Tag Archives: Benoit Pouliot

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Has It Come to This Point With The Oilers?

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This is long form today folks since it’s been quite a while since I wrote anything.

I’ve noticed since the season ended that there’s been an increasing number of not anti-Chiarelli sentiments from the media in Edmonton but definitely a lack of support for the Oilers GM and it’s getting on my nerves a bit.

Case in point. Yesterday on Oilers Now, Bob Stauffer said something to the effect after reading a text message to the show that he wouldn’t have made some of the moves that Chiarelli has made. He also pointed out that some of the moves he would’ve made probably would’ve have worked out. But what’s with the shot at the Oilers GM there? He’s usually a bit more calculated when he takes shots at the team. And look, that’s his opinion too, which is fine.

Then on Lowetide, LT and Young Tyler were discussing the Kunitz quote where through his agent he said that he wouldn’t play for a Western Canadian team because they wouldn’t win anything with their defence.

The quote isn’t the problem I have, it’s that somehow LT and Yaremchuk came to the conclusion that he was talking about the Oilers? WTF? Seriously now!

First off, that Kunitz tweet is shite because look at the Blackhawks defense and tell me that it’s better than any one of the defenses playing in Western Canada.

Secondly, can you explain to me how that Canucks defense is SO much better than the Oilers? After that, can you move on to tell me about the Flames defense that magically got them to the playoffs with the league’s highest goal scoring defender? When you’re done that, can you tell me how that defense got better in the off-season?

Thirdly, let’s count and see how many Oilers dmen played 75 games or more last season…

TWO!!

Two f*cking Oilers dmen played more than 75 games. Jesus Christ this is so infuriating. Darnell Nurse and Kris Russell were the healthiest Oilers last year. A couple of 2nd pairing dmen were charged with carrying the defense while others were out…

You really have to be down on the Oilers to come to the conclusion that Kunitz was talking about them. There’s enough negativity surrounding the team as it is, Would it be too much to ask if ONE of the personalities covering the team injecting some positivity into their point-of-view?

A couple of other things I’ve noticed is there’s a real reluctance to give Peter Chiarelli any credit when something good has been accomplished. Instead, the Oilers organization as a whole is praised… Babyback bullsh*t if you ask me. Get over your ego and do the right thing. You’d really hate it if you accomplished something significant in your life and your circle of friends got the credit.

That being said, Peter Chiarelli is basically the Oilers organization as it stands at the moment, so maybe I shouldn’t be getting so riled about that. Toe-mato, To-mahto…

Jon Willis: Why Does He Hate the Oilers? 

That’s me being facetious but sometimes you have to wonder with his hot taeks.

For example, Willis was the first guest on Lowetide’s show yesterday morning and I will give him credit, he said he didn’t think that the Oilers were a slam dunk for the team that Kunitz was talking about and he referenced Vancouver and Calgary as other possibilities.

That’s enough credit for Willis though.

“I’m not as worried about the defense as I’m worried about the wingers”

Here we go!

Willis followed that gem up with a comment about him “knowing” last year’s problem was the defense but went on to contradict himself by letting us know that there were “just terrible circumstances” on that defense?

“There’s a really really really strong chance they’re going to be significantly better on D without doing anything”

Uh. Okay Jon. I agree with you there but let’s go back for a second,  do you really know that last year’s problem was the defense or was it the overall health of said defense and how can a team prevent that sort of problem? Do you know any teams that could withstand losing three top-4 defenseman for major portions of their seasons and still be successful?

Pssst. It might’ve been special teams/coaching/goaltending. Pick one but don’t tell me that the portion of the roster most hit hard by the injury bug was the problem you knew about.

“I look at the wings and I don’t know if there’s been a solution offered there yet.”

Over the seasons we’ve been inundated with this message that now teams have to find “value contracts”. Well, what’s more value than what the Oilers have? Is Jon not convinced with what Nugent-Hopkins offered us in the latter portion of the season last year? Was Ty Rattie’s sample size too small? Maybe Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi don’t pass the analytics sniff test.

Speaking of the Oilers bluechip RWers, how about this quote from Willis?

You don’t like the idea of throwing Puljujarvi or Yamamoto in the top-9? What in Sam’s hell do you smoke out there man? I get that neither of them is Panarin or Pacioretty but they are on those ever-important value contracts that you hold so dearly. Not only that but Puljujarvi has now played over two years in a top-9 role as a teenager and Yamamoto’s time in the NHL was also in a top-6 role.

