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

Latest Oilers Rumor and Why I Support the Chiarelli Regime

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Bob McKenzie on the Edmonton Oilers' 2018 Trade Deadline Plans - Beer League Heroes

In this audio clip above Bob McKenzie wonders aloud what Peter Chiarelli might do at the deadline and this summer so that this year doesn’t repeat itself next year and I think that’s a really valid question.

My opinion on that is, he should stick with the majority of the players he has and simply add better veterans. Maybe a PK specialist. I’d hope he avoids the big trade, not because his history tells us he might overpay, but because the players rumoured to be heading out are players this team has developed and need right now. Unless of course, my proposed RNH+Klefbom for OEL goes through.

Just before I get into this, I want to put out there that I can’t get on board with what a majority of the Oilers blogs and influencers are doing this season. The negativity and the constant need or lust to slag the team that some of the writers who cover the team is a tragedy to me. A real shame that these people use their enormous platforms to spew negativity out there instead of using it to bring positivity and encouragement to the Oilers. I suppose it’s much easier to beat a guy when he’s down than to pick up him though.

They’ll call it “being real” or “being realistic” but to me, doing that is just a quicker way to mediocrity and honestly a real insight into who a person really is.

You can call me a homer or someone who “drinks the kool-aid” and that’s fine by me. My self-worth is not tied to the success of the team, a reader’s opinion of my blog, nor the desire to be right. My opinion is just that. I don’t pretend to think that I’m smarter than the people running the team because I don’t know what I don’t know and that’s something I urge lots of fans to realize when you’re out there “fanning”. The numbers might tell you one thing, but you don’t know what you don’t know.

One more time: You don’t know what you don’t know.

Be humble and enjoy having the best 2 centres under the age of 24 in the entire NHL for the next 8 years.

I’ve never loved an Oiler as a kid growing up. Never really had a hero from the Oilers. But I loved the team and I still do love the team. For better or worse and through the good times and the bad. It’s about the crest on the front because players will come and go but that logo will always be there for me.

WHY I SUPPORT CHIARELLI AND HIS STAFF!

I’m pretty sure I’m on an island by myself and a few select others in my support for the current GM and this is something I’m fine with. I’ve never been one to go along with what the cool kids are doing and I’ve always liked the underdogs. Luckily for me, the Oilers have been just that for some time now.

You see, I can’t justify firing Chiarelli when all of the bets he made last summer blew up in his face this season. The way I feel about him is he’s had a tough year, just like the rest of the Oilers are having and that includes the coaching staff as well. The analytics guys will tell you not to give up on a player after a bad year and most likely that player will go back to his normal production rate the following season. Who’s to say that bounce back won’t happen in 2018/19 with the Oilers?

I had a guy on Twitter say that one bad year could set a team back a decade! Get out of here with that bullshit!

If you’re grading Chiarelli on his moves, let’s look at the NHL ones and make a judgement after that!

