Tag Archives: NHL Trade Deadline

Edmonton Oilers, Micah Kowalchuk, NHL

Guest Writer: Post Deadline Oilers by Micah Kowalchuk

**This is another guest post from former BLH contributor and a well-known and respected member of multiple Oilers Facebook groups, Micah Kowalchuk.**

As I sit here enjoying the fact the heat has gone out in my building in the balmy Saskatchewan winter…

So, we have 3 new players, Ryan Mantha, Justin Fontaine and David Desharnais..

Ryan Mantha: This is a 6’5 225lb right-shot defender who was drafted in the 4th by the Rangers, then when he didn’t sign his rights were traded to Washington, and he didn’t sign there either, and now he’s with the Oilers. He’s got 51 points in 58 games, and he’s the captain of his team.

One of the reasons he signed here is he liked the fact the Oilers let their prospects play, we can expect to see him with the Condors as soon as his junior season ends.

The knock on him is his skating, but that’s usually the knock on most players of his size. He’s also been criticized for poor positioning in the past, but that appears to be improving.

Don’t expect him on the Oilers right away, but he’ll form the core of a very good Bakersfield Condors D with Caleb Jones, Ethan Bear and others.

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Justin Fontaine: We got him in an AHL trade for Taylor Beck, who’s very good AHL season wasn’t translating to the NHL.

Fontaine played for the Wild from 2013-2016, scoring 68 points in 197 games with an average of 12 minutes ice time. He’s 5’10 174lbs, and he’s not a physical player, nor does he block a ton of shots. However, he doesn’t make many mistakes, and had a -3.2% CORSI with a 44/56 offensive and defensive zone usage.

His best season was 2014-2015 when he had 31 points in 71 games, 0% CORSI, in 12mins ice time.

For now, he’s an AHL player, but he’s an AHL player who’s proven in the past he can be a productive 3rd/4th line RW. We all know the Oilers have some question marks on the right side, and he’s being brought in because he can legitimately push for a spot.

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Desharnais I’ve already discussed, but I’ll just restate that this is a player who, as recently as last season, was a .45ppg C. He’s having a down year this year with a .32ppg season, but there’s also been a lot of flux in the Montreal lineup and he was hampered by injuries.

Although he’s a smaller player, he’s had 5 NHL seasons with over .5ppg, he’s a safe bet to be able to go back to those numbers with some quality linemates, and to move back into the 50% faceoff range he’s spent most of his career at.

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Yes, the new people are small. We have a small 3C (5’7). Now as much as people are terrified of the small people, let’s keep in mind that, as a team, the Oilers are very, very, very big these days..

Players on the Oilers under 6’0: Caggiula, Desharnais, Eberle, Letestu, Russell. We can breath in and remember that against St. Louis we put 9 guys on the ice over 210lbs.

So, what can we expect for a lineup?

To start, expect this:

Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl
Lucic-RNH-Eberle
Slepyshev/Caggiula-Desharnais-Kassian
Hendricks-Letestu-Pakarinen

Klefbom-Larsson
Sekera-Russell
Nurse-Gryba/Benning

However, Stauffer is predicting for the playoffs we’ll see:

Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl
Lucic-RNH-Eberle
Pouliot-Desharnais-Puljujarvi
Hendricks-Letestu-Kassian
(Caggiula, Slepyshev, Pakarinen spares)

Klefbom-Larsson
Sekera-Russell
Nurse-Benning

Ok, I can hear the screaming already. I know, I know, but I’ll explain his logic, which makes more sense once it’s laid out (he never did explain it, this is me figuring out why he said it)

Nothing one really needs to explain about the Top-6 or the Defense at all, so this will cover the Bottom-6 and the Return of Pouliot.

The 3rd line: Yes, Pouliot is there, and Puljujarvi. Why on earth would we do this?

(1) Pouliot has played 300 minutes with Desharnais in Montreal, so about 25 games. There’s some comfort there.

(2) Puljujarvi (.29ppg, 2.1% CORSI), Slepyshev (.24ppg, -3.7% CORSI), Caggiula .22ppg, -3.6% CORSI), Pakarinen (.38ppg, -9.4% CORSI), Khaira (.14ppg, 7.7% CORSI), Pouliot (.20ppg, -2.5% CORSI), Hendricks (.21ppg, -6.3% CORSI), Kassian (.28ppg, -4.5% CORSI).

