Tag Archives: Duncan Keith

NHL

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Lucic Trade Rumblings Growing Louder

Recently, Elliotte Friedman was on Vancouver sports radio and they were discussing a possible direction that the Chicago Blackhawks might be going in and Friedman had this to say,

“I think they’re selling. I do,” began Friedman. “I think the problem is you’re not trading Kane, you’re not trading Toews, Seabrook is a tough one to do. I think at some point in time they will ask Duncan Keith would he be willing to do it, I just don’t know if that time is going to be now.”

For whatever reason, I remember Friedman speaking about Chicago before but I can’t put my thumb on where it was.

I did go ahead and ask around about this and unfortunately, not a whole lot was revealed. But there was a quote later on in the interview that turned the light bulb on,

“Before Peter Chiarelli got fired, I heard they were talking about something potentially big with Edmonton. But I don’t even know if that’s still on the map anymore. But I don’t know what they would have to give up that would really make Edmonton a ton better.”

I wrote this back on Dec. 16th, 2018,

The Oilers have been talking with Chicago for the last month or so about Duncan Keith. It’s something to keep an eye on. 

I immediately had to contact my sources to see what was up and it seems that despite Chiarelli not being the general manager in Edmonton anymore, the negotiations haven’t stopped. I asked one of my sources if this rumor was connected to the one we talked about way back in December and I was told this,

Yes and I think Lucic was part of it too. I know that PHI has been sniffing around Looch.

Whoa! Chicago and Philly have both been talking about a deal wherein they’d acquire Milan Lucic? That’s VERY interesting. Then the final message before signing off for the evening was thus,

That (Chicago) might be where looch ultimately goes… 

Crikey partner! That might be where he “ultimately” goes? Does that mean he could go through a couple teams the same way that Sam Gagner did when he was dealt out of Edmonton? First, he was traded to Tampa Bay and then he was flipped to Arizona, right?

This kind of trade falls in line with the tweet below. Bob Stauffer and Mark Spector spoke of this on Oilers Now! yesterday morning. Stauffer confirmed that up to TWO teams can retain salary on a player.

I do find it intriguing that Richard Panik is finding his way into Oilers trade talk these days though. He’s represented by local agent Gerry Johansson, who also reps Lucic…

Now I can’t speak to what kind of sweeteners the Oilers would have to include to move Lucic as well as retain salary on him but RCN’s proposal is a bit too rich for my blood. Both Stauffer and Spector agreed that a 2nd AND a 3rd is too much to incentivize such a deal.

I’d rather move one of the prospects that are coming in next season so that Bakersfield isn’t just stocked with 20-year-olds.

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Conclusion

The Oilers might very well find a creative way to open up cap space AND move Lucic before this year’s trade deadline expires. I haven’t the foggiest as to why Chicago and Philly would want him but that’s not my concern. If names like Simmonds and Keith are showing up in Oilers trade rumors, that’s encouraging I feel.

Which player would you rather have? Wayne Simmonds, who is on an expiring contract, or an aging Duncan Keith?

Let us know in the comments below!

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Chiarelli Has His Eyes on a 3-Time Champion and a Former Erie Otter

Can you believe the Oilers and what they’re doing with that group of defenseman right now? A real testament to Peter Chiarelli’s pro scouting department, eh?

As unlikely as it is, they might actually survive this injury debacle that has them playing Kevin Gravel and Matt Benning on the second pairing. It’s going to take a lot of heart, focus, and hard work; but I’ve got faith in them because of the way they are responding to Ken Hitchcock’s coaching.

That said, I’ve been told that they’re scouting a couple of very interesting players.

**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?**


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The 3-Time Champion

Here was the first message I got from one of my sources,

The Oilers have been talking with Chicago for the last month or so about Duncan Keith. It’s something to keep an eye on. 

WOW! That’s not a name I thought would show up on the Oilers radar given the nature of their salary cap situation at the moment. I’m not even sure how a deal like that could even go down because I’d imagine the Hawks want some pretty good pieces in return for Keith.

The 3-Time Stanley Cup champion plays the left-side and only the left-side as far as I know, so if Edmonton did go ahead and through some sort of miracle, acquire Keith, where would that leave Klefbom, Nurse, and Gravel? And that’s just for this season, Keith has three more years after this one on his deal worth $5.5 million.

Nevermind the money, I would say that the 35-year-old Keith is definitely on the back nine of his career. His “good” stats are sliding and his PIMs are rising. Is that the kind of player Edmonton needs?

If Peter Chiarelli brought that contract in, surely an equal sum of money would have to go to Chicago. I can’t see Chiarelli moving Russell, they love him too much and he can play the right-side. I reckon Sekera is a no-go unless a tooth-shattering sweetener is sent with him. The only real option from the Oilers defense is Darnell Nurse and trading Nurse for a player 12 years his senior would be right daft. Wouldn’t it?

Lucic was playing on the 4th line against Philly. Could he be sent to Chicago? The Hawks aren’t desperate to get rid of Keith’s contract nor is Keith yearning to leave Chi-town. Or at least, that’s what we’re lead to believe.

