Tag Archives: Josh Ho-Sang

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

Two New Names Enter the Oilers Rumor Mill

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A good friend of mine, we’ll call him Dave, sent me a message on Twitter the other day and offered me a scenario regarding the Oilers and the Islanders. Now, I know that’s not a rumor per se but this Dave contacted me about the Oilers signing Ryan Mantha last year months before he was signed and I trust him. We’ll get to why this is a rumor later on in the post.

But first I’ve got to ask you to listen to this clip from The Jason Gregor Show and tell me what you think they’re talking about.

Here’s what my friend Dave sent me:

Arthur Staple, the NYI writer, said this in an interview: “I would not be surprised if Beauvillier and de Haan are packaged in a deal for a top 6 F.” Stauffer dropping hints that the guy coming back for Eberle is a player that can play more positions in the top 9. Beauvillier is a C/LW.

Who are the top-6 forwards that have been rumored to be going to the Islanders?

  • Matt Duchene
  • Alex Galchenyuk
  • Jordan Eberle

https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/877220734057160704

So there you have the Bobfather (Bob McKenzie) saying that perhaps the Islanders will go ALL OUT and trade for both Matt Duchene AND Jordan Eberle.

Bob Stauffer said on Oilers NOW (June 20th) that he expects the Eberle trade with the Islanders to go down shortly after the expansion draft. He also echoed McKenzie’s sentiments that the Isles may go for both Duchene and Eberle.

THE PROPOSED DEALS

Stauffer thought something like Josh Ho-Sang+Travis Hamonic for Matt Duchene might be feasible and I could agree there. Elliotte Friedman thought that the Oilers would have to pay much more than just Jordan Eberle for Hamonic if they wanted him. Plus, I don’t think that Beauvillier and de Haan would get Duchene out of Colorado.

As for Jordan Eberle, if we go from my friend Dave’s thoughts, that deal would look like Calvin de Haan+Anthony Beauvillier for Jordan Eberle.

On paper, those deals would jack up the Isles forward corps quite a bit but what about the salary cap? At the moment, the Islanders have about $4M available and don’t Duchene and Eberle make $6M or more per year each?

Hamonic – $3.85M per year till 2019/20
Ho-Sang – $1.075M per year until 2018/19
de Haan – RFA
Beauvillier – $894k per year until 2018/19

I’d expect de Haan to be signing anywhere from $3.75M to $5M if you take his comparables like Mattias Eckholm ($3.75Mx6), Danny Dekeyser ($5Mx6), Chris Tanev ($4.45Mx5), into consideration. I mean he made a shade under $2M last season, so

I mean he made a shade under $2M last season, so it’s likely he’ll double that depending on the team?

So when we bring it all together, Duchene+Eberle’s salaries are around $12M and the four players mentioned above combined are about, let’s say, $10M because we’re not sure what de Haan signs for. That leaves the Islanders with approximately $2M to play with but with no 2nd pairing on defense

Right now their defense looks as such:

Leddy/Boychuck
XXX/Seidenberg
Mayfield/Pelech

If they really wanted to, they could move Dennis Seidenberg to his native left side and move Ryan Pulock into that vacancy but that’s an awfully inexperienced bottom three defenders.

Bob Stauffer had another suggestion, he suggested that the Islanders move Mikhail Grabovski’s rights (and salary $5M) plus the Islanders first round pick (16th OV) to the Vegas Golden Knights for one fo their 1st rounders that they are likely to pick up from another team. This would open up some cash for the Islanders to play with and if Grabovksi goes on the LTIR next season, the Golden Knights are only on the hook for $1M because the other 80% would be paid by insurance.

That is only for 1 season as well and if they can move Kulemin to Vegas as well, that’d be a dream scenario for Garth Snow.

WHY BEAUVILLIER/de HAAN TO THE OILERS IS A RUMOR

Bob Stauffer has been touting Eberle to the Islanders for a very long time now but he’s only let it be known the return would be for someone that is,

“Cheaper and less established. That might give them (the Oilers) a few more options with regards to where you could move him in to the lineup”

Naturally, myself included, I jumped directly to Ryan Strome but that’s too easy when I think about it and I am of the belief that the Islanders new head coach Doug Weight (DOOOUUUUGGGGIIIIEEEE) is a fan of Strome and would like to work with him. Ryan Strome was nearly .5pts per game after Weight took over coaching duties.

