So we’re switching things up with our “Around the Oilogosphere” segment. Instead of posting individual snippets and linking to them, we’re going to basically make a “Oilers blogs of the day” sort of post. Not sure if it’ll be daily or weekly but we’ll work that out. We’ll probably include some links from other NHL news as well like trade rumors or major happenings.
Either way, you can enjoy coming to one place to get all your Oilers links (minus the athletic ones because they’re behind a pay wall) and information.
Enjoy!
Oilersnation.ca – Here’s some great news for the Edmonton Oilers — the NHL’s salary cap ceiling is set to rise from $75 million to somewhere between $78 and $82 million for the 2018-19 season.
Oilersnation.ca – Looking ahead to the future it seems likely Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse are the Oilers top-two left defencemen. So where does that leave Andrej Sekera and his $5.5 million cap hit?
Oilersnation.ca – This morning, the Oilers announced via their Twitter account that they have signed forward Ostap Safin to a three-year entry level contract.
Cult of Hockey – Remember the Patrick Maroon trade, when the Edmonton Oilers sent the Big Rig to join forces with Taylor Hall in Jersey for a pick and a prospect? As of today, that trade is effectively for two prospects, as the Oilers sent Jersey’s third-rounder in the 2019 draft to Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for college centre Cooper Marody.
The Hockey Writers – The pitchforks and torches are out. It’s easy to question the abilities of Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli. Fans are upset with his asset management and misappropriation of funds under the salary cap. Then there are the trades that have blown up in the Oilers’ face.
PODCASTS!!!
Oilers YYC Podcast – This week’s guest was Shane Sanders from The Hockey Writers
Oilers Live – “I’m Still Pissed At McLellan” – Paige Bednorz (Guest)
TRADE RUMORS!
Senators, Canucks, Rangers, Stamkos and the Maple Leafs – What kind of offer di the Toronto Maple Leafs make to Steven Stamkos last summer? Is Ryan Lindgren going pro? What are the Canucks and Sens doing about their NCAA prospects?
First off I want to say that I’m very proud of the Women’s Canadian Hockey team. That was such a good hockey game and they worked their asses off. That move the American shooter made to win it was outstanding though. Seriously…
A silver medal is nothing to scoff at no matter how much Lias Andersson tries to convince you it is. And those ladies join another elite hockey team to lose a very important hockey game at the Olympics in Asia via the shootout…
99 on the bench after losing to the Czechs in ’98 at Nagano, Japan.
On yesterday’s Oilers Now, Bob Stauffer asked John Shannon a very interesting question,
Do you think that it’s an automatic that there are two non-compliance options options (going to be in the new CBA), like there have been in past CBAs?
John Shannon’s reply was, “Guaranteed!”
I’m a little confused at this point as to which kind of compliance buyouts Stauffer and Shannon are talking about. I reckon Stauffer is talking about compliance buy outs NOT non-compliance ones though.
But just to relieve any confusion, let’s go over their definitions:
Non-Compliance Buyout – Consider this the “regular” buyout like the one Chiarelli used on Pouliot last summer. NHL teams can choose to buy out and terminate any player’s standard player contract. It isn’t quite as easy as just cutting a player though, because any bought-out player is still due a portion of the money owed to him; either one-third or two-thirds of his remaining salary (depending on the terms of the original deal) to be paid out over twice the remaining years of the terminated contract.
Compliance Buyout – This is the “Get Out of Jail Free” buyout. Basically, teams can buy out any contract on their roster and it won’t count against their cap but it has to be a contract signed.
Now with those compliance (or amnesty) buyouts, in the past, there’s been a 2-week window right after the Stanley Cup final’s conclusion where the teams could do their business if you will. Also, the last time compliance buyouts were eligible to be utilized, only players who’d signed contracts on or before Sept.12 of 2012 were given the O.K. to be bought out and this was for the 2013 and 2014 seasons…
2021/22 is when the current CBA expires and conversely, the new Seattle franchise is expected to join the league the season previous. I don’t think that it would be in the league’s best interest to expand, have the new team play a year and then have a lockout. Both the NHL (Sept.1) or the NHLPA (Sept.19) can opt out next summer (2019/20) but that’s unlikely according to Shannon.
