Tag Archives: Bruce Boudreau

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Latest NHL Speculation (8/15/2020)

Good morning hockey fans! As we mentioned yesterday, we’re going to up the content production here! We’ve talked to the fine gents over at The Scoring Touch and they’ve agreed to post some of their daily NHL rumors here at Beer League Heroes!

Now, if you don’t know, The Scoring Touch is the official website of The Puck Report from Instagram and Twitter. They produce some really rad IG graphics and are on the ball NHL news-wise on Twitter as well. You definitely need to give them a follow if you aren’t already!

The plan I have for this new segment is to comment on some of the speculations that are out there from an Edmonton Oilers perspective to try and keep things interesting during this next four-month layoff…

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Today’s edition of the Puck Report Speculation Station features Bruce Boudreau, the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Winnipeg Jets, and more.

  • Bob Stauffer on 630CHED: “I would expect to see a change in goaltending for the Oilers and at least one change to the defense this off-season. Take that for what it’s worth.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Most are speculating that one of Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, or Adam Larsson will be traded, but personally, I think that would be a mistake and the Oilers should deal Kris Russell in order to A) open up around $4M in cap space and B) to give Caleb Jones a real chance to make the club full-time. 

  • Dan Kingerski: Samuel Poulin is “borderline ready” for NHL hockey next season. The Penguins will likely give him the 9-game trial period and send him back to juniors, if they have room in the lineup for him. Has a 75% chance of making the roster next season.Pierre-Oliver Joseph is basically a lock for the NHL next season, but he probably won’t start in the top six D. The Penguins will need to move out one of Jack Johnson or Juuso Riikola for him to make the lineup regularly. GM Jim Rutherford could also look to add a defensive anchor on the right side.
  • Terry Jones (Edmonton Journal): “With Oilers GM Ken Holland talking about the flat salary cap, my read was guys like Andreas Athanasiou, Mike Smith and James Neal might not be coming back and raised the possibility of moving one of his top four veteran defensemen not named Ethan Bear. I’d guess Adam Larsson might be available in a semi-major trade.”

BLH’s Thoughts: It’s going to be a real numbers game this off-season that determines what happens with these three players. Smith had some tough nights this past season but he always followed them up with a great performance. I’m not against him being re-signed. 

As for Athanasiou, he’s not been good save for one game against the Blackhawks. If Oilers GM Ken Holland can recoup some draft picks for him, maybe a team like New Jersey or Montreal could use him. 

James Neal is not a guy I’d move. Bloated salary or not, he’s an experienced vet that is well-liked in the dressing room. Holland would definitely know the value of this kind of player and seeing how things went after moving Sam Gagner, my feeling is that Neal stays for at least one more year and is dangled to Seattle at the expansion draft. 

  • Lance Hornby: There’s talk Bruce Boudreau would consider applying for an assistant GM role – but only if it meant a chance to work with his hometown Maple Leafs. His preference is to explore potential NHL head coach options first before “giving himself a demotion.”
  • Lisa Dillman, TheAthletic: “The speculation up here is that Ottawa is going to offer the 3rd and 5th overall picks to the Rangers for 1st overall. But I wouldn’t do that.”Graeme Nichols adds he hopes those rumors are unfounded, but it would be a very “Melnyk-esque” deal if it did happen.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’d make that offer. The rumor going around is that the Kings are leaning towards taking Tim Stutzle which means the Rangers could get their franchise center in Quinton Byfield and possibly a future top-pairing defender in Jamie Drysdale if they accepted the trade. I like Alexis Lafreniere but the Rangers have a lot of depth on the wing with Panarin and Kreider on the left and Kakko, Buchnevich, and Kravtsov on the right. They need to build down the middle and on defense. Ottawa needs Laffy. 

  • Winnipeg Sun: Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff says they’ll look to add NHL players to the roster, whether it’s by free agency or trade. Friesen writes a second-line center and a proven top-four defender are must-haves for the Jets to become competitive again. They have the cap space this off-season to do it.
  • Pierre LeBrun, TheAthletic (subscription required): Former Flyers GM Ron Hextall wants to get back in the GM fold again after being let go by the club a few seasons back. His new advisory role with the LA Kings has re-energized him after what he called a “surprise dismissal” in Philadelphia.LeBrun adds: “It just so happens there’s an opening in Florida, where the Panthers are planning an extensive GM search. It would surprise me if they don’t at least talk to Hextall as part of that process.”
  • Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice: “For Bryan Little, from the Winnipeg Jets and from me personally, I want his life and health to be great, and if that means he doesn’t step on the ice again then that’s what I want.”Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet reiterates that there will be significant turnover on the Jets’ roster this off-season with all the pending free agents they have. GM Cheveldayoff hasn’t begun discussions yet with Dylan DeMelo on a new contract but says they’ll take a hard look at it.It’s also possible the Jets opt to go big-game hunting, perhaps making a pitch to St. Louis Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo.