Now, first thing that jumps out is Khaira’s CORSI, but small sample size and 8 minutes a game will do that, don’t overrated it too much. Second thing we see is Pakarinen is putting up some good numbers, but again, small sample size. If both of these guys keep those respective numbers going by the playoffs, expect a re-think.

For now, we know Puljujarvi can score, and his defense was underrated. The idea seems to be that he’ll be playoff ready by the end of the season, and short of Pakarinen, he had the best numbers of any of these guys.

As for Pouliot instead of Slepy or Cags, defensively (weird, I know) he is actually better, and although the scoring numbers are similar, Pouliot has proven to be a scoring forward as recently as last year.

In theory, if they can all rebound or step up, Pouliot-Desharnais-Puljujarvi can be a legitimate 3rd scoring line. There’s all the talent in the world there if it comes together, and both Pouliot and Puljujarvi have the size to support Desharnais.

At this point, Cags/Slepy haven’t proven enough in the scoring department to unseat anyone from this hypothetical 3rd line. Even if you hate Pouliot. Although, if Pakarinen keeps up his near .40ppg pace, he might take this spot instead and Puljujarvi stays in the minors. Basically, some European guy with the last initial P will be here.

On the 4th line, Khaira’s looked good, but there hasn’t been the offense there to displace Hendricks from his playoff spot. And Kassian on the right side has proven to work well with Letestu, so, yeah.

Love it or not, this is the likely playoff roster (with Pakarinen my better favorite to steal that 3RW spot)

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Finally: For the “OMFG WHY DID WE NOT GET MORE STUFF AT THE DEADLINE CROWD”

Well, we have wings. Lots of wings. Would have been nice to get a more proven wing, but when we got the 3C instead, that meant we weren’t going to bother. Why? Because we have Eberle and Draisaitl at the right wing, and a ton of options for the bottom-6. So, yes, no wingers, 3C instead, makes sense.

Defense: We got Mantha, nothing else was worth kicking tires on. If PC decides he really wants to gamble on a scoring RHD, he’ll go toss Wisniewski a few bucks. Makes sense.

So, that takes us to goaltending. People want to know, why didn’t we get a goalie??? There was Halak, Fleury, Niemi, Lehtonen, Pavelec, Mason, Neuvirth..

Setting aside salary costs, contract terms, etc.. This is why..

MA Fleury: .905
Halak: .904
Niemi: .899
Lehtonen: .900
Pavelec: .888
Neuvirth: .887
Mason: 903

Our existing backup, Laurent Brossoit, has a .910.

Basically, we didn’t get a backup goalie because the ones on the market cost too much, are all having brutal seasons (league average goaltending is .913), and quite frankly, PC looked at them and thought “I’m really not sure any of these guys are better than what I have”, and he was probably right.

Now, we may need to play LB more, so be it, but when it boils right down to it, can’t blame the guy.

And now back to the playoff stretch!

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Trades

Reactions to the Desharnais/Davidson Trade

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Brandon Davidson being traded surprised nobody but it was who he was traded for that has shocked some. Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is creating quite the reputation when it comes to making deals for players that nobody, not even my sources, had expected the Oilers to have interest in.

I’m 50/50 on the deal. I don’t think Brandon Davidson is as good as some folks believe (most of those folk being of the analytic persuasion) but I also don’t think that David Desharnais was the droid Chiarelli was looking for, just the one that was there. Desharnais was def. not acquired for his talents on the dot. I really believe it was because he’s strong on the puck, good in the corners and he’ll be a good short-term mentor for Drake Caggiula. And I really dig that. Chiarelli really wants his kids to succeed and so he’s surrounding them with high-character players who play the game the right way and have the right attitude.

I actually thought that Derek Ryan was going to be the center acquired and when I talked to my source last night, I was told that the asking price was too high. An earlier round pick was the ask and that was simply too much. Bob Stauffer said as much on Oilers Now! yesterday in a segment with Mark Spector too. So it’s too bad about that.

The following reactions to the trade are those of the popular and respected media members/bloggers. Enjoy!

