Right after tonight’s game, I was sent two messages from different sources regarding what the Oilers are looking at doing with their roster. You can probably tell by the title of the post where we’re going with this.
**Preface: Use your own judgment here. I’m only a guy who happens to know someone within a professional hockey organization. I’m not an insider per se, but I hear things and I’ve been given permission to pass them on to you. All of this could come true or none of it could. It’s more likely the latter because things change all of the time. My advice, treat this like water cooler banter and don’t take it too seriously. It’s all entertainment at the end of the day anyhow, right?**
It’s no surprise that Blues GM Doug Armstrong and Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli are talking. They’ve made deals in the past and have seemingly always been connected in rumors. I’m thinking Kevin Shattenkirk from a couple seasons ago and more recently Alex Pietrangelo. I’ve also speculated about Colton Parayko probably every season since he broke into the league under Hitchcock.
The Oilers are having talks with STL about Parayko. It would be a very big deal. Possibly a multi-team deal. Lots of moving pieces.
Given the amount of money coming in and the amount that has to go out. Bringing in another team that has cap space makes sense.
Chiarelli thinks that the D needs a boost other than Klef and ‘Rej. Not sure who would be going out but Edmonton and the Blues are talking.
I don’t know how much of a boost Sekera is going to give the team but they sure have some pieces that need to be moved out. Ryan Spooner being one of them.
My Biggest Fear
I’m afraid that Leon Draisaitl could be the player moved out. I love him and think he’s worth every penny but you do have to wonder how much Hitchcock loves him when he doesn’t have the puck? Getting his $8.5 million salary off the books would certainly help out but unless Edmonton is getting Parayko AND Tarasenko or Schwartz in any trade with St. Louis, is a player who’s on pace for well over 80pts the one that should be traded?
Usually, anytime I hear something about a big trade, I don’t put a whole lot of stock into it. Massive trades are few and far between these days thanks to the salary cap. It is hard to ignore this though. Colton Parayko is always in rumors going to the Oilers and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up back home in Northern Alberta before this season is done.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
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The day has finally come everyone. The day where every faction of the Edmonton Oilers fanbase can come together as one glorious fanbase and… Treat it like any other day in the Oilogosphere by arguing about what moves Peter Chiarelli made or didn’t make… SMH…
Anyways, it’s draft day, one of MY favorite times of the year as a hockey fan. I don’t know about you but it has actually combined two of my favorite times into one, the trade deadline and the draft. As a person who enjoys the Oilers as a form of entertainment and not as an extension of my personal self-worth, reading rumor blogs and following insiders leading up to this day is about as good as it gets.
I’ll post twice today before the draft. This one will be re: rumors going into the draft and the next one will be an Oilers mock draft using the ISS hockey scouting service’s draft list.
I should tell you that I’ll be joining Mike from Oilers.live, Sean from theoilknight.com, and The Dirtbag for a LIVE podcast during the first round of the draft later today. If that interests you, you can head over to Mike’s website and there’ll be a link you can click to listen to us hosers flap our gums about the Oilers.
THE AVAIL
Peter Chiarelli held his pre-draft avail yesterday and told us nothing that we didn’t already know. The 10th overall is in play for the right player. If it isn’t used they’ll use it on the BPA (best player available). He’s not talking about Milan Lucic’s trade request. Eric Gryba was bought out because they didn’t think he’d play for the Oilers and they wanted to give him an opportunity to seek employment elsewhere.
Am I missing anything?
I know in a world where compassion is sometimes forgotten perhaps the Oilers were just letting Gryba go. Had no trade value and decided to eat the 300,000 for 2 years.
Anybody in any hockey-mad community knows that it’s a small one and that acts such as this one with Chiarelli and Gryba don’t go unnoticed. Other players will see this and remember it. I think it’s a positive light on Chiarelli. They weighed the options and decided to do it. If Chiarelli gets fired for 600k spent over two years, he never really had the job to begin with.
Things we should be talking about:
– McDavid b2b Art Ross and Lindsay
– The draft
Things we shouldn’t be talking about:
– Old trades
— x-Oilers ballin flames suck (@DirtbagDonny) June 22, 2018
Bob Stauffer said that the Oilers should have between 46 and 48 spots filled on the 50-man roster when all is said and done. So that leaves a few spots for trades, waiver claims, and NCAA free agents when the time comes.
RUMORS GOING INTO TONIGHT’S DRAFT
The MSM insiders have been talking Oilers since the day the regular season ended but more recently this is what they’ve been saying.