These analytics guys don’t get it sometimes.

Obviously Moto and Pulju are in the position they’re in because the Oilers depleted their depth wing in order to pursue depth in goal, on defense, and through the middle with their centers. But I’ll tell you this much, I’d much rather have the depth down the middle. The spine is what makes a team strong.

More specific to Puljujarvi, I think a lot of people forget that he could’ve been playing junior hockey up until now had he been born in North America. He’s not had the easiest of transitions since being drafted by the Oilers and it doesn’t help when we’ve got guys like Stauffer and other folks working for the papers or radio saying that if he doesn’t get any traction this year, he might be getting it with another organization. BRUTAL! HE JUST TURNED 20!

But according to Reid Wilkins, Kailer Yamamoto has the higher long-term upside because he has “that spark”… Give me a break! It’s because Kailer is extroverted and quite confident whereas Jesse is introverted (until you get to know him according to a certain follower of mine) and the guys covering the team can’t get their sweet quote or soundbite from him.

One has to wonder if Puljujarvi was playing with McDavid or Draisaitl for the entire season would he have had higher numbers at the end of the year? Or if the coach had decided to implement him into the Oilers amazing power play, would his stats have jumped up?

Mark my words, if the Oilers give up on Puljujarvi, they’ll regret it more than any other trade that’s been made in the Chiarelli era. He’s a possession beast!

This is a list of players who Puljujarvi has had a better CF% and FF% than in their first two seasons:

  • Taylor Hall
  • Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
  • Patrik Laine
  • Steven Stamkos
  • Nathan Mackinnon
  • Johnny Gaudreau
  • Jack Eichel

I could go on but I’ll stop. Of course, we should never use just two metrics to judge a player by but being a possession-positive player from the age of 18 is incredibly difficult and I don’t think the people who have the biggest platforms are saying enough good things about Puljujarvi.

Pulju is going to break out this season. Pro-rated, last year he was on pace for 15 goals. I expect him to exceed that in 2018/19.

POULIOT AND HEMSKY

So Willis’ grand idea is that the if he were GM he’d like to see the Oilers go out and add 19 point man Benoit Pouliot and an ex-Oiler who has never been healthy as depth on the wings…

I’ve said many times before I’d prefer an older team to a younger one but this is ridiculous. Are you kidding me? Does Willis go on Lowetide’s show to intentionally troll the fanbase? He’s almost as bad as Button.

Actually, Lowetide made an astute suggestion in that the Oilers could wait until the new crop of players going to arbitration get sorted out there or perhaps the newly waiver eligible players come available in order to address their depth on the wings.

I’d say their bank account is looking scant though and Nurse is still without a contract. Willis did talk about a team looking to screw over the Oilers by offer-sheeting him to a 7 year deal with $7M a year as if that would be a bad thing for Edmonton… I love Darnell but I’m fairly certain he’ll never be a $7M/yr player…

FRANK SERAVALLI

Last week and into the beginning of this week I was on a tear with regards to what Frank Seravalli had said and I disrespected some people along the way. It wasn’t right and I apologized to those people in private and publicly on Twitter. But I want to get some things clear here.

I was actually more perturbed than upset that Seravalli had described the Lucic/Oilers relationship as “almost untenable”. I could’ve left it where it was but he had to go and take a shot at someone I respect and question his legitimacy as a journalist and it set me off.

The fact that Seravalli attacked Staples and not his story is probably all you need to know about the legitimacy of Seravalli’s claims. Anybody else wondering why none of the other media outlets IN THE ENTIRE WORLD haven’t picked up on this “untenable” situation?

I’m not. Because Frank is either lying or he’s exaggerating for effect. Max Pacioretty and the Habs are in an untenable situation. Erik Karlsson and the Senators are in an untenable situation. If things were that dire, we would be hearing about it.

I’m still waiting for an explanation as to how things escalated from “it’s a longshot” to “they have to trade him right now”. How it’s been explained to all of us is that what Frank says is fact. Take it to the bank! But I can’t get on that train because ever since he started covering the Lucic trade story he’s been all over the place.

  • June 7th on LT’s show Seravalli said that the “They’re (Oilers) pushing or at least doing their due diligence to try and move on from Milan Lucic if they can”
  • Then on June 14th Seravalli said, “I’d say it’s a bit of a longshot”, when asked about Lucic being traded.
  • On July 5th Seravalli said this, “The Oilers situation with Lucic is untenable and he must be moved, whatever it takes”

Then you’ve got him saying one week that the Oilers should go out and add some speed to the wings and after they grab one of the most sought-after speedsters on the market he says that the team is no better.