  • I don’t like the trade, not one bit, though that’s to be expected given I’m an Oilers fan and Davidson was one of my favorite players. That said, with Klefbom’s own offensive improvement and his relative inexperience at the NHL level, he’s a fine bet as well, as is Nurse, as is Matt Benning. The Oilers have a number of promising young d-men, which makes the trading of Davidson more palatable. But the Montreal Canadiens should be well pleased today. They have picked up a player who has constantly beaten the odds, constantly improved, and one who I believe will continue to do so on the Habs blueline. – David Staples, Cult of Hockey (source)
  • While it’s true that the Oilers were at risk of losing Davidson to the expansion draft this summer, the point of trading him so they don’t lose him for nothing was to acquire a forward worth protecting, or a prospect that would be exempt from the draft, or picks that they could use in future drafts. The goal should have been to replace Davidson with an asset that they would benefit them in the future. Instead they acquired Desharnais, who fills a need the Oilers have identified, but whose contract expires at the end of the year. So really they gave away an asset in the fear of potentially losing it, only to acquire an asset they’re going to lose for sure. – Sunil Agnihotri, The Superfan/CBC (source)
  • But fans wanted help for the power play and faceoffs, because the Ducks are going to kill the Oilers on the dot if they match up. Fans wanted a burly, shutdown centreman to take on Joe Pavelski, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews, and Desharnais isn’t that guy.

    But Chiarelli said he doesn’t see the Oilers as a potential Cup winner and has, to his credit, acted accordingly. Without rock-solid conviction, he had no business going all-in at the deadline, given that it always involves mortgaging big pieces of the future. – Dan Barnes, Edmonton Journal (source)

  • This wasn’t the kind of trade that puts a team over the top, rather one that inserts a veteran player into the Oilers forward ranks ahead of a Drake Cagguila or Jujhar Khaira, two rookies who lack the experience of the 30-year-old Desharnais. – Mark Spector, Sportsnet (source)
  • The cost on the trade is dear. Desharnais and Davidson are of similar importance in terms of their position in the lineup, with the difference being that Davidson is both cheaper and under contract longer. On the other hand, with Martin Hanzal and Brian Boyle both already off the market, there just weren’t a lot of other centre options. – Jonathan Willis, Oilers Nation (source)
  • 30-year-old David Desharnais will slot in at 3rd line center, a hole existing whenever Leon Draisaitl has lined up at wing. Desharnais is small (5’7), but plays aggressively. He is above-average in the face-off circle (50.4% over his career). He has offence on his resume (60 points in 2011-12), although an injury has limited him to just ten points in 31 games this year. He also has 38 games of playoff experience, a genuine plus. He is also a pending UFA, so there is absolutely some risk involved in acquiring him.

    Yes, Brandon Davidson is a quality kid and a solid player. He is young (25), has size, is steady in his own zone and is a decent first-pass option with the puck. But lets call a spade a spade: Davidson is also a 7-8D on a Oilers organization that is heavy with left-handed shot defenders. So, the Oilers traded from a position of strength to fill a hole. It is quite possible Davidson would have been lost in the expansion draft. The re-emergence of Griffin Reinhart in the AHL since Christmas was no doubt a factor. – Kurt Leavins, Cult of Hockey (source)

What do you think about some of the reactions to the trade? Are you a fan of the deal? Let us know in the comments below!

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

Re-Post: Dreger Hints at Oilers/Islanders/Avalanche 3-Way

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**This is a re-post of the previous blog because the site hit the skids as soon as I posted it**

OK… If you follow me on Twitter or read last night’s Halak to the Oilers rumor blog, do you remember how I told you about the 3-team trade rumor that seemingly gets tossed around every year involving the Oilers? I think Darren Dreger just gave this year’s proposal some legs…

Last night I wrote a post detailing a Halak to the Oilers rumor and near the end, I included a little tidbit about a 3-team trade that I’d been passed. Well, I was prepared to wait a little bit to get this published and I did go out and ask a few more people who I believe to be in the know about this rumor to more or less get the amount of confirmation I needed to go forth with this post. I said on Twitter this morning that this rumored deal is ridiculous, like blockbuster ridiculous and probably something closer to an HF Boards trade proposal than a real one but Darren Dreger has weighed in now and that gives it real legitimacy…

These are the hazy details:

To Colorado: Travis Hamonic, Brock Nelson, *Brandon Davidson*, Oilers 1st round pick
To Oilers: Tyson Barrie, Jarome Iginla, Ryan Strome
To Islanders: Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle

WHAT?!!

It sort of contradicts the Halak to Edmonton rumor that I wrote about last night but that is an insane rumor, right?

Now, I put an asterisk beside Davidson’s name because he was one of the iffy players my sources weren’t sure on. But the main players (Barrie, Duchene, Eberle, Hamonic) were in it for sure.

I know that Colorado is working like crazy to move Iginla and it’s becoming more apparent that Matt Duchene might be going the same way that Taylor Hall did in his last season with the Oilers. A good player whose attitude is souring on a struggling franchise who’s wasting his talents.