Rishaug said that there are teams inquiring about Nuge’s services.
Friedman has said that the Oilers are in on Parayko.
McKenzie says the Oilers first rounder is definitely in play.
LeBrun has talked about Lucic’s availability.
Matheson has tossed out Julius Honka’s name on multiple occasions.
Dreger did some Rishaug-ing of his own connecting Hanifin and the Oilers.
Stauffer has a been throwing Ryan Ellis’ name out for a good two weeks.
The amateur insiders have also been filling websites with words about possible moves the Oilers will be making
Eklund has the Oilers talking to both the Senators about Karlsson and the Flyers about Simmonds.
Marshall has 6 teams in on the Oilers first rounder (NSH, CAR, CGY, COL, MIN, NYR).
Treenas Oil has popped up with tweets about the Oilers and Habs on more than one occasion. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins being the piece of interest for Montreal obviously.
So make of it what you will. It’s called silly season for a reason. It’s obvious that Peter Chiarelli is on the hunt for that defenseman that will help on the PP. With names like Krug, Ellis, Ristolainen, Hamilton, Barrie, Faulk, etc. coming up over and over in my Twitter TL. My only hope is that whatever they do, don’t trade Puljujarvi, Nuge, Drai, or the 10th overall. Deal next year’s picks, Yamamoto, Bear, Jones, or whoever but this year’s draft crop for the Oilers is very important in my opinion.
I’d be very comfortable with them trading Kailer Yamamoto though. I feel that Puljujarvi has the higher ceiling and if the Oilers would like to move a blue-chip piece to get better right now, Yamamoto is the guy they should move.
The wingers that have been discussed as trade targets for the Oilers (Pacioretty, Simmonds, Skinner, etc) are all players that are one season from UFA. Do you think that the Oilers would be willing to sacrifice the long-term future of the club to acquire one of those players?
Peter Chiarelli HAS to walk the tight rope carefully this year. I’m pretty nervous to be honest. I don’t want them to cut into the core of the offense to improve the D. I’d rather they move on from Klefbom if they’re going to use a young player.
I do wonder however if they’d be willing to trade Klefbom and the 10th overall to move up. That would free up cap room and roster space and allow them to pick a player (anyone rated that high will do for me but I’d like Quinn Hughes) they covet. Maybe Arizona cuts that deal.
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First off let’s get into that Colton Parayko tweet that Stauffer sent out. I think that it’d be a lovely time in Edmonton if the Oilers could find a way to acquire the big defenseman from St.Louis without having to send a top-6 forward to them but I simply can’t see any reason why the Blues would want to do that. Their problems are down the middle and possible between the pipes.
Why the Oilers feel the need to shake up that roster is beyond me at the moment. If the team starts slow, I could definitely see movement then but there are going to be teams that miss out on trades or signings this summer and that’s when Chiarelli should pounce.
But on the other hand, and I’ve been saying this for months, what happens if SJ does get Tavares and Kovalchuk? What if Erik Karlsson gets traded to Las Vegas? Is there a possibility that Joe Thornton could stay within the Pacific and sign with another team as a UFA? The Oilers would be in very tough to make the playoffs if they don’t make a move.
So what does a GM do in that instance? Edmonton doesn’t have a lot of assets to go out there and make deals with but they do have a young team that will definitely be looking to show the world that last year was a fluke and the year before was the real team. I think if I were GM, I’d sit on the roster for the time being. There’s no point in pushing on a closed door, right?
A healthy Oilers team has the pieces to compete with the best teams in the NHL on any given night and I’d go into the new season with that in mind.
THE HOCKEY PROSPECTS BLACK BOOK
Yesterday, we talked a bit about draft guides and what players they have slotted where the Oilers are picking and I’d like to look closer at those players in order to give not only you the reader some more exposure to other draft-eligible players you might not have heard of but to educate myself a bit on those players too!
Another reason I’d like to see how this exercise goes is that I’ve heard if you went by Central Scouting’s rankings and just selected who they had (we’ll do that tomorrow probably) that you’d be better off.
So let’s see if that’s true…
Edmonton has the following selections to use on Friday in Dallas,
10th
40th
71st
133rd
164th
195th
No pick in the 4th round because they gave it up for Al Montoya.
10th – Evan Bouchard (RD), London Knights, 6’2″, 198lbs
I’m of the belief that the Oilers have been watching this player all season long. I can’t be 100% sure if he’s the guy at the top of their list anymore mind you but he’s definitely a player I wouldn’t complain about IF they were presented with the chance at 10th overall to select him.