You know what? Frank, you’re no better.

I hope that he can get his shit together because he’s a young guy and for the most part I really like him. It’s just this latest take on the Oilers that has had me pissed off.

Re: Lucic, even Friedman doesn’t really know what’s going on but he’s not claiming to know something but refusing to reveal what that is.

Have you met the “I’ve heard things about Lucic” posse?

Last point on this subject I’ll leave to one of my favorite followers on Twitter.

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NHL

Drai Pou and What Are The Oilers To Do?

First off, I want to send out my thoughts and condolences to the Semenko Family. The Oilers family lost a dear member yesterday.  Dave Semenko was a like a character out of a storybook for me. I was too young to ever watch him play for the Oilers but that didn’t stop me from learning about the legend that was Dave Semenko. Luckily with the old Boys on the Bus movies from when I was a bit older and

Dave Semenko was a like a character out of a storybook for me. I was too young to ever watch him play for the Oilers but that didn’t stop me from learning about the legend that he was. Luckily with the old Boys on the Bus movies from when I was a bit older, the help of books like “The Glory Days” by Douglas Hunter, “Champions” by Kevin Lowe and Stan Fischler, “The Battle of Alberta” by Mark Spector, or “The Game of Our Lives” by Peter Gzowski, and nowadays Youtube, I’ve learned on my own why he didn’t have to fight as much as people think he did.

“Do you wanna go for a canoe ride?” I learnt this was Dave’s line on the ice if things got out of hand from Bruce McCurdy on yesterday’s Lowetide show. I think it is such an original line if there ever was one!

Through those aforementioned mediums, we also learned what a big heart he had and how great of a person he really was. We’ll miss Dave Semenko not only for his cinder block-like fists but also his knack for the net 😉

Once an Oiler, Always an Oiler. RIP Dave!

The Edmonton Oilers have finally had enough of trying to peddle Benoit Pouliot to the rest of the NHL and bought him out eh? Well, I’ll tell ya, I’m indifferent on the subject. Actually, no I’m not. I’m a fan of the buyout and had Griffin Reinhart not been selected in the expansion draft, I think we’d be sitting here today talking about Mark Fayne as the one being bought out.

The Oilers have a few more wingers that are primed to be given golden opportunities to become full-time Oilers. I’m talking Drake Caggiula, Anton Slepyshev, Jesse Puljujarvi, and JJ Khaira. Paying Benoit Pouliot $1.4M for the next two seasons not to play for the Oilers, not to get offensive zone penalties at the worst times, not to get injured, and not to disappear completely during games is fine by me.

Now, in defense of Pouliot, there were times when he looked really great out there but then again there were times when Hall, Schultz, and Eberle looked great too…

What will the Oilers do with the extra money they’ve acrued from trading Eberle and buying out Pouiot?

Well, they could go out and sign a Patrick Marleau to a 3 year deal but I believe Ryan Rishaug when he says the Oilers are probably done tinkering with the roster and as much as I’d like to see Chiarelli add some more bodies this summer and make things interesting, he’s going to give the steering wheel over to the young guns and let them steer the ship.

If that faulters, or even if it doesn’t, expect Edmonton to be active at the trade deadline with these possible players hitting the market due to their upcoming UFA status:

  • Mike Green
  • Zdeno Chara
  • Cam Fowler
  • Patric Hornqvist
  • Cam Atkinson
  • Rick Nash
  • The Sedins
  • Evander Kane
  • James Neal
  • JVR
  • Lars Eller
  • Mikael Backlund
  • John Tavares
  • Kyle Turris
  • Bryan Little
  • Mikko Koivu
  • Paul Stastny
  • Carey Price

That’s a bloody crazy list of players going UFA next summer potentially! Edmonton would definitely be in on any one of those players should they be made available at the trade deadline next March but for the time being Peter Chiarelli will be keeping the powder Drai…

Can we talk about Leon Draisaitl for a moment?

Hey, remember that time when a prominent wood salesman in Edmonton compared Leon Draisaitl to Blair MacDonald?

Done laughing? Too much time with the lid open on the wood stain will make you say silly things kids. Be forewarned.

So this Draisaitl contract is going to be an issue one way or another, right? Be it too much money, not enough term, an offer-sheet hovering over negotiations or a holdout, the folks have Leon Draisaitl pointed in a very dangerous direction but if you remember the Jonathan Drouin saga; you’ll know that they are not afraid to go that route.

