Tag Archives: Mike Green

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

McKenzie Says Oilers to Add Veteran Dman

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Now Cody Franson is off to Chicago on a professional tryout offer but who does that leave for the Oilers to pick up that would come in under say $2M? I’ve got a couple of ideas, some realistic and some not.

Dennis Wideman

What has Chiarelli been known to do with the Oilers and something Glen Sather used to do quite a bit? Pick up reclamation projects, build ’em back up, and then sell then on the high.

Dennis Wideman is a player Chiarelli has traded for and traded away before. He’s familiar with him, Wideman is a righty, he’d be an okay add for the PP due to his shot if that’s something you’re concerned about, and he’s a vet.

He seems to tick off the boxes plus my man on the inside has said they spoke earlier this summer.

PLUS

If the refs decide to screw the Oilers over, Wideman’s there to take care of that… Just kidding!

Cody Franson

If the Oilers were one of the last two teams in on Franson before he decided on Chicago, there’s the very real possibility that Edmonton could pull out the “Versteeg” card and watch how he does during Blackhawks training camp and if Franson impresses, sign him before he signs with Chicago.

Mark Stuart

I can’t see him being any better than Eric Gryba but the PK could use him.

A Trade

The verbiage on McKenzie’s tweet said “add” an experienced defenseman. So, we shouldn’t rule out a trade either. “Experienced” tells me that the candidate would probably be a player in the last year of his deal and closer to 30-35 years old than a younger RFA given the kids coming up.

Bob Stauffer has mentioned Mike Green on numerous occasions. He’ll be a UFA this summer, he’s a right shot, and he’s probably more of a PP specialist these days than 30 minutes a night defender but he’s got a hefty contract to be adding him for the entire season.

Toby Enstrom and Jason Garrison are also upcoming UFAs who could work the man-advantage. Although Enstrom is a lefty.

A long shot might be 40 year old Zdeno Chara. I’ve mentioned him before and of course I realize the relationship between Chiarelli and Sweeney is frosty at best but if Boston is out of it and/or Chara wants out to try and win another cup, the Oilers could afford his salary with ease. He’s not a like-for-like replacement for Sekera but the two played together at the World Cup last summer very well. Chara is a helluva mentor to the young dmen too.

What do you think? Should the Oilers even sign/trade for someone with the plethora of younger depth they have coming up through the minors? Not only that but there’s the new signings from earlier this summer like Auvitu or Stanton.

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Opportunity in the Motor City?

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I was reading an interesting article on The Hockey Writers website the other day called, “Red Wings in Salary Cap Trouble” and it got me thinking. With all of this talk about how Nail Yakupov’s value is so low that no team will pay the required toll to acquire him, I had to step back for a moment and ask myself if that is really true.

There’s always a team that needs cap reprieve or they’ve got a problem player on their roster and this is potentially one of those situations.

The Detroit Red Wings are in a salary cap crunch. With important Restricted Free Agent’s Petr Mrazek and Danny DeKeyser still unsigned, and with only $3.27 Million (per General Fanager ) in cap space, something’s got to give. Let’s say DeKeyser gets $3.5 Million per year on a two-year ‘show me’ deal.

Even though the Red Wings want Mrazek on a bridge deal, the arbitrator awarding the contract is neutral and with the great numbers Mrazek posted this season I can’t see him signing a contract with an AAV less than $4 Million.

So if that indeed is a true representation of what the Red Wings are facing, the Oilers might be able to help them out and this would be a perfect opportunity for them to try to pry, at least, a 2nd rounder out of Detroit as they have two of them for the 2017 draft. We know that Chiarelli is on the hunt for one to send to Boston as compensation for himself being hired by the Oilers after being fired by the Bruins… Stupid rule…

THE MULE

Johan Franzen may never play another game in the NHL again. The Red Wings can’t buy him out because he’s been on the LTIR, so perhaps they’d look to move him in the same vein as the Chris Pronger or Marc Savard trades. Paper transactions more or less but it would free up nearly $4M per year on the cap for Detroit and that’s possibly how much they need to get Mrazek under contract. His actual dollars go like this for the rest of his deal:

2016 – $3.5M
2017 – $2M
2018 – $1M
2019 – $1M

I don’t think Franzen will play again but you never know, if he was able to play for the Oilers, his experience would be of immense value to such a young team.

