Tag Archives: NHL Trade Rumor

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

The Oilers’ Monday Moves

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Well, yesterday was a bit of a Twitter shit show wasn’t it? All of the know-it-alls letting us in on a little secret, that they could be better GMs than Peter Chiarelli and also that even though the Oilers are two points out of owning 1st place in the Pacific division, Chiarelli is still incompetent…

One follower of mine put it best,

OILERS FANS BE BEING OILERS FANS… 

I might add another hashtag to my growing arsenal… #HereComeTheOilersFans

 

Can you be a fan and criticize the team, its coach, players, or GM?

Yes, but don’t make that the only thing you do when following the team. You come off as a huge jaded dick. My favorites are the ones that seem to know all the answers and can’t wait to judge Chiarelli everytime one of his moves has a hint of failure coming on. The bitterness shown towards the Oilers’ GM for making that ever-so-wanted BOLD move by trading Hall for Larsson is ridiculous. It’s as if the Oilers made a mistake by moving Lowe and MacTavish and firing Tambellini.

No, by all means. We should’ve kept them because they were doing an excellent job of sitting on their hands and doing f*ck all.

Now, Peter Chiarelli isn’t immune to critique but if you’re going to sit there and nail him dry for signing Gustavsson, leaving Puljujarvi in the NHL, or trading Hall; could you do yourself a favour and check the standings, then take a short trip down memory lane and remember how the Oilers got to where they are now. They ate shit for a decade, that’s how. After you’re done remembering how bad the team (as a whole) was, check out how players like Pat Maroon, Matthew Benning, Cam Talbot, and Leon Draisaitl are turning out. And if that’s not enough for you, look at the hockey demi-god that the Oilers have playing for them in the pic below.

May the McDavid be with you!

 

THE MOVES

1. Jesse Puljujarvi gets sent down to Bakersfield

From what I can gather as to why it took the team so long to send him down, there are a few possible reasons:

– Lack of depth on RW
– Pending trades or negotiations that involved one of the Oilers’ forwards or more specifically one of their RWs.
– A disconnect between Chiarelli and McLellan on how to deploy the big Finn.

Now as we know, as soon as Puljujarvi hit the 40 game mark, the Oilers burned a year off of their control of him. Instead of being able to become an unrestricted free agent at age 26, he may now have that option at age 25. At least that’s my understanding and I could very well be wrong. Let me know in the comments below if I’m off base here.

I’m of the belief that Pulju could’ve been sent down a lot earlier but then Pitlick got hurt and that threw a wrench into some trade negotiations for the Oilers. Remember that Matt Hendricks was supposedly going to the Wild? I know, Hendy plays LW but not having Puljujarvi around if that deal did go down wasn’t a risk the Oilers wanted to take because it was unlikely that a winger was coming back in that deal.

I also believe that Chiarelli wanted McLellan to be playing Puljujarvi a whole lot more so that he could evaluate him a bit better. Reminded me of the scene in Moneyball when Billy Beane and Art Howe couldn’t come to an agreement as to who would play at 1st base. I’m glad Chiarelli didn’t feel the need to trade any of the other RWs to make a point to McLellan though… Not that Eberle hasn’t been a feature in the Oilers rumour mill this year or anything… Still is… (Montreal/Washington I hear. More below.).

While Puljujarvi is in the AHL, he’ll be a top-line player and I might try to catch some of Bakersfield’s games online to see how Puljujarvi acclimatizes himself to that league. I’d expect him to be on a line with Khaira and Laleggia or Beck AND to get some cherry minutes as the go-to guy on the PP.

As for the language concern. He’ll be fine in Bakersfield with fellow countryman Jere Sallinen plying his trade for the Oilers farm team as well.

I reckon that Puljujarvi will be back with the Oilers this season and that seems to be a common sentiment amongst the pundits. They’ll send him down in hopes that he finds his game and when the time comes, Chiarelli will call him back up with said game in tow.

Lastly, Puljujarvi was barely 18 when he started the year and he’s not the first highly drafted 18 year old to have struggles scoring in the NHL (Thornton, Stamkos, Seguin, and Draisaitl come to mind), Remember that.

2. Gustavsson hits the waiver wire

I’ll just ask this question to the know-it-all bloggers off the bat, how is Jonas Enroth doing this year?

