Tag Archives: Don Sweeney

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

Tampa Bay and Boston Seemingly at the Front of the Line for Pat Maroon

The rumors are going to be coming in hard and heavy for the next couple of weeks until the trade deadline passes and Pat Maroon’s name will be the name de jour until he’s gone.

You know it’s funny, on Twitter I read someone said that if a team like Tampa Bay is looking into Oscar Klefbom, that should be a sign that the Oilers should be keeping him. Does that apply to Pat Maroon too? If a good team is looking at one of your players, regardless of who it is, is that a sign you should be keeping him? Would it be different if Klefbom was on an expiring contract?

Anyways, over the weekend, Elliotte Friedman said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Tampa was in on Maroon and Joe Haggerty has named Boston as a team interested in adding Maroon.

Doesn’t surprise me that playoff-bound teams are looking to add size to their roster because that’s what good teams do.

But who should the Oilers target from Tampa and Boston in return for their Big Rig. I’ve got a few names in mind but it’ll all depend on how desperate Don Sweeney and Steve Yzerman are to get the power forward out of Edmonton. Personally, I don’t think they need to do a helluva lot to their rosters as they stand right now but Maroon has shown in the past that in a new environment, he performs well.

I imagine that TB and BOS won’t want to part with what I want them to in a deal for Pat Maroon. But here are the players that I’d like to see Chiarelli acquire in a deal for the Oilers big LWer.

Tampa Bay 

  • Anthony Cirelli (C) – Leads Tampa’s AHL squad in scoring. Highly competitive+versatile.
  • Boris Katchouk (LW) – Pro shot sniper playing for OHL best Sault St. Marie.
  • Taylor Raddysh (RW) – Team Canada’s power forward scoring machine at the WJHCs.
  • Alex Lipanov (C) – Played pivot on Andrei Svechnikov’s line in Barrie Now in Sudbury. Very skilled.
  • Brett Howden (C) – Good 2-way centre with an eye for the net. Plays in Moose Jaw.

I don’t lean towards any of those forwards more than another. I like all 5. If we’re going for skill alone, probably Lipanov. If you want scoring wingers then you go with Katchouk and Raddysh. The solid 2-way centres would be Cirelli and Howden. All five of these guys are 6-feet or over if size means something to you.

These kinds of players would really do wonders for the Oilers AHL team and I think at this point and with this kind of deal, it wouldn’t hurt to keep adding to that cupboard. That said, the Oilers can grab all the talented forwards in the world but if they can’t develop them it means nothing. And one thing I do question is the coaching staff in Bakersfield and their methods in developing the forwards down there.

Boston

  • Danton Heinen (LW) – Probably not happening but he’d be my no.1 target.
  • Zach Senyshyn (RW) – Major scorer at JR level and is taking some time to learn the pro game in his rookie AHL season. Has speed and a shot though.
  • Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson (C) – Projecting to be a shut-down centre in the NHL.
  • Alexander Khoklachev – (RW) – Was over a point-per-game player at the AHL level, is nearly the same in the KHL this season. He’s a player who produces where he goes.

With Boston, you know that Chiarelli and Gretzky are going to have the reports on each of these players.

Khoklachev is an interesting name here. I feel like he might’ve had a bit of the Linus Omark syndrome in Boston. Very talented player but has trouble seeing eye-to-eye with coaches. Some might say that he didn’t take advantage of his opportunities, I say that 9 pro games isn’t much time to take said advantage of.

Senyshyn is another name I’ve heard Bob Stauffer toss out there in the past. He’s bigger, around 6’3″ but he’s having a tough time finding his wheelhouse at the AHL level. There’s a lot of potential in him but you have to worry if he’s another Micheal Dal Colle.

In the end, even if the Oilers do trade Maroon and all they get back is a 3rd rounder, I think that’s fine too. We’d obviously want a good young JR/AHL prospect in return but there’s a certain level of reality that we have to face too.

