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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: Superstar Winger’s Price Revealed!

It doesn’t look like the Oilers will be able to get their hands on one very talented Russian BUT Kyle Dubas has flipped the script a bit in Pittsburgh and the Edmonton Oilers might be back on with regards to Jake Guentzel. Lastly, I take a stab at guessing which two forwards Ken Holland will bring in by the trade deadline this week.

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Does Buchnevich to Edmonton Make Sense?

“I don’t think it does. There aren’t enough possibilities with the Oilers, but it goes beyond that… If I’m Armstrong, the only way I’m dealing Buchnevich now is if there’s a deal I just can’t say no to. If not, I’m waiting until the offseason, when more clubs could be interested.” – Jeremy Rutherford, The Athletic

  • JR says in the article that the Blues would probably want two 1sts or a 1st and another asset equivalent to a first, meaning Holloway, Broberg, or Bourgault.
  • I can see where he’s coming from. This deal really is quite one-sided in terms of who’s getting the better player now. However, I’d be very interested in seeing a line that featured Jake Neighbours and Dylan Holloway centered by Brayden Schenn or Robert Thomas.
  • That being said, STL has Zach Bolduc up with the big club now. So the depth on the LW with the blues is Buchnevich, Bolduc, Saas, and Nathan Walker. Not a lot of room for Holloway there and their centers are sorted.
  • Same goes for Broberg on defense. There’s no room on the Blues NHL team and their AHL team is absolutely chalked full of LHD.
  • I’d love to get Buchnevich on the Oilers but it seems like a bridge too far to get him there UNLESS the Blues fully embrace an on-the-fly retool, but I’ve got a hard time seeing them do that just as Kyrou and Thomas enter their twin $8M contracts.
So You’re Saying There’s a Chance

“As for their interest in Jake Guentzel, Friedman also reported that the Pittsburgh Penguins have told teams they’d prefer prospects over picks. If Holland can convince Kyle Dubas to take money back in the deal, there might be an opportunity there.” – NHL Trade Talk

  • That is an interesting turn of events. The Oilers have a few NHL-ready prospects but PIT would need to eat half of Guentzel’s contract and I’m thinking the Oilers would probably use some draft capital to get another team to eat half of that. But all of a sudden, things are looking a bit more rosy on the Guentzel front if you don’t mind Edmonton moving Holloway and/or Broberg for a rental.
  • Pens have a really good right-shot center in Noel Acciari, too. Gritty little fella who can shoot the biscuit.
  • On a side note: Did you watch the Pens absolutely embrace the suck last night in Calgary? Jesus… Sid and Gino have to be considering their futures with that team seriously right now. As honorable as it would be to stick it out, there’s no shame in heading elsewhere to finish out the career. Lots of superstars have done it. Would you blame Crosby if he went to Colorado to play with MacKinnon or Malkin if he headed off into the sunset with the Panthers? Of course not. Jagr played for Philly and Pens fans still adore him.
Capital Gains

“I do think Dowd is on the radar,” Friedman said. “The one thing about Mantha is that I’ve gotten the impression that there’s a limit to what are willing to do for Mantha. We’ll see. At this time of the year, you have to be so careful. What’s the price you’re willing to pay?” – Elliotte Friedman

  • Dowd seems like he’s more or less an Oiler already, right? Mantha sounds like the fall back if Guentzel gets moved to New York or Vegas.
  • My feeling is that they really like Adam Henrique and Guentzel and if you ask me, adding those two would be fantastic.
  • The word going around is that Edmonton wants to get two forwards and a dman, so who’s the defender if the forwards are Henrique and Guentzel? It’d have to be somebody on the cheap, right? And somebody to replace Ceci as it sounds like they’re doing their damnedest to pilfer him out of Edmonton. Problem being, nobody really wants him I guess.
  • The guys I Iike to replace him all play for playoff teams, teams in the hunt for a wildcard spot, or are skaters who won’t come to Edmonton. I’m talking about players like Matt Roy (LA), Brandon Carlo (BOS), John Marino (NJ), Adam Larsson (SEA), Artem Zub (OTT)…
  • Now, in the event that Ceci isn’t moved and Edmonton needs to wait until the summer, Roy, Dylan DeMelo, Brett Pesce, and Brandon Montour are all UFAs but I don’t even want to get into the financial gymnastics it’d take to add one of those guys in addition to trying to deal Ceci out in the off-season.