  • Martin Marincin traded to Toronto Maple Leafs for 107th pick in 2015 and minor league Brad Ross (WIN)
  • Eric Gryba acquired for minor leaguer Travis Ewanyk and 107th pick in the 2015 entry draft (WIN)
  • Cam Talbot and the 209th pick in the 2015 draft acquired for the 57, 79th and 184th picks (WIN)
  • Griffin Reinhart for the 16th and 33rd picks in the 2015 draft (FAIL)
  • Lauri Korpikoski for Boyd Gordon(FAIL)
  • Mark Letestu signed as an unrestricted free agent, three years, $1.8 million per (WIN)
  • Andrej Sekera signed as an unrestricted free agent for six years, $5.5 million per (WIN)
  • Anders Nilsson acquired for former fifth round pick Liam Coughlin, then traded for a fifth round pick and Niklas Lundstrom (WIN)
  • Oscar Klefbom signed to a seven year, $4.17 million per deal (WIN)
  • Zack Kassian acquired for Ben Scrivens (WIN)
  • Justin Schultz traded for a 2016 third round pick (FAIL)
  • Teddy Purcell traded for a 2016 third round pick (WIN)
  • Patrick Maroon acquired for Martin Gernat and a 2016th fourth round pick (WIN)
  • Adam Larsson acquired for Taylor Hall (UNDECIDED)
  • Jonas Gustavsson signed for one year (FAIL)
  • Milan Lucic signed for seven years, $6 million per with a No-Movement Clause (WIN)
  • Matt Benning signed as college free agent to entry level deal (WIN)
  • Drake Caggiula signed as college free agent to entry level deal (WIN)
  • Kris Russell signed to a one year, $3.1 million deal (WIN)
  • Nail Yakupov traded for Zach Pochiro, 2017 third round pick (UNDECIDED)
  • Brandon Davidson traded for David Desharnais (WIN)
  • Extended the following players:
    • Connor McDavid – 8yrs, $100M (WIN)
    • Leon Draisaitl – 8yrs, $68M (WIN)
    • Kris Russell – 4yrs, $16M (FAIL)
    • Zack Kassian – 3yrs, $5.85M (WIN)
    • Jujhar Khaira – 2yrs, $1.35M (WIN)
    • Eric Gryba – 2yrs, $1.8M (FAIL)
  • Jordan Eberle traded for Ryan Strome (FAIL)
  • Signed Jussi Jokinen to a one year, $1.1M deal (FAIL)
  • Signed Yohann Auvitu to a one year, $700k deal (WIN)
  • Traded Jussi Jokinen for Mike Cammalleri (WIN)
  • Claimed Brandon Davidson off of waivers (WIN)
  • Acquired Al Montoya for a 5th round draft pick (conditional) (WIN)

I think that puts us up to date. If I’ve missed one of his NHL moves please let me know.

If you took all of those moves (I think there are just over 30 of them) into consideration, how many are wins/losses/undecided? I’ve got the wins with a much greater number than the fails and undecided.

When a GM takes a team over he wants to build it in a way that he’s had success with in the past. It’s my belief that Chiarelli has no time for egos and it’s possible that some of those players that he has shipped out in the past might’ve rubbed him the wrong way. You can’t blame a guy for having the courage of his convictions. You might also say that he wants to have the biggest ego in the room too…

When Mike Keenan got hired on with a new NHL team as GM, he’d often trade one of its most popular players away. Denis Savard was his first trade when hired in Chicago. He dealt Luongo to Vancouver during his time in Florida. While he was GM in St.Louis he traded Phil Housley and Brendan Shanahan…

Chiarelli signing all of those AHL vets puzzled me though. Was it because he thought they’d bring more success to the team? That they’d help insulate the young defensemen that were coming into the team? It didn’t work anyhow.

You’ll notice that I’ve got the Larsson/Hall trade as undecided but the way I feel about that deal is that Adam Larsson brings the team something they haven’t had for quite a while in a sturdy stay-at-home dman who is actually quite smart and skilled. To add to that, there was no way Peter Chiarelli was getting the dman he wanted without trading Hall. The Oilers were over a barrel at the time and every GM in the league knew it.

I’ve also got the Yakupov trade as undecided because I don’t really know if he would’ve improved his on-ice play and off-ice attitude towards the team had he stayed. He’s on his 3rd team now and if one of the best coaches of all-time in Ken Hitchcock couldn’t find a way to mould him into a regular top-6 forward, then it’s probably not going to happen and he was better off playing elsewhere anyhow.

I did say Jultz was a fail though and that’s an interesting one to me because had he stayed another season in Edmonton, the fans might’ve tried to lynch the guy. I just wonder if he’d have been okay with just one more year.

So some deals I absolutely feel that Chiarelli missed the boat on which is fine but I can’t subscribe to the theory that because he “downgraded”, as they put it, on the wings by dealing Hall and Eberle, that’s the reason the Oilers are underperforming. Because 5×5 scoring ISN’T a problem for this team. Keeping the puck out of the net is and last I checked, Hall and Eberle are doing a fantastic job of doing just that in New Jersey and Brooklyn this month.