On the other hand, Peter Chiarelli is quite good at making the small deal…

Thoughts?

Check out our new T-Shirt design below and please head over to our BLH YouTube page and SUBSCRIBE! We’re nearly at 700 subscribers and our goal is 1000 before the season is out!

Click the image above and get your shirt today!

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

What’s Bruin in Boston?

2 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTx9q8CrLt4

Ohhhh BOY! Those Bruins are in trouble. Dennis Seidenberg just had lower-back surgery and is out for two months, Zdeno Chara played 4 minutes the other night before leaving the game and Joe Morrow took a slapshot in the leg during the same game. The Boston Bruins are having a fever of sorts and the only cure is a trade with the Edmonton Oilers.

Look, the Boston Bruins defence would look like this if the regular season started tomorrow:

Joe Morrow (maybe) – Torey Krug
Zach Trotman – Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller – Matt Irwin
Linus Arnesson/Colin Miller/Chris Kasto

And these were the pairings for the last game on the 22nd courtesy of Dobber’s Hockey:

Chris Casto – Joe Morrow
Torey Krug – Adam McQuaid
Linus Arnesson – Kevan Miller

This would be a chance for Don Sweeney to mend some fences with Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli after F-ing him over at the draft in the Hamilton deal… I’m still miffed about that. The Oilers have a glut of men on the back end that could be of service to the Bruins.

Ship ‘Em Out!

Andrew Ference is a former Boston Bruin and one has to wonder if he’d be okay waiving his no-trade clause to go back to the place where he found success. I think the Oilers probably wouldn’t mind him heading that way as well so they could get this captaincy business off the table and so they could let Griffin Reinhart know he can find a place in Edmonton to live in. His value can’t be more than a 5th or 6th round pick right now.

Nikita Nikitin would be the ultimate apology from Sweeney. Even if the Oilers took on some salary to force this deal through, it would be a blessing for them. Nikitin has done jack shite this preseason so far despite what Jack Michaels and Bob Stauffer have been saying during their radio broadcasts. You can even hear it in their voices as they since Nikitin’s praises, it sounds like they’re going to puke. Nikitin’s value surely sits at “Steaming Pile of Rhino Dung”, so if Chiarelli could get a late draft pick I’d see that as a major victory.

Brandon Davidson, if I’m not mistaken, will have to clear waivers to go down to the AHL this year and there’s no way he’s making the team with Reinhart and Nurse sitting there. Personally I think he’s 50/50 to get claimed and he’d probably have the most appeal to the Bruins apart from maybe Ference. Davidson’s a young guy still and I reckon he’d probably go for a 4th rounder.

Mark Fayne doesn’t seem to be in the foreground of Chiarelli’s mind and I wonder aloud if he’s going to be one of the Oilers GM’s trade chips this year. Fayne doesn’t really standout when he plays but he’s a very steady Eddie type and at this point he’s still a serviceable NHL defenceman and the Oilers should hold on to them in fear of becoming what the Bruins are right now. But with all of that said, is he really a no.4 dman or is he more of a no.5/6? I could see Fayne’s value at around a Chris Kelly or a 3rd rounder.

A Bear Market

So what is it that the Bruins have that maybe the Oilers would covet? We know that Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan like heavy teams and Chiarelli said in his interview with Bob McKenzie that he’d like to acquire some “heavier” players. The way I read that is he wants some higher-end foot soldiers. Yes men that make it easier for the skillers to work their magic.

Unfortunately the only players that fit the description of “heavier” players are players that the Bruins just signed, have ugly contracts or will never leave the team.

Matt Beleskey is a gritty winger coming off a career season but he’s a recent signing and Benoit Pouliot is doing a fine job. Not gonna happen here.

Jimmy Hayes is an interesting character. He’s 6’6″ 220lbs, can skate and is a shooter. He put up 19 goals and 16 assists last year for the Panthers and would be a nice replacement for say Nail Yakupov if he were sacrificed. Not gonna happen here either.