Anthony Beauvillier is cheaper and less established and can play multiple positions and hardly anybody is talking about him, unless you type in “beauvillier isles” on twitter, there you’ll get all sorts of commentary as he’s being connected to the Canadiens (of course he is) and the Alex Galchenyuk rumors. Hence, why his connection to the Oilers is now a rumor. Yes, if Twitter is talking about it, it’s a rumor… lol.

Here’s what McKeen’s had to say about Beauvillier in his draft year and pay attention because a lot of Beauvillier’s character attributes are things that Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli really values.

Anthony Beauvillier has only turned 20 years old and deserves to be on a team that can shelter him and bring him along slowly. Having Milan Lucic, Pat Maroon, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (maybe), Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid will certainly do that. He was a whiz on the faceoff dot in junior (not at all in the NHL yet) and perhaps that (3C) is where Peter Chiarelli could see him eventually. And wasn’t Beauvillier one of the pieces of the Griffin Reinhart trade? He was.

I think you’re probably asking, why would the Oilers need ANOTHER small forward? Didn’t we just go through years and years of trying to play with small forwards? And you’d be right in saying that but I’d have to say that the focus of such a trade wouldn’t be Beauvillier, it’d be De Haan.

I feel like I’ve oversold you on Anthony Beauvillier a bit and not even focused on the best part of that deal, Calvin de Haan.

In de Haan you’ve got a better and possibly cheaper player than Kris Russell.

Fenwick Against per 60 Relative to Teammates:
Russell: -.017
de Haan: -1.59

Shots Against per 60 Relative to Teammates:
Russell:-1.50
de Haan:-2.36

I like those statistics because they tell me how the other team is doing against said player. I like to look at a defenseman’s defensive stats if they are a more stay-at-home dman. And if we look at their “FOR” stats in both of the cases above, they are in the minuses, so that doesn’t help me much.

If you’re a Corsi fella:

Corsi For per 60 Relative to Teammates:
Russell: -7.38
de Haan: -5.13

Corsi Against per 60 Relative to Teammates:
Russell: 5.37
de Haan: 1.32

de Haan wins out here too even though the numbers don’t look great

If we take a gander at some more tradition stats, de Haan comes out on top more often that not as well.

Goals/Assists/Points/PIMs/Shots

Russell: 1/12/13/23/68
de Haan: 5/20/25/36/116

Hits/Shots blocked/Takeaways/ATOI

Russell: 67/213/36/21:13
de Haan: 139/190/24/19:51

It could be said that Calvin de Haan is a bigger better younger version of Kris Russell. They seemingly play the same style. I wonder if de Haan skates as well as Russell though. I’d lean towards no.

A deal like this wouldn’t address the Oilers need of a right-handed defenseman though and it would leave them short on the right-wing. Mark Spector talked about the Oilers signing Tyler Pitlick this summer and Bob Stauffer said that it’d be a shame if Vegas signed Pitlick.

I’m not sure if a RW depth chart of Puljujarvi, Slepyshev, Kassian, and Pitlick would do it? Possibly toss in a Spencer Foo and we know that Drake Caggiula can play across the board. There’s all sorts of potential though and if Draisaitl moves up, then it’s not a problem but only if Nugent-Hopkins stays.

My only problem there is if Duchene is moved out of Colorado, they’ll need another centre, and the Oilers want Tyson Barrie… So maybe you deal RNH for Barrie and you fill that RHD hole but you make another at centre, right? Is that where a signing like Derek Ryan comes in though?

You wouldn’t have to worry about defense again though and a young D-Corps of Klefbom/Larsson/de Haan/Barrie/Sekera/Nurse/Benning would be one of the best in the league.

You can never have enough good defenseman, right?

That said, how do you feel about this new rumor? Let us know in the comments below!

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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!!

 

NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Team Canada and the U20 Showcase

The U20 Showcase is nearing its end, and though many people put little stock into the summer exhibition series, there have been quite a few interesting developments to come from the camp.