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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: The One Team That Could Help the Oilers the Most at the Trade Deadline is the…

What’s it going to cost the Oilers to get a 3rd team to take on some salary for them at the deadline? Is there one team that could help Edmonton get all the pieces on their trade deadline shopping list all at once AND offer a discount? What’s up with the goaltending? Are the Oilers going to shore that up or ride Skinner until he drops dead of exhaustion?

We’re answering all of that and more today!

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Chop Shop

“The biggest hurdle for Edmonton is if they add any top-six forward they likely need two other teams involved so Edmonton would only have 25% of the total cap. Dallas had to give New Jersey a fourth rounder to take on 25% of Tanev’s $4.5m salary. Guentzel has a $6m cap hit, while Anthony Mantha has $5.75, Jordan Eberle ($5.5m) and Tyler Toffoli ($4.25m). Toffoli would cost a fourth to chop, but will the others cost a third then? Likely.” – Jason Gregor, Oilersnation

  • Man, I thought it was going to be WAY more expensive to get a 3rd team involved.
  • Does anybody else think that Buchnevich might be this year’s Ekholm trade? It feels like that, eh?
  • I am curious if a new name comes out of nowhere around Tuesday or Wednesday though… Like Lawson Crouse (ARI), Josh Anderson (MTL), or Brendan Gallagher (MTL).
Dead in the Water

“According to a couple of sources and based on the market for netminders, GM Ken Holland has elected to place his focus on other areas. Ryan Rishaug was among those who cover the Oilers who say the goalie trade buzz is all-but dead. He noted, “By the way, the goaltending talk, the Oilers will go as far as Stuart Skinner is going to take them.” He added, “They’re going to stick with what they have in net, keep an eye out for a couple of changes up front.” – The Hockey Writers

  • That’s the way it should’ve been all along. Going back to the playoffs last season when Woody started Campbell instead of Skinner.
  • Stu’ll have his ups and downs, that’s just how it is as a young goalie in the NHL. What the Oilers could do for a change is put him in a better position to succeed. Meaning, help him by upgrading the guys in front of him.
  • Upgrade the defense. Upgrade the bottom-six. Acquire players who are dedicated to the craft of being the best defensive hockey players in the world because they’ve already got ones who are the best offensively.
A One-Stop Shop for Everything

“You’re going to hear them linked to so many different players and so many different scenarios,” Seravalli told Brenden Escott of Oilers Now. “And the reason for that is they’re probably all true. It’s that right now they don’t have any laser focus on any one topic. There’s a bunch of things they’d like to do and if possible, they would like to try to do them in unison in one fell swoop. That makes it clean from a cap clean from a cap perspective and asset wise. They still want to get a Top 6 impact forward. – Cult of Hockey

  • I do wonder if they just do all their shopping in Washington. They’ve got at least three, if not four, players that would be on Edmonton’s shopping list.
    • Anthony Mantha: Top-6 RW
    • Nic Dowd: Bottom-6 right-shot center with size
    • Joel Edmundson: Depth dman
    • Chucky Lindgren: Backup goalie
  • You could add Beck Malynsteen if they wanted size/speed/toughness on the wings.
  • Nick Jensen is a right-shot dman getting top-4 minutes in Washington if you think he’s an upgrade on Ceci. (He’s not really. More of an expensive lateral move.)
  • Stack everything in one place and get the discount?…
  • The thing is, Washington has to decide that their giving up on the season this week and they’re only six points behind Philadelphia for a playoff spot.
  • Trades might still go down but the ask might be different. Meaning they could ask for warm bodies instead of futures. Warren Foegele, Brett Kulak, or possibly (unlikely) Cody Ceci could get sent over.
  • On a side note, I think Lane Pederson might get a call-up before the deadline. I don’t know why, though. I mean, how could you even make a judgement on him as an NHL player in only two or three games?
  • I also think Philip Broberg might get a run if he’s deemed healthy enough. Not sure on Lavoie, but you’d hope he is playing in the NHL after March.8th somewhere. He’s earned it.

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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: If This is True, the Oilers MUST Go and Get Him!

The trade prices are slowly being revealed to us and surprisingly, they might favor the Edmonton Oilers more than we thought they might. Waiting until the day before the trade deadline in order to accrue even more cap space might work out to be a genius move. We’ll have to wait and see.

Today, more or less another helping of the same dish we’ve been lapping up all week long. Which RWers are the Oilers targeting? Who’s the right-shot bottom six center that Edmonton’s going to get? Will Ken Holland end up stacking some players from the same club to get a cheaper price?

