Tag Archives: Bob Stauffer

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

Edmonton Oilers: 2019 Free Agency Day 1 Review + Bob Stauffer’s Jesse Puljujarvi Trade Scenarios

Did you get the feeling that after the Oilers hired Ken Holland to be their new GM that he’d be making big moves right away? Were there any indications that he might try to build up the roster bit by bit instead of blowing it up? Was there anything that he said that lead you to believe that major changes were coming?

I didn’t think so. So why is it that so many people were disappointed yesterday? Holland did do what he said he was going to and that’s to add speed and depth to the bottom-6. So wouldn’t we want to give him some credit there? I’d say it’s looking pretty deep so far. Lots of competition and that’s what we want, right? We don’t want to be gifting AHLers jobs right at the onset of training camp anymore and Holland is doing a pretty decent job of preventing that.

Am I disappointed the Oilers couldn’t get their hands on Gus Nyquist? Sure. But I never really expected him to sign in Edmonton, so I’m pretty meh on it. Besides, there are lots of good free agents still out there and the longer they go without getting a contract, the less they’re more likely to sign for and that would be perfect for Edmonton. Look at this list,

  • Pat Maroon (More on him at the end)
  • Ryan Dzingel
  • Michael Ferland
  • Tomas Vanek
  • Marcus Johansson
  • Jason Pominville
  • Patrik Marleau
  • Joe Thornton
  • Justin Williams
  • Jake Gardiner
  • Derrick Brassard
  • Pontus Aberg
  • Nick Cousins
  • Niklas Kronwall
  • Ben Hutton

Tons of useful players still out there. So don’t fret that Edmonton didn’t make some blockbuster signing on day one of free agency and actually be happy they signed the players they did to short-term cheap deals because it sounds like push will be for the 2020 off-season to make some big moves. You should see the list of players that could be unrestricted…

  • Taylor Hall
  • Torey Krug
  • Tyson Barrie
  • Tyler Toffoli
  • Chris Kreider
  • Justin Faulk
  • Sami Vatanen
  • Robin Lehner
  • Brayden Schenn
  • Cody Eakin
  • Charlie Coyle
  • Jaro Halak
  • JG Pageau

Wow! If they make it there, next summer will be HUGE and you’ll really want the Oilers to have a lot of cap-room then.

But let’s talk about the players that Edmonton did sign.

THE NEW GUYS

Mike Smith is a player I did not like at all before yesterday but I’m going to love the shit out of him as an Oiler. “He’s the best puckhandling goalie the Oilers have ever had!” is how one source of mine described him. This is a player who is on the verge of retirement I reckon but he still has some magic left in him. He’ll be a great help to the Oilers locker room and even though he’s coming off his worst season ever, I will overlook that because we don’t judge on one season, right? He has a long stat sheet that’s full of above average numbers that I would prefer to take into consideration when judging the former NHL All-Star and Gold Medal-winning Olympian. For $2M, I’ll take him.

Markus Granlund was described to me by another source out of Vancouver as “someone who plays centre and wing – kills penalties – works hard. Good versatility.” Ken Holland praised him for how professional he is. Now, I’ll be frank here, he’s never stood out to me when the Oilers have played Granlund’s teams in Vancouver or Calgary but if the plan is to improve the PK, then this is a good add. I don’t need anything flashy out of him, but what I do want is a smart player here and someone who is an upgrade on Tobias Rieder.

The Finn averaged 2:22 on the kill for Vancouver last year, so he was a trusted member of the penalty killing crew and he also scored 19 goals spending most of his TOI with Brandon Sutter and Loui Eriksson a couple of seasons back. $1.3M per is a bit high for me, but what are we talking about here? A 3rd liner for under $1.5M is pretty decent in reality, especially if he scores in double digits.

Tomas Jurco used to be a pretty well thought of prospect in the Red Wings system when they had Martin Frk coming and Tomas Tatar. I guess things never really panned out for him as they moved him on to Chicago for a 3rd round pick in the 2017 draft that turned into another well-regarded prospect, Keith Petruzzelli.

