Tag Archives: Cam Talbot

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Edmonton Oilers: BLH’s All-Decade Oilers Teams + Why the Brassard Deal Fell Through

By the time Chris Johnston reported the Edmonton Oilers were out of the “Derick Brassard Sweepstakes” I had read no fewer than three tweets from reputable sources that he was on his way to Edmonton.

  • Georges Laraque – Former Oiler and Radio Host in Montreal
  • Kevin Weekes – Former NHL Goalie and Hockey Analyst for ESPN, NHL Network, and NHL.com
  • Dan Kingerski – NHL Home Ice and Sportsnet Hockey Tonight, www.pittsburghhockeynow.com

Nobody said anything when those gentlemen sent their tweets out. The Edmonton media might’ve still been trying to figure out Google Translate maybe. It’s hard, I know.

Then early yesterday morning all of a sudden it was BAM-BAM-BAM. Jim Matheson (Edmonton Journal/Sun) sends a tweet out, then Kurt Leavins (Cult of Hockey), and then Bob Stauffer (Oilers play by play). All really close to each other.

(That’s a pretty good indicator that all three of those fellas talked to the same source by the way…)

Anyways, not long after the three musketeers put their info out, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston sent his tweet out saying that the Oilers were out and then shortly thereafter Andrew Gross (Isles beat writer) said that the Islanders would be picking him up.

At the end of the day, I do believe Edmonton was VERY close to signing him, hence the silence from the Edmonton media, but the deal hinged on another offer. So the Islanders upped their ante, Brassard signs in Long Island for the year at $1.2M and he adds another Eastern Conference clubs to his name (PIT, NYR, FLA, OTT). I couldn’t be happier for it as he was absolutely horrid last season and there’s no indication that he’s going to get any better. Good looking kid though, I hope he proves me wrong. As it is, he would’ve been surplus to requirements in Edmonton and the Oilers need that cap room.

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BLH’s All-Decade Oilers Teams

Over at ESPN they are doing some fun “All-Decade” stuff and I thought that I’d like to do something like that as well. So I’m going to give you my first and second All-Decade Edmonton Oilers teams.

(I’m going with traditional lefty/righty on defense by the way.)

First Team

LW – Leon Draisaitl: 351gp 125g 187a 312pts
C – Connor McDavid: 287gp 128g 244a 372pts
RW – Jordan Eberle: 507gp 165g 217a 382pts
LD – Oscar Klefbom: 316gp 29g 93a 122pts
RD – Justin Schultz: 248gp 28g 73a 101pts
G – Cam Talbot: 227gp 104w 95l 912sv% 2.74gaa

I know what you’re thinking… “Where’s Taylor Hall?”

Well, as far as I’m concerned, Leon Draisaitl has meant more to the Oilers during this decade than Taylor Hall. From a statistical POV, they’re quite similar. Hall scored 328pts in 381 games and Leon has scored 312pts in 351 games. I simply give the edge to Leon because he’s done it from two positions. Plus, let’s be honest here, Draisaitl can play with McDavid, whereas Taylor couldn’t.

I don’t think we can argue McDavid, Eberle, and Klefbom being on the first team. They’ve definitely been the best Oilers at those positions over the decade. Maybe health plays a factor with Klefbom but even then, when he’s gone out with injury, the team has fallen apart without him. He’s a minute-munching animal that really has no equal in this exercise.

Some of you might be wondering about Darnell Nurse as opposed to Justin Schultz but once again, if we go to the stat sheet, Jultz was head and shoulders (and always will be) better than Doc offensively. Was he a tire fire in his own end? Yes, of epic proportions, but the Oilers have missed his puck-moving abilities more than ever since they dealt him to Pittsburgh.

It’s Talbot over Dubnyk between the pipes easily. 12 shutouts in 227 games vs. 8 for Dubie? The gap isn’t substantial but without Talbot, the Oilers would’ve never gotten close to the playoffs when they made it.

Second Team

LW – Taylor Hall: 381gp 132g 196a 328pts
C – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: 539gp 147g 235a 382pts
RW – Dustin Penner: 144gp 53g 49a 102pts
LD – Ryan Whitney: 139gp 12g 49a 71pts
RD – Jeff Petry: 295gp 17g 57a 74pts
G – Devan Dubnyk: 171gp 61w 76l .910sv% 2.88gaa

Hall, Nuge, and Dubnyk are locks here, but the debate starts everywhere else. Unless you want to argue that David Perron should be in over Hall or Sam Gagner deserves to be there instead of Nugent-Hopkins. I don’t think there’s anyone out there that would have Khabibulin or Scrivens over Dubnyk, right?