On Jason Gregor’s show last night he explained to us the reason that Chad Johnson wasn’t an option (because he’s the next player that fans/bloggers bring up in the backup goalie debate) for the Oilers. Chad Johnson wasn’t going to sign with a team that wasn’t prepared to give him some real ice-time and with Cam Talbot being the no.1 guy in Edmonton, Johnson wasn’t going to get that wanted TOI.

On the Cult of Hockey podcast, Staples and McCurdy discussed Gustavsson and length. Bruce McCurdy, who was a proponent of the signing for Edmonton (I didn’t know this. I didn’t know anybody was okay with it.), explained how Gustavsson’s career SV% at that time (.909) wasn’t that far off of the NHL’s average SV% (.915) from the year previous.

So there wasn’t this supposed extreme risk for Chiarelli in signing the Swede. He’s got a winning career record to boot and he signed for relatively cheap. Brossoit was going to be in the minors on a one-way deal, so if Gus didn’t work out, Brossoit was already there.

But this year has been quite unforgiving for him (1-3-0-1, 3.10 GAA, .878 SV%) and I support the decision of putting him on waivers with the intention of sending him down to the minors. As far as I’ve been told and Rishaug echoed this on Gregor’s show last night, Gustavsson will most likely never play another game for the Oilers unless something drastic takes place. Meaning an injury is the only way he will suit up for the Oilers again in 2016/17. I guess McLellan was pretty steamed at his performance vs. Ottawa and that lead to this move being made.

A lot of speculation is being bandied about as to who the Oilers will get to replace Jonas Gustavsson now and the 1st name that came up was Columbus’ back-up, Curtis McIlhenney, because he was put on waivers as well yesterday and his numbers don’t look too shabby either (2-1-2, 2.39 GAA, .924 SV%). But that loss to the Rangers scuffed up the shine on him.

Another name is Laurent Brossoit but he’s not lighting up the AHL right now. So I’m not too sure with regards to an AHL goalie coming in.

Other goalies that have been connected to Edmonton recently:

Jaro Halak, Ondrej Pavelec, Reto Berra, and Michael Neuvirth.

Oilers aren’t taking on Halak due to his contract’s term, but those other three are viable options. I like Neuvirth the best to be honest.

I don’t believe that the Oilers will make a claim on McIlhenney because they are sitting at 48 out of 50 contracts and going into the trade deadline with only 1 contract spot available could make negotiations quite tight. But I could see the Oilers sending over a LHD prospect in return for McIlhenney.

Gustavsson may very well stay on the roster until the time comes too. He doesn’t have to be sent down for another 30 days or 10 games after he clears waivers… So don’t get too ancy as to why he’s not being moved to the AHL if it takes some time.

3. Anton Slepyshev recalled!

AWESOME!!!

I’ve been a huge fan of Slepy all year and, in my opinion, he brings all the right tools to Chiarelli’s renovation party. He hits, he skates, he shoots, he’s a creative passer, he’s young, he plays a very gritty game, and he’s such a hard worker.

It’s going to be good to watch him again.

FUTURE MOVES

I know that the Oilers had scouts in Montreal watching the Habs/Caps game. There was some chatter online talking about Montreal having interest in Jordan Eberle and I guess Chiarelli likes Lars Eller but I can’t see either team moving on either player.

Edmonton can’t trade Eberle right now with that super funk that he is in. They’ll get taken to the woodshed Miroslav Satan-style. Not saying that the Oilers couldn’t use another Barrie Moore and Craig Millar but… No, I’m saying that. But if he doesn’t find that scoring touch by the deadline… Things could get some interesting.

The Caps paid a pretty salty price for Lars Eller, can’t see them moving him. Marcus Johansson on the other hand…

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

Hamilton Rumour Update + G16 vs. New York

Earlier today I posted that the Oilers are in the mix for Calgary Flames struggling defenceman Dougie Hamilton. Well, I dug in a bit more with my source and the thought is that the Oilers are looking to send Calgary a package that would include Edmonton’s 2017 1st rounder, Benoit Pouliot, and Griffin Reinhart in return for the defenseman and Lance Bouma.

Now, to me, that all sounds pretty convenient right? Pouliot, when on his game, is a very valuable piece for the Oilers. A big body with great technical skill and strength but he can’t seem to shake off some bad mojo or something. With the penalties at the beginning of the year and that horrid own goal vs. PIT… Chia has traded him before, so I’m not surprised that he might be part of ANY deal the Oilers are putting together in their attempt to upgrade the D.