Jurco, to me, is another Ty Rattie or Valentin Zykov. The tools are there but something is missing. He’s depth scoring but I’m not sure if he’ll even make it up past the 3rd line in Edmonton. He had a good playoff for Carolina’s farm team in Charlotte mind you, 18pts in 18 games. He’s there to provide competition and as I said above, to make sure the Oilers aren’t rushing teenagers and first-year pros onto an NHL roster.  He could turn out to be this year’s Alex Chiasson if all the stars aligned. 700k? sounds good to me whether he’s getting that in Edmonton or Bakersfield.

Gaetan Haas and Joakim Nygard I have no expectations for. They’ll be who they’ll be but we won’t know that until we see them at training camp and into the exhibition games. One thing I’ve heard folks complaining about online is how he wasn’t even the best player on his team let alone the league he played in and to that I say, it’s not always about the stats… Sometimes the skill set and fit for the team is more important. Also, look at where Melker Karlsson sat on his team’s scoring the year before San Jose brought him over. Edmonton just needs some players who will work their asses off, play smart, and maybe contribute on the scoreboard from time to time. You never know with these guys, right? I mean, we’re not talking about 21-year-old kids coming over. Both Haas and Nygard are closer to thirty than twenty-one years old.

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THE RE-SIGNINGS

Alex Chiasson is a player I’m glad the Oilers could re-sign. I like the term ($2.15M) and the length of the deal (two years). He’s kind of like an introverted Pat Maroon. He works his butt off, he sticks up for his teammates, he gets to the mucky areas, he stands in front of the goalie and actually screens him, plus he’s sneaky good at finding the open space for a scoring chance. He is streaky though, so fans have to come to grips with that, but he scored over 20 goals last season and Edmonton really needs as many 20 goal scorers as they can get.

Jujhar Khaira, I still don’t know what to figure about him. I reckon at $1.2M over the next two campaigns, he’ll be worth his pay. My friend Jeremy says JJ is working VERY hard this off-season to prove to the Oilers that he’s ready to take the next step and solidify his spot on the team. Now, be that as a left-winger or a centreman, that remains to be seen, but there are a couple of things I really enjoy about JJ’s game,

  • He’s tough as nails and already has a reputation league-wide as someone not to mess with. Cross-checking that one dman in the neck last season probably helped that a bit too.
  • He’s so powerful when he gets the puck. I really like watching him exit the D-zone with the puck.
  • He’s got pretty good hands for a man his size.
What’s interesting about these re-signings is that they’re completely moveable in the event that the Oilers are out of the playoff race again next season, they can move Chiasson and/or Khaira to a team that wants to “beef up” for their club for the playoffs.As we move deeper into the off-season, I think it would benefit Edmonton to bide their time and let the other teams blow up their cap-space. By the time training camp is ending, there’ll be some players who hit the waiver wire that might be of interest to the Oilers and it behooves them to have cap space available just in case a trade needs to be made or a player claimed.

Are the Oilers a better team today than they were yesterday? I’d say yes because they added some much-needed depth to their team and they didn’t sacrifice much to do it. Could they get better before game one of the 2019/20 season? Absolutely. I expect them to.

The fact remains though, the Oilers still need a player on their roster who can play in the top-6. I was told that they’re working on two deals, one that could bring in a forward and a defenseman and one that would bring in two forwards. So we’ll have to wait and see if that pans out and who it’ll entail.

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JESSE PULJUJARVI/MILAN LUCIC

Bob Stauffer had quite a bit to say on the topic of Looch and Pulju during his free agency coverage.

“I can see Milan Lucic being moved in the next three weeks.”

The time frame here is important because Milan hasn’t had his bonus paid out to him yet, that’ll happen in the next three weeks… So we’ll have to wait on this one for a bit.

Stauffer also wondered what might shake out of NY with the Panarin signing… Brought up Kreider and wondered about Puljujarvi possibly bringing in a $3M-$4M player to play in the top-6.