I know when I write on these kinds of things I feel like I’ve glossed something over, so please feel free to let me know if I’ve gotten something wrong in my interpretation either in the comments below or on Twitter (@beerleagueheroe). Thx!
HOW MIGHT THIS AFFECT THE OILERS?
If I’m right in interpreting the verbiage from past compliance buyout windows, it might allow them to buy out Milan Lucic IF he’s still with the club. I was thinking possibly Sekera and/or Russell but their contracts will have expired by the time a window opens and there’s no guarantee they’d be on the club at that point either. I’m thinking one of them will be in Seattle and the other playing in a different city.
Milan Lucic is signed for $6M/yr until 2022/23
But there’s the fact that Lucic’s deal is so laden with signing bonuses, would it even be worth it to the team to buy out the last year of his deal?
So I guess the only players who might be considered in the compliance buyout category at this point in time are Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid… Unlikely targets but you never know… Maybe the Oilers go on to sign John Carlson to a mega-deal this summer and he shits the bed for them… Or maybe they trade for Erik Karlsson and he slows right the F down in those later years and becomes a liability. I guess at that point, a compliance buyout might be an option for the Oilers.
The other thing Edmonton could do is acquire heavy contracts in exchange for tasty draft picks or prospects and then buy them out in the windows. Similar to what the Vegas or Arizona have done in the past.
I mean other teams could simply do that themselves but what if there’s a team that is desperate to get a contract off of the books, in theory, my notion above would be applicable, no? I guess the follow up to that would be, how much cap room will the Oilers have by then and if they have enough cap room to make such a move, why is that?
What do you think? Have I got it all wrong here?
LATEST ON THE OILERS TRADE FRONT
In all seriousness….and it has been fun hanging….I was just texted the Oilers would consider taking on Bobby Ryan and Karlsson….Looking into it..
No, I don’t believe that the Oilers and Sens are talking Karlsson and Bobby Ryan because Eklund tweeted that out. But I do believe it’s worth a discussion IF the Sens would take Lucic back.
I love Lucic, I really do, and I want him to succeed but it’s really hard to watch him this year. He tries to engage in the games but nobody will fight him, nobody will even hit him. So the things that got him fired up in the past aren’t available anymore and he’s struggling to get out of this slump. He’s squeezing his stick way to tightly, he’s doing fly bys at the net when he should be stopping.
He looks tired.
I’d feel bad for him if he got dealt this early into his deal but it would be what it would be if it happened. I’d accept it and move on. I’d much rather him see success as part of the Oilers than another team obviously.
I don’t want to get into the details of a proper proposal but I do want to offer an idea to you…
What if the Oilers went ahead and traded for Karlsson and then traded him at the deadline next year? What kind of haul do you think the Oilers could get IF Doughty and OEL were on the market too? Not only that but what if the Oilers also won the lottery and drafted Dahlin?
Bob Stauffer also said yesterday that the Maple Leafs have watched the Oilers five of the last 7 games… They’re not looking at Maroon and I can only assume they’re not looking at Cammalleri…. Is there a Josh Leivo/Mark Letestu deal in the works with Toronto?
Toronto has a few names that jump out to me like RH’d Connor Carrick (RFA), plus their UFAs Bozak, Komarov, and Van Riemsdyk. Not to mention a whole whack of guys on their AHL team like Andreas Johnsson, Jeremy Bracco, Andreas Borgman, Calle Rosen, Calvin Pickard and Garrett Sparks.
I think the thing with Toronto is that they’ll want more bodies moving out than coming in but the potential for a huge deal is there.