Dustin Penner comes in ahead of Ales Hemsky and Nail Yakupov because I feel like he was a better player and a more effective one than Hemmer or Yak. He had similar goal totals (53) but he did it in a much shorter time frame (144 games).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itCUA_usE5U

On defense, I went with Ryan Whitney over Darnell Nurse because Whits was simply the better defenseman plus he could make a pass. Whitney scored nearly as many points as Nurse did in about 140 games less. It’s too bad for that bum ankle but his 0.51 pts/game is the best amongst all Oilers defenders in that decade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkpb6d1SagM

As for right-defense, it’s Jeff Petry all day for me. I considered Andrej Sekera here but since I’m going the traditional righty/lefty pairings, I can’t use him. Jeff Petry was a massive talent for the Oilers before they sent him packing to Montreal. He was big, physical, could shoot the pill, make a pass and he was consistent. Petry played nearly 300 games for the Oilers in the last decade, but he, like many others before him and after, was a victim of circumstance. He’s shone for the Habs since he left and been a top defender for them.

Who is on your All-Decade Edmonton Oilers team? Let us know in the comments below!

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: The Trades that Didn’t Happen

Going into this year’s trade deadline, I was almost giddy. I was looking forward to seeing some mad roster turnover for the Edmonton Oilers given the number of depth players that they had on their team. These are the sort of players that contenders usually pick up for their playoff run, or so I thought…

But before we get into that, I think we should take the time to acknowledge the handy work of former GM Peter Chiarelli.

I don’t care what you say. The Oilers junior pipeline and minor league system was completely rebuilt thanks to Chiarelli and the Oilers are going to reap what he sowed going forward. At least, he got one thing majorly right…

Back to the trade deadline analysis.

What did I wake up to? Not a single trade from Bob Nicholson’s management crew.

Now, I didn’t think that they’d be pilfering off young assets and draft picks but I did expect them to move one of their defensemen, at least. Or one of Zack Kassian or Alex Chiasson… But nadda…

They did well earlier with the Cam Talbot and Sam Gagner trades, no arguing that. Getting that cap room open and bringing in a character guy with skill has proven to be some astute interim-GMing on Gretzky’s part, but I view this year’s deadline as a fail on Keith Gretzky, Craig MacTavish, Scott Howson, and Bob Nicholson.

When I got in touch with one of my sources to see how things were going earlier in the day, I was told that things weren’t looking rosy. That the team would most likely stand pat because they believed they could still make the playoffs.

I says, “WHAT?!”

Right now the Oilers have a 6% chance of making the post-season. Tell me how a group of grown men who’ve worked in professional hockey for most of, if not all, their adult lives can, with a straight face, believe the Oilers have a chance at making the playoffs?

I like to think that I’m one of the most optimistic Oilers fans out there and I try my best to find the positive in everything but this is a bit ridiculous.

The Oilers should’ve tried to gather as many picks and prospects as possible in the last 48 hours. They’ve got eight defensemen on the NHL roster right now… I get that they needed to have warm bodies for the game vs. NSH yesterday but they were a lot closer to Bakersfield then that they were three days ago.

The same source that told me that the team was most likely to stay quiet also intimated that the reason they weren’t really going for it to upgrade the team or, for lack of a better team, tank, was because Darryl Katz is set to lose a sack of money labeled “millions” from non-renewals on his suites.

Well la-di-frickin’-da… That’s simply called a “stupidity tax”.

Do that enough times and you’ll find yourself living in a van down by the river eating government cheese!

RIP: Chris Farley

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ON THE OTHER HAND

Sometimes you’ve just got to get some things off of your chest before you can understand something through a clear(er) lens.

One thing that no other NHL team has right now is Connor McDavid, and you cannot discount the Oilers chances of going on a massive run when he’s playing. The team has performed fantastically during his suspension and if they can combine that with the kind of goaltending that Mikko Koskinen is giving and a healthy defense, you never know…

With a game in hand, the Oilers are only 7 points from a wildcard spot. They’re next five games are against Toronto, Ottawa, Columbus, Buffalo, and Vancouver. I won’t even speculate as to what they might come out of those games with point-wise as it could go either way against all of those teams.

The Oilers have been playing some of their best hockey since coming back from the bye week (3-5-4). There’s an intensity and a work ethic in their game that had been missing for some time and I think that it’s tied into Hitch being told to take it easy on the players.

They are 2-2-2 since Nick Kypreos made it public during Hockey Night in Canada’s Saturday Headlines that the Oilers would like him to be a bit more “positive” if he’s to remain behind the bench.