I think Kreider would be a fine addition but he only has one year left on his contract and surely he’ll be looking for mega-bucks next summer. You’d have to think that the Rangers wouldn’t just take Puljujarvi straight across for Kreider, right?

“Could you get Rust out of PIT, could you get Heinen out of BOS?”

I believe PIT already turned down the Rust for Pulju offer but it could be revisited at some point. As for Heinen, his point totals went down this season for Boston by 13 points and he only managed 8pts in the playoffs. I don’t think that’s the kind of return that would “help” the Oilers. Rust’s point totals weren’t much better but he scored 18 goals. Also, he’s a bit more rounded out and experienced than Heinen.

For the second show in a row, a Puljujarvi for Erik Haula trade hypothetical was proposed by Stauffer. His reasoning was that if Carolina matches the Sebastien Aho offer-sheet, that might put them a couple million over their self-imposed salary cap and since Haula makes $2.75M, why not swap Haula’s contract for Puljujarvi’s? If Jesse were to just accept the qualifying offer, it’d be under half of what Haula makes and that might make it more palpable for Tom Dundon.

I still think that Pulju is going to an East coast team and I threw out five teams that might have or have had an interest in Puljujarvi (BOS, NYR, NYI, NJ, TB). Are there any top-6/9 forwards on those teams that could shake out or some good prospects?

  • BOS – Maybe I’d look at Jakub Lauko or Jack Studnicka if I were to go after prospects. If I wanted roster players, I’d ask around Charlie Coyle or Torey Krug and expand the trade a bit. Boston has some major players that need resigning, most notably Charlie MacAvoy and Brandon Carlo.
  • NYR – I know the Oilers were looking at Jesper Fast and Vlad Namestnikov in the past, would they still hold interest for Holland? Pavel Buchnevich is another name that I’m not too sure about in New York. He’s 24, an RFA, and has put up two really productive seasons in a row. My feeling is that he’d be a coveted player for New York but I’m just not sure they’re convinced he’s part of their future. That said, it’d take more than Puljujarvi to pry him out of the Big Apple. Maybe we have a friend in NYC that could help facilitate things?
  • NYI – The Islanders have a few youngsters who are taking their time developing. Michael Dal Colle, Josh Ho-Sang, Keifer Bellows, and Oliver Wahlstrom all have yet to realize their potential for the Big Lou’s team. Ho-Sang is probably the readiest but he’s got some attitude problems. As for the other three, they were great scorers before they turned pro… Could the Oilers help them to bring it out at the NHL Level? They wouldn’t be hurt the cap much.
  • NJ – I like Pavel Zacha here. He’s another player who is having a difficult time finding traction in the NHL but I like his size and his skill set. We know he’s good for 25pts because in his three seasons in NJ he’s never scored less than 24 and no more than 25. The former 6th overall pick in the McDavid draft hasn’t played more than 70 games either though… So there’s that to consider.
  • TB – Julien Brisbois needs to move some salary and pick up nothing in return so that they can re-sign Brayden Point. So I think the Oilers should target Tyler Johnson and his $5M contract. If they did get him, they’d have their own cap problems to deal with but at least the top-6 would have proper depth and time to relieve that pressure.

But there’s a new option as well. If Carolina lets Aho walk to MTL, could that be a destination for Puljujarvi? He could get back together with Aho and between those two and Kotkaniemi be quite the handful… Perhaps Charles Hudon, Joel Armia, or Artturi Lehkonen would be part of the ask.