BLH’s Thoughts: If the Oilers are looking to make a big splash, what about restructuring their defense around Alex Pietrangelo? This guy has triplets though. I’d bet there’s a better chance that he stays in St. Louis. What about local boy Colton Parayko though? 

Lastly, I got a DM late LATE last night and it said that last week there was a massive brawl in the bubble amongst the Calgary Flames. I was told that Milan Lucic and an unnamed Flames veteran was at the center of all of it (sound familiar Oilers fans?)…

Also mentioned was during Chiarelli’s last year in Edmonton, he was looking at bringing in Scott Hartnell to “reign in Milan”.

It’s all unsubstantiated and hearsay and I’m glad that Milan is finding some success in Calgary, but maybe Mr. Lucic isn’t the saint that some painted him out to be. He had some issues in Boston during his time with the Bruins there I’m told from my sources out East.

Is it possible the bubble isn’t as tight as everybody thinks…

Check out more NHL rumors and speculation at The Scoring Touch!

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Armchair GM, Around the Oilogosphere, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Prospects, Rumors, Trades

Around the Oilogosphere – April 26th Edition – Oilers Getting Geared up for Filthy Bruce? Looking for Hendrix v2.0, Draft Lottery Scenarios, and NEW NHL Trade Rumors!

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COACHING

Are we at the point to where it’s safe to say that the Oilers will be hiring Trent Yawney as one of the new assistant coaches for next season? I’d put the odds in favor of yes just simply due to his previous working/playing relationship with current head coach Todd McLellan.

But I’ve got a new theory I want to throw out there. I believe it was Bob Stauffer throwing out Paul MacLean’s name recently in a minor rant on the status of the Oilers’ head coaching evaluation. If I’m not mistaken BS was mentioning hiring assistant coaches who’ve had experience as head coaches in the past (Like Yawney with the Blackhawks and MacLean with the Senators) and this triggered a thought in my head and it has something to do with this article’s featured image.

Paul MacLean worked with Todd McLellan in Detroit under Mike Babcock, Trent Yawney worked under Todd McLellan for 3 seasons in San Jose alongside Jay Woodcroft. So we can establish a connection there.

But there’s another connection.

Yawney and MacLean both worked under Bruce Boudreau in Anaheim for 1 season during the 2015/16 season. The Ducks were 1st in the Pacific and 3rd in the Western Conference. They lost out in the 1st round that year to the Predators.

Minnesota recently fired their GM and generally, a new GM wants to hire his own coach. Is Boudreau on thin ice in Minny? Could he be let go in favor of somebody with fresh ideas?

Would the Oilers hire MacLean and Yawney this year as safety guards in case the season got off to a slow start? Meaning if the Oilers wanted to fire Todd McLellan they’d have two qualified coaches already on the bench to take over and maybe Boudreau doesn’t get his pink slip this year but next, then he just slides on over to Edmonton and into a familiar working environment.

Stauffer has been talking about Boudreau as of recent on Oilers Now…

GETTING SOME GLUE INTO THE LINEUP

This from Darren Dreger during his appearance on a Buffalo WGR 550 show called, The Instigators,

You look at the Edmonton Oilers and how they missed a glue guy in that dressing room like Matty Hendricks.

I see Matt Calvert being somewhat similar in terms of what he brings. He’s healthier, so physically speaking he’s going to be able to contribute on a higher level than maybe Matt Hendricks can.

There’s going to be a strong market for Matt Calvert. He’s going to get paid. He’s going to get a decent increase in his salary. And if he’s not good enough for John Tortorella, off the top of my head I can probably name 15 teams that would have an interest in the type of game that Matt Calvert brings to the table.

Now those are 3 separate quotes from the same appearance but I ordered them in the way displayed on purpose.

Matt Calvert is a player that the Oilers should absolutely stay away from. He’s never healthy for one (averages about 50-55 games a year), he’s only good for about 25 pts a year for two, and if he’s getting more than Zack Kassian, that’s a problem, for three.

Dreger compares him to Hendricks and that’s madness in my opinion.

