Tag Archives: Curtis Lazar

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Sabre the Feeling

Can you believe what we witnessed last night? Unbelievable, right? My whole family was sitting in the living room with me doing random things while I was watching this Edmonton Oilers/Calgary Flames game get out of hand and when the camera caught Mike Smith going to center-ice I knew shit was going to hit the fan. I yelled, “GOALIE FIGHT!” and my son, who is ridiculously adorable, turned ot me and said, “Daddy, ni xiadao wo!” Which means, “You scared me!” in Mandarin but I was so absorbed in the donnybrook that I barely heard him. Maybe because he’d already said it a couple times after I shouted when the Oilers had scored earlier in the game… I remember sitting in my chair cheering and clapping as if I was right there at the game and not even caring one bit how daft I might’ve looked to my wife and kids. I don’t really know how to express my feelings to be honest. I was happy, excited, nostalgic, and a handful of other things all at once. It was almost an out of body experience frankly.

To top it off, aside from the Oilers putting up a converted touchdown on Calgary with most of those going in on “No Save” Dave Rittich, there was “The Call”.

I didn’t get to hear the famous Jack Michaels call of the fight until later in the day but for me, it’s the best call of a fight I’ve ever heard. The end when he’s shouting about this being the battle of Alberta we’ve all be waiting 3o years for… It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it and hits me right in the feels too.

Now, I couldn’t keep that to myself. So I found some fan footage of that fight and spliced it together with Jack’s call and made a YouTube clip for you. I hope you like it!

New Trade Rumors

Today, in Kurt Leavins’ 9 Things blog, he introduced the Buffalo Sabres as a possible team to keep an eye out for with regards to a trading partner for the Oilers and funny enough, I was just talking about those two getting together for a deal with a friend. So I asked around and the conclusion that I came to is that the Oilers are still looking to upgrade their depth at forward. Not a lot of details were given but I came to the conclusion that the following players could be on Edmonton’s radar.

  • Conor Sheary (LW) – 27 years old – 45gp 7g 9a 16pts

If you’re looking for speed and tenacity on the wing as well as someone who can score goals and play with talented centers, Sheary could be your guy. He’s having a down year as many in Buffalo aside from Jack Eichel are, but this guy can play up and down your lineup and he’s a UFA this summer. He’s been a healthy scratch at times this year to boot, so we should assume the asking price is probably pretty low.

  • Jimmy Vesey (LW) – 26 years old – 48gp 6g 8a 14pts 

Here’s another winger who can skate like the wind but this one has size (6’3″ 202lbs). Vesey hasn’t fit into Ralph Krueger’s system in Buffalo since being acquired by the Sabres from New York and has found himself sitting in the press box at least once. Normally a 30-ish points per year player, Vesey will struggle to hit 25 this year. Also an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

  • Curtis Lazar (C/RW) – 25 years old – 22gp 4g 4a 8pts

Do you remember earlier this year when Edmonton played Buffalo and Lazar was unbeatable on the faceoff dot? Draisaitl simply couldn’t solve him that night. I wonder if the former Edmonton Oil King on that night may have caught the eye of someone in Edmonton’s pro scouting department. Now, you have to wonder about the kind of decision making your scouts are making if they’re offering recommendations after one good performance which flies in the face of a handful of poor seasons. That said, he’s only making 700k, he’d simply be a depth acquisition, and he’d fit right in with this group of players because he’s an extremely hard worker on and off of the ice.

 Another player I wonder about is summer-signing Marcus Johansson. He’s a veteran with lots of playoff experience and he can move. Consistency (production/health) has been his problem but like Edmonton’s streaky scorers (Neal/Chiasson), when he’s on, he’s really on. An expensive player to bring in though as he makes $4.5M for this year and next. In addition to that, he’s got a ten team no trade list. So, perhaps this option isn’t so viable. I like his toolset though.

My feeling is that it’s going to be tough for Joakim Nygard to come back this year and regain the form he was playing with after he recovers from hand surgery and we’ve yet to see what Tyler Benson can do. If he’s not up to snuff during this call-up, Edmonton will need to bring someone in to play with Riley Sheahan and Josh Archibald on the Oilers’ 3rd line.

Buffalo is in a weird position too. Similar to what the Oilers were in when Peter Chiarelli came aboard and had to lose a couple of trades because he had no leverage. Jason Botteril is in a shit position right now and the city of Buffalo is turning on him fast. This is the time to win a trade with the Sabres and pry a good player out of that organization on the cheap.

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

Islanders Looking at a Pair of Oilers?