Leon will get paid because that’s what his agency does but I feel like it’s going to tarnish his image amongst the fans a bit until they win a Cup.

I feel like Connor should take a million or two less to help the team but that’s just me. His contract will usher in a new era in the NHL where the elite players get paid what their worth and the middlemen get less, with the bottom 6ers getting even less.

Is it his job to take less? Of course not and he’s worth every penny he earns. It is Peter Chiarelli’s job to build the team around him and make it as successful as possible but neither person needs to make it harder on the other to do their jobs. In fact, if they worked together, I’m sure the club would benefit greatly because of it.

Back to Leon, should he take less? I guess it depends on what is being offered and what they are asking? I have to believe that they are smart enough not to ask for more than the $ 7.5M that Tarasenko in STL is making. Leon is right in there with the Scheifeles, the Monahans, and the Gaudreaus of the NHL in terms of production, that’s for sure.

What I do think will happen is that he very well may take a 5-year deal or possibly something shorter. A contract akin to what the media has been discussing when referencing Crosby’s 2nd deal. I think Stamkos, Kane, and Toews also went that route as well.

So perhaps the Oilers don’t have to buy any free agent years but their team control of the player will be a shorter frame of time which will work both ways, right? Draisaitl can work his ass off to become the Malkin to McDavid’s Crosby and the Oilers will have to stump up big or he may digress into Nick Bjugstad too and the Oilers will be free of that huge contract scare.

You might be the type of fan that says the team is better off without Leon if he’s going to be demanding/willing to sign that kind of deal that handcuffs the team. To that I would question your ability to judge how good Leon Draisaitl is.

Was he the beneficiary of a lot of points from Connor? Sure. But who was leading the Oilers in the 2nd round of the playoffs against a Ducks team that looked unstoppable and refs that looked unbeatable. It wasn’t Connor, Eberle, Lucic, Klefbom, Nuge or Maroon. It was Leon and when the games get tough and the Oilers need a clutch player, Draisaitl is that man. The guy won the Memorial Cup MVP on the losing team!

If Leon does sign an offer sheet, the Oilers have to match it and deal with the consquences after and that might mean Patrick Maroon gets dealt as well as RNH or Darnell Nurse. It’ll probably mean that the Oilers Cup runs will have to wait until the salary cap is in the $90M range but if PIT can have Malkin and Crosby run their show for so long, Edmonton could do it with 97 and 29.

I do have one question about Leon’s relationships on the team though if he does sign such a deal. How would Patrick Maroon feel if he knew he was out the day Draisaitl signed his contract and now they have to play the year out together. What about a couple young guys like Nurse and Benning, who will be looking to re-up with the Oilers next summer and won’t get as much as they’d like because their raises are going to Leon’s bank account?

I just wonder how each player’s contract affects the locker room dynamic.

I just hope that each party does the right thing. This I do know though, players/agents that have mucked around with management come contract time in Edmonton never stayed there long… So I’m intersted in seeing how Chiarelli handles this very unique situation given his downfall in Boston came at the hands of poor salary cap management.

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Armchair GM, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

How Much is Pou Worth? By Andrew Taylor (@DrewTaylor1978)

Whether we are ready to admit it or not, the Edmonton Oilers officially have a cap crunch on their horizon.  With pending raises for Leon Draisaitl this coming season and Connor McDavid next season, they will be struggling to find a way to keep their core players, surround them with the proper support players, and compete for the Stanley Cup every year.

No matter what happens this season (Draisaitl contract, 7th defenseman signing, Puljujarvi making the team? etc.), with McDavid’s likely $10 million plus cap hit next year things are going to start to get really tight.  It’s going to be imperative that contracts present high value to the Oilers for them to be able to succeed.

This is where Benoit Pouliot comes in.  Whether you think he’s a terrible player (some do) or not, it’s hard to argue that he’s currently overpaid.  He’s still definitely a serviceable NHL player, and if he had only 1 year left I don’t think it would be an issue; you could play him out this year and let him move on.  I also think if he was a smaller cap hit, say $2.5 million, we wouldn’t be talking about him; unfortunately, that isn’t the case.  However, his 2 years remaining at $4 million which will overlap McDavid’s first year of his contract is where the issue lies.

Buying Pouliot out would reduce the amount of damage his cap hit would do per year but would extend the “dead” cap space further into McDavid’s contract.  As much as that can be a tool if required it’s best to stay away from it, as well as burying guys in the minors since you give up cap space to guys not even dressing on your team.