Some have talked about a Seabrook for Lucic trade in the past. Given the Oilers need for an upgrade on the right side of their defense, this would seemingly make more sense. And Yes, I do think Seabrook would be an upgrade on Benning.

The Former Erie Otter

The second message I received went like this,

I’m in the Peg tomorrow checking out Anthony Cirelli. 

You might remember this player as the man who scored the 2015 Memorial Cup-winning goal vs. Leon Draisaitl and the Kelowna Rockets.

Cirelli has two years left on his ELC. He’s mainly a bottom-six center, which I think is an area that the Oilers are looking to improve. Ryan Spooner hasn’t really found a way to express himself yet, but he is on a two-game point streak. So who really knows? Maybe he’s starting to get warmed up. All I know is that Cirelli’s nine goals on the year would have him fifth on the Oilers right behind Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Last season the ex-Oshawa General came on like gangbusters and scored 11 points in 18 games. He’s very fast and very assertive with his physicality. His production has slowed down this year (11pts in 33gp), but his faceoff percentage is up from 44.9% to 51.7%.

The only reason I can see the Lightning being interested in moving Cirelli is if they wanted someone with more experience to center their 3rd line for the playoffs. They’re slated to have around $8 million in cap space come trade deadline time, so they’ll be able to add a really nice player with an expiring contract; like Matt Duchene or a Kevin Hayes should they want to.

If You Haven’t Noticed

For those of you that follow the blog, I’ve put out a few posts recently detailing who the Oilers are looking at. I think you might notice a pattern amongst most of those players in that they’ve got high gritensity numbers.

Players with speed and character for the bottom-six are what the Oilers are after.

As for tonight, Uber-rookie Elias Pettersson will do his best to make a mockery of this make-shift defense the Oilers are putting together. I think it’s going to be another entertaining affair.

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

Lucic to Vancouver? Plus More Oilers Takeaways From the 31 Thoughts Podcast

Tough game for the Oilers last night. ‘Twas a shame to waste that glorious goal from Connor McDavid, that PP laser from Leon Draisaitl, and Milan Lucic’s best performance in a very very long time. The goal is coming, you can feel it. 27 games on but mark my words, it won’t be much longer especially with the Rangers coming up who have Marc Staal and a bunch of AHLers manning their blueline.

Did you know: Even though the Oilers PK is last in the NHL (that won’t last, they’ll catch the Islanders), the only month that they were the worst PK in the league for the whole month was October. In fact, they had the 14th BEST PK in the league in February. #silverlinings

BEAR WITH ME

Ethan Bear had a tough game last night. I wouldn’t say he was directly responsible for 2 of the Predators goals but he was definitely part of the reason they were scored and I would say that’s fine given the circumstances. It’s not like the Oilers are trying to lock down a playoff spot here.

Bear’s stat line read like this:

  • No points
  • minus 3
  • 14:42 TOI
  • 1 shot
  • 2 blocks
  • 1 giveaways

That said, he was noticeably out of his depth but on the plus side, that boy can pass a puck and I didn’t see any panic in his game! If he gets a few more games (hopefully not paired with Sekera), I hope to see that cannon of his. The former WHL defenseman of the year is one player I think all of us are eager to see more and more.

PUL-ME? PULJU! 

When is Todd McLellan going to put Jesse Puljujarvi in the top-6? When will Jesse get his shot on the first PP?

Since he joined the Oilers, I’ve gotten the impression that McLellan was the type of coach who would give TOI where TOI was earned. Well, what I’ve noticed is that isn’t really the case. He’ll move players up and down from Lines 1 and 2 or Lines 3 and 4 or sometimes from lines 2 and 3 he’ll swap a bit but not often.

If ice time is earned, what does Jesse Puljujarvi have to do to get some ice time with Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid? And if that isn’t something that is in the coaches plans, then can he keep some linemates for more than a game? I thought that the Aberg/Strome/Puljujarvi line looked very dangerous against San Jose.

I just don’t understand how McLellan is “rewarding” his players…

31 THOUGHTS PODCAST TAKEAWAYS

  • Milan Lucic for Loui Eriksson

This was something near the end of the podcast that Friedman had suggested reasoning it with the notion that he thought they could both use a change of scenery. Marek added that the Oilers would have to “sweeten” the deal because Lucic had more term.

I have to decline on this one. We saw last night what kind of physical impact Milan Lucic can have on a game and just because he didn’t score doesn’t mean he wasn’t useful and that’s the difference between the two really. When Eriksson isn’t scoring, what else is he doing to impact the game?

IF Loui Eriksson was the shooting machine he used to be, then that might be a different story but it looks like he’s lost confidence there or he could be dealing with some physical ailments.

As it stands, Lucic brings more to the table than Eriksson.

  • Marek mentioned that the Blues were asking organizations other than the Jets about BIG LH’d dman Logan Stanley before they dealt Paul Stastny to Winnipeg for picks and prospect Erik Foley. 