From a points perspective, maybe Hendricks and Calvert are in the same ballpark but nowhere else are they comparable on the ice…

We know that Matt Hendricks is a guy that’ll go through a brick wall for his teammates and often tries, right. I think part of Aaron Ekblad is still stuck behind the net from that time he wall-papered him in Edmonton. Hendrick’s 123 hits in 60 games whilst averaging just over 9 minutes a game puts Calvert to shame. The Columbus Blue Jacket was getting a bit more than 13 minutes TOI/gp this season and could only manage 61 hits and 24pts in 69 games. Calvert had 1 fight this year, Hendricks had 5.

I can’t speak to what Calvert is like off the ice but that’s only half the battle. You can be a good guy in the dressing room (good guy, tries hard) but if you want guys to follow your lead, you have to show it on the ice too and I’ve never heard Matt Calvert’s name in the same sentence as the words “glue guy” until now.

He’s simply not gritty enough. He doesn’t block enough shots. He doesn’t do enough of the little things and the more I think about it, it sounds like Dreger is doing Calvert a favor by putting his name out there in the same vein as Hendricks to try and drive up some interest…

Besides, the Oilers have Drake Caggiula, who in my mind is already on his way to becoming a grittier Matt Calvert-type anyhow. The Drake had 12 goals, 20 pts and was 2nd on the team in hits with 147.

But if the Oilers WERE looking to add some energy to their bottom 6 via the UFA market to push the skilled guys up the line-up, what about these fellas? Not only are they cheap but they’re fast skaters and disciplined.

Tim Schaller – C/W – (BOS) – 12g, 10a, 132 hits and played 82 games this year. (775k)
Tommy Wingels – W – (BOS/CHI) – 179 hits but only 45 PIMs w/17pts. (750k)
Lance Bouma – W – (CHI) – 132 hits in 53gp and only 36 PIMs. ($1M)

If you want to move the price point up a bit, there are players like Jay Beagle (would be great for the PK), Antoine Roussel (mega-pest!), and Blake Comeau (another great character option for the PK).

Personally, I don’t have any problems with the Oilers NOT adding an energy player to the bottom 6 of their lineup and I don’t think that hitting necessarily means energy either. Watching Tampa Bay and seeing their speedy forwards zip up and down the lineup also adds energy.

At the moment, this is how the Oilers bottom six appears:

Lucic-Strome-Puljujarvi
Caggiula-Khaira-Kassian

Slepy I don’t think is returning so I didn’t pencil him in there.

What I think we’ll see come opening night is this bottom six:

Khaira-Strome-Aberg
Caggiula-New Guy-Kassian

You know Lucic and Puljujarvi are moving up. I’m not 100% on Aberg and I would like to see Kassian in that 3LW role because I think he’s got the skill to play there but not the trust from the coach. But that 4th line has the real potential to be your traditional buzzsaw line, right? Lots of grit and speed there.

If the Oilers could sign/trade for a player or two, I’d like them to emulate the Vegas franchise a bit there and go for speed, tenacity, and experience.

My options: Derek Ryan or Jay Beagle. Both affordable, RH’d, and experienced. And if I had my way, I’d sign them both and sort things out after. Maybe move Strome to the wing and make Aberg the 13th forward.

OILERS NEWS

Kris Russell no longer welcome in Edmonton? Huh?! – it’s the age of the Twitter mob, and if a dedicated mob of zealots makes a big enough and angry enough noise, it can quite easily down out the more reasonable majority.

What a Draft Lottery win would do for the Edmonton Oilers – No organization has been gifted more No. 1 overall picks for Edmonton, and it is fair to question the culture that this has produced.

What to expect when you’re expecting to win the draft lottery – Here’s Lowetide’s latest mock if the Oilers finish No. 9.

Will Edmonton Oilers retain Todd McLellan as coach? It’s not a sure thing after the meltdown of 2017-18 – Is Todd McLellan a bad coach, or is he a good coach who had a bad year?

Oilers Goaltending Depth Chart for 2018-19 – The recent rumors around the Edmonton Oilers potentially signing Mikko Koskinen brings forward some interesting questions about the goaltending depth chart heading into 2018-19.

NHL RUMORS

Central Division Offseason Primer: No. of Contracts, Cap Hit, Draft Picks, UFAs and RFAs

Dreger | There will be strong market for Calvert

NHL Rumors: Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues

NHL Rumors: John Tavares – Isles, Leafs, Sharks, Knights and Avs

Friedman looks ahead to NHL draft lottery

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Around the Oilogosphere, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Podcast, Rumors, Trades

Around the Oilogosphere – April 24th Edition – Mikko Koskinen, Oilers/Hurricanes Trade Proposal, and Rumblings on the Oilers Coaching Front!