So, aside from packaging him up with draft picks to try to convince another team to take our problem (I am absolutely opposed to the idea of the Oilers throwing their draft picks away, especially carelessly), is there a way to move him out now so that the impact isn’t felt beyond this upcoming season (i.e. buying him out, which while it would give some cap relief now would cause the “dead” cap space to live on)?  It turns out if Chiarelli can be creative, there is.

The Oilers can trade their future headache to another team for that team’s current headache.  If they could take on a larger cap hit for 1 year, while clearing their obligations to Pouliot for the 2018-19 season, I think they would at the very least consider that.  I am going to assume that after Draisaitl’s contract they have in the neighbourhood of $3.5 million in cap space remaining, so if you hold on to a million and a half for trade deadline acquisitions (the Oilers should regularly be bolstering their line-ups for the next 10-15 years) they’ll have about $2 million they could absorb this season.

So, are there any players in the league who would fit the following:

  • Predominantly a left wing;
  • 1 year left on their current contract;
  • Have fallen out of favour with their team;
  • Have a cap hit higher than $5 million (it’d have to be a significant enough impact this year to make it worth it for the other team, and at $5 million they would receive $1 million in cap space, the difference between that players contract and Benoit Pouliot’s $4 million);
  • Have a cap hit no higher than $6 million (the $2 million the Oilers could absorb)?

Here is a list of players that might fit into that category (minus the “fallen out of favour with their team part”):

  1. Evander Kane – Buffalo Sabres – Left Wing – $5.25 Million Cap Hit for 1 year – Actual Salary of $6 Million for 1 year

  1. James Neal – Vegas Golden Knights – Left Wing – $5 Million Cap Hit for 1 year – Actual Salary of $5 Million for 1 year

That’s it!

I don’t see Vegas giving up James Neal 1 week after drafting him in their expansion draft, at least not in a deal like this.  In my opinion, they have every intention of having James Neal on their top line in October unless someone knocks their socks off.  They’re not trading him for Benoit Pouliot, and if they wanted Pouliot they would’ve drafted him in the expansion draft since he was available.

So, we take Evander Kane for a year and Buffalo gets $1.25 million in cap space?  I’m not sure that the reputed locker room issues that Evander Kane presents are bad enough to warrant that on the Sabres’ end, and likely he has grown out of them for the most part.  Also, Buffalo is not in a cap crunch so I’m not sure they’re desperate for the room.  If that deal was to go down I would imagine it would be Edmonton throwing in some assets to entice Buffalo to consummate the deal, and as discussed before, this is a strategy the Oilers need to avoid.

I think Benoit Pouliot is here for two more years.  He just doesn’t fit any other teams’ needs they won’t be able to fulfill through free agency for a better deal.  He is, after all, struggling to be successful here as a third line winger while getting paid as a second line winger (on the expensive side at that).  Maybe he comes in this season motivated to turn things around and increases his value enough to garner some interest, but at this point, he should probably be seen as a “learning opportunity”.

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

The Oilers Roster Speculation Begins

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Which players will be in the Oilers starting lineup come opening night in the 2017/18 season?

This is a topic that hasn’t just started now. It started at the beginning of the playoffs but we sure have a more pronounced idea of that now that the Oilers are on the outside looking in. It didn’t even take 24 hours for the insiders to start getting questions regarding Edmonton’s summer moves.

In this post, I’d just like to concentrate on the trade possibilities and touch on the free agents on a future blog.

The following quotes come from Chris Nichols’ at the Fan Rag Sports Network

DARREN DREGER

“What’s going to happen though – Chiarelli is going to have to get very creative. I think that Jordan Eberle has probably played his last game with the Edmonton Oilers. And some wonder if they might have to make a real significant move, and maybe move both Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins. I doubt it. I think that they still very much value Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and I could see why in watching that team closely.

“But that money has got to come from somewhere. And when you’re paying out the big, big, big contracts that they’re going to have to pay out to Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle’s money isn’t going to cover both.”

ELLIOTTE FRIEDMAN

“It’s been tough for Eberle. It’s just not working for him,” said a sympathetic Elliotte Friedman during a Monday morning radio hit on Calgary’s Sportsnet 960. “I’m sure at the end of the season, depending on what happens, they’re going to renew efforts to see if they can move him.

You can find more quotes at Chris Nichols’ website here.

I think you can add a few more names to that list like Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne for example.

