Tag Archives: Ilya Kovalchuk

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Holland Looking at Kovalchuk According to Engels

Now we know that Oilers GM Ken Holland has been eyeing a winger out of Montreal because some reports came out recently that Tomas Tatar is on his radar. Now, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, the Edmonton Oilers are looking at a winger who, at the moment, is playing extremely well for the Montreal Canadiens. In his latest post, he said this about Ilya Kovalchuk,

The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, however, are two teams that also have varying degrees of interest in Kovalchuk, I’ve been told. They both have the picks to swing it, but Edmonton is cap-strapped, which means adding Kovalckuk could make more sense to them than taking on someone else at a higher salary. (source)

I may or may not have brought Kovalchuk’s name up in November…

Now, since he signed with the Habs for a prorated deal worth 700k at the beginning of January, the 36-year-old has tallied 14pts in 11 games. Prior to that under the guidance of former Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan, he had 11pts in 17 games and was -11.

I find it shocking that as soon as Kovalchuk left LA, he started producing… Don’t you? Reminds me of a certain player having the time of his life over in Finland who may have experienced similar challenges…

Anyways, I digress.

The rumored ask for Kovalchuk is said to be a 2nd round pick and a prospect but apparently the consensus around the league is that the best Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin might get is a 4th rounder. Thus leading some to believe that if that’s all Montreal can get for him, they’re better off keeping him.

Personally, I wouldn’t give up too much for Kovalchuk. I understand how well he’s playing at the moment but I wonder how much that has to do with playing out East too. Would that form drop should he return to a Pacific division team?

That said, at his price point, it would be hard to argue against beating out the competition to acquire him. He’s exactly the sort of player Ken Holland would try to trade for too. An old vet with some gas still in the tank and a shit ton of experience that he could leave with the young Oilers. Imagine this guy on the left half-wall on the PP with his shot…

I think if Edmonton could send over an unsigned prospect out of college or Europe and a mid-round draft pick, I’d be happy with that. I hear Cooper Marody is on thin ice, maybe send him over with a pick?

What would you give up for him? How much would you give up to bring in both Tomas Tatar AND Ilya Kovalchuk? Let us know in the comments below!

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Friedman Says the Oilers are the Front Runners for Giant Finnish Goalie Mikko Koskinen

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You probably have heard either via the Twitter or from Hockey Night in Canada Elliotte Friedman say that the Oilers are in on Finnish goaltender Mikko Koskinen. This new shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody. There are changes afoot in the KHL and a ton of talent is looking to come to the NHL. And if you’ve been listening to Bob Stauffer recently you’d know he asked both Todd McLellan AND Peter Chiarelli during their year-end avails questions as to procuring a goalie out of “non-traditional markets”…

Buyer Beware

Mikko Koskinen has played the last 5 seasons for Vladimir Putin’s team SKA in the KHL. He’s had the luxury of playing behind the best team money can buy over in Russia but that being said, he still has to play well to stay on said team and he has.

The 6’6″ 200lb Mikko Koskinen was once a blue-chip goaltending prospect in the New York Islanders system after being drafted as a 2o year old in the 2nd round of the 2009 draft 31st overall. Basically a first round pick.

But for whatever reason things didn’t pan out in that organization and his numbers were simply unacceptable, as you can see above, in his three seasons as a goalie in North America.

This from Islanders blog, Lighthouse Hockey:

While in the Islanders organization, he had basically one full season in AHL Bridgeport with an ugly .892 save percentage, though it was on a(nother) weak team. A hip problem clearly interfered with his performance during his entry level contract playing for the Islanders, Sound Tigers, and their then-ECHL affiliate Utah Grizzlies.

A couple of things working in his advantage are his size and I believe his age. Koskinen is 30 now and we know that goaltenders can be fickle when it comes to development but this fella has put up consistently good numbers since moving to Europe.

If the Oilers are looking at signing Mikko Koskinen to be their backup in 2018, are they aiming high enough? What I mean is that last season was lost due to “hoping” the kids would step up. Are the Oilers back to that “hoping” model again? Or are his numbers and the scouting reports out of Russia/Finland telling the Oilers that this guy can play 25-30 games next season?