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OTHER NOTES

  • As I reported before Mark Spector (hehe), the Oilers do have interest in Pat Maroon BUT he might be looking for term that Edmonton might not be able to give him. That said, in the event that the Oilers do sign him, they could reunite the Maroon/McDavid/Draisaitl line and bump Kassian down. It would mark the end of the Milan Lucic era.
  • If Carolina matches Aho’s offer sheet, it wouldn’t surprise me if Carolina and Edmonton got together NEXT summer to make a deal that would include Ryan Nugent-Hopkins going to the Hurricanes and Aho to Edmonton. This was suggested on Oilers Now and endorsed by Bob Stauffer.
Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers Rumor: Prominent Sportsnet Journalist says the Oilers HAVE interviewed Kelly McCrimmon

We’ve been under the impression from pundits like Elliotte Friedman that the Oilers have been waiting around to interview Vegas Golden Knights assistant general manager Kelly McCrimmon. That they haven’t yet received permission to speak to the highly sought after executive.

“As I write this, Vegas has not yet granted official permission for Edmonton to meet with McCrimmon, although an answer is expected at some point this week.” (source)

That is from the April 30th edition of 31 Thoughts. 

The next quote is via Oilers Now! It belongs to PHWA President Mark Spector. It pertains to what sort of person Kelly McCrimmon is and Spector prefaced this quote by saying, “I talked to a contract that knows McCrimmon real well and the quote I will share with you was,”

“When that interview in Edmonton ended, the guys in Edmonton probably felt like they were the ones being interviewed.” 

Just click play and you’ll hear what Spector said. Also, this came out on the same day as Friedman’s blog.

Now, I know from time to time that Spec lets things slip that shouldn’t get out from time to time, but I don’t see this as one of them. This was very much on purpose.

I also remember a couple of things blowing up on Friedman this past season that he’d reported…

So who has the right information?

My impression of the way this process was supposed to go was it was going to be airtight. No Leaks. So what’s happening here? The Sportsnet guys are putting out conflicting reports whereas the pundits over at TSN are still speculating on who the third or fourth candidate is still. Then you have Friedman and Rishaug going head to head on the Ken Holland reports…

I do think the Oilers are leaking things but don’t ask me which things are true and which are not. At this point, the news is so juicy that I reckon the reporters are grabbing onto anything and running with it.

Hockey politics is fun, isn’t it?

My belief is that Edmonton has talked to McCrimmon, be that informally or as Spector said, formally, and he is the no. 1 candidate at this point in time. Whether he wants the job, I think that’s the more pertinent question because if he doesn’t want it, Mark Hunter has interviewed twice and I would go as far as to say that it’s his job if McCrimmon passes on it.

Interesting note coming from Bob Stauffer from today’s Oilers Now! though. He said that Sean Burke could still be in the running for the GM’s position but it was his opinion that he could come into the org in more of a support role potentially. The reason for that according to Stauffer is because he’s not seen in the same light as McCrimmon and Mark Hunter.

So how would you feel about a Kelly McCrimmon/Sean Burke combo or a Mark Hunter/Sean Burke tandem?

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

Edmonton Oilers: Koskinen ISN’T the Problem, Summer Moves, and a New Name from Stauffer

Tough game for the Oilers last night. Vegas simply wasn’t the team they needed to be playing on the hind end of a back-to-back. Something else that the team didn’t need was for their coach to be playing Mikko Koskinen and they got burnt because of a silly decision on Hitchcock’s part.

The three-meter man can’t be fully absolved from that performance mind you. He did let in some questionable shots on his glove hand and 5-hole which has resulted in a mad witchhunt from Oilers fans and media alike.

This morning on Oilers Now, Bob Stauffer and Brenden Escott were discussing the big Finn’s performance and had this to say,

Escott: He’s got to sort that out (glove hand) if he’s going to be a bonafide starter in this league. 

Stauffer: That’s low-hanging fruit because it’s so easy to focus on. What I would say is this, Mikko Koskinen did not start back-to-backs over in the KHL. The moment the Oilers traded Cam Talbot, they partially did that to alleviate, not the tension, but the fact that we had two goalies here and both were UFAs. Koskinen got the extension but from that point forward Mikko’s had to have a couple of back-to-back starts. 

