Tag Archives: Jeff Skinner

Reviewing the Latest Oilers Trade and Draft Speculation

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Happy draft week folks! The rumors are a flyin’, aren’t they? By the time the Oilers are playing their first game over in Europe they’ll be rid of Cam Talbot, Milan Lucic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, and Jesse Puljujarvi but at least they’ll have a random guy in net, Torey Krug, Erik Karlsson, and Justin Faulk playing D and Jeff Skinner flanking Connor McDavid.

BRUTAL!!!

THE SPECULATION

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/1006969977167941632

  • Jim Matheson has the Oiler talking to Ottawa about Erik Karlsson this week…

It’s not happening folks. The talks start with Leon and go up and the Oilers finally have a great 1-2 punch down the middle, they’re both young, and they’re both under contract for the next 7 years. I’m not dismantling that for a 30-yr-old Erik Karlsson who is on the last year of his contract. Not one bit folks!

  • The Fourth Period has the Oilers sending Cam Talbot and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the Hurricanes for Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk

WTF?! Seriously? What are the Oilers going to do in net then? Is Koskinen going to take over the reigns? We’ve seen what this team is like when it doesn’t get goaltending and I do not see them dealing for any all-stars.

That said, Lowetide and Alex Thomas were talking about Tuukka Rask over the weekend and that is probably a guy I would send a package that included Talbot for. Do you think Lucic would go back to Boston? What about a blockbuster sending Lucic, Klefbom, and Talbot to Boston for Krug and Rask?

Getting back to that TFP post… Skinner has one year left on his deal and I believe Faulk has two years whereas Talbot’s on the last year of his and Nuge has 3 years left IIRC. The money is a bit of a wash but I don’t believe the talent is.

Nuge is going to be a revelation on McDavid’s LW this season. Book it!

https://twitter.com/NHLbyMatty/status/1008330578427404290

  • Another player Jim Matheson has been tweeting about is Julius Honka.

I like this guy quite a bit and he’s at that age where a player’s game starts to become more refined. And to add to that, he doesn’t have to play for Ken Hitchcock anymore. He hasn’t put up a lot of points in his career so far (9pts in 60+gp) but I believe he’d be a fair bet to help the Oilers transition game if they acquired him. I mean, can you really see Dallas playing him over Johns, Klingberg, or Pateryn? Plus they’ve got Miro Heiskanen starting next year…

Honka’s on the way out and the Oilers should try to grab him.

  • Bob Stauffer has the Oilers having their pick of Ty Smith, Vitali Kravtsov, Barrett Hayton, or Adam Boqvist at #10 overall. His choices being Hayton or Smith.

Listen, Hayton will be a fine 3rd line centre. He’s a lunch bucket guy that Stauffer likes to compare to Bo Horvat for some reason (It’s ridiculous if you really dig into things). But ISS says that Hayton has excellent Hockey IQ and that’s something that if you’ve been listening to his show for the last couple of weeks he’s been saying that Keith Gretzky really likes…

I’m also not sold on Ty Smith. When I watched him I didn’t like his skating or his engagement in the games. Maybe I picked the wrong games mind you but Stauffer likes to bring up his locker room presence and how much his teammates like him as reason to pick the kid. Not good enough for me. Stauff also brings up the Kris Russell comparable and I love me some Kris Russell but not at #10 in the draft.

Vitali Kravtsov, scratch him just because he’s based out of Russia. For whatever reason, and I’m not saying Russians are bad players or bad people or whatever, a few of my favorite players growing up were Russian, they simply don’t turn out for the Oilers unless they’re brought in from other organizations. The only way I think the Oilers would take another Russian in the first round is if they made a deal with the Hurricanes for #2 overall and took Svechnikov.

So that leaves us with Adam Boqvist.

If the Oilers cannot find a way to draft Quinn Hughes (Paul Coffey 2.0 IMO) then they should be taking Adam Boqvist. His offensive upside is unreal. He’s right-handed. The way he works his edges and how well he rushes the puck is outstanding! Add to that the planet destroyer he’s got for a shot… He’s a MUST PICK at #10 if he drops.

People are talking about Boqvists injury history and to that, I say two things,

  • Have you seen Oscar Klefbom’s injury history?
  • I’d be surprised if none of the top prospects in any draft didn’t get concussed once before now.

I do want to say this though, I don’t think that Boqvist will be there at #10. He’s simply too good. Now, if that happens I could see one of Bouchard, Tkachuk, or Wahlstrom being available and that’s a very hard decision for me. I like all three for different reasons but it’d be hard for me not to take Tkachuk simply because his brother plays for Calgary and he’s not a perimeter player.

Stauffer has Zadina falling to #9 and if that scenario takes place, the Oilers best be doing their damnedest to trade up to pick him. Unreal if that guy dropped to #9…

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Oilers Speculation: The Hunter, The Skinner, and The Faulker

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The latest Oilers speculation is not really new news. We’re all just awaiting the announcement where Peter Chiarelli welcomes Trent Yawney, Glen Gulutzan, and Manny Viveiros to the club, right?

What a great sign it is for Peter Chiarelli in that he’s snatching up high-end talent for the coaching staff and if the rumor below comes true, that just adds to what is looking like a great start to the summer for the Oilers GM.

I hope he gets the praise that he’s due.