Is Mikko Koskinen the next Viktor Fasth/Anders Nilsson or is he Chiarelli’s next Tim Thomas?

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/987879721902977026

MY THOUGHTS

I’m divided. He doesn’t have a good history in North America but he’s older now and there are plenty of examples of goalies who flourish in the later years. The optimist in me says the Oilers should go for it because he’s a big netminder and he’s put up fantastic numbers in the KHL but then the pessimist says he’s a slow netminder and the KHL isn’t the NHL.

https://twitter.com/AdamsOnHockey/status/987886984931639297

Should the Oilers go this route and it fails, they’ll probably still have Montoya as the no.3 who could come up but if they do sign the Finn and he succeeds, how high is the ceiling here? Are we talking Pekka Rinne high? Kiprusoff?

What is a realistic expectation of a 3o-year old goalie coming to the NHL from the KHL with his size and his stats?

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/987880255053447168

Are we overthinking this? For the love of Pete, this is the backup goalie we’re talking about here…

Here are some scouting reports of the big guy:

He takes up a ton of net and he is difficult to beat when he has time to square up to the shooter. Predictably, he struggles a bit with his mobility and regularly ends up scrambling. However, he is extremely flexible for a man his size. That combined with his long limbs helps Koskinen make up for whatever deficiencies exist in his lateral movement. Brent Craswell (link)

Koskinen’s greatest asset is his size, which he uses to seemingly fill the entire net and he covers a lot of space in the butterfly. He is inexperienced in terms of the number of games played and has not had a lot of international experience – excelling in the SM-Liiga where he ordinarily does not see the booming slapshots or accurate snipers more common in North America.  Still learning as a goaltender, he must work to improve his quickness and foot speed. Very good at anticipating chances and setting himself to limit scoring opportunities.  Quality teammate who has earned the respect of the veteran players in Espoo. (link)

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Around the Oilogosphere, Bakersfield Condors, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors

Around the Oilogosphere – April 17th Edition – Bode Wilde, Cheering for Hall? Drafting a Smurf, and More News on Ilya Kovalchuk!

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On Lowetide’s show yesterday he had an outstanding prospects scout by the name of Simon Boisvert on and they talked about some of the potential players that the Oilers could select from if they end up keeping the 1st round pick at the draft this year.

Lowetide asked Boisvert for a few candidates that the Oilers might have a choice from and the first name that Boisvert said was Bode Wilde.

Simon Boisvert had this to say about Wilde:

I think he is a superb skater. He’s a defenseman. He has a good build and carries the puck, he has a good shot. This is a guy who can play on the powerplay. So to me, that would be a very very good pick for the Oilers.

Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Height / Weight: 6’2, 195 lbs
Born: January 24th, 2000 | Birmingham, MI
Nation: United States

An American defenseman who played for the u18 USNTDP this season with other top prospects like Oliver Wahlstrom and Joel Farabee as well as the player expected to go 1st overall in 2019, Jack Hughes. Wilde scored 11 goals and added 25 assists this season in 53 games.

Strengths: Outstanding shooter, very physical in front of the net, excellent vision, poise, and skating.

Weaknesses: A bit chaotic, takes chances, poor gap control, inconsistent, tends to go for the big hit more often than should.

NHL Comparison – A smaller version of Dustin Byfuglien

He is ranked more in the 14-20 range by most draft prognosticators and I feel like while Wilde has some very tasty looking strengths to his game, the knock on him is his defensive play in his own zone and his inconsistency.

Taking him at #9 overall would be a tad early. Especially if Quinn Hughes, Adam Boqvist, Noah Dobson, Evan Bouchard, Joel Farabee, or Joe Veleno were available. I’d have zero problems if the Oilers traded down to get him though because he’s definitely got the physical tools to play the game. The defensive limitations can be ironed out with time and good coaching. That said, where there is high risk, there’s usually potential for high reward.