He was not very good at handling pucks and he was poor no angles early in the year and he’s worked a lot on that. But when he starts in back-to-back games Brenden, I think what happens is fatigue sets in and maybe he drops is glove even lower and the book’s out on him. And in this league, unlike the KHL, guys can score from anywhere because they can really shoot the pill and they can make that shot. They’re closer to the net, they’re not as boxed out. 

So what I would say is, 100% the criticism is fair and it played a factor last night. He wasn’t very good last night. Absolutely fair criticism against a good team. BUT what I would also say is he works really hard.

If he doesn’t get it straightened out, he’s only going to be a 1a/1b goaltender. He’s only going to be a 45-game-a-year guy and they’re going to have to get somebody else to be it. But if he works as hard on the glove going forward and gets more conditioned to, and I do think the Oilers have to create a situation where they got another goalie here that’s good enough to push him, it’s not just 70 starts and 15 starts. I think that’s completely unrealistic. 

I know how hard he works in practise and I see him out there every morning before everyone else.

If he doesn’t get it fixed, he’s only going to be an average starter. If he does get it fixed, he has a chance to be a legitimate top-20 no.1 goalie that gives you a chance to win every day. 

What I will point out is that Koskinen is one of the main reasons the Oilers are even competing in this playoff race and since Talbot has been traded, Mikko has taken the starter’s role and ran with it.

Folks might complain about his glove hand but let’s not forget about all the goals that used to go over Talbot’s shoulders let alone all the goals he let in on the first shot of the game or period…

Mikko Koskinen is NOT the problem.

https://twitter.com/ChartingHockey/status/1107265050312671233

I would add to this that the Oilers could not pass the puck if their lives depended on it last night. Darnell Nurse and Kris Russell were horrid with the puck movement. Their favorite teammate to pass to was the boards and the glass. I lost count at the number of times an Oiler defender rimmed it around the boards to a Vegas Golden Knight. Dave Staples made a funny comparison on his post-game vlog with Bruce McCurdy last night. He said that Nurse and Russell were Smid/Staios 2.0…

I do believe that the Oilers will re-vamp their defense this summer and two guys I wonder about being elsewhere in 2019/20 are Nurse and Russell.

The Oilers need puck moving defenders and scoring wingers. Full stop. Kris Russell and Andrej Sekera aren’t going to bring you a top-6 winger. The Oilers will most likely have to pay to have those players moved but Darnell Nurse will bring you that winger and with players like Caleb Jones, William Lagesson, Ethan Bear, Evan Bouchard, and Joel Persson looking to make the squad next season; I think it’s very fair to say Darnell Nurse’s position on the team could be under threat due to his inability to pass the puck.

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What the naysayers will come back with is Nurse’s numbers this season and to that I’d say, he’s capitalized on the PP he’s been given by Hitchcock. His 5×5 numbers are on par with last season when his TOI was elevated due to Klefbom being out of the lineup. So what happens when you take that extra TOI and cherry time on the PP away… I would venture a bet that his offensive stats would decrease…

He’s not what those stats suggest. He’s a fine top-4 shut-down defender but he gets spread thin when he’s asked to take on a more offensive role too. A better skating Adam Larsson if you will. The fact that the league has been tamed down has nullified one of Nurse’s strongest attributes, his meanness.

After watching him for his whole career, I’m just not sure about the hockey IQ. He’s still young mind you and there’s lots of room to grow but even if you look at it from a financial point-of-view, do you think that he’s worth more than $5M per year? $6M that he’ll probably be asking for? I don’t and it’d be in the Oilers best interests to move him while his value is high and Edmonton has the prospect depth it does.

William Lagesson can do what Darnell Nurse does for a fraction of the price plus he’s been brought along the right way so the peaks and valleys will be smaller. In theory.

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I do believe the Oilers will try to acquire Tyson Barrie this off-season due to the fact that the Avs will have Cale Makar and Connor Timmins competing for a spot on their blue line in 2019/2020.