Speaking of Letestu, Jim Matheson wrote recently that in addition to Toronto, Columbus and Pittsburgh are interested in his services.
if the Penguins can’t bring back Matt Cullen from Minnesota, Letestu is their second choice.
One would think that Letestu would be the first choice due to age but Cullen would definitely know the Pens system a lot better.
Matheson also says that the Oilers are looking for a first rounder in exchange for Maroon but I’m thinking they’ll have to settle for a 2nd or 3rd and a prospect. Jakub Zboril’s name has come up from Boston and so has Zach Senyshyn’s but earlier this week Joe Haggerty said he couldn’t see Senyshyn getting moved.
Stauffer talked a bit about Anders Bjork yesterday and the report on Bjork is that he can move out there. A very fast player who has 12pts in 30 games this season for the Bruins and 4pts in 9 games for their AHL affiliate.
Bjork has the speed, offensive smarts and playmaking ability to potentially be a strong player in the NHL. If all goes well, he could be a second-liner. – Dobber’s Prospects
I would say that Bjork is really the epitome of modern day NHL player. He can play both ways, relies heavily on his speed, and has “creative” hands. – Chowder and Champions
Click the image above and get your shirt today!Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shop to grab some sweet BLH merch.
Well, it’s getting to that time of the year I suppose where we should look at the Oilers’ who are most likely going to be playing for another team after the NHL’s trade deadline at the end of February.
But before we get into the list of 5, I want to give you the opportunity to listen to a podcast that I was on recently that is called Oilers Live! It’s hosted by a gentleman who lives just down the QE2 in Calgary and it’s new. I’m really honoured that he’s asked me to come on his show TWO TIMES now and am looking forward to working with him in the future as well!
Without further delay, THE LIST OF FIVE!
Patrick Maroon (LW) – No surprise here with Maroon being a UFA at the end of the season. Some team will definitely benefit from a player who has great size, good hands, and an old-school “don’t f*ck with me or my boys” hockey attitude.What makes Maroon one of the most coveted targets on the trade market is his salary. Without looking I believe the Oilers are paying him $1.5M and most of that will be paid up by the deadline, so he can fit under the cap of nearly any team.
Cost: 2nd rounder and prospect OR an AHL prospect that is near-NHL ready
Teams Possibly Interested: St.Louis, Nashville, Los Angeles
Mark Letestu (C/RW) – The 32-year-old right-handed centre was determined to be the best PP specialist from last season by analytics guru Rob Vollman in his latest version of the Hockey Abstract. “Test” can give any Stanley Cup contender the Swiss Army knife they’ll be looking for and every year these kinds of players swap teams, so there’s definitely a market for them.Cost: 3rd rounder or B-grade prospect
Teams Possibly Interested: Columbus, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Vegas
Anton Slepyshev (LW/RW) – Our enigmatic Russian who can’t seem to get on the same page as Todd McLellan may finally be on his way out and that’s a shame because there’s a player here. Slepy has speed, hands, a shot, is tenacious on the puck, and has not complained one time about his TOI or playing in the minors after coming over from the KHL.The other thing to add to this is that the Oilers seemingly need what Slepyshev brings to the table but McLellan would rather toss Drake Caggiula up with McDavid or move Auvitu to forward instead of giving Anton Slepyshev more time to work through his supposed weaknesses.
It really is too bad because he’s going to go to another team and get the opportunity to do what he does best along players that will allow him to look the best and the Oilers will be accused of squandering another talent away…
Cost: Minor league prospect or mid-round draft pick
Teams Possibly Interested: San Jose, Columbus, New Jersey, Ottawa, Calgary, Florida
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (C) – The Nuge is out injured at the moment but he was on a helluva tear before that. He effectively replaced Jordan Eberle’s scoring at the same time as playing the infinitely harder position of centre. Tell me the Oilers are missing Eberle’s goals… POPPYCOCK! lolRNH is shooting way higher than his career average (it’s nice someone is this year) and if there’s a year where Chiarelli has a chance to win a big deal, it’s this one. If there’s a year where he could finally grab that young right-handed PP destroyer, it’s this one.