Any trade rumor I’ve been passed or come across on Twitter re: Jordan Eberle to the Islanders has included Ryan Strome coming back. I couldn’t confirm the draft pick, anytime in the past when I’ve asked about Chiarelli’s willingness to deal that pick I was told that if the deal was right, he would.

For the Islanders, this would be a very big statement made to John Tavares that the franchise is ready to move Heaven and Earth to get him to stay in Brooklyn. I believe the team values Ryan Pulock more than Travis Hamonic and after this season, can you blame them? Hamonic has been a disaster.

For Colorado, this would be the kind of deal that would start the reset. I believe that they need a top-pairing left-handed dman more than a right-handed one but that could be a player they acquired with Gabriel Landeskog, no? Cue, the Krug to Colorado rumours.

For the Oilers, there’s your top-4 offensive right-handed defenseman, your right-handed PP shot, and a young player with term left on his deal who can switch in and out from the centre position to the right-wing position. All that’d be left is the backup goalie and the shopping list would be complete.

But getting back to the mad deal that could be in the works above, I think there would need to be some wiggling around to do to make it work dollar-wise (mostly for the Islanders) but yeah, there you go.

I honestly cannot see a trade like this going down now. These kinds of trade fall apart so easily because there are so many moving parts but it could set something else up that could be consummated before the trade deadline passes or another deal at the draft where money is less of a problem.

If this mega-deal does actually happen, I’ll have a more detailed post to follow.

**Disclaimer** Lastly, during this crazy time of the year, we’re bound to hear a shit ton of rumors coming from every nook and cranny out there. I’m not connected to the Oilers, I hear what I hear from people who know people and I pass that on to you. Rarely, IF EVER, do the things I post here come true but the batting average of an insider has never been that good anyhow. It’s all speculation until the teams make things official folks! So I hope you can enjoy what you read here but don’t take it too seriously. I don’t. **Disclaimer**

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, RIGHT AFTER, you check out our sweet selection of Beer League Heroes swag we have for you! Click on the pic below to head over to our shop at Teepublic!

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

Ridiculous 3-Team Trade Rumor Confirmed by Dreger?

OK… If you follow me on Twitter or read last night’s Halak rumor blog, do you remember how I told you about the 3-team trade rumor that seemingly gets tossed around every year involving the Oilers? I think Darren Dreger just gave this year’s proposal some legs…

Last night I wrote a post detailing a Halak to the Oilers rumor and near the end, I included a little tidbit about a 3-team trade that I’d been passed. Well, I was prepared to wait a little bit to get this published and I did go out and ask a few more people who I believe to be in the know about this rumor to more or less get the amount of confirmation I needed to go forth with this post. I said on Twitter this morning that this rumored deal is ridiculous, like blockbuster ridiculous and probably something closer to an HF Boards trade proposal than a real one but Darren Dreger has weighed in now and that gives it real legitimacy…

These are the hazy details:

To Colorado: Travis Hamonic, Brock Nelson, *Brandon Davidson*, Oilers 1st round pick
To Oilers: Tyson Barrie, Jarome Iginla, Ryan Strome
To Islanders: Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle

WHAT?!!

It sort of contradicts the Halak to Edmonton rumor that I wrote about last night but that is an insane rumor, right?

Now, I put an asterisk beside Davidson’s name because he was one of the iffy players my sources weren’t sure on. But the main players (Barrie, Duchene, Eberle, Hamonic) were in it for sure.

I know that Colorado is working like crazy to move Iginla and it’s becoming more apparent that Matt Duchene might be going the same way that Taylor Hall did in his last season with the Oilers. A good player whose attitude is souring on a struggling franchise who’s wasting his talents.

Any trade rumor I’ve been passed or come across on Twitter re: Jordan Eberle to the Islanders has included Ryan Strome coming back. I couldn’t confirm the draft pick, anytime in the past when I’ve asked about Chiarelli’s willingness to deal that pick I was told that if the deal was right, he would.

For the Islanders, this would be a very big statement made to John Tavares that the franchise is ready to move Heaven and Earth to get him to stay in Brooklyn. I believe the team values Ryan Pulock more than Travis Hamonic and after this season, can you blame them? Hamonic has been a disaster.

For Colorado, this would be the kind of deal that would start the reset. I believe that they need a top-pairing left-handed dman more than a right-handed one but that could be a player they acquired with Gabriel Landeskog, no? Cue, the Krug to Colorado rumours.

