Tag Archives: Oscar Klefbom

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

Oilers Speculation: What Ryan Rishaug REALLY Said Yesterday…

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Yesterday Ryan Rishaug had quite the impact on Oilers Twitter be it from his announcing of right-handed cannon-wielding Swedish defenseman Joel Persson being “locked up” by the Oilers or his radio hit on The Dustin Neilson Show where he was spitballing like a boss!

https://twitter.com/dellowhockey/status/996808838459338754

This is the tweet we’re going to focus on and it comes from former Oilers employee Tyler Dellow.

Well here is the transcript of the “proposal” section of the Rishaug interview on Dustin Neilson’s show that the tweet is talking about so that some context can be applied.

I will say that after the transcript part things get a bit… Emotional on my part. So you can stick around for that or you can take off after you read the Rishaug section. I may or may not say something I might or might not regret…

We pick up the conversation just as the Joel Persson talk ends…

DN – But in no way this means the end of a search for another right-shot dman do you think?

RR – No, it better not.

DN – I’m wondering if it does though? I’m wondering if they want to bring this guy in and give him an opportunity and then save their assets and not have to give up anything significant for a proven right-shot dman, you know?

RR – I don’t think so buddy. I think the Oilers are going to be big game hunting for their blueline. I think they’re going to be looking at big names and weighing out those options.

I think Peter Chiarelli being so vocal about having his first round pick in play, where that pick is, is a good pick in a good draft, and I think they’re going to be big game hunting. I don’t know exactly what it looks like, I don’t know how they do it but I don’t think they’re going to be complacent in trying fill this very obvious void.

Now I’ve been saying for a long time, it’s their no.1 need by a mile. I still maintain that and I think they’re going to try and be very aggressive until that need gets filled up. I don’t know if they’re going to be able to get it done but I do believe they feel that it’s a massive need and just figuring out what level to get it done at.

So whattya do? Do yoy get yourself somehow into the Ekman-Larsson play? Do you go in the Erik Karlsson direction? Well probably not necessarily in that direction. Do the Minnesota Wild make a move on Matt Dumba? With the draft that the Buffalo Sabres are about to have, is Rasmus Ristolainen all of a sudden potentially up for grabs?

Could you see the Buffalo Sabres saying, considering the pick they’re going to make at no.1, can they maybe move Ristolainen out and do they maybe look to bring a veteran Swede in to help work the blueline with their new young Swede? Is there potential for a Klefbom swap out to Buffalo maybe along with that pick?

I’m spitballing a lot of stuff here but my over-riding sense in it is that the Oilers will be aggressive in hunting some of the big game to see if they can fill that need on the back-end and if there’s something that makes sense, I think they’ll be aggressive in getting it done. 

Now, if they can’t find something that makes sense, then they probably fall back to their plan B or C options and I’m not really sure what all of those are but I do believe that the Oilers have identified this as a massive need because I’ve sort of been saying for a while that I continue to do this but I’m not sure if they agree but I get the sense that they’re going to be aggressive here. 

The Chia-haters hopped on that Dellow tweet like nobody’s business and imagine 99.9% of the folks that read the tweet didn’t listen to the spot and just jumped right to conclusions…

If you pay attention, Rishaug says over and over that the Oilers are going to be aggressive and at the end he adds, “IF it makes sense”.

Now as a fan, that’s where a lot of people divide. What makes sense to Chiarelli and what makes sense to the armchair GMs are very different things.

You had guys like TSN’s Scott Cullen just lapping that shit up. This guy isn’t even an Oilers supporter but he loves to lay into them…

“Oh woe is me… Please feel sorry for me because of the team I CHOOSE to cheer for.” How hard it must be tough to tweet for these guys when you’re jacking off that massive pity dick (Hat tip to Ryan Reynolds on that one). Clean up must be fun…

The story is so tiresome, isn’t it?

Has anybody even looked into why Ristolainen might be a better fit for the Oilers than Klefbom? Is it possible that a player could get traded for reasons apart from those that lie within the margins of a stats sheet?

But here’s the thing, it’s all for naught because it was Rishaug playing NHL 18 GM mode!!! But everyone just loved it, couldn’t get enough of it.