THE RUB

Edmonton would want to send Yakupov back and the Red Wings have promising youngsters like Tomas Tatar, Andreas Athanasiou, and Anthony Mantha coming up on the right-wing. Hardly a place there for Yakupov, right? Unless they send one of those youngsters back down to Todd Nelson’s team on the farm.

TOSS IN A DMAN

Would the Red Wings be willing to toss in a defender like Brendan Smith and his $2.75M cap hit. He’s slated to be an unrestricted free agent next summer and unlikely to be protected in the expansion draft given that status.

Unfortunately for the Oilers, he’s a left-handed shooter but even then he’s an experienced NHL defenceman and potentially acquiring him would allow the Oilers to put Nurse and Reinhart in the minors to start the year.

*I know that some of you think that having Darnell Nurse in the minors would be a terrible thing for his confidence and the Oilers could use that toughness on the back-end but here’s the deal, he doesn’t need to get better and being tougher. He needs to get better and being a defenceman and giving him mad minutes in the AHL would allow him the freedom to work on the things needed to be a better NHLer with less pressure. It would also lessen the steepness of his NHL Learning curve.*

THE PROPOSAL

To Edmonton: Johan Franzen ($3.94M), Brendan Smith ($2.75M), 2nd round draft pick in 2017

To Detroit: Nail Yakupov ($2.5M), Griffin Reinhart ($863k)

Now I hear what you’re saying and yes, if Reinhart is in the NHL, the numbers don’t work because of bonus payments but if he’s in the AHL, the numbers work. It should come out with the Red Wings having another $3.33M remaining on the cap and that is a very workable number.

Would Detroit really want to move Smith though? He’s a serviceable blueliner right now and the Red Wings defense is not looking as spritely as it has in the past.

*Something I just thought of, if Franzen goes on LTIR, his cap hit won’t count against the Red Wings. So would they really need to trade him? The worst that could happen is he would be healthy enough to come back and would actually want to. A tad different to Andrew Ference’s situation where he can find a way to participate in charity bike rides but can’t get cleared by the NHL to play… So that deal above could very well be nothing to do.*

AN ALTERNATIVE

The Oilers could go after Mike Green and his $6M cap hit and solve all of the Red Wings issues right there. What if the Oilers trade Nail Yakupov for two years of Mike Green? Edmonton has over $8.5M in cap room right now. The Red Wings would get about $3.5M in cap room relief but they’d lose their top dman on the right-side. The deal would actually be Mike Green for Petr Mrazek if you think about it because the onus is on Detroit to get Mrazek under contract.

But how would it affect the Oilers expansion draft protection list? I’d leave Green available if it meant I could protect Davidson. That’s just me though.

I don’t now, what do you think? Could the Red Wings and the Oilers come together to make something happen? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks!

Jack Gruninger, NHL

Beer League Heroes NHL Season Primers 2015/16: The Detroit Red Wings

As usual, the Detroit Red Wings had another good season, making the playoffs for the 24th time in a row, but were eliminated in the first round by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Red Wings may have suffered the biggest loss this offseason, losing head coach Mike Babcock to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Babcock has been replaced by Jeff Blashill, who previously coached Detroit’s AHL affiliate. He is a good coach who has had success at other levels and has coached many of Detroit’s current players before, so he will fit in well.

Key Additions: C Brad Richards, RD Mike Green, RD Robbie Russo

Key Subtractions: C Stephen Weiss, LW Erik Cole, RW Daniel Cleary, RD Marek Zidlicky, G Jonas Gustavsson

The Red Wings didn’t add a lot of significant players this offseason, nor did they need to, with a lot of young talent coming up from the minors ready to take on bigger roles. They have made upgrades in certain positions. Stephen Weiss was bought out, which allowed the Wings to bring in Brad Richards, an obvious upgrade. Marek Zidlicky, acquired at the trade deadline, has been replaced by Mike Green, another upgrade.