With the Oilers having to re-sign Leon Draisaitl, Zack Kassian, Griffin Reinhart, and whole slew of AHL prospects, the room under the cap is going to be limited. Players will need to move and here’s the rub with some of the Oilers’ more prominent tradeable players:

RNH – The brass really like this kid and unlike other players on the team who underachieved this season, we saw Nugent-Hopkins elevate his gameplay in the playoffs. Now, he didn’t get score any goals but if I recall correctly, he was one of the leaders in shots on goal and if that’s not enough for you, then let’s recall the excellent defensive job he did in the San Jose series.

One of the things that happens in hockey is injuries and if you think back to when the Penguins won their cup with Crosby, Malkin, and Staal down the middle; that was a great advantage for them. They could stack one line and still be safe down the middle or if one of Crosby or Malkin needed a rest or was injured, Staal could step in. I, for one, think they made a massive mistake trading him but I digress.

This is important for the Oilers going forward. They need depth down the middle if just for the very reasons I mentioned in the example above. Yes, he’s $6M a year and that is a price that may just have him dealt anyhow but if he’s going up against 3rd line talent AND he picks up his game offensively, that’s gold! At least for one more season.

Possible Destinations: Montreal, Colorado, Vancouver, New Jersey, Brooklyn

Eberle – After Todd McLellan demoted him to the 4th line in the playoffs, sporadically, we saw a throwback Ebs. The one that dazzled us with his stickhandling and button hooks in the corners from earlier in his career but he also tossed in a dusting of grit.

That’s the one thing I noticed about Eberle in the playoffs. He took his pound of flesh when he was first in on the forecheck and I liked that. As for the regular season, yes, his overall game did get better. He sacrificed his offense for team defense and it sort of backfired.

Now, we’re all going to be pissed that this player who was supposed to be scoring didn’t and that is quite fair but he’s not going to bring the team a major asset back. His contract is simply too high and other GMs are going to look at the season he just had and take that as an indictment of his future performance. And for those reasons, he may just start the 2017 season an Edmonton Oiler.

Possible Destinations: Carolina, Vegas, Brooklyn, Vancouver, St.Louis, New Jersey

BENOIT POULIOT – This is another player whose effort I enjoyed during the playoffs. And it got better as the games wore on. I reckon he’d have done much better on the 1st or 2nd line beside McDavid or Draisaitl because his puck retrieval and possession was really standing out.

A lot of folks think we’ll see Pouliot taken in the expansion draft and it doesn’t take a lot of convincing to get behind that idea. My wish is for the Oilers to move him without eating salary and then re-acquiring him for the playoff run. He wouldn’t cost Edmonton anything and the expectations would be low.

Possible Destinations: Anaheim, Florida, Arizona, Toronto

MARK FAYNE – Buyout candidate no.1 in the NHL right now. 

Remember when it was between him or Griffin Reinhart in game 6 of the 2nd round? It makes me laugh when I think about how giddy the analytics types must’ve been getting with that news. How heartbroken they must’ve been when Reinhart stepped on the ice…

No team in their right mind will trade for Mark Fayne. In fact, the Oilers would probably have to pay a team to take him off of their hands. His contract is around $3.5M, so yeah, maybe Vegas takes a shot at him or Colorado but, to me at least, he gets the ol’ buyout and spends next season’s preseason on PTOs.

Possible Destination: Parts unknown… I think there’s a KHL team in Siberia, right? If he’s smart he goes to the team in Beijing and rakes in the cash! 

Other notable trade assets for the Oilers include Pat Maroon, Griffin Reinhart, Darnell Nurse, and Laurent Brossoit.

Toss the Oilers’ 1st round pick in there too. We know that Chiarelli would like to get a 2nd rounder and if there’s a team that doesn’t have a 1st round pick this season or has one but is farther down the line than the Oilers (22nd overall), there could be a deal made to acquire a player AND a 2nd rounder or move down and grab a late 1st round and 2nd round.

If I were to set a list of player targets for the Oilers to shoot for that might be available, I’d start here:

  • Matt Duchene (C/W) – Faceoff and possession #s are great. Speed Demon.
  • Travis Hamonic (RHD) – Adam Larsson, the Canadian version?
  • Matt Dumba (RHD) – Has a Cannon of a shot and is a hard-hitting mini-Scott Stevens.
  • Tyler Bozak (C) – Veteran leadership. Great on the faceoff.
  • Justin Faulk (RHD) – Offensive dman who can contribute on the PP.