It would be nice if teams started panic buying though. Just from a fan’s perspective, I’m almost at the point to where I want to be talking about actual trades than the rumors.

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Righty Tighty

“We know that the Edmonton Oilers have been targeting a top-six forward, so both teams are looking at players like Tyler Toffoli, Pavel Buchevich of the St. Louis Blues, maybe Jordan Eberle if he doesn’t sign with the Seattle Kraken. I mean, go down the list from there. There is a list of high-level players potentially available and you can be sure the Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights are going to be among the top clubs trying to pick one up.” – Darren Dreger, TSN

  • If the Oilers were going to go big game hunting, Buchnevich would probably be the guy, right? Bob Stauffer said Colton Parayko is highly unlikely, so that’ll burst a lot of balloons in Edmonton.
  • Now, with that said, there’s been a lot of hot air blown about with regards to the Oilers’ scoring outside of Connor and Leon, so why try to get even heavier in the top-six? Why not start upgrading the bottom-six?
  • I mean, would Evander Kane be so upset to play on third line if Adam Henrique were his center?
  • Your second line wouldn’t be as pretty, but you’d have McLeod and Draisaitl (who have shared some success together previously), and another winger like Foegele or a trade pickup in the vein of Vladdy Tarasenko or Jordan Eberle. Would that be so painful?
  • But personally, if they don’t do something about the 4th line and their defense, it’ll all be for naught because they’re going to need that depth just to stay in the games with real contenders this year (Vancouver, Colorado, Dallas, Winnipeg, Vegas) let alone beat them.
  • You look at those clubs and they’ve got the Oilers beat in depth at one, two, or all three positions (F/D/G). Edmonton is so bloody top heavy right now. They need to find balance in the lineup.
Anything Could Happen

“…maybe, the Oilers investigate moving Ceci, even if he’s Holland’s more prototypical size D at 6’3” and 210, who has an extra year at $3.25 million, to Philadelphia for their feisty centre Scott Laughton (this season and two more at $3 million) who could be a 3C with Ryan McLeod moving to left-wing…

The Oilers are also looking for a right-shot fourth-line centre, bigger than Derek Ryan, who is a first-unit, penalty-killer, a dogged worker and good face-off man but could move to right wing…

The chances of a Mattias Ekholm home run might not be there. But Holland would take a ground-rule double and a couple of hard-hit singles. If he feels he needs a right winger for Leon Draisaitl, then maybe he only adds two people. If not, maybe he has enough for an extra defenceman and two bottom-six, hard to play against forwards.” – Jim Matheson

  • So if McLeod goes to the LW, that’d shoot Holloway either up the lineup to be on Leon’s wing or down the roster to the 4th line (where he doesn’t need to be)…
  • Ceci for Laughton, who replaces Ceci? Seems a tad short-sighted to make that trade, in my opinion. If they’re dealing him, a right-shot defender should be coming back, no? And a better one, at that.
  • I don’t see this team hitting a home-run, but I also foresee the deadline going differently now that Jeff Jackson is involved now.
  • As for that 4th line center, it seems like fait accompli that Nic Dowd or Sam Carrick end up an Oilers and they’re #2 and #4 in PK TOI/GP in the league. MTL’s Jake Evans is #1 with a staggering 3:08min/GP on the kill.
  • I’d suggest Noel Acciari as well because he’s way better at taking faceoffs than those mentioned above and surely the Pens wouldn’t have an issue moving on from him.
Get it Done!

“Seravalli did note that the Ducks are reportedly looking for second- and third-round picks, plus another third-round pick to retain half of Henrique’s salary. The 34-year-old has 16 goals and 38 points through 57 games, a salary cap hit of $5.825 million, and will be a free agent at the end of the season.” – Oilersnation

  • If this is true, the Oilers MUST go out and get him.
  • This is one trade that Edmonton could manufacture easily and they wouldn’t have to sacrifice off of the main roster. They could use another 4th to get another team to eat some salary as well, making it an even cheaper deal thus opening up the opportunity to upgrade the defense and possible the 4th line, too.
  • The team could still move Foegele to upgrade the RW, they could move Ceci in a deal to get a more suitable partner for Nurse.  Also, I think Ceci has to be fed up with the rumors by now. He might be happy to move on to a different fanbase.

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

Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: There’s No Way This Deal Could Go Down, Could It?