SPEAKING OF POSITIVE

Bob Stauffer said on Oilers Now yesterday that a couple of weeks ago, the Oilers had inquired into the services of Matt Hendricks for the reason of bringing some more positivity to the room. Obviously, we know that didn’t happen, he was traded back to Winnipeg from Minnesota on the deadline for a late round draft pick, a 7th rounder if I’m not mistaken…

I would’ve been jumping for joy had they brought Hendy back. He’s one of my favorite all-time Oilers. Such a hard worker and what a positive influence he was on that team when he was there. Plus, he definitely would’ve scored in the shootout vs. NSH last night instead of Rattie getting stopped.

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OTHER RUMORED TRADES

Mark Spector said that a Kassian to Toronto for Connor Brown deal never went through. I’d heard a Matt Benning for Brown trade was on the table and I think that Stauffer was saying the Maple Leafs wanted Jujhar Khaira because he was making a bit less. Probably the same reason that Edmonton wanted to keep him.

I’d heard bits and pieces about teams inquiring about Adam Larsson but nothing concrete. Milan Lucic was a hot topic for a short time. I think the Oilers were trying to get the Habs or the Panthers to take him on.

Lots of talk about Milan and Jesse Puljujarvi getting moved to Ottawa this summer and that makes sense but some might be asking whether Lucic would bother to waive his NMC to go there? I say he will because there’ll be a deal to retain salary and move him on again because the Senators will need to hit the cap floor.

Lastly, I got a DM saying that Boston was interested in one of the Oilers top-4 defenders but no other details. Sorry.

So take all of that for what you will.

In conclusion, the Oilers didn’t get worse on deadline day but on the other hand, they didn’t do anything to improve either.

So we’ll wait until the summer and see what the new GM has in store. You just hope it’s not another year of auditing before taking action.

What did you think of this year’s trade deadline for the Oilers? Let me know in the comments below!

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Armchair GM, Edmonton Oil Drops, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Trades

Edmonton Oil Drops: Busy Times in Edmonton

Today’s Cap Hit for the Oilers is at $78.1 million, which is $1.4 million under the $79.5 million limit. The Oilers are cap compliant based on this number, which is all they needed to worry about because of the LTIR situation. It is my understanding that normally, teams need to be under the $79.5 million limit with both values (Projected Cap Hit and Today’s Cap Hit) at all times, with LTIR being an exception (although as we learned, I have been wrong in the past). Basically, the Oilers are fine cap wise now for this season, even though it took some subtracting to make it happen.

The two trades are interesting from a hockey standpoint. It was clear that Talbot wasn’t going to be re-signed after Koskinen was extended, so a trade felt inevitable. Talbot was Chiarelli’s big acquisition that was supposed to fix the goaltending. Talbot had one incredible season in 2016-17 where the Oilers made the playoffs largely because of his performance. He had runs in the second half of his first and third seasons here where he was also outstanding. However, he was just too inconsistent to be the goalie that Chiarelli hoped that he would be. He started 3 of his 4 seasons in Edmonton slowly, which put the team behind the 8-ball early each year. It’s not all his fault because the defensive play in front of him was brutal at those times, but he does wear a good portion of that. This year, he could never really get it going for any length of time.

The other trend of his that was noticeable was…

CLICK HERE if you want to find out what else was noticeable about Cam Talbot and read the rest of Ryan’s analysis on the Oilers recent and future moves as we head into the NHL trade deadline. You’re not going to want to miss the portion about Jesse Puljujarvi!

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A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!
Elias Pettersson’s nickname is “Alien”. Here’s a shirt to celebrate it! Click the image to buy one!
Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Gagner, Sekera In. Talbot, Puljujarvi Out. Who’s Next?

What. A. Weekend! I was convinced that the Oilers were going to really make a go of it against Pittsburgh, Carolina, and the Islanders but man did they show me how wrong I really was. So much for getting rewarded for hard work eh? Those boys must be absolutely spent mentally. It’s come to the point to where they can’t even get a win when they do the right things…

Well, no need to dwell on that. The Oilers have started the sell-off with a couple of deals. One that I expected very much and the other that I’d heard rumblings of but didn’t actually think it would go down.

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Cam Talbot Gets His Trade

We talked about this WAY back in November, eh?

The recent rumor was that Brian Elliott was going to be the goalie coming back from Philadelphia, but it turned out that the management team lead by Keith Gretzky found a way to get 25-year-old Anthony Stolarz instead and cleared up almost $3.5M in cap space in the process.