Griffin Reinhart, hurt at the moment with a back ailment, is someone I think that Chiarelli is looking to get away from as fast as possible. Those boots are simply not getting any faster and Griff is getting passed over at an alarming rate by Edmonton’s other, less prominent, prospects. Matt Benning and Dillon Simpson being two of the most recent ones but Jordan Oesterle is another that got some time ahead of Reinhart.

The Oilers 1st rounder will be in play every year as long as they are contending for a playoff spot. The team has found itself in a bit of a funk lately and, in my opinion, Chia is desperate to find that PP QB. Hamilton would be that guy, no?

**STATS**

(Man I hope I get these right, sometimes I fear that I’m reading these numbers all wrong…)

Dougie Hamilton, in his NHL career to date, has only played a shade over 560 minutes of PP time according to stats.hockeyanalysis.com over the past 5 seasons (2012-2016). He’s scored at a clip of 4.15 p/60 in that time frame at 5v4 and is ranked 30th AHEAD of PK Subban (31st), Duncan Keith (35th), and Roman Josi (54th). The highest current Oiler on that list is Oscar Klefbom at 58th with a 3.65 p/60 at 5v4.

Also, in that time frame, Hamilton is ranked 10th in the NHL for shots/60 with 14.90!!! Closest current Oiler, Oscar Klefbom at 53rd w/ 11.69 shots/60 with the 5v4 man advantage.

So if you’re that guy that says, “No f*cking way man! Hamilton is playing like shit this year. I’d rather have Justin Schultz than Dougie Hamilton and his inflated contract…”, don’t stop eating the yellow snow.

The Oilers could really use a guy like Doug Hamilton. Don’t forget, he’s coming off of back to back 40+ point seasons and he’s playing for the woeful Calgary Flames… They need his contract off the books as it’s bad for them but it’s decent for us IF that rumored return is true.

With all of that being said, do you, as an Oilers fan, think that a package of Benoit Pouliot, Griffin Reinhart, and a 1st round pick for Hamilton and Bouma is better that what other teams might be offering? I have a hard time believing so.

Bring me the Nakladal, right?…

The Rags

Expect the unexpected, right? That’s what I’ve been preaching so far this season and I’m going to go with it again. I say the Oilers are going to win this one tonight. I think they’re going to buckle down that defense and put a stranglehold on the Rangers offense much the way Conor McGregor did to Eddie Alvarez the last night.

*Just as an aside, the best part of that fight was at the end when everyone thought he was going to apologize for being a dick to all the fighters. I wonder if we’ll see him leave the UFC altogether and head to WWE?*

The Oilers only task is to not let in any goals in the first 5 minutes nor the last 2 minutes… And Lucic had better smash someone tonight, the fans want to be entertained 🙂

What do you think about the Hamilton rumour? Let me know in the comments below!

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

Wild Rumor

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Every morning before I even get out of bed, I grab my iPad and open up my Feedly app to see what has happened in the world of hockey while I was asleep. Usually not a whole lot goes down but every now and then there’s something notable like a contract signing, a player getting in trouble with the law, or a trade rumour.

We’re going to talk about the trade rumour that surfaced on one blog called The Hockey Press but another blog called Puck Gone Wild (I dig the name) dedicated an entire post on it, to which I am going to talk about today.

So if you don’t want to head over to the blog, I’ll be quoting different parts of it below and commenting on it, otherwise head over and read it for yourself. The comments section is pretty funny coming from an Oilers fan perspective.

Let’s get started.

THE RUMOR

The rumor is that the deal would see the Wild send Matt Dumba and Jason Zucker, for Nugent-Hopkins and “more”.  The Hockey Press believes that the “more” piece was Benoit Pouliot.  The Oilers have not responded to the Wild, and it’s furthered rumored by the Hockey Press that the Oilers are holding out for a high draft pick or prospect to add to the pile due to Nugent-Hopkins’ value to the current Oiler lineup.

Gonna just shake my head at this one right off the bat. Are you facking kidding me? I’ll tell you this, IF the Oilers made this deal, it would be far worse than the Taylor Hall trade in my opinion. The Oilers have actual centre depth right now. Other things to consider include:

  • Is Leon Draisaitl ready to shoulder the load that comes with being a no.2 centre in the NHL right now. We don’t know that because apparently he was riding Taylor Hall’s coattails last season…
  • Nuge had one down year due to injury and now his value is that of a Jason Zucker? No offense to Zucker but come on now, let’s get real.
  • Would the Wild want to re-acquire Benoit Pouliot? Really?