For the Oilers, there’s your top-4 offensive right-handed defenseman, your right-handed PP shot, and a young player with term left on his deal who can switch in and out from the centre position to the right-wing position. All that’d be left is the backup goalie and the shopping list would be complete.

But getting back to the mad deal that could be in the works above, I think there would need to be some wiggling around to do to make it work dollar-wise (mostly for the Islanders) but yeah, there you go.

I honestly cannot see a trade like this going down now. These kinds of trade fall apart so easily because there are so many moving parts but it could set something else up that could be consummated before the trade deadline passes or another deal at the draft where money is less of a problem.

If this mega-deal does actually happen, I’ll have a more detailed post to follow.

**Disclaimer** Lastly, during this crazy time of the year, we’re bound to hear a shit ton of rumors coming from every nook and cranny out there. I’m not connected to the Oilers, I hear what I hear from people who know people and I pass that on to you. Rarely, IF EVER, do the things I post here come true but the batting average of an insider has never been that good anyhow. It’s all speculation until the teams make things official folks! So I hope you can enjoy what you read here but don’t take it too seriously. I don’t. **Disclaimer**

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, RIGHT AFTER, you check out our sweet selection of Beer League Heroes swag we have for you! Click on the pic below to head over to our shop at Teepublic!

Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shot to grab some sweet BLH merch.
Armchair GM, Edmonton Oilers, Micah Kowalchuk, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Oilers Trade Deadline: Alternative Theory

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**This is a guest post from an old friend of the site, Micah Kowalchuk. You might know him if you’re part of some of the Oilers groups on facebook or from some of the great articles he posted when he was part of the writing staff here.**

Now, this isn’t going to be a popular suggestion, we’ve all been going on about the players we can add to make a cup run, in spite of our GM saying he had no plans to do that.

We’re now seeing guys like Boyle go for a good prospect and a 2nd round pick, and there has to be a question of “Are we good enough this year to blow that much on players”.

If the answer is yes, then carry on.  But, what if you genuinely believe this isn’t the year.  What we can do then is shop for future pieces and sell expiring assets for a high dollar figure.

We know the following players aren’t going anywhere:

Maroon, McDavid, Lucic, Draisaitl, Puljujarvi, Letestu, Kassian, Khaira, Slepyshev, Klefbom, Larsson, Sekera, Benning and Nurse.

And we know RNH and Eberle, if they are dealt, will be in off-season deals where players with term tend to get dealt.

That leaves this deadline and the following assets:

Hendricks <- soon to be a UFA, with retained salary may have depth value, and more than we thought after today (As of today’s prices, possibly a 3rd for him);

Russell <- yes, fan favorite, but what we hear from management indicates he’s not likely to sign here next year at the price we want; (As of today’s prices, outside change we might even get a low first round pick, or a 2nd and a prospect at least)

Gryba <- a warrior rental 7th defender who might be worth something to a playoff club; (Maybe we get a Polak special with him and Hendricks combined for a couple of 2nds, you never know)

And Pouliot and Fayne <- if we retain 50% on them, maybe we find a buyer to get the space off our books; (At 50% retained, some mid level picks)

So.. Let’s say we dealt those pieces based on the idea of maximizing value, what is the roster we have left assuming we could sell them all?

Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl
Lucic-RNH-Eberle
Caggiula-Letestu-Kassian
Khaira-Lander-Slepyshev

(We basically lose Pouliot and Hendy up front and give Lander his last shot playing with a couple of guys who he tore the AHL to shreds with.  Rather than let him walk, let’s give Lander his last shot at proving he’s got something, and let’s give him that shot the best way we can.  We’re not going to be taking much of a step back anyhow over Hendricks worst case).  And we call up Beck as the 13th forward, another expiring asset in the AHL who’s shown he may have something.

On the back end:

Klefbom-Larsson
Sekera-Benning
Nurse-Davidson 

Let’s face it, this won’t be much worse either, and we have a pile of 7th defenders who’ve earned time up here and done well enough in Oesterle or Reinhart or Musil or Simpson. 

What we’d be doing here is going with players we might have next season and gathering as many possible assets as we could get our hands on.  Maybe we land a young right shot forward asset or a young right shot D asset to try out, maybe we just get picks we can sell to Vegas towards clearing bad contracts or getting players we need.

This isn’t to say I’m recommending this strategy per say, but I’m giving some insight into what we may see PC do instead in building for the future rather than the short term, feel free to scream all you want over the idea.

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