Well, that bit of news was just the tip of the iceberg last night when one of my sources contacted me.

Now as usual and if I remember, I want to preface the following with some advice. Don’t take this as gospel. I’m just one guy who knows a guy within the Oilers organization out of hundreds of other guys in the same situation. Rumors are just that and a lot of the time these things NEVER come true. They simply get lost in the black hole that is the Oilers rumor mill.

That said, here’s what I was told.

Edm also talking to Mark Hunter about a role in management. 

I think a lot of Oilers fans would love this to come true given what Hunter accomplished in his time in Toronto in terms of the draft. He’s certainly got a lot of pedigree at the moment but I do wonder if his old playing club, the Montreal Canadiens or even the Calgary Flames, come knocking on his door. Better yet, the new expansion franchise in Seattle would be quite smart to snap him up as soon as it’s possible for them to start adding staff.

If Hunter were to come to Edmonton, I’d see that as a sign that a change in the position of general manager is forthcoming.

Tons of shakeups happening. Oilers are also talking to Carolina about Skinner and Faulk.

This would definitely move the needle a bit. I’m not sure how those players’ contracts would fit under the Oilers’ cap (combined they make close to $10M a year) but I imagine that would depend on the players going back to Carolina and I’d imagine that one of the higher paid defensemen would be going as well as someone whose contract is a bit too high within the forward group and for good measure, toss in a high draft pick along with a blue-chip prospect.

Another problem with this is that both Skinner and Faulk will be UFAs sooner than later. Skinner next summer and Faulk the year after. So would it be such a great move to mortgage a chunk of the future to possibly win next season. I mean what is Jeff Skinner going to command in 2019/2020 if he goes on to score 40 goals with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl as his centre? $8M or $9M a year must be in the range because Doug Wilson looks like he’s going to give a 4opt winger $7M a year… And if Faulk puts up 50-60pts, he’s going to be looking for something north of $6M a season in two years…

I just don’t think it looks like a responsible long-term move and if Peter Chiarelli is making trades to try and save his job, he’s already fired.

That being said, how motivated would those two be to score when their old coach and the Flames meet the Oilers meet 6x a year?

*UPDATE*

Sounds like they may move Sekera the other way if Sekera waives his NMC. Oilers till have almost $20M in cap and Kassian could go the other way too.

They ARE shopping Sekera because they don’t know if he’ll be the same again. 

Hang tight. This deal wouldn’t happen until the draft or the start of FA season because of how big it would be. 

Ex-Oilers assistant GM Rick Olcyk is still an AGM in Carolina and I wonder if that relationship would have a positive impact on trade negotiations here.

I didn’t watch Slovakia at the World Championships, so I can’t say if he looked any better or worse but a guy his age, not OLD mind you (only 31) but not 25 either, there are going to be valid concerns about his recovery.

Do the Hurricanes want another LHD though? And does Sekera want to go back to Carolina? Will Jim Matheson get his wish and see Jesse Puljujarvi moved in this kind of deal?

Kassian has in fact been brought up in trade discussions. I don’t know what teams are offering but I believe that Chiarelli is softly shopping him just to see what the interest level is. 

This dovetails nicely with what Bob Stauffer has said recently, and these were his rumblings, but he said that the Oilers could bring in a $4M winger IF they could find a way to move out a bottom 6 winger who makes around $2M…

Frankly, Kassian does make too much money for what he provided last season BUT that being said, he’s exactly the kind of player that Oilers will want in the playoffs. A heavy player with skill who contributes on the PK and can withstand the rigors of NHL post-season intensity. Think Auston Watson or Devante Smith-Pelly. Not the greatest during the regular season but ramp up their games in the playoffs.

Could the Oilers find a similar player that would be willing to make $1M less? Sure. I think they could do that no problem but I’m not sure they could find the sort of player that fans and teammates are so emotionally tied to like Zack Kassian.

Milan Lucic has been heavily challenged by the Oilers brass to come to camp lighter and quicker or 2018/19 is his last season as an Oilers forward. 

Contrary to the negative reports, there is, in fact, TONS of interest in Milan Lucic via trade because of what he brings.

But the Oilers want to give him a year to bounce back. 

I can definitely see this. Especially if this could be Chiarelli’s last year with the club, the next GM would have zero qualms trading the big man and freeing up some cap room.

If we take Milan Lucic’s year-end avail and what he said there as truth, then we know that he’s going to be working his ass off to drop some muscle mass but then again, you do have to wonder how serious he’ll be when he sees Ryan Reaves playing in the Stanley Cup Final knowing that Reaves is a worse player in every aspect.

I know talking to my Vancouver source that they’d be at the front of the line if Lucic hits the market. Any deal involving Lucic will have the Oilers taking some cash back and/or sending a highly regarded prospect or draft pick along with him, right? Plus he’d have to give it the green light.

So there are some pretty obvious roadblocks in moving Lucic.

Just one last thing on Milan before we put a bow on this post.

Bob Stauffer said something very interesting with regards to Looch on his show yesterday morning that made me go hmmmmm.

He has to get order in his life in order to succeed on the ice and that’s part of the challenge when you’re coming in as an older guy. Edmonton is an intense market. 

What does that mean? Lucic has to get order in his life… Something going on off the ice that is affecting Milan’s game on it?

Anyways, let me know your thoughts in the comments!

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