Tag Archives: Bob Stauffer

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

Mad Oilers Trade Rumours!

Ebs should be packing his bags. It looks like he's going to get moved.
Ebs should be packing his bags. It looks like he’s going to get moved.

So the rumours are flying from some major sources (Friedman) and some not so major sources (Eklund) and I’d like to take a stab at some of them.

The beloved Elliotte Friedman was on Oilers Now today with good ol’ Bob Stauffer and he was letting the rumor bombs go left and right as they set ablaze the oilogosphere.

If you’d like to listen to his segment you can do that below. I’ll have another segment further down where Stauffer hits at the Washington Capitals need for a defenceman going into the playoffs…

After a bit of back and forth regarding Twitter dos and don’ts (Stauffer did tell a story about a blogger that made a comment about Bob’s weight for which he confronted said blogger at a Golden Bears game. I have a feeling I might know which blogger he was talking about and I could be wrong but… Lay off the RC Cola) they broke into some pretty major Oilers chatter.

First up was Justin Schultz which was premised by Bob asking Friedman what the market was for Jultz and adding that the Oilers are in a position to retain salary.

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693158003906781184

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693158294840410112

Stauffer goes on to pontificate about the futures of Travis Hamonic, Sami Vatanen, and Kevin Shattenkirk to which Friedman replied:

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693158799176110080

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693160012537933824

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693161722899623936

Friedman also spoke about Kyle Okposo and that in turn fuelled the Twitter rumor that was cruising today, what about an Okposo/Hamonic for Eberle/Jultz deal? I looked at this waaaaay back in November here. The only thing that is holding this back is possibly Okposo’s contract demands. He’s looking for some major money and anybody who is anybody knows what happens when you give power forwards big bucks on long-term deals…

EF did say that the Ducks will be looking for a young player in return. So could that be Eberle, could it maybe be Yakupov? I feel it’d be harder to see Eberle in a different jersey six times a year rather than Yak…

As for which blue liner I prefer. That is really a tough call as they are both quite good. The fact that the Oilers are dead last (I think) in scoring from the blue leads me to lean closer to Vatanen than Lindholm to be honest.

EF does wonder aloud about the Ducks willingness to add another big contract to which Stauffer says maybe Anaheim adds a contract going back to offset the $6m (Eberle I’m assuming) going to the Ducks.

Sounds like Shattenkirk is either sticking with the Blues as they go through this little injury crisis or he’s heading to Tampa in a deal for Drouin. I don’t think the Oilers were ever or will ever be in contention for the defenceman.

Later on in his segment with Friedman (11:23 mark above), Stauffer mentions Sabres GM Tim Murray’s interest in Justin Schultz and an interest that has been there since his days with the Anaheim Ducks. Now if you didn’t know, Justin Schultz was a 2nd round pick of the Ducks back in 2008. So perhaps some dots can be connected there.

Two weeks ago, I did in fact let it be known that through my sources that Buffalo was interested in a right-handed puck-moving defenceman on the Oilers here.

Later on in Oilers Now Bob Stauffer, as he often does when he’s leaking something OR misleading his audience, slyly went on about the Washington Capitals potentially looking for a replacement for Brooks Orpik. Now why would anything that the Caps do have anything to do with the Oilers? Well I imagine it’s possible the Oilers could have a dman or two that the Capitals fancy. Say…. Mark Fayne or Eric Gryba…

Staying on the Capitals, my source tells me that they’re interested in Teddy Purcell but they’re not the only team that’s interested. The other team being the Chicago Blackhawks and that lines up with Eklund’s newest post.

Now I understand fully that Eklund isn’t the most reliable of reference points and that nobody else is talking about the Hawks and Oiler getting together on Purcell but as I said before, this is the word I get. You can choose to believe it or you can choose to ignore it. Up to you. I just put it out there for all of you wonderful people to consume.

So if the Oilers move out Jordan Eberle and Teddy Purcell, that’s their two top RWs. Would Yakupov or Pakarinen get moved right up or is it possible the Oilers pick up a bad contract to fill in for the rest of the year. What about promoting Anton Slepyshev or bringing up Josh Winquist?

Lots of rumour talk today. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Brrrr. Must be cold in Edmonton. Pick up a sweet hoodie by clicking the pic!

 

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Are These Really the Oilers Line Combos?

6 Comments

Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers Now, recently tweeted out the line combinations HE would like to see in the preseason. See Below.

So since he’s left it up to us to give him his opinion, let’s do that!

*Just a precursor before we do get started, I’m including a few HERO charts from @mimicohero in my post today. I’ve had to resize them a bit to fit them in, so if you want a closer look, just click on the image and a larger one will appear. I’m not really happy with how they turned out but it is what it is and I’m hoping you can see past the aesthetics. Thank you!*

Line 1

Taylor Hall – Connor McDavid – Teddy Purcell

I see what the thinking is here. Put a veteran on the wing to insulate McDavid… We know from this tweet that this was always part of the plan. But I wonder if that was the plan before McLellan was hired?