Here’s some advice going into the offseason, don’t get attached to a player. Peter Chiarelli gives zero f*cks about moving a player the fans like and age isn’t an issue either. Just ask Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. So if the Oilers move a player like Pat Maroon, Zack Kassian, or Darnell Nurse, you’ve been forewarned.

Who would you like to see traded this summer from the Oilers? Let us know in the comments below!

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Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Trading Pou and Being An Oilers Fan in Mexico

What’s up Oilers fans and hockey fans alike? Here we are at the unofficial second half of the season, and wouldn’t you know it. Our boys in blue and orange are tied for first place in the Pacific with San Jose. Yeah, you read that correctly! Even if they played .500 hockey the rest of the way they’d still most likely make it into the second season. That’s right dude’s and dudette’s, the “playoffs”! It’s been a long time coming since we could all talk about post season dreams at the start of February. And these aren’t just dreams right now really, at this point the Oilers are almost a lock for the playoffs. Exciting times for sure! It’ll be something for Edmonton to just make it into the show, that in itself would leave a lot of the fans satisfied.

But me personally, I’m saying why not this year? Right? Why not make a hard run at it NOW? Look at the way McDavid, Talbot, and Draisaitl are playing for example. These guys are fired up beyond all hell! Then you throw in the strong play from the veterans, and the surprisingly great rookie, Matt Benning. This is a fantastic team, honestly. The Oilers have made more than just a great turnaround, I believe that they’ve put themselves into the conversation about “who is a threat to come out of the Western Conference this year”. Why not try and capitalize on a strong campaign from their young core group that is playing so well? The trade deadline is coming up and the Oilers should definitely be considered “buyers” going into it. I actually hope that they are one of the more aggressive players leading up to the deadline, without disrupting the balance of the team or throwing away the future. Which we all know can happen when trades don’t work out, like we’ve all seen with some deadline deals in the past. We need to hit “home runs” during the McDavid era. Easier said than done.

The Oilers definitely have some holes to fill, for example, nobody in the Oilers organization is 100% sure if Laurent Brossoit is ready to step in as the backup to Cam Talbot yet. He showed very well against the Flames, and those who know me, know that I am a HUGE Brossoit supporter. But I do believe that Edmonton will still be shopping for a veteran backup ‘tender (hopefully with playoff experience and on the last year of their contract) to shore up their goalie situation. But I do hope that Laurent gets some more games in before the deadline, and has some excellent performances to give the Oilers brass something to consider when thinking about the backup position. If they are to make a trade for a goalie (which seems inevitable at this point), Ondrej Pavelec is a name that comes to mind. They probably wouldn’t even need to give up much to acquire him as he’s fallen completely out of favor in Winnipeg. But I think that he’d be a massive upgrade over “The Monster”, and allow the inexperienced Brossoit to go back down to Bakersfield for more seasoning and to play top minutes. Talbot needs someone to take some weight off his shoulders down the stretch, the last thing that the Oilers need is for Cam to burn out or get injured. Look at last night’s game against Minny for example.

The other hole that the Oilers would most like to fill, is their third-line center position. Right now Drake Caggiula is filling that role, and although he hasn’t done a bad job, he is still a rookie. But given his versatility, he can easily slide over to the wing if they trade for a center. This is one area that I believe the Oilers will push hard to pursue a deal leading up to the trade deadline. Martin Hanzal’s name is out there, but the asking price is ridiculous (top prospect + 1st round pick + another draft pick for a UFA this summer). But if Edmonton somehow landed him without screwing up the long term, I think that would put them over the top in center depth and set them up for a nice playoff run.

Obviously, they still haven’t found a right-handed shot, power play specialist defenceman. But so far, their “defense by committee” approach has worked out quite well for them. Which gives me reason to believe that they won’t be over-actively pursuing the power-play genius RHD that we all dream of. But I’m sure that they’ll still be kicking tires on what’s available.

*cough Shattenkirk cough*

Another position of need is the right wing and a name that has been floating around as a potential solution is Edmonton native, Jarome Iginla. Yes, that Jarome Iginla. The one many of us know so well from the well renowned “Battles of Alberta”. Only he was on the “other team”. Would that not be the ultimate troll on the Flames, if they were to land Iggy? HAHAHA! I’m not against the idea even though Iginla isn’t really having a great year (but neither is his entire team), and I think he’d fill out the Oilers third line quite nicely. I highly doubt that it would cost a whole lot to pry him away from Colorado either, maybe David Musil or a 3rd/4th round draft pick? I’m sure the asking price isn’t too high, as they wouldn’t be trading for former perennial 30+ goal scorer Jarome Iginla. But an incredibly valuable pickup nonetheless.