Today, I want to talk about a massive mega-deal Edmonton could make with the Boston Bruins. It’s not the kind of thing that happens often at the deadline, a big trade between Cup contending clubs, but considering the names involved; I wouldn’t put it past either GM.

Now, the Oilers have pundits scrambling to figure out what they’re going to do at the deadline and if I had to guess, their options are limited to shoring up the weaknesses of the roster. Meaning, upgrading on Ceci, bringing in some energy for the 4th line, and getting a better backup goalie.

I don’t feel like they’ve got the assets to make any massive moves like Vegas is setting themselves up to do, but they do have enough to tweak the roster every so slightly that if they do it perfectly, they could come out of the deadline laughing.

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Really?

“While the Oilers should be looking to bring in Guentzel to bolster their top-six forward group, there is another player they should look at if they still want to bolster their goaltending depth: Alex Nedeljkovic.

…the asking price for Nedeljkovic shouldn’t be too high. Realistically, a trade between the two looks like the Oilers acquiring him in exchange for Pickard, a 2026 third-round pick, and a 2025 seventh-round pick.” – The Hockey Writers

  • Edmonton has Jack Campbell and Ollie Rodrigue playing very well in Bakersfield. I can see the concerns but do they outweigh the potential costs of shoring up the position even more?
  • Now, if the club really wants to go through with it, why aim for Nedeljkovic when Tristan Jarry might be available?
  • Or what about this scenario, Pittsburgh picking up Jack Campbell’s ticket in a package for Jarry or Nedeljkovic? Kyle Dubas has a history with Soupy that goes all the way back to junior if I’m not mistaken.
  • A trade like this, you don’t want to screw this up. My feeling is that if the Oilers were going to trade for some help in net, they’d be going after a bona fide netminder. Your Jake Allens, John Gibsons, goalies with a history and tons of experience and no inconsistency. That’s where Jack Campbell has fallen short.
DeBrusk Rumors Heating Up Again

“Here’s what I do know: If the Bruins don’t sign him – and, I don’t know if they will or won’t, I’m sure they value him – I guarantee an Alberta team will offer him a major contract. I guarantee you, whether it’s Edmonton or Calgary, he’s going to be taken care of in the province of Alberta.” – Pierre McGuire

  • This is a top-6 winger that a lot of people have forgotten about but he’s back to fillin’ the net. So, that begs the question, why would Boston want to trade him if he’s playing so well for them?
  • The obvious reason is that they don’t want to lose him for nothing, but still, he’s contributing a lot to Boston this year. Are they in the market for an upgrade there? Do they have the assets? I’m skeptical.

A Mega Deal in the Works?

“…according to Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne on Sportsnet on Sunday morning, it sounded like the Boston Bruins would be willing to part with consistent goaltender Linus Ullmark for the right price. I think that is where they should aim if the need a goaltender. It is an Eastern Conference team so perhaps the value will be less for Ullmark since it is not a rival team.” – The Oil Rig

  • Combining the first two parts of today’s post, goaltending and a top-6 winger, is there a chance the Oilers could find a way to bring in both Linus Ullmark AND Jake DeBrusk and what would it cost?
  • The Bruins wouldn’t be interested in getting worse, so, either they’d need to move laterally in the short-term with an eye on upgrading in the future or they’d need equal value now.
  • If it’s equal value now, a deal like that says Stu Skinner, Evander Kane, and futures.
  • If it’s the lateral move, I wonder if Campbell, Foegele, Holloway/Broberg, and futures would be enough. Those futures would have to be high-end too. I’m talking 1st rounders, 2nd rounders, and/or somebody decent off of Bakersfield.
  • To me though, these kinds of trades are for the offseason when the salary cap isn’t an issue and when your goaltending isn’t needed, but seeing as DeBrusk is going to be a UFA, I can understand why they might try to get something for him. Perhaps Foegele and picks/prospects for him would work. Ullmark, they need him now.

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Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: Provorov, Mantha, and Kunin the Latest Names Connected to Edmonton

Anthony Mantha, Ivan Provorov, and Luke Kunin are the latest names being spoken aloud in connection to the Edmonton Oilers as we appraoch the NHL trade deadline, but I’ve gone one more and Bob Stauffer has whispered his name on his radio show briefly in the past.

This guy would be the kind of player fans love AND he’s a right shot, but that’s not the cherry on top. The big thing with him is that he’s an ace on the dot.