The Oilers have a few LH’d dmen they’d like to move but this SO weird because it seems like the Blues only have LH’d dmen in their system. According to rosterresource.com, the only RHers playing defense for St.Louis are on their parent roster…

But I mean if they’re looking to add to that stable of lefties, I think the Oilers could help there 🙂

  • The cost for Pacioretty is HIGH!!!

Friedman says he believed MTL asked LA for Toffoli, Vilardi, a 1st rounder this year and maybe a 1st rounder next year and LA for good reasons said no. He also mentioned the Habs wanted Charlie Coyle plus and Minnesota said no. Lastly, Florida was one of the teams that Max Pacioretty wanted to go to but Montreal wanted Trocheck and so no deal was made because the Panthers turned that down.

So if the Oilers are looking at Max Pacioretty, I’m not sure it’s going to be a worthwhile trade because it’ll cost players like Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or more.

It’s not worth it to deal that much future out for a guy whose contract is up shortly. Not only that but it sounds like Pacioretty is willing to make it work in MTL. Who knows if that’s true or not? Maybe Max is doing his GM a solid by saying that publicly and something at the draft happens like a 3-way between Montreal, Ottawa, and Edmonton…

  • Could the Blackhawks trade a core player?

Friedman and Marek pontificated upon what Chicago might do this summer. Are Bowman’s and Quenneville’s jobs safe? Could the move Toews because of the season he’s having? Is Duncan Keith an option to go because he’s got the easiest contract to move?

Friedman said he’d give Toews one more year before moving on him but that he’d check the market on Saad, Anisimov, and Duncan Keith.

Keith and Toews have NMC’s on their deals which means they’re not going anywhere w/o consent. Anisimov’s NMC lifts July 1 but Saad is clause-free.

Keith and Saad jump out to me for a couple of reasons:

  1. Duncan Keith is the type of General that the Oilers blueline is desperate for. There isnt’ a go-to guy in that defense. Not one. A lot of “complimentary” dmen back there but no alpha. It needs one and Duncan Keith would be that guy.

    He’s 34 years old, makes $5M+ per yer and his contract goes for another 5 years but the real money comes way down starting in 2019/20.

    He can’t score 50pts a year anymore but I’d say he’s still good for 40 at least. He’s one of the NHL’s great dmen and I could see him playing at a 1st pairing pace until he’s 39 too. What would you give up for him?

  2. Brandon Saad is only 26 years old and has another 3 years @$6M per on that deal left. He’s got the wheels, we know that. And he can shoot the pill. That’s pretty apparent.

    In order to get a guy like Saad, some major futures would have to go. What I mean by that is exactly the kind of players that the Oilers are looking for right now. I think Puljujarvi or Yamamoto for sure. But then the Oilers would have to get Chicago to take a contract back too.

    Or maybe the only deal would be Saad for Nuge… Both players contracts are the same term and dollar…

    I still think RNH on McDavid’s wing would yield the Oilers a 50pt winger, so why move a guy that could do that for you AND provide you with a kickass centre if one of McDavid or Draisaitl goes down or if McLellan wants to move Leon up to Connor’s line…

Anyways, those are a few of the trade murmurs that Marek and Friedman talked about on this weeks 31 Thoughts Podcast.

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Breaking News, Edmonton Oilers, Rob Cooke

Oilers sign Klefbom long-term

1 Comment

Oilers fans have a long history of watching this team develop real NHL defensemen only to let them walk as free agents or traded prior to UFA status taking effect. Today, more than any other day so far I have seen the changing of the tide. Proof that someone other than MacT and Lowe are in charge and making the decisions. Let’s face it, previous management had a proven track record of developing solid defenders that while they may not have been top pairing guys were still legitimate NHL defensemen and then trading them away.

The first three that come to mind for me are Tom Gilbert, Jeff Petry and Marty Marincin. Three quality players, well Marty had some issues but was still a damn sight better than Nikitin or Ference in my opinion. That brings us to today and the joyous occasion that has us reminiscing of players gone too soon. Today Peter Chiarelli made the smart decision and locked up one of the best up and coming defensemen in the league. Oscar Klefbom in my eyes is a huge part of the Oilers defense moving forward and today the Oilers proved they think the same way as I do.

The number I have heard is 4.167 per season. That is a pretty decent number but there are a lot of folks on twitter that are trashing this team for signing Oscar long-term. Well really there are those bitching about the term and there are those bitching about the dollar value. Of course all the hate that I have seen comes from those outside the organization and fan base. I haven’t really seen anyone from the MSM or fans say anything remotely negative about the deal.

Really, I don’t see how anyone can say anything negative about it now. He is a lock to be in our top four for the next eight years. He is still only 22 years old and has a ton of developing left to do so he is only going to get better! He may never be a top guy like Doughty or Keith but he will be a top pairing defenseman, likely by the end of this season. Visions of a top pairing of Darnell Nurse and Oscar make me giddy with anticipation. We are not that far away from that happening folks!

What do you think? Is this a good signing? Too long of a term? Too much money? Let us know what you think. Leave a comment below or follow me on twitter and we can converse there, @justoil78. Thanks for reading.

 

Cheers

Rob