You can look down on Lucic’s deal and Russell’s deal for sure. I concur, both are too long but I’m on board with their price point. And there are the NTCs that everyone points to but everyone forgets that these are simply bypassed with a request from the GM. Rick Nash was traded with one. Roberto Luongo was traded with one. Dion Phaneuf as well. Players like Tobias Enstrom and MA Fleury waived their NTCs for the expansion draft…

So let’s not pretend that these clauses are iron clad and those players are impossible to move. It’s ridiculous. Lucic is more than likely going to be an Edmonton Oiler for most of his deal but I can see Russell and/or Sekera being moved without issue.

So if you can’t use his transaction record as a crutch to criticize Chiarelli, what’s left? He’s got a history of building winning teams. He’s got two Stanley Cup appearances under his belt. He seems quite good at drafting and the Boston Bruins of today are using a lot of players that were added/developed during his tenure as Bruins GM.

That special portion of the Oilers fanbase needs to realize that the cupboards were bare before Peter Chiarelli was hired on. There were few viable options coming through their developmental system and that’s partly because they were drafting so high in the 1st round, throwing those 18-year-olds into the fire the next season, and picking coke machines in the 2nd/3rd rounds that never panned out.

Now Chiarelli is getting value players in the mid-latter rounds of the draft and starting next season we’re going to start seeing those players populate the Oilers’ AHL squad in Bakersfield.

**Just an aside for one moment. Jason Gregor reckons the Oilers will fire their AHL coach because he’s not doing what’s expected of him. That leads me to wonder if Bob Stauffer’s favourite WHL coach, Manny Viveiros, might be the leading candidate for that job?**

The problem I see here is that for years the Oilers fanbase was crying for a Milan Lucic type and they Oilers wasted a lot of draft picks trying to find one. Once they got him the switch flipped because their beloved Taylor Hall was sacrificed to bring him in. To add to that, everyone expected Looch to be banging and fighting every single game and were disappointed when they learned that’s not the case with him. How do you think he’s managed to play so many games for so many years? Plus nobody will fight the guy anymore. I think Derek Engelland is the only guy that might drop ’em with Lucic now.

So we have a lot of fans whose feelings are bruised because Hall is gone and Eberle is gone and they’re not on board with the long-term vision that Chiarelli has because their favourite players were dealt for less-than-expected returns. Yet, what the team does have, well that doesn’t matter because Hallsy and Ebs are outtie 5000 and loving life elsewhere and they should be! They’re in the prime of their careers playing in the Metropolitan Division! But the Oilers are stuck with a roster that was built to compete in the playoffs, which it did.

The word that best sums up the year for the Oilers is: Outlier.

Can you honestly tell me that it’s Peter Chiarelli’s fault that the Oilers’ PK would be 1st on the road and worst at home? I’d love to hear that explanation if that’s the way you feel.

Is it Chiarelli’s fault that Benning and Caggiula have been more off than on this season. Do we point the finger at the GM when the goalie can’t stop a the first shot of the game for a 5th of the season? Should the GM be held accountable when his coach won’t play the players he signed, like Auvitu or Jokinen earlier in the year?How do we blame PC for the scoring droughts of Strome, Lucic, Puljujarvi, and Cammalleri? How is the GM at fault for the underwhelming number of PP chances the Oilers have gotten this year? Should we berate Chiarelli because Draisaitl got concussed at the beginning of the season?

If so, can we also praise the GM for the season Darnell Nurse is having. Can we give him props for the year that RNH was having before being injured? Should we be shaking the hand of the GM whose team he built beat the best teams in the NHL this year? Is the emergence of Jujhar Khaira something we should put solely at the feet of Peter Chiarelli? What about Leon and Connor being two of the best 5×5 players in the league?

They say that this team isn’t built to compete with the quicker teams in the NHL but I call bullshit on that. NJ, Tampa, Vegas, and the Islanders are all quick teams that Edmonton beat this year.

Should they get faster? It wouldn’t hurt but don’t go 100% back to small/skilled.