So let’s say for shits and giggles, the Oilers find a way to open up cap space by dealing Russell and not take any money back in the deal. The difference between Barrie and Russell is $1.5M and I would have to guesstimate that in order to bring in a player like Tyson Barrie, Edmonton would need to move a package of players that would include a top prospect and a roster player or a high draft pick. That would also alleviate some cash from the Oilers payroll given the top prospect would probably be someone from this group:

  • Jesse Puljujarvi
  • Kailer Yamamoto
  • Ethan Bear
  • Ostap Safin
  • Kirill Maksimov
  • Ryan McLeod
  • Dmitri Samorukov

Apart from Puljujarvi, I don’t think any of those players will be making an impact at the NHL level next season. Are the Oilers a better team if their defense looks likes this going into next season?

Klefbom/Larsson
Nurse/Barrie
Sekera/Jones
Persson

There’s a puck mover on every pairing here. Now you might argue that the first pairing lacks a true puck mover but I happen to believe that both Larsson and Klefbom are very smart players.

Edmonton could go all-in as well and use Larsson to bring in a skilled winger. I think there’s a very plausible reason that we heard Larsson’s name connected to Toronto at the trade deadline this year…

Don’t rule out Jared Spurgeon, Justin Faulk, or Rasmus Ristolainen either.

STAUFFER THROWS OUT TWO NAMES

Before his segment ended on this morning’s Oilers Now, Bob Stauffer threw out two more names that might interest Oilers fans. One I’ve already mentioned on the blog months ago.

You know Vegas had two guys last night playing down in the American Hockey League, Daniel Carr and Brooks Macek. Those guys would be playing for the Oilers and be better than some of the options Edmonton has. 

As I said, we’ve spoken about Carr before. He’s a local lad (from Sherwood Park) who I’d say looks like Brendan Gallagher-lite. He can skate at the NHL level, his edgework is good, he’s tenacious, he likes to shoot… There’s a lot to like with this player.

Brooks Macek I’m not as familiar with, but if Bob is throwing his name out there, that’s a good indication that the Oilers probably have some interest or have had interest in the player.

According to Eliteprospects.com, Macek is 26-years old and was a 6th round draft pick of the Red Wings in 2010. He’s 5’11” and 181lbs.

This season with Chicago, Macek has managed to post up 60pts (26g/34) in 63 games.

Interesting to note, after five years in the WHL with Tri-Cities and Calgary, he spent the next five years seasons playing in Germany where he scored 183pts in 255 games.

I think both could be had for under $1M per season and it would be prudent for the Oilers to start adding these sorts of players to their roster. I’m not of the belief that Cooper Marody or Joe Gambardella will be able to cut it at the NHL level unless they do something about their skating. They are great AHL players and would be VERY useful there but you in today’s NHL you have to be able to skate or else the Linus Omarks and Anton Landers of the world would be everyday NHLers.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumor Roundup: Will Taylor Hall Return to the Oilers?

Last night during the Coyotes/Oilers game, a tweet from @PunjabiOil came across my timeline that quoted Elliotte Friedman saying on a local podcast if he were GM of the Oilers and he knew that Taylor Hall was going to free agency, his plan would be to bring him back to Edmonton.

This was funny because Bob Stauffer and Mark Spector sort of brought Hall up during yesterday’s edition of Oilers Now and it’s not the first time we’ve heard Bob talk about Taylor Hall coming back to Edmonton, right?

I’ve talked to my sources about the possibility of Hall coming back and some of them have told me that “it’s doable” and some of them believe there’s no chance. Edmonton would have to do major surgery to the roster to fit him in long term.

Now, that does leave the possibility of him coming back for the final year of his current deal though. Which would be next season. Edmonton could definitely deal in that a lot easier than competing for his services on the open market if he were to go UFA status.

Combine that with murmurs of Jordan Eberle possibly being willing to go back to Edmonton on a deal that could pay him $4M/yr for three years…

How ridiculous would that be if both Hall and Eberle returned?

All they’d have to do is find some way to get Hall out of NJ via trade, deal Lucic and one of Russell or Sekera without retaining salary, and then sign Ebs… It’s THAT easy! Wing depth restored!