Wilde is committed to Michigan for next season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9fqw0mcqMI

OILERS NEWS

Plan C – Is McLellan really willing or able to find the best and brightest to be an assistant coach at the most important position? One that might have a different vision and philosophy as he does? One that could possibly take over as head coach if we get off to another slow start next year? One that could take his job and get the team in a better direction, thus making him look more incompetent that he looks now?

Edmonton Oilers’ top affiliate Bakersfield Condors wind up another underwhelming season – What’s the value of a productive farm system? A modern fan of the Edmonton Oilers could be forgiven a terse answer like “I have no idea” or “I can’t recall”, but it actually isn’t all that long since the NHL club had enjoyed a steady pipeline of emerging talent.

Monday Mailbag – Chiarelli’s summer to-do list – It was a busy week in Oilers land so this edition of the mailbag could get spicy.

Will the Edmonton Oilers take a highly-rated Smurf d-man in the draft? – But the NHL is said to be moving towards smaller, faster and more skilled players, which means it’s more likely that a smaller d-man will be taken high in the draft this year, just as two Smurf d-men, Miro Heiskanen, 5-11, 182, and Cale Makar, 5-10, 175, were taken third and fourth overall last year.

Cheer for Taylor Hall in the playoffs? Not this Oiler fan, not in this lifetime – Hall is no longer an Oiler. In fact, he made it clear he didn’t cheer for the Oilers last year in the playoffs, which is a sentiment I perfectly understand. Why would he root for the Oilers? And, likewise, why would I root for him now?

NHL Rumors: Edmonton Oilers – Some Potential Changes To Watch For This Offseason

NHL NEWS

NHL Rumors: New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks

NHL Rumors: Arizona Coyotes – Top-Six Need, Ekman-Larsson and Pending UFAs

NHL Rumors: Kovalchuk, Canucks and UFAs, Islanders and Tavares

NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames

NHL Rumors: New York Rangers – Stevens, Montgomery, Kovalchuk and Grabner

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

Around the Oilogosphere – April 9th Edition – Mocking Team Canada, Oilers Year-End Reports, Cooper Marody, and Tons of NHL Rumors!

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Now that the Oilers season is done we can move on to other important things as fans of hockey like who’ll be representing Team Canada at the World Championships in Denmark for one but before we do that I just want to say how proud I am of the hockey community worldwide since the Humboldt tragedy. Just the amount of money raised (over $4M!!!) and awareness from hockey teams globally is, pardon my french, f*cking amazing! Well done folks!

Now, the families everyone involved and the driver of the truck that hit the bus have a long way to go but let’s keep that support strong! I loved the hockey sticks on the porch idea and I hope the boys had a helluva game up there!

I did this quick mockup of the team I wouldn’t mind seeing head over. I’m not 100% sure about all of the players. I’m hoping that if I make a mistake that you’ll point it out to me and let me know in the comments!

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Mat Barzal
Jamie Benn-Tyler Seguin-Jeff Skinner
Mike Hoffman-Sean Monahan-Jordan Eberle
Brayden Schenn-Ryan O’Reilly, Mark Stone

Mark Giordano-Alex Pietrangelo
Ben Hutton-Dougie Hamilton
Mike Matheson-Aaron Ekblad

Cam Talbot
Jake Allen

Spares: Bo Horvat, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jaden Schwartz, Colton Parayko, Jakub Chychrun, James Reimer

Like I said, I’m not 100% sure about the availability of the players there, just a quick and dirty mock of the roster. Now, on to the links!

OILERS NEWS

Beer League Heroes – 2017/18 Year-End Oilers Report Card

The Cult of Hockey – Which Edmonton Oilers exceeded, met, or failed to meet expectations in 2017-18 – But with the team’s failing season in the rear view mirror, we are left with the analysis of individuals.

The Cult of Hockey – The Edmonton Oilers need right coach to make Stanley Cup finals, not necessarily coaching stability – One of the arguments we heard right now is that for the Oilers’ franchise to advance, stability is needed, no major changes should occur, that it’s important to stay the course. But…

The Cult of Hockey – Edmonton Oilers cash in Patrick Maroon trade, sign Cooper Marody – Marody proved to be a stellar scorer in his third college season, which made him worth the pick, especially on a team like the Oilers that needs help at forward sooner than later.