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I got a message late last night from my source and it said that Eberle to the Islanders was heating up. Oilers were looking at Strome and multiple draft picks in exchange for Eberle but that there was more to it and to wait and see…

I think I called something similar a couple of days ago…

In the summer, could Chiarelli get the Islanders to send him Ryan Strome and a pick or prospect for Jordan Eberle? (source)

Of course, it was a hypothetical but I’ll take it! Oh and just before we really get going into this, my source isn’t the lovely Treena’s Oil even though she just went on a twitter craze with a handful of tweets that mentioned some of the thoughts I will go on talk about below.

It’s funny, a lot of the same names keep popping up in rumours and in various blogs. I mean, Lowetide has mentioned Reto Berra on numerous occasions on his blog and I feel like the Halak to Edmonton murmurings have been on low-rumble since he was demoted to the Islanders farm team.

Personally, I don’t believe the Oilers coaching staff is convinced that Brossoit can handle the backup duties. Brossoit looks to be the kind of goalie that needs the no.1 spot and has to be playing all of the time, similar to Talbot. I also believe that Nick Ellis might be the better of the two.

How much better is Curtis Lazar than Anton Lander?

We’re two veteran dmen down right now after last night’s game vs. the Panthers. It’s unknown how long Larsson will be out and we haven’t heard a lot on Sekera. The Oilers will need Brandon Davidson now more than ever. Is trading him in a deal that smart? Unless said deal was bringing back a defenseman… *Cough* Shattenkirk *Cough*

I can’t see Edmonton dealing Khaira. He seems very much in the mold of a Chiarelli-type player. Big, strong, hard-working, positionally versatile…

The other little tidbit, I was also told that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was another player the Islanders might be looking at…

Not a huge surprise there but would it be a bigger surprise if the Oilers dealt both Eberle AND Nugent-Hopkins to the Islanders? That’s a MAJOR chunk of cap space right there and the Oilers would have to bring some back their way. Would you be shocked if it was Johnny Boychuk waiving his NMC, Jaro Halak (Bob Stauffer did say yesterday that he believes the Isles are prepared to buy Halak out though), and Ryan Strome coming Edmonton’s way? Edmonton taking the short-term hit on Halak and then going out and signing Brian Boyle and/or Derek Ryan in the offseason? If the Oilers can find a taker for Pouliot as well as Fayne, the kind of deal mentioned here becomes more palpable financially for the Oilers.

So maybe a version of the roster before July 1st hits would look similar to this:

Maroon/McDavid/Puljujarvi
Lucic/Draisaitl/Strome
Slepyshev/Boyle/Ryan
Khaira/Letestu/Kassian

Klefbom/Larsson
Sekera/Boychuk
Nurse/Benning

Talbot
Halak

When it comes to Nuge and Eberle, I really think we’re going to find out how much of the things we’ve ingested are true before the 2017/18 season gets going with a lot of what the Oilers can or will do in the future riding on what the upcoming RFAs will be demanding, right? So we wait… Will Draisaitl demand north of $6M or can Chiarelli convince the kids who are driving this bus to take a bit less for the better of the team? It’ll be interesting nevertheless.

Just before we conclude and I shamelessly plug our wicked t-shirts, I do wonder how much of the news we get is information vs. disinformation, this time of the year. How much of what Stauffer says is genuine as opposed to something just being tossed out to keep prying minds away from precious truths. Same goes for the news that I hear from my source or the rumours you hear or read from the sites or people you know.

The other thing is, I think it’s pretty common for the GMs to use the insiders to influence negotiations? For example, yesterday on Oilers Now! Frank Seravelli was really pushing the idea of the Oilers acquiring Kevin Shattenkirk and earlier in the week Dreger was saying how the Islanders/Eberle talks had taken place earlier but had cooled off more recently. Yet, here we are today getting news of trade talks heating up between the Isles and Oilers and my feeling before today on Shattenkirk was that the Blues were going to keep him. Bob MacKenzie has stated that he believes otherwise here.

So are the Islanders looking to put pressure on the Oilers to make a deal here while they are in the thick of a pretty kickass resurgence? Are the Blues laying some heat on Chiarelli to get his butt in gear because the pieces they’d like would be of better use now than later?

Lastly, in the back of my mind, I’d like the things I share here with you to come true because it’d make me ego feel good and who doesn’t enjoy a good stroking of the ego 🙂 But the reality is, even if the reports I get are true, they may never come to fruition because the line is always moving in negotiations and trades fall apart all of the time. I mean, what is an insider’s batting average when it comes to rumours anyhow?

How would you feel about a blockbuster trade like the one proposed above? Let us know in the comments below! But don’t forget to check out our Teepublic shop as EVERYTHING IS ON SALE!! (For the time being) Click on the pic below and clothe yourself or your loved ones in some sweet sweet BLH attire! I recommend the Kris Army Tee!