Projected Lines (All Players Healthy):
Henrik Zetterberg – Pavel Datsyuk – Justin Abdelkader
Johan Franzen – Brad Richards – Gustav Nyquist
Tomas Tatar – Riley Sheahan – Teemu Pulkkinen
Darren Helm – Luke Glendening – Tomas Jurco
Drew Miller

Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
Danny DeKeyser – Mike Green
Kyle Quincey – Brendan Smith
Jakub Kindl

Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard

Roster Contenders: C Joakim Andersson, C Landon Ferraro, C Andy Miele, C Dylan Larkin, LW Eric Tangradi, LW Tomas Nosek, RW Anthony Mantha, RW Mitch Callahan, LD Xavier Ouellet, LD Brian Lashoff, RD Alexey Marchenko, RD Ryan Sproul, RD Nick Jensen, RD Robbie Russo, G Tom McCollum, G Jared Coreau

A big advantage Detroit has with their roster is superb depth, mostly due to tremendous drafting and development. In addition to great depth on the current roster, there is tremendous depth in the system in all positions.

One concern I have about Detroit is the aging of key players. Datsyuk’s play hasn’t necessarily declined, but he is often injured. Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, and Niklas Kronwall have all shown signs of decline. Eventually, these players will have to be replaced.

All in all, there aren’t any glaring weaknesses in Detroit’s roster. An interesting thing is the progress of Petr Mrazek, and many have him penciled in as the starter for Detroit this season. Jimmy Howard could eventually be put on the trade block.

As usual, I fully anticipate that Detroit will make the playoffs this season. This is a team that has a very good roster in all positions and could cause some damage this season and in the playoffs.

**Hey Everyone, BLH here. We’ve got some good news and bad news. The bad news is that our famed writer Jack Gruninger is going on hiatus as he attends university. The good news is the rest of the Beer League Heroes crew is going to pick up where he left off with the Season Primer Series. Best wishes to Jack and we can’t wait for his return!**

Beer League Hero, Breaking News, NHL, Rumors

Oilers Contact Trio of Big Name UFAs

According to the tweet below from ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun and a report on theScore, the Edmonton Oilers have made contact with three if the bigger UFAs available on the market.

 

Mike Green and Cody Franson are right-handed shooting offensive dmen. Sekera is a two-way dman who shoots left. Of the three I’d prefer to have Green and Sekera but I’m of the opinion that they will cost dearly. Franson is the youngest of the three and he’s more likely to take the body more as his nearly 600 hits over the last three seasons tells us.

Here are Mike Green’s advanced stats:

Mike Green made over $6 million dollars last season and at 29 years of age we can be sure he’ll be asking for at least $7 million per year and term. This could be his last contract and he’ll want to make it a good one. Personally I see Mike Green in the same vein as Dennis Wideman. Signing Mike Green would definitely add that right-handed dman that the team sorely lacks but what Mike Green would the Oilers be getting? The one that put up 73 points in 61 games or the one that put up 38 points in 70 games and is that sort of inconsistency worth $7 million dollars? Justin Schultz could surely put up those numbers for $3 million less.

Sekera’s advanced stats:

Andrej Sekera is also 29 years old and was paid $2.75 million last year. I’d have to bet he’s looking for close to $5 million per season. Sekera wouldn’t be putting up the point totals that a Mike Green or Cody Franson would but he’s a stabilizing force on the back end. He’s a possession defender basically. I like his career PDO (99.6) and his Career Corsi% (51.5), compared with a Duncan Keith’s career PDO (100.4) and Corsi% (54.8) or a Jeff Petry (PDO-98.3, Corsi%-47.4) Things are looking good there. A definite replacement for Martin Marincin who was a guy the stats community liked.