Patrice Bergeron? Not unless Nugent-Hopkins is going the other way…

Loui Eriksson isn’t quite the player that comes to mind when I think heavy and his contract is ugly. But even then, as unfair as it would be, Nikitin for Eriksson straight across might rid each team of a headache as their contracts are identical ($4.5m for 2015/16). Do the Oilers really need him though? Somebody would have to be sacrificed to fit him in the top 9.

Chris Kelly… He’s probably the guy with the greatest potential of becoming an Oiler but how much better is he than say Rob Klinkhammer or Tyler Pitlick?

So as it looks, any deal that could potentially take place between the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers would most likely see the Oilers taking back draft picks or prospects that might never see the light of the NHL.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! Take Care!

BLH

Click the pic and pick up a 33D Hoodie!
Armchair GM, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rob Cooke, Rumors

WELCOME TO THE MAD HOUSE, an Oilers blog

3 Comments

Well here we sit on Sunday morning and it is a real slow news day for the Edmonton Oilers. So slow in fact that I have decided to debut my new weekly series. Welcome to the madhouse will be a point-form style blog that will not only cover Oilers news but really anything that I feel like commenting at the time. So fair warning people, if you want to read an article solely about hockey this one may not be for you from time to time. Today you are in luck though because I have a lot going on inside the old hat rack that I want to touch on. So let’s get right to it, enter if you dare.

  • The NHL has agreed to try three-on-three overtime format this season and I have seen a lot of good things being written about it. I mean come on, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that by going to this new format we will some really fast hockey. Teams with a lot of speed up front will be looking to push the pace will the bigger stronger teams struggle to keep them to the outside. I for one am stoked to see the Oilers playing three-on-three as we have a bevy of speedy players up front and potentially on the back-end as well. Can you imagine Hall and McDavid flying down the ice with that much room to move? Like I said, the majority of feedback that I have seen is positive but one goalie has remarked that he thinks that it will be harder on the net-minders. Cory Schneider had this to say when discussing the new format. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but a scathing review either. Check out his comments at the end of the post about goalie skill levels and making nets larger to bring out more skill. Interesting hearing that coming from a goalie.

 

  • All Edmonton Oilers fans know there is a great big elephant in the room this morning. That beloved pachyderm is present courtesy of the second buy-out window granted to the franchise for filing the Schultz arbitration. I wrote a piece late last week discussing the merits and pitfalls of using said buy-out and I am still on record as being in favour of using it. If the space can be freed to sign Cody Franson or Christian Ehrhoff for 3 years I say do it. There is a lot of space coming available next summer with both Ben Scrivens and Teddy Purcell coming off the books next year so I say do it! Fortune favours the bold! Or at least that is what we are told, we have never seen the bold we were so falsely promised… The only key RFA’s next summer are Oscar Klefbom and Justin Schultz with Schultz being moved if Franson signs. We have no need of Schultz if we have a better version of the player here.

 

  • What would the addition of a player like Franson do to players like Nurse? Adding Franson pushes everyone but possibly Sekera and Fayne down the depth chart. The addition of a player of that caliber would mean that both Griffin Reinhart and Darnell Nurse start the season in Bakersfield and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Nurse has a grand total of six games as pro and Reinhart, while having a full season of AHL experience, still has only eight NHL games on his resume. Just because they are very highly touted prospects doesn’t mean they will be gifted roster spots like in years past. New management seems more than capable of separating the wheat from the chaff so to speak. I think that regardless of who the players are the seven or eight best will be on the opening night roster. Not just the most expensive…

 

  • Talking about Darnell Nurse, just how crazy good is this kid? He has the ability, size, mean streak, and speed to be the real number one defender that we so desperately need. Of course that is the best case scenario and even if it does come to fruition it won’t be for a few years yet as Darnell progresses as a player. At this point I think the worst case is a second pairing player but I just see too much skill and too many natural physical gifts to not be at least a top pairing guy.