I don’t like it and I make that judgement based on the eye test. Purcell’s style of play is too soft and his 125 hits over the course of his 9 year career confirms that. Compare that with Nail Yakupov who’s racked up over 200 hits in 3 years!

Yes Purcell is a big body and he has pretty good hands for man of his size but I don’t like him on that line.

Contrary to my feelings his HERO chart tells us something a bit more optimistic.

From that angle we can see highlights in his playmaking (first a/60) and his possession for (CF60 +/-). Unfortunately there are a couple of blemishes. His goals/60 is terrible and I’m not a fan of his CA/60 +/-.

What I’m reading from those two stats, and please correct me if I’m off base here, is that he can’t score at the NHL level and he has a tough time when the other team has the puck.

I guess this sort of line combination is betting on the Oilers having puck possession the whole time…

I’d rather see someone like Eberle. Check his HERO chart… WOW!

Not a lot to complain about there. I mean if you were trying to throw a line out there that would keep the puck, wouldn’t you want this guy?

I imagine that we’ll see a line featuring Hall, McDavid, and Eberle at some point. It’s inevitable. But if a deal could be made I’d be looking at trying to acquire someone like Mark Stone out of Ottawa or Kyle Okposo from the Islanders to fill in on that right side.

Line 2

Leon Draisaitl – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Why is this line the 2nd line? Or is it 1b? The key to this line is Jordan Eberle. He’s a possession driver according this his HERO charts but why not Pouliot instead of Draisaitl? The chemistry is undeniable from last season.

His chart also tells me that he can put the puck in the net. Something Purcell cannot do but unlucky for everyone, Pouliot plays the left side. I wonder aloud for you all if this could be amended? One would think that a veteran like Poo could switch sides no problem, right? If so, he’d also be a candidate for the 4/97 line.

Now one question I’m wondering about here is where is Nail Yakupov? Why isn’t he featuring on any of the top two lines in Bob’s foreseen lineup here?

I wrote here about how I thought this was the year for Yakcity to break out and I still believe that but I also mentioned if he was buried on the 3rd line that he was most likely finished as an Edmonton Oiler. There are players in the minors like Iiro Pakarinen or Anton Slepyshev, players on the team like Rob Klinkhammer or Lauri Korpikoski that are much better suited for 3rd line duty. Or is it that Nail Yakupov is being viewed in the same light as say Nino Niederreiter before he was dealt to the Wild?

Line 3

Benoit Pouliot – Anton Lander – Nail Yakupov

As a fan of watching young players, this line looks really fun to watch. Earlier above I said that Yakupov would be finished as an Oiler if he was deployed on the 3rd line. Well this line looks like a safe one for Yak but why not add Draisaitl? That’d be a pretty damn sexy line to me and one that I think could be quite effective. Draisaitl’s size, playmaking ability, and penchant for rushing the puck like a runaway locomotive perfectly compliments Landers defensive bulldog-like style and Yakupov’s shot. I have zero problems with this combination.

Another reason I like this line is that I feel Draisaitl was just getting into the rhythm before he was sent back to the WHL, Lander was putting up pretty good numbers after he was called up and Yakupov really settled into his role during the latter stages of the season.

If this were a soft zone starts line, I think that would be the proper deployment procedure for it.

Line 4

Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Lauri Korpikoski

Get your grind on! Good Lord! This 4th line could rival that of the once famed bruins 4th line of Dan Paille, Greg Campbell, and Shawn Thornton. But alas the numbers do not like these guys at all…

Apart from Letestu, Hendricks and Korpikoski are struggling to stay in the league. I haven’t watched a lot from the newly-acquired Finn so it’s hard for me to judge. I love the style of play and the leadership that Hendricks brings and Letestu I’ve seen very little of but the numbers fall in his favor.

I mean this is all without looking at Rob Klinkhammer and Luke Gazdic. But if the team was serious about getting out of the Western Conference’s outhouse, they should be eyeing up players like Sean Bergenheim and Lee Stempniak to round out the bottom 6.

Why is this guy unsigned? Is there some sort of competition between him and Cody Franson?
You know Lee, Edmonton isn’t that far from Winnipeg and it’s way cooler!

 

I think all of us Oilers fans are in agreement that until the defence is settled this is a team that will continue to struggle. So we might not even see some of these forwards past Christmas anyhow. Friends of BLH, Oil on Whyte, penned a piece covering such a scenario here. Thanks to Sammi Silber!

Thank you for reading and I truly hope you enjoyed the post! When you get a free moment hit us up on Twitter or Facebook or bet yet, BOTH! And if you’re feeling a tad chilly this winter but feeling the need to break out that old SEGA Genesis and play some NHL ’94, do so with a 16-bit Superstars T-Shirt! You can find them at our shop here!

To close out this discussion, I’d like to ask you how the lines for the Oilers should look this season? Would you trade anyone or sign any free agents? Let me know in the comments below!

Take care!

– BLH

Armchair GM, Edmonton Oilers, Rob Cooke, Rumors, Trades

Edmonton Oilers to use buy-out window?