The trade offer as reported is actually very fair and would be beneficial for the Wild.  With the idea of moving Dumba is not an issue, as the Wild have been preparing the team for life without one of their current defensive lineup.

How is this deal fair? The writer makes it seem like Dumba is unneeded by the Wild. Cannon fodder for a trade if you will. I imagine this is similar to how Oilers fans view Yakupov or Griffin Reinhart. So why would the Oiler deal TWO mainstays within their forward corps. for the Wild’s cast-offs?

But the combination of two of the Wild’s best young players might be too much value for Nugent-Hopkins.

But I thought the Wild were preparing to lose one or two of these players? If they’re two of the best, surely they’d want to hold on to them, no?

Furthermore, it just seems that from the start the Oilers have valued Dumba much less than Wild did.

Well duh! As they should be. I heard on Bob Stauffer’s show Oilers Now! that Chuck Fletcher and Peter Chiarelli were talking trade at the draft and the conversation was about RNH but Fletcher was only willing to part with Dumba because of the pickle Chiarelli was in.

So it’s not the Oilers that are so enamoured with Matt Dumba, it’s that the Wild are trying to give it to Chiarelli hard and dry and at this point there’s no reason for the Oilers to take it like that. They’re not as desperate as they were before that Hall trade and they could go into next season without that the right-handed shooter to run the powerplay and be okay.

So enter the “more” or in this case Pouliot.  By asking for a player like Pouliot the Wild are trying to fill a need which is another 3rd/4th line wing.  Right now the organization had options to fill that open spot in the lineup, but most of them are unexperienced.  By using Zucker to sweeten the pot the Wild open up that lineup spot in the forward corps while at the same time compelling the Oilers to offer something more than just Nugent-Hopkins.

So let me get this straight. The Oilers would trade their a centre who as of recent has been one of the most played centres in the entire NHL and no.2 left-wing who made huge contributions playing with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid for a no.6 dman and a winger who went -8 and only put up 23pts in 71 games last year… NO THANKS!

THE FINANCIALS

There’s only really about two ways they can close this salary cap deficit.  The Wild can offer another player with a $3.3 million or more annual hit, or they can get the Oilers to retain $3.3 million or more of Nugent-Hopkins or Pouliot’s salary.

So in this scenario the Oilers would gain cap space and could certainly eat $3.3 million or more to make this deal work.  The only issue is, do the Oilers want to give up that money badly enough to acquire Dumba and Zucker?

Oh boy… The Oilers could eat $3.3 million for how many years of Nuge’s deal? The Wild would have better luck seeing if the Oilers would take some of Pouliot’s deal given the term is shorter IF they were so desperate to make it happen.

I’m really shocked that this article didn’t mention the Wild trying to pilfer Jason Pominville and his mega contract. That’s the route I would’ve went.

I mean in my mind the only way that Nuge leaves the Oilers is if that true no.3/4 right-handed PP dman comes back. We’re talking the Tyson Barries, the Jacob Troubas, the Rasmus Ristolainens, or the Hampus Lindholms (I know he’s a lefty).

I would consider Charlie Coyle though. A big (6’3 218lb) right-handed centre (something the Oilers covet) who just came off a 40+ point season.

So let’s flip the script, how about the Oilers give the Wild Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Benoit Pouliot, and Griffin Reinhart for Charlie Coyle, Matt Dumba, Jason Zucker and a 2nd round pick?

Am I missing something here? Maybe I am overvaluing the Oilers players. Let me know what you think in the comments!

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

Oilers Trading for Travis Hamonic

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Travis Hamonic would be a game changer for the Oilers defence.

Missing out on Dougie Hamilton might’ve been a blessing in disguise. We found out today that New York Islanders defenceman Travis Hamonic is homesick and would like to return to the west. Hurray! This might be the break that Peter Chiarelli was waiting for! A two-way no.2 defenceman who is right-handed is available?

Peter Chiarelli and Isles GM Garth Snow have a prior trading relationship. It was Chiarelli who dealt Boychuk to the Isles and also the Griffin Reinhart trade was masterminded by these two gentlemen. So there’s no reason to believe that the Oilers have the worst odds of grabbing Hamonic from the Islanders. I have to think they have a much better chance at getting the young defenceman out of Brooklyn.