So to sum it up, I support Chiarelli because I believe in his plan. I understand why he made the trades he did. I see proactivity during his time so far which is much better than what I saw during the DoD. I see a guy who’s had a tough year but feel that it’d only fair to give him one more year to see if this season was the outlier or if 2016/17 was. I really do feel, because I’ve seen what this team can do when it’s on its game, that this team is closer to last year’s level than this year’s. A lot of bad luck has hit the team this year but if the team gets off to a bad start next year, I have no problem with the Oilers moving on to someone new. It’s the nature of the beast. But I won’t call for his head like the mob did with Lowe.

TRADE RUMORS!

I think this would be a mistake. Krug makes $5,5M per year and last year Klefbom outscored him. Also, if the Oilers can’t buy a PP with the best player on the planet, Krug isn’t going to be of much use given that 40%-50% of his point totals come from the man advantage.

Murphy did talk about the Bruins using Brandon Carlo in a package to acquire Ryan McDonagh though and I do wonder if the Oilers would be willing to make a deal for the Rangers captain? That’s probably the kind of trade where I’d be okay with using Klefbom as trade fodder.

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

Five Trades I’d Like to See the Oilers Make

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Trade me right f*cking now!

With the NHL trade deadline making it’s decent sooner than later, I reckon it’s time to get into some hypotheticals and create some stir. In my opinion, the Edmonton Oilers are an improving team but they are lacking some key elements found in the teams that brought coach Todd McLellan’s San Jose Sharks and general manager Peter Chiarelli’s Boston Bruins Success.

I feel that the Oilers are lacking in the following:

  • Veteran Playoff-Experienced Leadership – I don’t think this team has a definitive leader that everyone looks up to. No Chara, no Thornton. Hendricks is a dandy veteran and Hall is an emotional guy but I don’t see the team buckling up and following those two into the trenches.
  • Intelligent Puck-Moving Defenceman – Jultz, I’m sorry, but he’s not going to cut it and as good as Oscar Klefbom is, he’s not the guy you’re looking for here. Sekera is okay, Davidson too but there’s not-a-one guy who can move the puck fast enough or smart enough on this Oilers team.
  • Shooters – Have you watched the Oilers PP or whenever they get set up in the offensive zone? How many cute little passes do they try to make before the other team takes the puck away and sends it down-ice? They need a trigger man and for some reason Yakupov isn’t getting the chances or taking advantage of the one he does have. Eberle is doing well now but he does well every year when the playoffs are out of reach and he’s just as guilty of making those cute plays as the others.
  • Physical, Tenacious, Fearless Wingers – McLellan and Chiarelli want a better cycling team down low? Well players that are slight in stature won’t last long in that system. The team needs size and puck protection on their wings. If Nuge comes back and Draisaitl is moved to the wing, this could be a redundant element.

Now just to preface, I don’t want the team to make all of these trade. That’s just nonsense. I would, however, like to see the team make some considerable moves. I really think that the team is due for a big shake up and this might be the last season where we see Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Justin Schultz playing for the Oilers.

These aren’t rumors I’ve heard through the grapevine nor are they proposals I’ve ripped off of HFBoards or Facebook or Twitter. They’re simply cannon fodder for conversation, nothing more and nothing less. Besides, I’m sure there are much smarter people over at HFBoards with much better suggestions. I’m just trying to have a bit of fun and hope you guys will join in.

Click the pic and get your Better Call Hall shirt!!

Trade #1

Justin Schultz to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 3rd round pick.

Reasoning: To get him the F out-of-town. He’s harshing my mellow and the Lightning could use a RH dman to cover for Jason Garrison while he sits on IR. The Oilers need to stock up on early round picks too. Their system is bone dry.

Trade #2

Teddy Purcell to the Chicago Blackhawks for Mark McNeil.

Reasoning: Every likes Teddy and he deserves to go to a team that has a good chance at winning the cup. The Oilers would get back a 22-year-old, hard-working, gritty forward who scores at nearly a point-per-game pace in the AHL. He’s 6’2″ and nearly 200lbs and plays a style suited to the bottom six. Regularly spoken of by Bob Stauffer when it comes to trade rumors between the Hawks and Oilers.