Evan Bouchard racked up 87 points in 67 games for the London Knights and that’s without the likes of Robert Thomas who was dealt to Hamilton for the OHL playoffs. He was the leading scorer on his team… AS A DEFENSEMAN!
Personally, I think that’s damned impressive given he’s not a pure offensive defenseman. He’s not really a puck rusher like Quinn Hughes or Noah Dobson but he can shoot the puck very well and he’s widely known as the best passer in this draft. Good news for the Oilers if they pick him right?
I’ve read that sometimes Bouchard isn’t as intense as you’d like him to be for a guy with size and that sometimes he might look “lazy” on the ice. Of course, that could be because his coach played him upwards of 35 minutes a night on some evenings.
Evan Bouchard could play in the NHL next season on the right team.
Bouchard is a very skilled defenseman but might not be quite as dynamic as a few of the other defenders at the top of this stacked class for high end defenseman. If he can improve his first few steps and compete more regularly on a shift- to-shift basis, that would go a long way towards fulfilling his potential of becoming a top-pairing defenseman who can quarterback a powerplay at the NHL level.
40th – Jake Wise (C), USNTDP U-18, 5’10”, 195lbs
Wise is a left-handed pivot who is known for his playmaking, his vision, and his two-way play. He was on the IR with a broken clavicle but ended his season with 39pts in 33 games played.
He’s not the biggest player nor the shiftiest one either but he works hard and has high-end hockey sense. He has a habit of surprising his opponents by making plays out of nothing and that’s always a plus in my books. He can skate north/south well but agility is where he runs into issues. Not really the Mitch Marner type, if you will.
For me, I probably wouldn’t take this player here. He sounds more like a 3rd round pick to me and there are other players like Calen Addison, Niklas Nordgren, Liam Foudy, and Jack Drury in the same range according to The Hockey Prospects’ rankings.
He didn’t miss a beat when he came back from injury and was instantly one of the best players on that U18 squad. His vision of the ice is as good as anyone in the draft in my opinion.”
71st – Milos Roman (C), Vancouver Giants, 5’11”, 196lbs
Roman was injured for much of the season but when he was in the lineup he was the Giants no.1 centre and he scored 32 points in 39 games. He displays a strong compete game and is quite responsible at both ends of the ice. He’s the kind of player who can keep the pressure on the opposition due to having such a strong motor. A very positionally sound player but has troubles on the faceoff and gets muscled out from time to time along the boards.
This player sounds like the kind of player you’d want in your bottom-6. As he gets older he’ll get stronger and more technically skilled and that’ll lead to him winning more faceoffs and board battles.
I don’t mind this selection but I have to wonder if heart-and-soul players like Jonathan Gruden or Riley Sutter would be better for Edmonton here. What about gifted Europeans like Philipp Kurashev or Alexander Khovanov? Then there’s the new Brian Boyle, 6’8″ Curtis Douglas, in the range too…
“He always looked to be in the right spot because his skating was sneaky good. More of passer than a shooter but would love to see him diversify his offence by shooting more.”
133rd – Erik Portillo (G), Frolunda Jr, 6’6″, 207lbs
I’ll be honest here, I’ve never heard of this guy before. Which is kind of surprising, right? He’s HUGE! And to top it off he played in three different leagues last season, so maybe that’s why we never heard about him.
His stats told an interesting story though. Check them out.
He absolutely dominated at the higher level but that could be due to playing with a better defense too.
According to The Black Book, one of the things that really separates Portillo from other big goalies is his reflexes. He’s an aggressive goalie who likes to cut down the angles on the shooter as soon as possible but he has trouble with rebounds and sometimes that uber-aggressive play gets him into poor positions. Remember Fleury for Vegas in the Cup final?
If the Oilers selected him I’d be happy as he’s more of a project than an immediate solution. They could leave him in Sweden to develop more and bring him over when he’s older to marinate in the minors.
Could you imagine having Stuart Skinner AND this Portillo fella developed and guarding the Oilers nets? Couple of big boys right there…
Portillo is a very tall, yet coordinated and fluid goalie, giving him one of the better bases in this year’s draft class. Despite his rangy build, Erik likes to cut off his angles aggressively. This allows him to take up a tremendous amount of the net
Tough to go wrong with a hockey player named “Blade” right? Well, from what info I’ve gathered, he’s had a tough go of it so far in junior hockey. Jenkins was the 4th overall pick in the 2016 OHL draft and this past year only managed to score 44pts in 68 games. Probably not what the GM of Saginaw was expecting when he took him over the likes of Ty Dellandrea, Barrett Hayton, or Aidan Dudas.