Do I want to see it? I do not. I love the Nuge, McLellan loves the Nuge, Chiarelli loves the Nuge! This team is so much better when McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins are down the middle. Strong spine folks! It’s not a myth.
A positive about dealing Nuge over Hall and Eberle is that he’s a centre with two-way pedigree. Centres bring back more in trades and teams are willing to pay for them. I also believe that it’d be a tad easier to find a proper 3rd-line centre either through trade or from within.
Cost: Top-3 right-handed PP specialist on defense or a top-6 winger who scores plus a grade-A prospect or 1st rounder
Andrej Sekera (LD) – I know, he’s got one of those “clauses” that gives him the right to choose where he can be traded and he’s coming off of major knee surgery but with that said, we seen how he performed in last year’s playoffs and no doubt other teams saw it too. That will be of some value and the chance to play for a Stanley Cup will be of value to him as well.’Rej is a great guy to have on this young Oilers team but I think he’s the guy to go first in that D corps, clause or not. A team like the Tampa Bay Lightning who just saw Victor Hedman go down for 3-6 weeks could very well acquire Sekera and give him the necessary TOI so as not to push him too much. They’ve also got a great stable of prospects to buy him with.
The other reason I believe Sekera to be the man to go first is that the Oilers NEED to make room for a 2nd pairing right-handed dman (I’m looking at you Mike Green) and probably this is a trade that Chiarelli would have to sweeten to get done. Also, I don’t believe Kris Russell is the preferred sacrifice on the left side of the defence in Edmonton.
Teams Possibly Interested: Tampa Bay, Boston, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Vegas
Other Notable Trade Candidates: Eric Gryba, Drake Caggiula, Yohann Auvitu, Brandon Davidson, Zack Kassian, Mike Cammalleri
The Oilers can go about this trade deadline in one of two ways, they can either try to improve the squad for next year if things are looking on the up or they can wipe some of the slate clean and attempt to go mad this summer and hit free agency hard to correct this year’s mistakes!
What are your thoughts? Who are your top 5 trade candidates for the Oilers? Let us know in the comments below!
Welcome the Vegas Golden Knights to the NHL in style! Click the image above to pick up this sweet t-shirt!Pick up this sweet tee and let the whole world know how much you love hockey’s favorite cheat!Pick up the NEW “Beat His Ass” shirt right now!!Click the pic and grab a 16-bit McDavid tee!Grab a Grinning Finn tee by clicking on the pic!!
Now Cody Franson is off to Chicago on a professional tryout offer but who does that leave for the Oilers to pick up that would come in under say $2M? I’ve got a couple of ideas, some realistic and some not.
Dennis Wideman
What has Chiarelli been known to do with the Oilers and something Glen Sather used to do quite a bit? Pick up reclamation projects, build ’em back up, and then sell then on the high.
Dennis Wideman is a player Chiarelli has traded for and traded away before. He’s familiar with him, Wideman is a righty, he’d be an okay add for the PP due to his shot if that’s something you’re concerned about, and he’s a vet.
He seems to tick off the boxes plus my man on the inside has said they spoke earlier this summer.
PLUS
If the refs decide to screw the Oilers over, Wideman’s there to take care of that… Just kidding!
Cody Franson
If the Oilers were one of the last two teams in on Franson before he decided on Chicago, there’s the very real possibility that Edmonton could pull out the “Versteeg” card and watch how he does during Blackhawks training camp and if Franson impresses, sign him before he signs with Chicago.
Mark Stuart
I can’t see him being any better than Eric Gryba but the PK could use him.
A Trade
The verbiage on McKenzie’s tweet said “add” an experienced defenseman. So, we shouldn’t rule out a trade either. “Experienced” tells me that the candidate would probably be a player in the last year of his deal and closer to 30-35 years old than a younger RFA given the kids coming up.