Personally, I can’t see it happening but every GM, agent, and player are watching Toronto to see what they do and if it is deemed successful, every other team will try to copy it, including the Oilers.

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NEWS ON PULJUJARVI

On the latest “Insider Trading”, Bob McKenzie wonders aloud if the relationship between the player and team is “fractured beyond repair”. He says there’s lots of speculation that Pulju would not look kindly on being sent down to the AHL and even goes as far as to question if Jesse would even go to the AHL.

It’s all bullshit.

From what I’ve gathered, Puljujarvi IS pissed. He’s angry because he’s watching teammates of his who are of lesser talent getting the push up the lineup instead of him. Players like Alex Chiasson and oddly enough, Ty Rattie.

Now we could all argue about how he hasn’t earned it, right? If “earning it” means not scoring, then wouldn’t Jesse be fitting right in with Rieder, Rattie, and Chiasson?

I feel for him. Two coaches in a row refuse to even give him a chance on the PP.

I mean if you want a direct example of how old-school Ken Hitchcock is, look no further than how Josh Currie was used last night. I don’t even want to go into how much of a bullshitter Hitch is based on how he said he was going to use the player in the pre-game media avail…

https://twitter.com/AdamsOnHockey/status/1098089308567687169

Even in the OT, a perfect time to use a player who has speed and a shot, as Ty Rattie does, Hitchcock throws Chiasson out?!

3v3 OT is the PERFECT scenario for a player like Rattie or Puljujarvi (if he’d been on the roster and not out with some “mystery” LBI) or Currie for that matter. Sam Gagner comes straight into the roster and he’s GIFTED with 2nd line TOI and 1st unit PP time…

Think about it for a second. This young man is one of the hardest working players on the team. He stays after practice to work on little things. A quote I got from a former teammate of his said, “He’s the hardest worker and so unselfish.”

How does it make any sense for the media to be portraying Puljujarvi in a selfish light when he’s literally the polar opposite? Well, it gets the eyes and ears directed to their websites and TV channels is what it does.

I’ve said this on Twitter before, but the media is going to try and paint Jesse into the same corner that Nail Yakupov once occupied. We might even start to hear things about how he’s not liked in the dressing room or he’s hard to get along with. Maybe more on the language barrier…

It’s already started with McKenzie saying things like, “the Oilers would LIKE to send him (Pulju) down to the American Hockey League…”

“Like” as in they’re being held hostage here?

Don’t believe it…

He is NOT going to refuse an assignment to the AHL. His camp might feel that Bakersfield isn’t the right move for him right now but he’d report.

As far as I’ve been told, Jesse loves Edmonton, he wants to stay and play. He’s young, he’s got certain expectations of himself and also the team I imagine. It’s just that he’s been told one thing and the opposite is happening. That’d enrage anybody.

I think it’s possible that there’s someone in the organization that is leaking things that simply aren’t true (that he wants out) and the media is running with it because if it bleeds it leads.

If the Oilers truly want to repair this, find the leak and plug it!

My Solution: Get Hitchcock off that bench and have Manny Viveiros run the show. He had a young Finn in Swift Current that ran the show there for some time. I think his name was Heponiemi.

My Solution 2: Let Jay Woodcroft work his magic with him. Winning is the cure to a lot of ailments.

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THE NEXT MOVE: BENNING/PETROVIC OUT?

I’m still hearing that Pittsburgh has interest in Alex Petrovic, but teams like Toronto and Tampa Bay are also looking for depth right-hand shots. Matt Benning also fits the description there and in all honesty is probably who the Oilers would prefer to move given he’s got an extra year left on his deal.

Keep an eye on Alex Chiasson. He’s getting a ton of media attention right now. I think Boston is looking at him AND Kassian.

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/1098251428445876229

The name of the game is clearing cap space folks. If Edmonton can rid themselves of all those players AND possibly one of Sekera or Russell, I think they do it with a smile on their faces and I think they’d even retain salary to do it.