It’s not what this player does with the puck that is slotting him so low in the rankings. He’s well-built, quite strong (with room to get stronger), and he’s difficult to contain below the goal-line. He’s been praised for having silky mitts, great hockey sense, and excellent vision but…
It’s away from the puck that has scouts concerned. I guess he started the year as a centre and ended it a wing because he simply couldn’t get a grasp of where he needed to be on the ice defensively. Sometimes he takes shifts off and is invisible for long periods of time.
Not a player I’d pick here for me. A guy like Nando Eggenberger is around this range, Alexis Gravel is hovering around 164th ov for The Hockey Prospect, and perhaps Nathan Dunkley out of London would be a better pick.
“Good individual skill, good size but really needs to learn how to play the game the right way.”
195th – Isaac Johnson (LW), Tri-City Americans, 6’2″, 186lbs
Johnson is an overage player that went unselected in last year’s draft. He’s a complimentary player who can benefit playing with skilled linemates because he likes to do the perimeter work along the walls. He’s got busy feet and has no qualms heading into traffic to get things done.
I’m thinking that Johnson’s game sounds like an AHL game but in the 7th round, there’s not much more a team can expect at that point, right?
The 7th round is a place the Oilers did fine in last year with their selection of Phil Kemp. Could they do it again? Probably not with Johnson but there aren’t many options left on the Black Book’s rankings here.
One option I do like here though is Ryan O’Reilly (yes, he’s got the same name). He’s ranked 196th by The Hockey Prospect but he was the USHL rookie goal leader last year. He’s got an NHL shot already but simply lacks the boots.
Johnson displayed good physical tools with his size and reach but in our evaluation, there’s aspects of Isaac’s game that are lacking
So what do you think? Let me know in the comments!
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The Six Game Win Streak was nice while it lasted. The Oilers finished their four game road trip with an abysmal 1-3 record. Sure, they grabbed a win against Boston on the 14th, but everything else was just….bad.
Put it this way: in the last three games against the Rangers, Blackhawks and Avalanche, the Oilers were outscored 13-3. That’s horrid. Worse yet were the apparent efforts against the Blackhawks, where they won 4-0 in an easy win. Last night, the Oilers could do no right against a hot goaltender like Varlamov and lost 5-1.
It’s a grim record for sure. Monday they play the Jets and then have a five day break before a back to back against Vancouver and Calgary. It doesn’t get any easier either: They take on the Kings on the 29th and the Ducks on the 31st. It’s going to be tough and there are hurdles like mad.
The Oilers are definitely missing Oscar Klefbom and he could not come back any sooner. Worse yet was the apparent injury of Brandon Davidson where he was cross checked from Blake Comeau.
No call on the play. No reaction from the team. Nothing. It was old Oilers hockey where someone gets hurt and the team has not even one bit of a response from them.
It’s a damn shame because Brandon Davidson has been the most underrated rookie in the NHL this season and it’s not even close. Losing Davidson and Klefbom stinks. A lot.
Edmonton Oilers Three Stars:
Honestly, this week, there are not any stars. The team stunk this week, despite a win against the Boston Bruins.
The only player that deserves a remote star is Cam Talbot, where he posted 47 saves in 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins. That’s about it.
Who deserves a star? They’ve allowed 4, 4 and 5 goals in the last three games, so certainly not the goaltending or the defence.
They’ve scored a whopping three goals in three games: 2,0,1. The offence certainly doesn’t deserve any praise.
Tough love for the Edmonton Oilers for sure this week. I can’t find any positives in those last three games. Sure, they outshot the Avalanche heavily and were equal in shots against the Rangers, I’ll give them that.
Edmonton Oilers News and Rumors:
So the NHL has the holiday freeze now in effect for any trades. Expect rumors to be the same.
However, there were some newsworthy posts around the Edmonton Oilers recently:
(Side note: I’d highly recommend the book. I just completed the read and it was engaging and disturbing. There were things that a parent should never put their kid through like John O’Sullivan did to his son.)
Ryan Johansen could be traded according to Blue Jackets President, John Davidson. This comes after Johansen was a healthy scratch in a 7-5 win over the Arizona Coyotes
It’s a slow week for the Oilers with only two days taking place over the span of five days: they play hosts to Winnipeg on Monday and Vancouver on Saturday.