So not only could the Oilers have their faceoff specialist, but all the good Oilers teams have had a dedicated tough guy. This player is that as well and he’s fought the leagues toughest since joining the NHL.

Read on to find out who that is.

I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!

But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!

The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

Take Off Your Pants and Blue Jacket

“Currently last in the Eastern Conference, the Blue Jackets are open to exploring trade scenarios involving some of their players who are signed beyond this season, as the likes of Provorov, forward Sean Kuraly, defenceman Andrew Peeke, blueliner Jake Bean, and goalie Elvis Merzlikins have seen their names swirl around the trade winds.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Edmonton Oilers are among the teams believed to have interest in Provorov, who does not own any no-trade protection.” – The Fourth Period

  • He’s not as dynamic at the NHL level as he was in junior. Not really a shock there. And he’s had some lean years playing for some below average teams in Philly and Columbus, but this year he’s on pace to get close to his career high in points (41) and the Blue Jackets are a joke. What could he do in Edmonton.
  • He’s got two more seasons left @ $4.75M/yr, so one would think that the BJs would need to eat at least half of that in any trade with Edmonton.
  • Another issue is that the Oilers have Nurse and Ekholm in their top-4, would trade for another dman to play there? Provorov is getting 20+ minutes a night in Columbus. Unless the plan would be to play him on the right side but I’ve not been able to find anything saying he’s got experience playing there.
  • Would they trade Ceci and promote Kulak to the 2nd pair to play with Ekholm? I don’t know. It doesn’t seem right. Kulak is good in spurts up there, not full-time and it’d be insane to put Broberg up there.
  • I mean, I guess if you want to have depth in the post-season, why not go for the best, but The blueline would be completely unbalanced.
Capital Gains

“The Oilers have their feelers out on a lot of pending deals and Marek explained, “Anthony Mantha’s having a real good season — he’s scoring goals this season.” With 18 goals and 29 points through 52 games for the Washington Capitals this year, Marek is correct. He then hinted that perhaps no one knows Mantha as well as Ken Holland.” – NHL Trade Talk

  • When Anthony Mantha is on his game, he’s a god damned freight train. A man with that kind of size, skill, feistiness, and shot… I could only imagine the kind of chaos a line of Kane/Draisaitl/Mantha and what they’d do.
  • On the other hand, when he’s not going, he’s not very useful and the man who’d know him best is Ken Holland, right? Holland got rid of him in Detroit and only he knows the true reasons.
  • Mantha’s in a contract year though, so that might explain why he’s having a better season. He’d only hurt himself by playing bad during a Stanley Cup run, am I wrong?

Luke, Use the Force Somewhere Else…

“The new more interesting name that Friedman noted the Oilers could be after is Luke Kunin from the San Jose Sharks. The 26-year-old right-shot forward currently has eight goals and two assists this season but fits the depth grit forward mould that the team could be looking for. He’s less flashy than Adam Henrique, but looks to be a lower-cost add the team could look into.” – The Oil Rig

  • F*ck yeah he’s less flashy. He’s a 4th line center with 10 points on the year while Henrique has nearly 40pts.
  • Henrique can also take a draw. Kunin eats absolute shite on the faceoff. In every situation, his FO% falls under 48% and you can’t be trading for a guy just because he shoots right.
  • My advice would be to leave Kunin for someone else and bring in Mark Kastelic from Ottawa. He hits at nearly double the rate that Kunin does, he’s also right handed, he’s 6’4″, and has only taken about 60 less draws than the Sharks center, but he’s infinitely better.
  • Amongst all the right-shot centers in the league who’ve played at least 35 games and taken 200 faceoffs or more, Kastelic ranks 5th (55.7%)!!! For defensive zone faceoffs, he ranks 14th (53.6%) in the entire NHL and he’s only playing not even eight minutes a night for Ottawa.
  • He only gets that much TOI because the offense dies when he’s on the ice. However, his fancies tell me that the opposition doesn’t get much either as all his 5v5 relative ‘against’ metrics are in the negative on Natural Stat Trick.
  • I imagine his 5v5 relative ‘for’ metrics are so shite because he’s a banger and a fighter. In theory, a good coaching staff could help him with that, but even with that in mind, the Oilers need some energy players in their bottom-6. I feel like Kastelic could be the kind of player who could change the momentum of a game with a good hit or a key faceoff win.
  • So getting back to Kunin. He hits, but Kastelic hits more, is cheaper, and is a better player on the draw where the Oilers need their new right-shot center to be.

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