 

  • Monday, besides being the end of the Oilers 48 hour buy-out window, is the deadline for official submitting an expansion bid. Originally it was thought that we would see bids coming from Las Vegas, Quebec City, and Seattle. It came to light Friday that the possible ownership group in Seattle would not be submitting a bid after arena issues were not able to be worked out in time. There is talk of second bid coming from the Seattle area but it is uncertain whether the league will be keen to be outside of the greater Seattle or if they will refuse the $500 million franchise fee that is expected from each new team. It does however seem all but a certainty that Quebecor media will be handing their bid in along with the $10 million deposit. And with Las Vegas proceeding with the building of a fantastic new arena complex it is a virtual guarantee that the prospective owners have all their forms filled out and a giant suitcase full of money to wheel into NHL headquarters tomorrow morning.

 

  • I was on Twitter last night and our very own Beer League Hero brought up the polarizing discussion of the Big E. Of course I mean Eric Lindros. One of the most physically dominant skilled players I have ever had the opportunity to watch. BLH asked if, and I am paraphrasing of course, we will ever see a player like Lindros again? It is a great topic for discussion as there was no one like him ever before he joined the league and hasn’t been anyone like him since. He has made many errors along the way. From his refusal to join the Nordiques to his off-ice issues that have been well documented. I am not going to condone his actions as there is no reason for what took place to ever happen but I am thinking that those items need to be separated when discussing him as a hockey player. If we are talking about what he is like as a person then by all means bring on the character attacks and prior misdeeds but in a discussion about him as a player shouldn’t revolve around what he did in a night club 20 plus years ago. Just my opinion.

 

  • Will the summer of insanity ever end for the Boston Bruins and general manager Don Sweeney? He traded one of the top up and coming defenseman in the entire league in Dougie Hamilton for next to nothing in return. He had a better offer, although marginally, from former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli but had to add in an extra player on top in an attempt to stick it to our Chia pet. Then he moved power forward Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings for promising young goalie Martin Jones and the 13th overall pick in the 2015 draft. The pick was used to select Jakub Zboril, a defender for the Saint Johns Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. I know nothing about this young fella so I won’t make any judgement as far as whether he is a good pick at that point of the draft. I do understand Boston adding defense at the draft though. Likely an attempt to find a replacement for Hamilton but that isn’t coming any time soon. Beleskey was an okay add for the team and was even kept below 4 million per which is well below what he was asking. Overall I don’t know that either of the two trades they made were any good. The Hamilton trade will take years to decide on but it is a clear win for Calgary right now. The Lucic trade was one I liked but personally I think the guy is over-rated to begin with, The point of all of this is that Boston subtracted one of the best defensemen they had and didn’t bring anyone that can be considered close to a replacement. Sweeney is on record as saying that his team may not be doing adding yet. With the expectation being a playoff berth next year they damn sure better not be done. This team is worse than they were prior to the NHL draft that is for sure.

 

  • The final thing that I want to touch on is the fabulous t-shirts that Beer League Heroes is currently selling through our store. There are some fantastic designs and let’s not forget the always stylish Beer League Heroes shirt! Get yours before  they are gone!!! Besides being a great deal they are also great at helping meet women! The conversations these beauties will inspire will be the stuff of legend! No but seriously they won’t help your game at all. If you had none before the shirt like me you still won’t have any after you wear it. But at least you will have a really snappy new shirt!

I have decided that I will end this weekly blog series every week with a question to pose to all you fantastic readers and I will post the best answers in the following weeks edition. Today my question to all of you is what should the entrance song be for the Edmonton Oilers this season? My answer is in the video below. Thanks for reading, leave me a comment and follow me on twitter, @cooke_rob. Have a great night!

 

Cheers

Rob