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It looks like the Oilers are going to have some openings in their top 13 as latest reports (unconfirmed) have one of their better penalty-killers heading and one of their more promising youngsters heading to the KHL for next season.

I’m sad to see both players moving on (if the reports are indeed true) but I understand why the club would prefer to. Pakarinen was an excellent foot soldier and worked his ass off on the PK but his AHL offense didn’t translate to the NHL often enough. I always wondered why they wouldn’t use him on that left-wall during the PP. He had a cannon of a shot.

Same goes for Anton Slepyshev. He could blast the biscuit when given the chance but he never was given it. I think in Slepy’s case, he was so inconsistent too. He’d show you what he had every 6 or 7 games but only flashes in the others. I imagine he’s another player who feels let down by the coaching staff after performing so well with Draisaitl and Lucic during the playoffs in 2017.

But the players have to take some responsibility for this past season’s performance and this is one way the GM keeps the team accountable I guess. It also gives him the ability to bring in some new blood to spice things up.

I wonder if the Columbus Blue Jackets will look to shake the roster up a bit this off-season. Maybe a player like Boone Jenner becomes available.

Speaking of shaking loose, the Anaheim Ducks let go long-time assistant coach Trent Yawney. A bit of a shocker but something had to happen in Anaheim after their 1st round bowing out to the San Jose Sharks.

Yawney had been with the Ducks for 7 years and it was in the last 4 years he was in charge of their defense and penalty killing. In that time the Anaheim Ducks had THE BEST penalty kill in the NHL. Numero uno! The Oilers had the 27th best.

He also oversaw the development of key dmen like Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Josh Manson, Brandon Montour, and to a lesser extent Shea Theodore.

Bob’s right. Yawney does check off a lot of boxes. I hope the Oilers do indeed go after Trent Yawney as an assistant coach to replace Jim Johnson.

Will Jay Woodcroft get replaced is the next question though? It was his PP that ate shite all year whereas the PK improved after McLellan took over. People on the Twitter machine have been throwing out Glen Gulutzan’s name to replace Woody but I’m not for that. Calgary’s PP was pretty horrid in his two seasons with the club but John Shannon said on Oilers Now today that he’d be a good fit for the Oilers and is an excellent communicator.

Either way, the Oilers should bring in someone new to run their PP. Over the last four seasons, it’s ranked 22nd in the NHL and that’s not good enough with the playing personnel on hand.

If that means bringing in Manny Viveiros from Swift Current of the WHL, so be it. If that means overpaying Todd Nelson to come back, so be it. Lastly, IF that means backing up a Brinks truck to Pascal Vincent’s house to get him to leave the Manitoba Moose (Winnipeg Jets AHL affiliate), so be it.

Get. Er. Done Boys!

Just a quick one on Mikko Koskinen.

Jason Gregor and Bob Stauffer are saying that the reported $2.5M per year for two years number that was thrown out by KHL insider and Hockeybuzz writer Aivis Kalniņš is incorrect.

I agree that the number sounds way too high. I’d heard he was making like 1.3M Euros per year but I can’t confirm that. I guess the conversion would make that close to $2M CDN. But anything over $2M would be very risky in my opinion.

This is all predicated on the Finnish goalie signing in Edmonton of course but we don’t know how Koskinen will perform on the smaller ice. He hasn’t played on it since his days in the Islanders organization… So Edmonton should treat lightly here.

I wrote about Koskinen yesterday here.

OILERS NEWS

Who are Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan considering for the new Edmonton Oilers bench coach positions

Mikko Koskinen: Good signing or Overpayment?

Four-year Oiler Iiro Pakarinen reported heading for KHL

Oilers & Hurricanes Could Be Perfect Trade Partners

Oilers’ Forward Options for the Draft

Oilers Defense Options for the Draft

2018-19 Oilers: Piecing Together Roster

RFA Profile: Drake Caggiula is still carving out a niche

After heavy hockey sinks like a stone in Pacific, Peter Chiarelli looks to salvage the good ship Oilers

How much more development can Edmonton Oilers expect from Tyler Benson?

NHL RUMORS

NHL Rumors: Edmonton Oilers and the St. Louis Blues

NHL Rumors: Anaheim Ducks – Need To Get Younger, Faster … Do They Look To Trade Corey Perry?