Has anybody found out how Chuck Fletcher is going to deal with having Brian Elliott, Michael Neuvirth, Carter Hart, and Cam Talbot on the team?

I approve of this deal because I’m tired of seeing goals being scored on Edmonton in the first few shifts of a game or a period. Not a knock on Dadbot the person because he was a great citizen in Edmonton, but he didn’t want to be there anymore, the Oilers didn’t want him anymore. He’ll be a good mentor and backup for the Flyers.

Another plus to that deal was that Edmonton didn’t have to retain any salary. So good on them for that.

I don’t know a lot about Stolarz. When Bob Stauffer asked Gretzky for the scouting report on this kid, all he could say was that he was big and athletic… Alrighty then. Well, hopefully, the Oilers goalie coach doesn’t get him to leave the top corners open as he has with Koskinen and Talbot.

https://twitter.com/TheOilKnight/status/1096645322510557184

The Return of Samwise

I’d heard whispers of this maybe a month ago and I also remember it hypothetically being brought up on Oilers Now but I never thought it would actually go down. It was widely believed that Ryan Spooner would either be a buyout this summer or he’d be buried in the minors until his contract had expired, Mark Fayne-style.

My belief is that while Sam has still got the mind for the game and his hands are still there, his skating is not. I really think he was brought in for his leadership qualities and to gain a bit of favor with an irate fanbase. There’s nothing like bringing back a fan favorite!

It didn’t take long for him to get up to the 2nd line either eh? Jesse Puljujarvi couldn’t buy a second on the Oilers 2nd PP unit but Gagner gets thrust right into it with Colby Cave and Ty Rattie… If that doesn’t tell you how far Hitchcock’s coaching has fallen, I don’t know what does.

Were These Going to be Chiarelli’s Trades?

We were told that both of these deals were being negotiated for some time before they’d been finalized. So why all of a sudden is Keith Gretzky getting the push from the Oilers media to be the team’s next GM? All he did was say ok.

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/1096827711262212098

I think that for the sake of the Gretzky name, Keith should take his name out of the running for the job and stay behind the scenes. Just because he’s got his name on a trade that the Oilers have won and another that is a wash doesn’t mean he’s qualified for the position. And let’s say he does get hired and nothing changes with the performances of the team. You think the fans are angry now… Just wait until they start vandalizing the Gretzky statue outside the arena.

Kretzky can be a very effective member of this team’s management structure without having to be the general manager.

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Who’s Getting Traded Next?

Let’s take a look at some of the Oilers most likely to be moved between now and the deadline. Keeping in mind here that the plan is to clear as much cap space as possible.

  • Alex Petrovic – If not waivers, it sounds like the Pens are interested in him. I don’t think the Oilers will get much back in return. Hopefully, a draft pick but if I were gunning for a prospect, I really like a kid by the name of JS Dea. He’s a small skilled center that doesn’t look like there’s a future for him in Pittsburgh at 24 years old. I think he’d fit seamlessly onto Bakersfield’s roster.
  • Matt Benning – Toronto, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Dallas, and Arizona are teams I’ve heard with interest in the rugged defender. He’s on the IR right now though. Once again, I’m sure a draft pick is the aim but if I could get a player out of these teams, I’d try for these ones,
    • TOR – Calle Rosen (D) – offensive dman who’s lighting up the AHL for the Marlies.
    • MTL – Joni Ikonen (C) – Highly skilled pivot scoring in bunches in Finland. Could be the key to unlocking Puljujarvi?
    • ARI – Nick Cousins (C) – No offensive output but he’s a dedicated 3C who can win draws. Edmonton needs players who pride themselves on their defensive acumen.
    • DAL – Julius Honka (D) – High-risk dman who can move the puck. Has worn his welcome out in Dallas though.
  • Brandon Manning – If the Oilers can find a way to get rid of Ryan Spooner, I’ve got some faith they might be able to do the same with Manning. If not, a waivers he will go!

**EDIT: To make room for Andrej Sekera, Manning was put on waivers for the purpose of assignment. Finally taking some of the power out of Hitchcock’s hands…**

