Brandon Manning and Alex Petrovic in hopes that at least one of them gets claimed. 

JE-SUS… What a mess these boys have to clean up here. Now, you might be wondering to yourself, “Didn’t you support those moves?”

I tried to find the positive in the moves. To my eye, Manning has been way superior to Petrovic so far and that’s not a great thing for Josh Marshall’s good buddy. But it might not matter if they both hit the waiver wire.

They said before that the Oilers were working as a committee to get things done. For example, Bob Stauffer talked about Hall and Eberle being traded and referred to those trades as “organizational trades”. We remember when Hitchcock came in, he said he was the one that had Puljujarvi recalled. Then, later on, he thanked “Keith especially” after the Petrovic/Manning trades. Oh and don’t forget Bob Nicholson saying that Chia wasn’t the only person working on the Koskinen contract… Now we’re being told that it was all Chiarelli…

https://twitter.com/TheOilKnight/status/1095060072793665536

Well, I can pretty much tell you with a high degree of certainty that Chiarelli wasn’t working alone but that he made a lot of the final decisions on player acquisitions/contracts that a lot of the other members of the management team didn’t agree with.

A lot of folks get pissy at the pro scouting department but from what I’ve gathered, Chiarelli didn’t have time for those that opposed him. Going as far as removing them from meetings. Word has it that Peter preferred the word of his brother Mike when it came to scouting.

  • The Oilers are still taking calls on Cam Talbot.

Oh boy… I hope they get something good for this guy but I’m not hopeful on it. He’ll play great one game and shite the next. He does have a clause in his deal that gives him the choice as to where he’s traded but since that Chicago game (and subsequent trade demand), I don’t think he’s going to make a fuss about it.

I wonder if Columbus might make sense should they find a way to move Sergei Bobrovsky. Personally, Philadelphia makes the most sense to me. Their need for a mentor for Carter Hart and a goalie that could be a short-term stop gap for a couple of seasons while Hart gets broken in just tells me there’s a fit there.

  • Rieder and Kassian are bring shopped HARD. 

Kassian has been playing quite well as of recent. Well enough to get back on the 1st line with McDavid and Draisaitl at least. Whereas Rieder STILL hasn’t scored a goal. If there’s a team out there that’ll take either of these boys off the Oilers’ hands without Edmonton retaining salary, GET. IT. DONE!

  • Oilers like Zuccarello

This would be a fine acquisition if there weren’t rumors of him wanted to sign back in NY this summer… If those rumors are indeed true, his price won’t be high, so Edmonton might pick him up after all. I wouldn’t bet your house on it though.

  • Brodziak could be moved out for a younger 4C

Yeah… Not so sure on this one. I don’t know any teams that would want to pick Brodziak up really. If he does move, it’ll be right on deadline day and that trade will be a fallback deal for some team that missed out on another one.

I think they should go with Jujhar Khaira as 4C. I watched the Leafs do it with Frederik Gauthier and he’s a worse player than JJ in my opinion.

So there you have it. The latest up to date info on the Oilers! Have a great day!

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Philly Looking at Oilers Defenseman, Oilers Looking at Philly Coach?

I do not like bye weeks and I’m happy the one for the Oilers this season is coming to a close. That said, the rumors haven’t slowed down any. We’re a shade over three weeks from this year’s and the Oilers have some work to do if they’re to put meaning to Bob Nicholson’s and Connor McDavid’s words.

Today’s post is going to have a Philadelphia theme to it.

PHILLY LOOKING AT OILERS DEFENSEMAN

I know there was a Cam Talbot to Philly for Robert Hagg plus draft pick rumor going around recently and I had asked my source of there was any truth to that. I was told no but the Flyers were looking at Alex Petrovic.

Not surprising. Petrovic has been Adam Pardy 2.0 this year. If the Oilers could rid themselves of that albatross of a contract in return for a draft pick, that would be glorious.

I had a strong feeling that Brandon Manning would outplay Petrovic and he has.

Before the end of the NHL’s trade deadline this season, I really feel like the Flyers and Oilers are going to make a deal here. Too much talk surrounding both teams.

Konecny’s name has come up from time to time and he’d be the perfect winger for the Oilers. He goes to the dirty areas, he shoots like there’s no tomorrow, and he’s got speed to burn. He’d cost though and I have no idea why the Flyers would bother giving up on a young player like him.

(FYI: That video above was re-posted by myself after the original creator expressed his concern only be that some folks get a few laughs.)

OILERS LOOKING AT PHILLY ASSISTANT COACH

Bob Stauffer put out one of his famous foreshadowing tweets yesterday regarding Philadelphia’s assistant coach Kris Knoblauch and I wanted to see if there were any legs behind it. Indeed there are. I’m going to show you Reid Wilkins’ quote-tweet though because I think there’s a valid question to be asked.

Knoblauch has had success where ever he’s gone for the most part. The WHL, the OHL, and the CIAU (as a player with the Univ. of Alberta). He’s young, he knows how to get a message across to young players, and I think there’s a bright future ahead for him but I have to ask you a couple of questions about him,

  • He’s got a pretty close relationship with Edmonton being as he played quite a bit of hockey there. Would there be any risk in that?
  • Edmonton went the bright young coaching candidate before and it ended in massive failure… THE SWARM!
  • He coached Connor McDavid in junior but failed to win the OHL championship with him. The championship part isn’t as important here but how would McDavid’s teammates feel about him getting LeBron-like powers within the club?