Trade #3

Taylor Hall to the Winnipeg Jets for Jacob Trouba, Kyle Connor, and Andrew Ladd.

Reasoning: As I’ve said in the past, I do not believe that Taylor Hall is in Peter Chiarelli’s long-term plans. He’s not afraid to make the difficult move either. Jacob Trouba is a highly regarded young dman who is struggling in his third NHL season but he’s coming up in trade rumors a bit more frequently now. The American-born defenseman plays the right side and is a restricted free agent this summer. Trouba reminds me of Dave Manson a bit, he’s mean and he’s got a cannon. Left winger Andrew Ladd is the leader this team has been clambering for since Bill Guerin left, and Kyle Connor is tearing up the NCAA Jack Eichel-style.

For Oilers fans, yes it would hurt to lose a talent like Hall and the Oilers would have to work hard to get Trouba and Ladd signed but every year Hall plays I can’t stop thinking about other elite wingers that had to go elsewhere to experience success. Marian Gaborik, Rick Nash, and Ilya Kovalchuk are all examples. And I look at a defense that is built around Oscar Klefbom, Andrej Sekera, Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba, and Brandon Davidson and think, “Yup, that’s not too shabby! Expensive down the road but effective.”

Jets fans can rejoice in potentially having one of the best lines in hockey in Hall-Little-Wheeler as well as a defence that includes Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers and Josh Morrisey.

Trade #4

Jordan Eberle to the New York Islanders for Kyle Okposo and Josh Ho-Sang

Reasoning: Here comes the muscle. Okposo would be the Nathan Horton-like player Chiarelli is looking for. I added Ho-Sang here because he’s a headache with tremendous potential but is also a wildcard AND Okposo is a free agent at season’s end who is looking for some top dollar. Another note on Ho-Sang, the Oilers are truly lacking some real offensive prospects in their cupboards. Sleypyshev? Is he the only real offensive gem (if you can consider him a gem) down in Bakersfield that is an Oilers draft pick?

Ok now. I’m sure you’re fuming over that Hall idea but calm your tits. Yes, Eberle and McDavid are having success together and Ebs looks like a man possessed. He’s fun to watch again but I urge you to look up the names Blair MacDonald and Rob Brown… He’s a complimentary winger who doesn’t fit into McLellan’s and Chiarelli’s system in my opinion. McDavid is THAT GUY who makes others better, right Benoit Pouliot?

Trade #5 (If the Oilers win the draft lottery)

The first round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for Rasmus Ristolainen and the Sabres first round pick.

Reasoning: Auston Matthews-Jack Eichel-Ryan O’Reilly… That is a 1-2-3 punch if I’ve seen one. I think it’d hurt for them to lose the big Finn Ristolainen but they signed Cody Franson to be an impact defender and he’s playing third pairing… Perhaps he’s being deployed incorrectly. With Brendan Guhle coming in next year or Chad Ruhwedel, they’ve got cover for that #6 spot in the defense.

Edmonton simply doesn’t need any more 1st overalls let alone high impact forwards. They’re dying on the back-end and a deal like this would do wonders I believe.

So what do you think about my trades? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to check out the new Better Call Hall tee below! It’s on for $14 until Tuesday I believe, then she goes back up to regular price.

Click the pic and get your Better Call Hall shirt!!

 

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

Oilers/Leafs/Sabres Three-Way Trade Coming?

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A sign of things to come?…

Boy the Toronto Maple Leafs are making waves today! Dion Phaneuf becomes a Senator (Are they paving the way for Steven Stamkos to come home?) and now there are rumblings that they could be involved in a three-way trade with the Oilers and the Sabres! Add to that the fact that Griffin Reinhart (Not Darnell Nurse…) was sent down to Bakersfield, Justin Schultz is a healthy scratch for the Oilers’ game versus the New Jersey Devils on Martin Brodeur’s jersey retirement night AND Cody Franson is a healthy scratch for the Sabres…

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My source told me WEEKS AGO here that the Sabres and Oilers were talking Schultz, so this isn’t breaking news to those that follow the site. But maybe the Sabres were waiting on the Phaneuf deal’s shoe to drop in order to make this move closer to happening.