  • Zack Kassian – If there’s a guy who I’d like to see stay, it’s Zack. Maybe he’s changed his mind from before and he feels the same but one has to wonder why he’s getting such a push on McDavid’s line recently if it’s not for a showcasing. I guess Boston has been asking around with regards to his availability.
    • BOS – Edmonton has been watching a lot of Bruins games in the last couple of weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised if a bigger deal was being negotiated but Don Sweeney is all-in this year and they’re younger players are up for grabs. Forwards like Danton Heinen, Anton Blidh, and Peter Cehlarik are available. I know the Oilers have liked Heinen in the past and he’s a player with some zip/speed to his game that Edmonton could certainly use and he did put up nearly 50 points last season.
  • Alex Chiasson – Gretzky said he’d like to keep him because if they traded him the Oilers wouldn’t have enough NHL forwards on the team. So he’s basically given him an NMC unofficially but I think they’ll be getting calls on him. Chiasson is exactly the kind of player teams who plan to go deep into the playoffs acquire. He’s big, he works his ass off, and he’s effective along the boards. Plus he starts off really well with new teams in terms of goal-scoring. No word on who’s interested here. I think Nashville would be though with Austin Watson out. Possibly Montreal as they could use a bit of size on the flanks.
    • NSH – Give me Tolvanen! Just kidding! I don’t see a lot on their roster that would be feasible in terms of a player-for-player trade. So a mid-round draft pick would suffice
    • MTL – Charles Hudon (F) recently went through waivers. I’d have time for him.
  • Toby Rieder – Edmonton is having trouble giving this guy away but I feel like a team who’d like a player who can contribute on the PK might come calling for him on deadline day.

I could probably do the whole roster but I’m going to stop there. Can’t see Manning getting claimed and in my opinion, Kevin Gravel has earned himself a new contract. So that means Petrovic is probably the next shoe to drop folks!

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Elias Pettersson’s nickname is “Alien”. Here’s a shirt to celebrate it! Click the image to buy one!
A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!
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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: All Signs Point to Talbot Being Philly Bound, But Who Will be the Goalie Coming Back?

The Cam Talbot to Philadelphia rumors are getting louder and louder with each passing day. I don’t really expect anything to happen until after the Islanders game this weekend but he’s as good as gone.

At first, I speculated that Brian Elliott would be the return but now I’ve heard from three different people (my source, Friedman, and Dreger) that the return is likely Anthony Stolarz. More on him in a bit.

This is what my source said and following that will be what Elliotte Friedman and Darren Dreger said.

Nope it won’t be Elliotte. Heard that late late last night. Good chance its Stolarz. Makes sense to me. Young guy, RFA after this season, cheap cap hit.

He can back up Koski. Good return imo.

This from TSN’s Darren Dreger,

And this from Elliotte Friedman,

Where there’s smoke, there’s probably fire, right?

It’s early right now and I’m sure there’ll be more details revealed as the day passes on and more radio hits are done but my question is, will the Oilers have to include more than Talbot for Philly to take on his entire remaining salary? It wouldn’t be a problem for them as they have more than $8M to use but if they didn’t have to take on all of the contract, why would they?

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Anthony Stolarz

Stolarz has had trouble staying healthy since turning pro. Last season he had TWO surgeries on his left knee and this year he’s already been put on waivers and gone unclaimed. It’s quite apparent that Carter Hart has surpassed him, so there’s no future for him in the Flyers organization.

Fun Fact: Stolarz’s agent is Allain Roy. He also represents players like Kris Russell, Kyle Brodziak, Keegan Lowe, and Mitch Callahan as well as ex-Oiler Mark Letestu. So there’s a working relationship between the agent and team.

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/1096445468673036289

Here’s a report from Hockey’s Future on the 6’6″ goalie that might interest you,

Stolarz is a butterfly goaltender. He uses his 6-foot-6 frame to makes good use of his size in limiting the choices of shooters, and he isn’t afraid to challenge them. Stolarz generally plays a good positional game that doesn’t leave many options for an opposing shooter. But the goaltender needs to develop in several areas, including his post-to-post coverage. (source)

MORE OILERS RUMORS

So I guess we’ll see what happens by the end of the weekend. I’m hearing that the Penguins have interest in Alex Petrovic and that Edmonton can’t even give away Rieder, Spooner, or Manning… So it’s shaping up to be an eventful trade deadline Oilers fans!

In the meantime, the Oilers have a ridiculously important hockey game to win tonight vs. Carolina. I’m super curious to see how they perform the day after Hitch was sent to the stands again for practice.

Lastly, thank god for Peter Chiarelli eh? Have you seen how well the Oilers’ farm team is playing lately? It’s a good thing he repaired that dog’s breakfast or the team’s future would really be in the crapper. Bakersfield is looking for their 14th win in a row tonight as they take on the Ontario Reign.

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Elias Pettersson’s nickname is “Alien”. Here’s a shirt to celebrate it! Click the image to buy one!
The Vegas Golden Misfits are going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018!!! Love ’em or hate ’em it’s an amazing story and this is one punk rocker’s way of giving tribute! Click the pic above and get yours today!