Oilersnation – Klefbom Gets Good News on His Shoulder – Oscar Klefbom, like all his teammates, was disappointed in how their season unfolded, but he was very excited about his upcoming off-season training. He had surgery to clean up his shoulder, which has been bothering him for years.

Oilers YYC Podcast – Episode 41: Carl Landra – Carl Landra from The 4th Line Podcast joins Pete and Dave on The Roundtable and look back on the NHL season that’s been and the playoffs to come sans Oilers. The gang also takes a closer look at upcoming UFAs and RFAs on the Oilers roster.

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NHL NEWS AND RUMORS

McKenzie curious what Molson and Bergevin will say

NHL Rookie Watch: Three Rookies Who Struggled Down The Stretch

NHL Rumors: Knights, Perron and Neal … Islanders and Tavares

NHL Rumors: Red Wings, Rangers, Senators, and Sabres

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Around the Oilogosphere – April 7th Edition – Tragedy Strikes Humboldt, Congrats on 10 years Oilersnation, Friedman on Tavares/Karlsson, and NHL Rumors!

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I never want to start out my Oilers posts with bad news but today it’s simply unavoidable. I’m sure you’ve heard but yesterday we lost some really special people in a car accident in between Tisdale and Nipawin, Saskatchewan. I don’t know all of the details and frankly, I’m not sure I want to. The number of lives lost is staggering. It’s a dark time for a lot of families right now and the words I’m reaching for to describe how helpless I feel won’t help but I hope they know they have the unending support of the entire hockey community.

I’m not really sure why my heart feels as heavy as it does. I don’t have any ties to the team or the players or the league. I live on a small island off the coast of China but there’s a small town just east of the accident site called Arborfield and that is where my mother’s side of the family grew up. We went there a few times when I was a little boy. Maybe that has something to do with it or possibly just the fact that as writers or fans of hockey when something like this happens, it hits us all.

Either way, that’s not important. What’s important is that the families of the victims, the billets, the people close to the hockey team, they get the support that they require. I understand that there’s a Go Fund Me that has been started and if you can afford to donate, it’s more than a worthy cause.

OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – The Humboldt Broncos Tragedy: This wasn’t supposed to happen. Again. – One chilly January day while playing in a Midget tournament in Saskatoon, my Dad pulled me aside, just after I had gotten off the ice…

The Cult of Hockey – Excellent advice to NHL players from Jason Strudwick: ” I don’t think players should be on social media” – Whether you’re the best player in the league or the worst player, you’re going to find something that rattles you…

Edmonton Sun – Ryan Smyth greatly appreciated Sedins on his NHL farewell – “I don’t see them crying like I was,” laughed the former Edmonton Oiler winger who played his 1,270th and last NHL game against the Sedins when the Canucks were here April 12, 2014. The Sedins made sure every Vancouver player shook Smyth’s hand before he took one last sobbing lap around the rink.

Sportsnet – Golden Knights are playoff contenders the Oilers were supposed to be – How much money could you have won back in October if you’d have wagered that, in this April 5, Game 81 meeting between the Stanley Cup-favoured Edmonton Oilers and the tomato can expansion Golden Knights, that the latter would be the team prepping for the playoffs, and the former sending players to the world championships?

Oilersnation – 10 Years: Nation Rising – I had no idea what I was in for as I drove to Earl’s restaurant on 170th Street and 100th Ave. in late February of 2008 for a lunch meeting with three guys I’d never met to talk about getting involved with a website that I’d never heard of…

Oilersnation – Cam Talbot expects to rebound next season – After yesterday’s practice, Cam Talbot spoke to the media about the season that was, where things went wrong, and what to expect from the goaltender heading into next season…

NHL NEWS AND RUMORS

Sportsnet – 31 Thoughts: Expect Canucks to be Aggressive in Post-Sedins Era

Friedman | Islanders must still convince Tavares they can win

Friedman believes Karlsson has played last game for Senators

NHL Rumors: Oilers, Kovalchuk, Knights, Senators, Sabres and Maple Leafs

NHL Rumors: Carlson, Voynov, Canucks and Stars

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