NHL Rumors: New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia Flyers

NHL Rumors: The Montreal Canadiens Need At Center

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Kris Hansen

BLH NHL Playoffs Weekly Recap Apr 24th-May 3rd

 

Ah round two of the NHL Playoffs have begun and we have some good series. I’ll be honest, I haven’t watched as much of the playoffs this year as I did last year. I think it’s because of it being crunch time at work (teaching gig!) and some weird times for some games. Still you have some really good match ups with the Blues vs the Stars (tied 1-1), Islanders and Lightning (tied 1-1) Sharks vs Predators (Sharks up 2-0, boo San Jose boo) and Penguins vs Capitals (Penguins up 2-1).

My Playoffs bracket has taken a severe beating: My Stanley Cup pick (The Ducks) are out. Only 4 teams I chose (The Stars, Lightning, Penguins and Capitals) advanced. Not winning any brackets this year, that’s for sure.

The Edmonton Oilers News

Like last week, all is quiet on the Oilers news front. There’s not too much going on.

Saturday, we had the draft lottery where I did a live blog during the lottery that saw the Maple Leafs win the first overall selection (which by the way, total shameless plug, but the Oilers Rig has a new look. It’s great. Check it out.)

The Oilers ended up finishing outside the top three, finishing fourth overall, moving two spots down. I strongly believe that the Oilers will be trading the 4th overall pick.  While it’s important to replenish the farm team (no real elite talent now that McDavid, Nurse and Draisaitl have graduated), it’s time to move towards a win-sooner-than-later model. It’s an attractive asset.

If they did keep it, I’d love for them to draft Pierre Luc Dubois. He was ranked 9th on our top ten prospect rankings here at BLH.

World Championships start soon. Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall and Cam Talbot represent Team Canada this go around. Of course, McDavid will be the biggest name worth following but Hall did play very well last year with Sidney Crosby and Jordan Eberle.

Also speaking of Connor McDavid: He’s in the second round of the NHL 17 Cover Vote!  You can vote as many times as you wish.

For obvious reasons, I’d love to have McDavid on the cover. The Sharks had a player on the Cover back on NHL 2001 with Owen Nolan. Tarasenko is a great player but the Blues had Pronger in 2000. Benn would be the first Star representative to grace the cover. No Edmonton Oiler (other than some Midnight release signings) has graced the cover. So vote away.

The NHL Playoffs News

The biggest stories coming out of the playoffs are the firing of two head coaches this week.

In Anaheim after their colossal let down of a first round, fired head coach Bruce Boudreau. Feel bad for Boudreau here: he was the scape goat and did get them to a conference final the year prior. The big guns like Perry and Getzlaf underachieved on an epic level. General Manager Bob Murray promises that there will be changes.

My likely guesses? Sami Vatanen is gone (I’m really interested in seeing the Oilers snag him. He’s a good second pairing option and a Power play Quarterback.) and possibly Frederik Andersen (an RFA, have Gibson behind him). Where will Boudreau go? I was thinking Ottawa but….

The Calgary Flames fired Bob Hartley. Hartley definitely had his detractors from Flames fans: the Flames were a poor possession team with Bob Hartley under the helm. It was a rough four years for Hartley there besides last season’s Jack Adams Victory and a playoff appearance.

I’d be scared if Calgary snagged Boudreau. That would be a very wise move.

Brooks Orpik was handed a three game suspension. It was a nasty, nasty hit. Clear, late hit, interference. Very easy decision.

He wasn’t the only player suspended. Kris Letang was given a one game suspension. 

Videos

NHL Draft Lottery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peZEcmo3CsU

Top Moments

Capitals and Penguins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtPOttzvVDA

Backes scores OT winner to tie the series

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqt8M1DU51w

Sharks go up 2-0….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKvkpMdge84

 

A Special Message

While this is a hockey blog and I just do a weekly recap, I cannot express my sincerest wishes to all those effected by the Fort McMurray fire that is taking place right now.

I don’t have anything for what’s coming up or some follow me on Twitter thing. There’s just far more important things going on.

I’m lucky. My dad and brother have worked up north multiple times. I may not be in the trades, but both of them are Ironworkers. They’ve gone up there months at a time. I can only imagine the families of loved ones who are trapped up there or without any place to go.

Or the ones who live there on a full time basis. People who are about to or have already, lost everything.

I am providing a Red Cross Link for donations. Keep them in your thoughts.