Bob Stauffer has mentioned Mike Green on numerous occasions. He’ll be a UFA this summer, he’s a right shot, and he’s probably more of a PP specialist these days than 30 minutes a night defender but he’s got a hefty contract to be adding him for the entire season.
Toby Enstrom and Jason Garrison are also upcoming UFAs who could work the man-advantage. Although Enstrom is a lefty.
A long shot might be 40 year old Zdeno Chara. I’ve mentioned him before and of course I realize the relationship between Chiarelli and Sweeney is frosty at best but if Boston is out of it and/or Chara wants out to try and win another cup, the Oilers could afford his salary with ease. He’s not a like-for-like replacement for Sekera but the two played together at the World Cup last summer very well. Chara is a helluva mentor to the young dmen too.
What do you think? Should the Oilers even sign/trade for someone with the plethora of younger depth they have coming up through the minors? Not only that but there’s the new signings from earlier this summer like Auvitu or Stanton.
We’ve got a new video up over at our Beer League Heroes Youtube channel! Please head over and subscribe to our channel if you dig sweet hockey videos with kick-ass tunes!
*VERY POPULAR* Grab the new Kassian tribute t-shirt now! Click the image above!Pick up the NEW “Beat His Ass” shirt right now!!Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shop to grab some sweet BLH merch.
So by now, you’ve already heard the news. Andrej Sekera is outtie 5000 with a blown up knee and to add to that, the leverage the club had with regards to signing Kris Russell just went flaccid.
The rumors of Russell wanting $4M times four years that you’ve been hearing are the same that I’ve been passed along but you have to wonder now if Russell’s agent tries to push that a little bit.
Personally, I’d be happy to move on and let somebody else pay him that much. I was fine with a shade over $3M and that’s how much I still believe he’s worth. That said, the Oilers ARE in a tough spot here and Russell did perform very well in the playoffs.
That should dispell the myth that Russell is a poor playoff player, right? I mean the folks that were saying that, are they the same people that are on Eberle’s ass right now after his one bad playoff?
How this plays out now is that we’re almost back to the same position, trade market-wise, as last summer with Taylor Hall. What I mean by that is, the Oilers are over a barrel a bit and other GMs definitely know that won’t be doing them any favors unless Chiarelli overpays… Again.
The Oilers will need TWO defensemen in this offseason I believe. One that plays a similar style to Russell but is cheaper (Bob Stauffer has been talking about Mark Pysyk all week) and another who is a tad more offensive-minded, can skate well and move the puck.
Off the top of my head, I wonder if Jordan Oesterle has bulked up enough to fill in for Andrej Sekera? He can sure skate and move the puck well. If I remember correctly, his problem was that he wasn’t strong enough to take on the bigger forwards. This would be a very cost-effective solution to ‘Rej’s injury.
Of course, Darnell Nurse could fill in and Matthew Benning did a fine job during the playoffs floating throughout the three pairings but for me, I prefer a more veteran presence and I also believe that leaving Nurse and Benning on the 3rd pairing for at least one more season would be much better use of their talents.
The Mark Fayne supporters will wonder about him and the die has been cast with regards to Fayne’s role in the Oilers organization. Bob Stauffer even spoke briefly about him recently saying that he doesn’t believe the defenseman will be bought out. Probably that is so the Oilers aren’t on the hook for any of his salary when McDavid’s contract kicks in. Mark Fayne will serve as an excellent mentor for the young defenemen who’ll be lacing up the blades in Bakersfield next season.
So if Russell decides to sign elsewhere, who would I like to see replace him? It’s a good question, if I were GM, I’d pick up a veteran like Brian Campbell ($1.5M last year) or maybe a guy like Matt Hunwick ($1.2M last year) to fill in and then toss Sekera on the LTIR until the 2017/18 trade deadline and then activate him for the playoff run.