Out of the 40 athletes invited to the camp, it’s unlikely all 40 will return come December when the final roster is constructed. It’s possible that players like Lawson Crouse, Michael Dal Colle, Dylan Strome, Robby Fabbri, and Jake Virtanen stick with their NHL clubs, but it’s also likely we see a guy like Jakob Chychrun or Jake Bean make an appearance at the camp. There are a lot of moving parts from now until puck drop on Boxing Day, but it’s clear Canada will be a contender given the extensive list of players in their arsenal, such as the following standouts from this Augusts camp:

Mason McDonald and Mackenzie Blackwood: It was clear these two were a step ahead of Samuel Montembeault, and are likely the front-runners heading into the December selection camp. I do feel we may only see one of these goalies on the final roster. There are a lot of good options out there, such as Lethbridge Hurricanes net minder (and 2017 eligible) Stuart Skinner, as well as Lucas Pressini or Adin Hill. I could name goalies that have a chance all day long, but what I’m getting at is that the position is wide open for whoever earns the job.

Travis Dermott: Was surprised by his defensive ability and overall awareness. Played a physical game for a guy who’s been primarily labelled as an offensive defenceman. He’s a smooth skater who makes smart outlet passes. He’s young, which is something Team Canada has shied away from in the past when selecting defenders, but if he keeps up the play we saw this week he has a legitimate chance.

Brandon Hickey: If you’re going to teach someone how to skate, make sure you show them some video on Brandon Hickey. He’s the smoothest skater I’ve seen in a while, and though he’s considered an underdog to make the squad, I think he has a real chance to be that reliable 5/6 guy who can kill penalties and play in key defensive zone situations. Oh and if you’re wondering whether or not he’s coming to Red Deer, I’d say there’s a better chance the Oilers deal McDavid.. But I’ve been wrong before.

Lawson Crouse: For a while now scouts have said “you have to see him live to understand what he brings.” Well, last night was a first. His defensive instincts are off the chart. He doesn’t quit, and I don’t mean he goes 80% up and down the ice, he goes 110% for the entire game. The thing about Crouse is that he does all the little things right, whether it’s cycling the puck when the defence double down on him or knowing when to make a big hit, he does it right. I would not be surprised if he cracks the Panthers roster this year.

Travis Konecny: Throughout his draft year all you really heard about was the injuries and inconsistency around him. If I knew absolutely none of the players and sat down to watch this four game set, I’d say Travis is a first line player all day long. His vision and passing ability are something to marvel at, and though some may label him as a playmaker or an offensive player, he played some solid defence and was always one of the first guys on the backcheck. Philly has a good one here.

Though there were some solid standouts, such as the players listed above, there were just as many players who were quite underwhelming. Both Hadyn Fleury and Travis Sanheim played unusually weak. Sanheim was beat to the outside more than a few times, and Fleury seemed to have trouble in the decision-making department as he made some poor passes and wasn’t the best in his own end. Jake Debrusk was inconsistent. The Swift Current sniper looked slow and made some bad shot selections. John Quenneville had a chance to display his physical ability, but ended up looking fairly sluggish on most shifts. Don’t get me wrong, I love Johnny’s game, but if he’s going to crack the roster he needs to bring that physical presence we’re used to seeing.

What exactly would a Canadian World Junior article be if I didn’t make a comment on Josh Ho-Sang? He’s good. Very good. In fact he may be one of the best offensive players at the camp. The problem with Josh, that I haven’t had the chance to see prior to the Russian game, is his inability to grasp the concept of passing the puck. There were three instances in the game against Russia where we saw Ho-Sang circle around the offensive zone with the puck on his stick for about 20 seconds then end up losing it. He has this sense that he always has to be “The Guy” and though he is a tremendous offensive player, I doubt he makes this team.

So if the team was being selected from the players invited to this camp, here is what I believe the lineup would look like:

McDonald
Blackwood

Fleury – Dermott
Sanheim – Hicketts
Hickey – Juulsen
Chabot

Dal Colle – Fabbri – Virtanen
Crouse – Strome – Marner
Perlini – Point – Konecny
Chartier – McCann – Bleackley
Beauvillier – Quenneville