To add to the Sabres rumour, Tampa Bay was also a team I was told were looking at Schultz and they just lost Jason Garrison…

On today’s episode of Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer dove in right off the bat with news that Schultz’s healthy scratch could be trade related. Later on in the segment,  he noted that he was sure that something could happen before the trade deadline but was skeptical that anything would happen in the duration of his show.

In addition, Renaud Lavoie was the gentleman that broke the news.

As for the three-way deal, it’s just rumoured at the moment, but essentially Schultz would go to Buffalo, Franson would head back to Toronto where he enjoyed some success before being dealt to Nashville last year and then signing with the Sabres this year, and prospects would head back to Edmonton.

No word on any prospects has leaked out yet. Paul Almeida of Saturday Sports Extra indicated that he likes a guy in the Sabres system named Will Borgen, a 6’2″ 190lb two-way defenceman. He’s playing for St.Cloud in the NCAA right now and is a former 4th round pick in 2015. Hockey’s Future had this to say about him:

Borgen is an athletic, two-way skating defenseman. He is not the biggest player on the ice, but is willing to engage physically and competes every shift. He has proven he can score at the high school level, but lacks dynamic offensive ability to really translate to the pros.

He IS right-handed but I’d sure like it if the Oilers were to aim little higher. That being said, this player is just one that Almeida said he liked and premised on a one-for-one deal, not a three-way.

The Sabres prospects do not impress me at all, I’m not sure I’d listen to any deals if Tim Murray was offering them. But the Maple Leafs’ have a plethora of good-looking prospects that would help the Oilers depth. Andrew Neilsen, Viktor Loov, and Scott Harrington are large bodied stay-at-home dmen with a physical edge. Connor Brown and Zach Hyman are skilled left-wingers and Brendan Leipsic and Dmytro Timashov are compact but crafty right-wingers with big compete levels and an ability to put points on the board.

As for Bob Stauffer, he’s certain that the Oilers can get more than the 4th round pick that Mark Spector was speculating on.

What do you think about this Oilers trade rumor? Could the Oilers get more or less than a 4th rounder for Justin Schultz? Let me know in the comments below!

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Armchair GM, Edmonton Oilers, Micah Kowalchuk, NHL, Rumors

Just Another Manic Monday as an Oilers Fan

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Well, it is what it is, against horrible defensive teams we’re fine, but if we’re against a team who has defense, our lack of defense shows up.

Our forward corps isn’t bad, but it lacks a few elements.

First, I’d try a Hall-Draisatl-Kassian first line, Purcell’s a skilled defensive veteran, but they need a net-crasher with physical play up there.

Second, Pouliot-McDavid-Eberle have a whopping 4 games together to build chemistry, let’s just give them time.

Third, I’d consider giving Korpikoski-Letestu-Pakarinen the third line spot at this point, the two Finns are playing well together.

Fourth, with Lander-Hendricks-Khaira, that would be a physical fourth line with a ton of faceoff ability and defensive skill. Minimal scoring, but hey.

Fifth, Yakupov really has no place in this lineup right now sadly, he doesn’t fit the needs on the top two lines better than other options, and he’s not a good Bottom-6 piece. The same would apply to using RNH as a Bottom-6 center, and, again, he’s not the right fit in the Top-6, which needs more aggression. And Purcell has value right now, time to make a deal.

However, if you have to keep a piece, you keep RNH, although he’s not a fit in the Top-6 (other than injuries), he IS an upgrade at 3C, if far too expensive in the spot. Korpikoski-RNH-Pakarinen would be an interesting 3rd line, and then Lander-Letestu-Hendricks would be a very skilled defensive 4th line (if lacking in point potential).

So, that leaves Yak, RNH and Purcell as pieces to deal to fix the D, with RNH the one you try to keep.

On the back-end, Klefbom, Sekera, Davidson and Nurse look like keepers. Gryba’s done well, but he’s worth dealing when he’s got good value. Fayne is a bad fit, Schultz needs a change of scenery, it is what it is. And Clendening looked ok in limited time, worth giving him that 3rd pairing.