Not one of these SMRT Twitter characters thought why it would be a bad deal for Buffalo… Nobody said that Buffalo already is fully stocked on the left side BEFORE drafting Dahlin. None of these brainiacs mentioned that Buffalo would be insane to trade their best RH’d defender. A defender that has put up over 120 points in his last three seasons despite being on the worst team in the NHL during that time span.

Noooo. Why would they do that?

Would they mention that Rasmus Ristolainen has 9 FEWER POINTS than Oliver Ekman-Larsson or 21 MORE POINTS than Justin Faulk since the start of the 2015/16 season?

Of course not…

I’m 100% sure that these media guys, as well as the bloggers, are well aware of what the market value is on a player and that’s why they get paid the big bucks to cover the game from the seat of their pants.

Now, let’s be clear, I’m not fully in support of the SPECULATED trade proposal from Rishaug because that 10th overall pick is the stumbling point for me. I see the Oilers getting a good player there but I can see the logic behind Rishaug’s idea and we know that when Peter Chiarelli has zeroed in on his target, he’s willing to overpay to get it.

Now, that’s not to say that the Sabres couldn’t add to that to make me feel comfortable about moving that first rounder. I know that Sam Reinhart has been rumored to be on the move and that Sabres GM Jason Botteril is not happy at all with the current roster make-up.

I think another thing to add is that we all know that right-shot defenders and centres (especially righties) cost more than left-shot dmen. Hence the price tag Rishaug brought up.

Nurse/Larsson
Sekera/Ristolainen
Russell/Benning
Persson

I’ll tell you what, I do not mind the look of that because I value this team having a deep and talented back end full of NHL defensemen. And it just so happens the Oilers have an excess of LH’d defenders. That group of dmen (healthy) would rival that of any other team in the Pacific division and it wouldn’t cost the Oilers one of their good young forwards either.

So just as the Chia-haters have formed their judgement of Peter on his tenure as Oilers GM, that being 3 seasons so far, I have done the same with Oscar Klefbom and I’m led to believe that the sexy Swede has troubles staying healthy. This is a problem for me. If you can’t stay healthy, you can perform to your absolute best abilities. Why would I want a player who has this problem? This isn’t Peter Forsberg we’re talking about where we’ve got a player who simply dominates games when he’s healthy but simply has trouble doing so.

Can you remember the last time Oscar Klefbom scored a hat-trick in a game? What about the last time he had a fight or a penalty for that matter…

I would be happy if the Oilers acquired Rasmus Ristolainen but leave the pick out of it. Rishaug above mentioned how often Chiarelli has been saying the #10 is available, I just hope that it’s not burning a hole in his pocket and he does the right thing and keeps it.

Lastly, this PALES in comparison to what my source told me today about the other deals that have been brought up by other GMs to Chiarelli… Good Christ, if I post those, Oilers Twitter really will burn down… All I can say is the Oilers better have Ottawa and Arizona on their “blocked” list if Chiarelli wants to keep his job this summer.

So now that I’ve upset the majority of you, here’s a kickass Oilers YouTube video to watch! Please Subscribe to our channel!

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

Bruins Media Touting Krug to the Oilers

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The latest from Fluto Shinzawa of the Athletic (sign up here) has him pontificating upon the future of the Bruins defense. Personally, I think it should stay right the F where it is. It looks outstanding when healthy and why mess with that? Krug is pretty essential to the Bruins breakout too when he’s on the ice but Shinzawa believes they’ll be looking for a different look on the left side.

The question the Bruins need to answer is whether Krug’s offensive touch is worth the defensive compromise. It would be one thing if the Bruins had a thicker defender behind the 5-foot-9 Krug. They do not.

So I’m assuming that Shinzawa has Chara at 1LD, Krug at 2LD, and Grzelcyk at 3LD. I can definitely see his point here. I imagine it would be nice for Boston to have a bigger bodied LHD behind Krug or Chara like Nick Holden (6’4″ 210lbs) or Chris Breen (6’7″ 224lbs).

Is it just me or is something not adding up here. Are the Bruins looking to move Krug’s contract? He makes $5.25M for the next two seasons before turning UFA at the age of 29. He’s got a partial no-trade in the final two years of that deal.