Whatever it takes to get Hallsy and Ebs back into the fold, right? :p

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Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Chiarelli to Move a Goalie According to Stauffer

If you were lucky enough to listen to the Edmonton Oilers’ radio broadcast last night, you might’ve heard Bob Stauffer say that he thinks a goalie is going to be moved to clear up cap space and that he’d like to see a defender brought in. But who’s making that trade if Chiarelli gets the axe in the next seven days?

Well, I don’t think it takes too much to figure out which goalie Stauffer’s talking about. Given that comment followed a game where Cam Talbot got shelled for seven goals and how we’ve been talking about him being available on more than one occasion this year.

I’ve been in touch with my sources and from what I’ve gathered, I believe that there are three teams in on Talbot. Maybe more.

  • Carolina Hurricanes
  • Philadelphia Flyers
  • St.Louis Blues

I’ve wondered if Chicago would be in on him too given the current and unknown future status of Corey Crawford.

Now, out of those teams, Carolina and Philadelphia could afford Talbot’s salary ($4.166 million) outright.

  • Carolina has $31 million in cap space right now.
  • Philadelphia has $14 million available.
  • St. Louis has a shade over $2.2 million open.
  • Chicago has $6.3 million to use.

My feeling is that Philly is the most desperate to upgrade their goaltending, but I’ve heard all they’re offering is defenseman Robert Hagg and that simply won’t do. Edmonton has enough left-handed defenders as it is and it’s my understanding that they aren’t looking to acquire young players.

I’m not sure about the status of the negotiations between Wayne Simmonds and the Flyers right now but I’d be very happy with a straight swap (Talbot for Simmonds) if that could be managed. If not him, bring me Radko Gudas!

Carolina is having major issues scoring, therefore, I’m skeptical as to how urgent they are to acquire a goalie. That said, Trevor Van Riemsdyk ($2.3 million until 2019-20) would be a very handy addition to the Oilers. He’d be an excellent 2nd/3rd pairing defender because he’s adept at moving the puck and he’s a fantastic skater. At the moment though, he’s buried behind Justin Faulk, Dougie Hamilton, and Brett Pesce.

(Fack. Why aren’t the Oilers looking at one of Faulk, Pesce, and Hamilton? Sell Nurse to them and add a sweetener. Do your team a favor, Pete! FFS.)

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As for the Blues, they’ve got Jake Allen as their starter and no matter how disillusioned they might be with his performances this year, I think they’re stuck with him. With that in mind, if they found a taker for him and were still interested in Talbot, I’d have time for Robby Fabbri but the more prudent acquisition (or re-acquisition I should say) would be David Perron. He’s got a M-NTC though, and I’d be hard-pressed to believe he’d waive that to go back to Edmonton.

Wondering who would be the back-up if Talbot is moved? Well, if you haven’t noticed, Dylan Wells and Shane Starrett have been sharing the net for Bakersfield lately. Weird, right? Especially when Al Montoya is right there. The Condors head coach Jay Woodcroft said that Monty had been out with sickness but it’s been a month. What kind of ailment is this that keeps a guy out for a month?

Anyways, I think if Talbot is moved, Montoya is called up. Illness be damned.

Other Moves?

From all of my conversations since last night, It looks like the Oilers are going to try and chip and chase their way into the playoffs. What I mean by that is since their hands are tied by the cap, they’ve got try and unearth another diamond in the rough ala Alex Chiasson. I’ve heard they’re looking at other leagues to find players who can help with depth scoring. Perhaps skaters with NHL experience, possibly some players who haven’t signed a contract yet this year but are still interested at playing but are training elsewhere.

Man. Wouldn’t it be something if the Oilers could get Rick Nash to agree to play out the season with them?

The brass and the coaches aren’t happy with the players’ refusal to go to the net. So they’re looking for players who have a reputation for doing so. Which I love because I’m a huge fan of net drivers. If you haven’t caught it, goals seem to get scored when there’s a bit of chaos that shakes loose.

I wish them luck in their search.

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