It’s a good question, if I were GM, I’d pick up a veteran like Brian Campbell ($1.5M last year) or maybe a guy like Matt Hunwick ($1.2M last year) to fill in and then toss Sekera on the LTIR until the 2017/18 trade deadline and then activate him for the playoff run.
Sekera isn’t going to be at 100% when he comes back. He’s going to need time and if the Oilers have more veteran depth then they can afford to bring Sekera back at an appropriate pace whilst blooding the younger players in with said vets.
Hunwick and Campbell are not elite dmen by any means but they are quite serviceable on the 2nd pairing and if the Oilers could get them under contract for around what they made last year, that would give Peter Chiarelli a bit of rope to make some improvements to his forwards. Specifically, he might be able to add a true faceoff man.
EBERLE OR NUGENT-HOPKINS
This is pretty simple right. I know Jason Gregor had it out with Ryan Rishaug on his show a couple of days ago and he wrote a post over at OilersNation about it. So he believes that Eberle has more value for the Oilers than RNH. I’m sorry but I think that’s complete horseshit.
I get that Eberle had a rough year and that happens but to say that he’s more valuable than RNH… Come on man!
Can Eberle switch to center? No.
Can RNH switch to wing? Yes.
Ok, argument over. Not really.
Peter Chiarelli talked about giving his coach players with versatility. You do not have that with Jordan Eberle but you do with Nugent-Hopkins.
One of Gregor’s main points is that consistent scoring is tough to do in the NHL today and he’s not wrong but we’ve never seen what RNH could do on the wing, have we? And that goes back to the versatility. Also, I can’t remember completely but didn’t Nuge play wing during the World Cup of Hockey and didn’t he end up amongst the leaders in scoring for that team?
Last year, Nugent-Hopkins had 18 goals and Eberle had 20. Now, who had the most responsibility during the season? Would it be fair to say that honor goes to #93? So with all of the things that he had to battle through to get those 18 goals, surely his skills would hold more value than Eberle’s, no?
I think a similar question came up last summer too after Taylor Hall was traded. Who will replace Hall’s production? Well, the TEAM did. Pat Maroon got 27 goals, Milan Lucic score 23 goals, Mark Letestu had 16.
So if you’re going into next season sans Jordan Eberle’s 20 goals, I have a feeling the combination of Jesse Puljujarvi, Tyler Pitlick, Anton Slepyshev, and Zack Kassian could reach over 40 goals and not break a sweat. All for around $7 or $8M…
The question of who holds more value for the Oilers isn’t really a question at all or should it be one at this point, both players will be playing on other teams come 2019 unless Chiarelli can work some serious magic and get some surprises from his prospects. The only reason we’re talking about it is because one of them has to move.
The Devils have a kid named Steve Santini that I really like. He’s a righty and he plays defense. Very stay-at-home type and good with the stick. Doesn’t mind the rough stuff and apparently has quite the shot. Wonder if Ray Shero would part with him to bring Eberle over?
If I had to choose, I’d say Nuge would bring you more in a trade but why would you handicap yourself like that? Yes, in two years when McDavid’s contract kicks in, RNH’s $6M won’t be affordable but why not keep him, move him to the wing when need be and have that insurance policy right there in-house in case of injury or slumps? Then next summer deal him and sign your “Nick Bonino”.
Plus, the free agent pool could be a tad deeper next summer,
Tyler Bozak
Lars Eller
Riley Nash
Kyle Brodziak
Colton Sceviour
Leo Komarov
Matt Stajan
Mikael Backlund
Just to name a few.
One player I believe the Oilers will go all-in on this summer is Martin Hanzal though and that could change things. He really needs to offload Pouliot and Fayne in my opinion. But faceoffs were a huge problem for the Oilers in the playoffs and Chiarelli said it himself, he didn’t like all the puck chasing the team did vs. Anaheim.
But say Edmonton goes into the 2017/18 season with these line combos, do you like it?