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Edmonton Oilers, Kosmic Burrito, NHL

Kosmic’s World Cup of Hockey Team North America Roster Prediction

March 1st 2016
Post Deadline

Well….here I am…I must have done something right, because I’m back to trip with the BLH Universe again! How’d you like Chia Pete’s first go as an Oiler at the ol’ deadline? Do you think that the Oilers made out alright? Me, I don’t really have any complaints, plus, that’s not what my post is about, haha…

As promised, this is my 2016 World Cup of Hockey Team McDavid, errr, I mean Team North America roster predictions/report. Let’s face it folks, this team belongs to the McWizard!

But first, I have to get something of my chest. I don’t even like the inclusion of the 23 and under North American and European teams. Do you really think that Mcdavid wants to be the one who scores the goal that eliminates Team Canada (hypothetically speaking)? Of course he doesn’t!! He wants to score the huge goals for Canada, and party with the big boys!! But….here we are, and that train has left the station.

Too be honest though, as an Oilers fan this team does possess a lot of Edmonton connections. First off, the GM is Peter Chiarelli, and the Head Coach is Todd Mclellan. Plus some key members of the team I might add.

So, just like my last report, we’ll start with the Goaltenders. Speaking of which, I think this is going to be the team’s weakest position. Only due to the lack of experienced ’tenders. There is USA’s John Gibson, who has won both gold and bronze at the World Juniors. Also, Jets prospect Connor Hellebuyck won bronze at the World Championships. So there is some experience there, that can’t be discounted. I do honestly believe that Gibson is on the verge of breaking out huge, and what a scene that would be if he could do it on the world stage.

Potential Goalies: John Gibson, Connor Hellebuyck, Malcolm Subban, Matt Murray, and Zach Fucale

Again, this is just my personal opinion, but you can’t ignore Gibson and Hellebuyck’s international resumes. So I see Chiarelli going with (in this order):

John Gibson – Connor Hellebuyck – Malcolm Subban

The defence is a different story….this is seriously a stacked backend ladies and gentlemen! We’re talking about names like Ekblad, Reilly, Jones, and Hanifin. That’s heavy duty. Baby’s got back! I didn’t realize just how stacked they are until I started to research this story. So let’s get on with it.

Potential Defencemen: Aaron Ekblad, Noah Hanifin, Matt Dumba, Morgan Reilly, Colton Parayko, Seth Jones, Dougie Hamilton, Connor Murphy, Jacob Trouba, Cody Ceci, Colin Miller, and Ryan Murray

Making my prediction for the defence was actually tougher than originally thought, but if I was GM, the defence would like something like this:

Seth Jones – Aaron Ekblad
Morgan Reilly – Jacob Trouba
Ryan Murray – Dougie Hamilton
Extra Skater: Matt Dumba

Ah yes, now the Mcdavid’s, I mean the McJesus’, Errg…Now for the forwards. You thought that the defence was stellar? Shit dude, you haven’t seen anything yet! We’re talking about names like 2 time Cup winner Brendan Saad, Johnny Hockey himself, and that other fellow, what”s his name, oh yeah…CONNOR MCDAVID! Honestly, this team should not be taken lightly at all. There is A LOT of potential firepower on this squad. So let’s get cracking at it.

Potential Forwards: Connor McDavid, Brendan Saad, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nathan McKinnon, Curtis Lazar, Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Sean Couturier, Ryan Strome, Sean Monahan, Alex Galchenyuk, Jonathon Huberdeau, Mark Scheifele, Jonathon Drouin, Sam Reinhart, Max Domi, Dylan Larkin, Boone Jenner, Sam Bennett, Robby Fabbri, Anthony Duclair, and Bo Horvat

See, I told you that they’re doing pretty well for themselves….so take this with a grain of salt, but here are my line predictions:

Johnny Gaudreau – Connor McDavid – Nathan McKinnon
Brandon Saad – Sean Monahan – Jack Eichel
Alex Galchenyuk – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Ryan Strome
Max Domi – Sean Couturier – Curtis Lazar
Extra Skater: Auston Matthews

As awesome as it will be for all of these kids to play together, you can’t tell me that they wouldn’t have preferred to play for their respected countries? So hopefully the next inception of the World Cup only includes countries. But regardless, the North American team is an incredibly talented squad and they’re my sleeper pick to win it all. They definitely shouldn’t be underestimated just due to their age, they have a lot of international hardware between them, plus…..McDavid.

Well folks, once again, thanks for tripping with me!! Stay tuned for my next article……an introduction to the future, the man known as Laurent Brossoit….

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