BUT!!!! Let me bring up another possible solution to finding a right winger, why not try and bring Jaromir Jagr to Edmonton? Right? How awesome would it be to see Jagr and McDavid line up together on the PP? Historical, that’s how awesome! But in all seriousness, why not Jagr? As of right now, Florida is five points out of the last playoff spot, and the race in the East is insanely tight. Florida is a mess this year, and that’s a huge understatement. They’re in shambles from top to bottom right now, even though their play has picked up a bit as of late. But as it stands right now, they are most likely missing the playoffs this season. Everybody knows that Florida’s front office is almost entirely analytics-driven now, especially since the infamous Gallant firing. So that’s why I have this possible proposal to Florida: Since “analytics darling” Benoit Pouliot has fallen out of favor in Edmonton, and Florida LOVES their advanced stats. Why not ship him off to Florida for Jagr? Florida gets Pouliot (who is signed for 3 more years after this) for long-term help, and the Oilers get Jagr to bulk up for a LONG playoff run. Or heck, how’s this for a deal: the Oilers trade Pouliot, Davidson, and a 3rd round pick for Jagr, and Mark Pysyk (RHD). That way we clear out a LHD in exchange for a RHD to help balance out our left-heavy defence core. Now I am totally unsure what implications that this would have on the upcoming expansion draft, but I wouldn’t expect it to really be any different than the current concerns. So what do you guys think, could a Pouliot for Jagr deal work? And do you think that Florida would even consider moving the fabulous follicles of Jag’s? Or would Jaromir even consider going to the Oilers?

Either way, if that happened it would be a union of my two favourite things in hockey, the Oilers and Jagr. Seriously, I love that dude.

BEING AN OILERS FAN IN MEXICO

The last thing that I want to touch upon is something amazing in my personal opinion. As most of my readers know already, Kosmic Burrito is ALL ABOUT psychedelic quests, funky trips, and all around fun times. Well around two weeks ago, my wife, three sons, and I went on a trip down to Mexico. We also went with my wife’s parents and mine as well, and we all stayed at Sandos Caracol in Playa del Carmen. We were right along the Mayan Riviera, and the resort is actually an “Eco-Resort” which is built into the jungle. There were animals running around the resort like crazy, it was so gnarly. My whole entire family had a blast, especially my boys. They’ll remember this trip for a long time, that’s for sure. I highly recommend the resort to anyone, especially those with children. There was so much for the kids to do.

Unfortunately, we were down there when the nightclub shooting’s happened, but we were nowhere near the shooting’s when they took place. It was a somber moment when we were notified about what happened from friends at home in Canada. My heart certainly goes out to those families whose lives have been affected by this tragic event.

But something else also happened when I was down there, I literally met at least 20+ fellow Oilers fans during the week down in Mexico. It was insane, “we” were everywhere! Everywhere! Now, remember, I live 45 minutes outside of downtown Toronto. So clearly I’m surrounded by Leafs fans, it goes with the territory. It was amazing! The only other time’s that I’ve been around so many other Oilers fans, is when they come into town to play Toronto. Also, those who know me, know that I have a massive amount of Oilers gear in my wardrobe. For example, I have about 15 Oilers hats and 10 t-shirts alone (don’t get me started on jerseys). So the Oil go, wherever I go. I was getting compliments on my hats, shirts, etc. People would shout “OILERS!” and raise their first in the air, while whizzing by on those golf carts that they zip you resort’s on. It was freaking cool! Lots of Oiler love. Apparently, I missed a pretty cool moment that my boys caught, we were sitting/standing in the resort lobby having a few drinks and talking. I was wearing one of those jersey shirts, that had “McDavid 97” on the back, and a little dude around 6 or 7 was walking by and wearing the same shirt as me (don’t worry, we were wearing our own age appropriate version haha). I guess he stopped right beside me and pointed up at my shirt to show his father. Too bad I missed the little dude, but awesome pick buddy, wherever you are haha! But my favourite Oilers fan interaction of the week was when another guy who was also wearing an Oilers hat, walked up to me and said,

“It’s ok now, it’s safe to wear our Oilers gear proudly again!”

As always ladies and gentlemen, you can chat, debate, and follow me on Twitter or Instagram @kosmicburrito

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