 

What to do? What to do? Will the Edmonton Oilers use the buy-out window presented to them?The twittersphere is exploding with opinions on what Peter Chiarelli will do this weekend. Is he going to buy out Nikita Nikitin, captain Andrew Ference, or Teddy Purcell? There are arguments to be made both for and against using the buy-out option on any of these three players. I had seen Ben Scrivens mentioned as well but that option is easy to dismiss. His 2.3 million dollar cap hit is below the minimum amount required for buy-out.

I read a tremendous piece this morning from Jonathon Willis about using the buy-out and he is totally in favour of doing it. He was then on the OilersNow broadcast with Bob Stauffer, and discussed the idea further among a lot of other things. Jonathon is a very smart man and his reasoning is solid. If you haven’t you really should, here is his article. I won’t spoil the fun of reading by talking about his piece too much but he does make a solid argument for proceeding.

The only real valid argument for keeping either Ference or Nikitin is that this spreads out the cap hit and keeps them on the book for longer. Obviously the first choice of the franchise would have to be trading the pair of them but that would involve in retaining half of Nikitin’s cap hit so would only save us 2.25 million. The big issue with trading Andrew Ference is his no-trade clause. He has the ability to block any move other than the buy-out.

I would imagine that you have all noticed that I didn’t discuss Teddy Purcell when discussing the argument to keep and that is because unlike the first two Purcell can still be a useful player in the top 9. He isn’t fast by any stretch and can be beaten one on one with speed, but he can still contribute offensively and provides a calm veteran presence to a very young team. He is expensive at 4.5 million but is in the final year of his contract. Unless Chiarelli and McLellan are absolutely sure that Leon Draisaitl  is a better option I think Purcell will finish out the contract as an Oiler.

That leaves us with only the two defenders to look at then. I don’t pretend to know the collective bargaining agreement as it is written and will turn to either the above mentioned Jonathon Willis or Speeds as he calls himself on Twitter, @hockeysymposium in case you want to give him a follow. Both are fairly well versed on the CBA and generally are willing to answer questions if needed. According to the CBA Nikitin and Ference will have different parameters in their buy-out situation. Nikitin is a straight forward two-thirds of his salary over the twice the term. So that would translate to a 1.5 million dollar cap-hit over the next two years. Ference, due to age, will be a little different. His breakdown would be over twice the term still but the dollars break down differently than in a younger player. From what I read on it, and don’t quote me, for Andy it would be .67 million this season and then 1.67 million for the next three years.

To me the first choice would be Nikitin. While he is likelier to rebound from last season due to age it comes down to length of term for me. If I am the general manager I don’t want the player that is bought out to be on the books in three or four years. In the third year of the Ference option we would have four key restricted free-agents that could all possibly be looking at raises of decent to high amounts. Nail Yakupov, Leon Draisaitl, Griffin Reinhart, and Anton lander will need to be re-signed at that point and will eat a decent amount of cap space to be sure. The more space available at that point the better the chance that we keep our core young players together for longer. We want to emulate the Chicago franchise in theory. We want to become contenders and stay  there for an extended period of time. To do that we will need these players signed.

This is where the argument against using the buy-out would come in to play though. Even if they do decide to use it that will leave 1.5 million dollars on the Oilers cap-hit if Nikitin is the choice which he more than likely is. Not a ton of money but we do need to keep in mind that Schultz and Klefbom will be both be looking for another deal. Oscar will be looking at a substantial raise should his progression continue as it has to this point. Justin Shultz is a story for another time, his future with the franchise is very much in doubt and I would not be at all surprised if he is moved out at some point over the next year. The decision will likely come down to what the owner and management have for expectations this season. If playoffs are expected then I think they move Nikitin prior to Monday afternoon. Not going to guess if they will trade or buy him out but if they want to be in the second season they need to clear cap space and a roster spot for a better player. If they feel they are still a year away from being able to hang with the big bad teams in the Western conference they will likely retain both players and let their contracts expire to have maximum cap space next summer. One way or another we will have our answer by this time Monday.

It is my opinion that after all the changes that have been made already this off-season that the mandate is to get back in to the play-offs this year. I don’t believe that Daryl Katz finally decided to bring in better management options for them to sit on their laurels and not do everything they can to bring success back to this storied franchise. The only question is if there is a trade partner out there that would be willing to take Nikitin for half of his salary? Some seem to think that a team like the Arizona Coyotes would have interest in him at half his salary in order to get to the cap-floor. My belief is that if there was a trade to be made that it would have been by now and that there is a small possibility that this weekend will end with Nikita somewhere else through trade. Buying him out is likely the only option if they want the additional cap space to add another free agent before training camp.

What do you think? Will the Chia Pet use his buy-out option after passing on it the first time? Did he look to the trade market first and realize this is the only option left available to him? If the team does use the buy-out who is the likely target through free agency? Let me know what you think in the comments section. I always try to reply to each and every comment my blog receives and enjoy interacting with other fans. All I ask is that you be respectful. And hey while we are at give me a follow on twitter, @cooke_rob. Help this lowly basement dwelling blogger get to 200 followers please! Thanks for reading Beer Leaguers. Until next time.

 

Cheers

Rob