Cody Franson’s advanced stats:

Cody Franson banked $3.3 Million last year and if I were a betting man, he’ll be seeking at least $6 million per season for 5 years or more. The 27 year old comes in as the youngest candidate for signing but I don’t have a lot of faith in the Oilers getting this guy. I believe he’ll go back to Toronto to play under Mike Babcock. IF the Oilers did succeed in convincing Franson to come to Edmonton they’d be getting a physical force and a player who shoots the puck. The fact that he’s 6’5″ and over 213lbs doesn’t hurt either.

Apparently the Oilers media community thinks that Sekera will be an Oiler today at some point.

It’s gonna be a busy day folks! I’m totally stoked for this summer to really get going and today is just the tip of the iceberg! Thanks for reading and please follow us on Twitter @beerleagueheroe and Facebook!

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Free Agent Options For The Edmonton Oilers

July 1st in Canada means two things that both start with the letter F, fireworks and free agency! Well it probably means three things that start with the letter F but I won’t go into that. The Edmonton Oilers still have some holes to mend in the line-up so let’s take a look at who’s out there this year!

Before we get into the candidates I think it would be prudent to look at the Oilers lineup as it stands today. Players marked with an asterisk (*) are players whose futures on the roster are a bit cloudy going into the 2015/16 season.

[table id=6 /]
I expect Iiro Pakarinen and Tyler Pitlick to push for a spot on the roster this year. They showed quite a bit of potential last season. Hopefully Pitlick can stay healthy enough to make a significant contribution. I think a lot of us really want to see Leon Draisaitl make the team and have an impact but it’s not realistic in my opinion. There are far to many young players on the team and Draisaitl would be much better served spending time in the AHL as a no.1 center.

If Edmonton is going to be successful this season and really make a dent in the standings, they’re going to have to upgrade that 3rd line because that is a line that is going to have to do a bit of everything. Anton Lander is going to need a couple of very industrious wingers that can put a puck in the net and score the dirty goals. Maybe the Oilers won’t have to dip their toes into the fee agency pool here. Perhaps Iiro Pakarinen and Tyler Pitlick could be those guys. Value Contracts folks! If you’re wondering how the best teams in the NHL stay the best… Value Contracts.

Possible Signings: Daniel Winnik (LW), Michael Frolik (RW), Justin Williams (RW), Matt Beleskey (LW), Joel Ward (RW)

[table id=7 /]
You’ll see here that Darnell Nurse isn’t in the top 6… Yet. I reckon he’ll force his way on to the team. Unlike the newly acquired Griffin Reinhart, Nurse was a dominating presence in the AHL playoffs for the now defunct OKC Barons (RIP). I would not be surprised at all if it was Reinhart with Mark Fayne and Darnell Nurse with Eric Gryba at some point next season but I’m thinking that could end in disaster. Signing a veteran defenceman short term wouldn’t hurt unless his name is Nikita Nikitin or Andrew Ference…

Possible Signings: Andrej Sekera, Mike Green, Barret Jackman, Cody Franson, Christan Ehrhoff. Francois Beauchemin

[table id=8 /]
The goaltending here is pretty straight forward. Talbot to start and Scrivens to back up. Barring anything ridiculous, this is how it will stay for the year. Maybe Laurent Brossoit will get a few games in but he’ll be numero uno in Bakersfield next season.

Possible Signings: None unless Scrivens gets dealt which in that case I like Kari Ramo or Micheal Neuvirth. 

I think it would be great to go into next season signing 2 or 3 veteran bodies to help these kids move along to the next level. The Oilers sit at $56 million right now and that will give them about $15 million to play with minus the qualified Justin Schultz, Brandon Davidson and Tyler Pitlick yesterday so say $10 million or so. That’s enough to add quality to the team this year.

Just quick one today folks! Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know in the comments below what you think the Oilers roster will look like going into training camp. And don’t forget to add us on Twitter @beerleagueheroe or Like us on Facebook.

Take care everyone!

-BLH