I’m torn on the idea of bringing in a rookie head coach but that could be offset by having outstanding veteran assistant coaches alongside him. I think the difference between him and Eakins is pretty stark too. Knoblauch looks to be a bit better at handling young minds. That said, Philly hasn’t exactly hit it out of the park since he joined them. What are your thoughts?

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THE RANT 2018-19 VERSION

If you listened to Lowetide’s show recently, he has a roundtable that included, himself, Young Yaremchuk, Bruce McCurdy the Wise, T-Hup (Tyler Hupka), and Mr. Wonderful, Woodguy.

I thought the idea was good but it was not a lot of original ideas being passed around and a lot of echoing of each participant’s opinions. I would’ve enjoyed hearing some more contrarian point-of-views on the show like that of Sean Patrick Ryan’s (@theoilknight) or Heather Marginet’s. I think Hupka tried his best mind you.

But as much as Darcy McLeod (aka Woodguy) can be a massive blowhard on Twitter or in Lowetide’s forums, he went on a glorious rant that I’d like to reproduce for you. I found it here.

“Three things concern me…

1 – People who sell t-shirts online.
2 – People who work hard to sell said t-shirts online and lack credibility.
3 – Emojis… Very concerning. 

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I’m just kidding (kind of). Here’s the actual rant:

“Two things concerned me…

First off, he was talking about character and leadership to help Connor. This organization has been trying to import character and leadership since Tambellini was GM and it never ends well. Y’know, the current V.P. of Hockey Operations brought in Ference for leadership. The current V.P. of Hockey Operations offered David Clarkson $37 million dollars over seven years to bring in character and leadership. The worst boat anchor contract on the Oilers was brought in for character and leadership. The Oilers spent far too much time, far too much cap chasing character and leadership and next to none of it chasing talent. They need to stop that.

Second thing that concerned about the Nicholson presser is that Nicholson mentioned the new GM has to fit into the Oilers culture.

To me, it’s the Oilers culture that’s the problem…it’s the Oilers culture to push players to return too early from injury; it’s Oilers culture to fast track prospects and put them in the NHL too soon; it’s Oilers culture to give away actual NHL players to make room for their shiny new players which results in half the team playing above their established NHL ability; it’s Oilers culture to blame the best players for the failure of management, to scapegoat anyone but themselves; it’s Oilers culture that lead to the conclusion that they have to add below-average NHL players with long-term NHL contracts to this organization; it’s Oilers culture for 13 years that when their best player leaves the ice they don’t even get 45 percent of the goals; it’s Oilers culture that has lead to them missing the playoffs 12 of the last 13 years.

They don’t need a GM to fit into Oilers culture. They need a GM and a Hockey President–and I think they should go with two different people–to turn the Oilers into a professional hockey organization dedicated to drafting and developing quality hockey players and making all decisions about players based on how they can help the team on the ice and flush their notions of character and leadership and their own culture down the toilet, because it’s that focus that has lead them to the 23rd place team in the NHL in the fourth year of Connor McDavids contract”

Just as a joke, every time WG says “Oilers Culture” in that rant, replace it with “analytics”…

As I’ve said in previous blogs, I think Katz might clean house this summer because if he doesn’t, nothing will change. The fanbase will still cling on to the OBC conspiracy and there will always be some scapegoat. Which is good for the players, mind you. They’ll get let off the hook as another coach is hired and fired or another GM is hired and fired…

It might be time to say goodbye to the Old Boys Club once and for all here. Just in time to hire Bill Guerin as GM and Doug Weight as head coach!!!

I’ll say this though, you won’t find me criticizing Darryl Katz. He’s the guy that came in a rescued this team. Had he not stumped up to buy them, Oilers fans might be heading down the QE2 to cheer for Calgary in their new arena. He’s not made the most of his time as owner of the team but I’d rather have the team we have today than no team at all.

Enjoy the game! GO OILERS GO! Hope the boys can be streak-busters this afternoon!

Elias Pettersson’s nickname is “Alien”. Here’s a shirt to celebrate it! Click the image to buy one!
A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!
Armchair GM, Edmonton Oil Drops, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Edmonton Oil Drops: Cap Situation Revealed, Chiarelli Isn’t Done Yet by @edmoildrops

Another late post, I’m very sorry! She’s been a busy week for writing and other family responsibilities. This one is really good and I’m really happy to be able to offer it to you.

It was hard not to expect a deal of some kind today after the painful effort put forth against SJ. Chiarelli has acquired defenceman Alex Petrovic from Florida for Chris Wideman and a conditional 3rd round pick. The acquisition cost was certainly right. Wideman cost Edmonton a conditional low round pick, and the Oilers had a 3rd round pick to spare in the upcoming draft. Petrovic will provide some stability to a back-end that sorely needs it because of some key injuries. The Oilers have allowed at least 4 goals in each of the last 5 games, which were all losses.

With rumours of Chiarelli’s demise running rampant, a deal had to made.

Here is a look at the current cap situation after the Petrovic deal, and the call-up of Kailer Yamamoto:

Click here to read more of this BEAUTY of a blog post by Ryab (@edmoildrops)

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