So, if you put the pieces together we have:

Klefbom-xxx Sekera-Davidson Nurse-Clendening

We end up with Fayne, Schultz, Gryba, Purcell, Yakupov, Reinhart, and as a last resort RNH as the pieces we can deal to fix that top-pairing RHD spot.

Now, odds are no one gets picked up this season, going into next season, depending on who signs where, odds are Hamonic, Shattenkirk and Vatanen will be the options if any for now. Hamonic requires a quality RHD in a deal, or a good D-man and a RW, but the only way the Oilers get that deal done is a Schultz+Yakupov+1st round pick for Hamonic and a salary like Clutterbuck coming back, and I’d venture Schultz has played his way out of this being a realistic deal, nor that Chiarelli wants to give up that pick.

Shattenkirk, odds are they either go for Drouin or wait until the off-season.

So, that leaves us with Anaheim and Vatanen. Now, Anaheim’s a team desperate for scoring and they’ve shown they’re willing to take chances. If the Oilers were to offer Yakupov, Purcell (50% retained), and Gryba (50% retained), it’s possible Anaheim listens, especially if the Oilers will take back a more expensive forward, such as Chris Stewart. It might be that the Oilers need to throw in a 2nd round pick to get it done, but that’s the most likely option. It helps that Yakupov is a cheap contract at $2.5mil and Anaheim’s not a cap team, so that adds to his value, and since Vatanen’s on their 3rd pairing right now, a guy like Gryba (who’ll be a cheap re-signing) who plays with the classic Anaheim physical style, it might just be enough to play “Let’s make a deal”.

I can understand doubting it, but here’s how Anaheim looks after the deal.

Perron-Getlaf-Perry (Was Perron-Getzlaf-Stewart)

Purcell-Kesler-Yakupov (Was Maroon-Rakell-Perry)

Silfverberg – Rakell – Stewart (Was Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg)

Maroon-Cogliano-Santorelli, with Garbutt as 13th forward. (Was Garbutt-Thompson-Santorelli)

On the back-end, they have:

Fowler-Bieksa

Lindholm-Manson

Despres-Gryba (Was Despres-Vatanen)

Overall, the scoring potential and depth at forward looks far stronger now, and with Purcell and Kesler, Yakupov won’t need to do anything defensive other than hammer the puck on the net to earn his pay cheque.

Now, for the Oilers, if you plug Vatanen into that D corps alongside Klefbom, suddenly it looks acceptable. Sure, it’s not ideal having Davidson play on his off-side, but the idea of Klefbom-Vatanen, Sekera-Davidson, Nurse-Clendening is a lot more respectable and has significantly higher puck moving abilities than before, which is what a fast-moving team like the Oilers needs to execute a breakout. Plus, the powerplay now has Klefbom-Vatanen as PP1, with Sekera-Clendening as PP2. That starts to look far more dangerous.

Now, this isn’t to say that it’s not worth pursuing a Shattenkirk or a Hamonic for the top pairing by any means, and it’s possible RNH is required at that point to obtain one, but both will likely be off-season deals, at which point Chiarelli has Fayne, Schultz, RNH and probably a guy like Davidson to use in order to obtain one.

As an additional point, Talbot’s numbers (regardless of the bad stretch) are consistent with a starting NHL goalie, if not a star goalie. Nilsson, on the other hand, has reverted to his previous NHL/AHL levels, but was a worthwhile experiment. However, there’s no real need to obtain some elite goalie. It may be that Brossoit is ready for next season, and if not, a veteran backup can be obtained in free agency. If you look at LA, NYI, PHI, they all obtained a standard backup in free agency who have been more than effective in their roles (Neuvirth, Greiss and Enroth), so this isn’t an area worth expending too much effort in and can be addressed easily enough. (Ramo, Khudobin, Stalock, Johnson, Enroth, Montoya, Raanta are all pending UFAs who would be solid backup options for next season if LB requires more seasoning).

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

Mad Oilers Trade Rumours!

Ebs should be packing his bags. It looks like he’s going to get moved.