Of course they’ve been talking. The only reason we’re hearing about Hamonic is because the Islanders are having issues getting the package they want in return and need to drum up more interest and they want to put pressure on the other teams to up the anti. I mean just go to Twitter and type Hamonic in the search bar. Oilers fans are shitting the bed with the news that their long lost and potentially piece of the pie is available, especially after losing out on Doug Hamilton.

I’m not sure the Flames and Canucks have the pieces to grab Hamonic. I really believe that it’s between the Oilers and the Jets. Winnipeg has a ridiculous pool of prospects (Kyle Connor, Josh Morrisey, Eric Comrie, and Nic Petan) and some defenders that could step right in and replace Hamonic immediately, meaning Jacob Trouba and Dustin Byfuglien. The other thing working in Winnipeg’s favor is they’re just recently stated they’re looking to shake things up.

Travis Hamonic – The Player

Defense — shoots R
Born Aug 16 1990 (25 years old) — St. Malo, MAN
Height 6.02 — Weight 205 [188 cm/93 kg]

The Oilers are lacking high-end defensemen that can move the puck effectively. Oscar Klefbom is arguably the best passer on the team, Schultz being another. Hamonic blows Kbom out of the water according to Ryan Stimson’s Passing Charts. Check out the comparison below.

I also like to look at @mimicohero’s HERO charts to determine a player’s value. Let’s look at Travis Hamonic’s!

So we have a player that is moving into the prime of his career as a top pairing defender but not quite an elite one. He’s not being considered for Team Canada at the upcoming World Cup but I don’t really see that as a con. There’s only a few spots on that team and it’s basically the cream of the crop that get picked.

But on the Edmonton Oilers, he’s automatically the best blueliner hands down.

As for the dollar end of things, Elliotte Friedman said this about it:

There’s a ton to like about this player. He’s a right-hand shot, top-pairing defenceman with four years remaining on a good-value contract. The average annual amount is $3.857 million, although the actual dollars will be $4.875 million beginning in 2016-17.

I have to agree with him. The money is good and it’s what Justin Schultz will be looking for when his contract is up at the end of the year. It’s also one of the reasons why I believe Schultz should be part of any deal going forward.

For all of you expecting the Oilers to deal Mark Fayne or Andrew Ference, Anton Lander, or Eric Gryba, it isn’t happening. As bad as he looks on the ice, the Oilers need veteran dmen more than rookies. According the Stephen Burtch, Fayne is the Oilers best defensive dman according to the fancy stats. So take that for what you will. Ference can’t be moved w/o permission, Anton Lander is not bringing the team anything of Value and Gryba is a recent acquisition by the current GM. He’s likely to stay.

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If I were the Oilers GM I would be looking at expanding the deal slightly. We know that Kyle Okposo is set to he a free agent this summer and one would have to consider that he’ll be looking for around $6 million per year. I wonder aloud if Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, and this years 1st round pick unprotected would be enough to entice Garth Snow into pulling the trigger? Puck Daddy’s Josh Cooper touches on Hamonic and Okposo here.

There’s Ryan Strome to consider as well. He’s sitting in Bridgeport (AHL) when he should be playing in the NHL… Not sure what the deal is there but could he be a guy that’s tossed into the mix.

Garth Snow doesn’t want prospects as he has one of the best looking groups of up and coming players in the league and a deal like this would allow the Isles to continue on their current trajectory without having to toss a rookie in a tough spot. Also, Eberle and Tavares… Are you kidding me? Remember the World Juniors when Eberle scored that last second goal to tie the game versus the Russians? Who was his center? Johhny T baby!

Forgive me but I can’t remember who said it, but I distinctly remember hearing this week on one of the Oilers radio shows, either Oilers Now or Lowetide, that the Oilers are likely to go after Milan Lucic his summer or a player like him. Kyle Okposo is pretty similar to Lucic and he provides that element the team is sorely lacking and has been lacking for a very long time. Who’s the last good power forward to play for Edmonton? Bill Guerin? Jason Arnott? Don’t say Pancakes Penner…

The only counter to my proposal is the deals made for Johnny Boychuk (draft picks) and Doug Hamilton (draft picks). Both players arguably are equal if not better than Hamonic.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments below what deal you’d be willing to make to get Travis Hamonic for your team!

Take Care!

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