So the rumours are flying from some major sources (Friedman) and some not so major sources (Eklund) and I’d like to take a stab at some of them.

The beloved Elliotte Friedman was on Oilers Now today with good ol’ Bob Stauffer and he was letting the rumor bombs go left and right as they set ablaze the oilogosphere.

If you’d like to listen to his segment you can do that below. I’ll have another segment further down where Stauffer hits at the Washington Capitals need for a defenceman going into the playoffs…

After a bit of back and forth regarding Twitter dos and don’ts (Stauffer did tell a story about a blogger that made a comment about Bob’s weight for which he confronted said blogger at a Golden Bears game. I have a feeling I might know which blogger he was talking about and I could be wrong but… Lay off the RC Cola) they broke into some pretty major Oilers chatter.

First up was Justin Schultz which was premised by Bob asking Friedman what the market was for Jultz and adding that the Oilers are in a position to retain salary.

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693158003906781184

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693158294840410112

Stauffer goes on to pontificate about the futures of Travis Hamonic, Sami Vatanen, and Kevin Shattenkirk to which Friedman replied:

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693158799176110080

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693160012537933824

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/693161722899623936

Friedman also spoke about Kyle Okposo and that in turn fuelled the Twitter rumor that was cruising today, what about an Okposo/Hamonic for Eberle/Jultz deal? I looked at this waaaaay back in November here. The only thing that is holding this back is possibly Okposo’s contract demands. He’s looking for some major money and anybody who is anybody knows what happens when you give power forwards big bucks on long-term deals…

EF did say that the Ducks will be looking for a young player in return. So could that be Eberle, could it maybe be Yakupov? I feel it’d be harder to see Eberle in a different jersey six times a year rather than Yak…

As for which blue liner I prefer. That is really a tough call as they are both quite good. The fact that the Oilers are dead last (I think) in scoring from the blue leads me to lean closer to Vatanen than Lindholm to be honest.

EF does wonder aloud about the Ducks willingness to add another big contract to which Stauffer says maybe Anaheim adds a contract going back to offset the $6m (Eberle I’m assuming) going to the Ducks.

Sounds like Shattenkirk is either sticking with the Blues as they go through this little injury crisis or he’s heading to Tampa in a deal for Drouin. I don’t think the Oilers were ever or will ever be in contention for the defenceman.

Later on in his segment with Friedman (11:23 mark above), Stauffer mentions Sabres GM Tim Murray’s interest in Justin Schultz and an interest that has been there since his days with the Anaheim Ducks. Now if you didn’t know, Justin Schultz was a 2nd round pick of the Ducks back in 2008. So perhaps some dots can be connected there.

Two weeks ago, I did in fact let it be known that through my sources that Buffalo was interested in a right-handed puck-moving defenceman on the Oilers here.

Later on in Oilers Now Bob Stauffer, as he often does when he’s leaking something OR misleading his audience, slyly went on about the Washington Capitals potentially looking for a replacement for Brooks Orpik. Now why would anything that the Caps do have anything to do with the Oilers? Well I imagine it’s possible the Oilers could have a dman or two that the Capitals fancy. Say…. Mark Fayne or Eric Gryba…

Staying on the Capitals, my source tells me that they’re interested in Teddy Purcell but they’re not the only team that’s interested. The other team being the Chicago Blackhawks and that lines up with Eklund’s newest post.

Now I understand fully that Eklund isn’t the most reliable of reference points and that nobody else is talking about the Hawks and Oiler getting together on Purcell but as I said before, this is the word I get. You can choose to believe it or you can choose to ignore it. Up to you. I just put it out there for all of you wonderful people to consume.

So if the Oilers move out Jordan Eberle and Teddy Purcell, that’s their two top RWs. Would Yakupov or Pakarinen get moved right up or is it possible the Oilers pick up a bad contract to fill in for the rest of the year. What about promoting Anton Slepyshev or bringing up Josh Winquist?

Lots of rumour talk today. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Brrrr. Must be cold in Edmonton. Pick up a sweet hoodie by clicking the pic!