But here is where the Oilers come in,

Edmonton had the NHL’s worst power play this season (14.8 percent). GM Peter Chiarelli signed Krug in 2012. Edmonton has 24-year-old Oscar Klefbom (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and 23-year-old Darnell Nurse (6-foot-4, 221 pounds) on the left side. A one-for-one deal is unlikely for either, given the Edmonton defenders’ age and promise. Sweeney would have to package Krug with additional assets.

Fluto Shinzawa is right, Boston would have to send more than just Krug to make a deal happen for Klefbom or Nurse but he isn’t the only member of the Bruins media to toss Torey Krug’s name out there. Jimmy Murphy has as well.

That is back in February and I wrote about it here.

Geez, all we need is Joe Haggerty to say something and we’d have a well-fueled rumor out of Boston!

With the way things are sounding with regards to the coaching staff, the rumored additions of Glen Gulutzan and Trent Yawney will directly affect the penalty kill. That leads me to believe that McLellan and whomever they hire as the no.3 assistant coach (Manny Viveiros?) will be running the power play. And with those corrections, I think both will bounce back.

I don’t see a good fit for Edmonton and Boston as trade partners unless Chiarelli can find a way to send Klefbom and a dodgy contract to the Bruins in return for Brad Marchand.

Unlikely. But not impossible. I’ve thought a bit about Boston shipping Marchand out for his playoff antics and I’ve also considered Darnell Nurse not to be as untouchable as people make him out to be…

Edmonton just needs to sit back, relax and let the team do the work. Don’t force it through via trade or massive overpayment in the free agent market. Learn from past mistakes and let’s allow the players to dig themselves out of this hole. There’s no reason that a team that believes in itself can’t do the improbable, right (Vegas)?

Oh and don’t even think about moving the #10 overall. There’s going to be a player available there that the Oilers will regret taking if they trade out of that spot because it sounds like there are some prospects making some very late season pushes into the top 10 that might push a player down to where the Oilers are picking.

A NEW KICK ASS OILERS PODCAST

My friend SPR has started a new podcast called “Late Night with the Oil Knight” and he’s having it hosted by Oilers Live. You HAVE to check this out.  It’s no holds barred Oilers podcasting and it’s amazing! It’s foul and honest and it cuts right to the bone of what is the Oilogosphere. It’s a very refreshing voice for this generation of Oilers followers.

in SPR’s inaugural pod, he and fellow Beer League Heroes contributor The Dirtbag get into it regarding the Oilers media, the coaching, the draft, and much much more! Check it out below!

A couple of quotes to set the stage for you:

“Who the fuck are your smart people?” and “I went on Lowetide’s blog and thought, what the fuck is happening here?”

Enjoy!

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Around the Oilogosphere, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Prospects, Rumors

Around the Oilogosphere – April 13th Edition – Spector VS The Old Boys Club, Klefbom Trade Options, Oilers KHL Targets, and many NHL Rumors

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I feel bad for a lot of Oilers fans who frequent Twitter. There are so many that are incredibly jaded and/or entitled. Sometimes I have to sit back and ask myself, when will these folks get their break? When will the hockey gods look down on them and give them their due for being so patient and understanding?

I mean so much has been earned and then ripped from the hands of Oilers fan’s hands. It’s a wonder as to why so many stick with the team even though they sound like they hate the Oilers.

If there was just one reason. One reason at all that Oilers fans could be happy about, I wonder what it could be?

Moving on…

The KHL is going to be ripe for the picking this summer and I believe that the Oilers will be targeting some players from that league. My hope is that they bring Vladdy (Hockey) Tkachev back. I watched him, Leon, Yakimov, and Nurse take on the U of A in the Oilers/Golden Bears prospects game a few years back and he was on another level with regards to skill, patience, and hockey IQ.

There’s a Czech keeper named Pavel Francouz who’s been putting up some fairly decent stats over in Russia the past few seasons and I’ve heard he’s looking to come over to the NHL as well.

But here’s the rub… I’m not sure how good their English is and we all know that if they can’t speak English well that probably means they won’t get a lot of TOI if Todd McLellan is running the bench. Right, Jesse?

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OILERS NEWS

Sportsnet – Oilers being held hostage by voices of their past – There are voices in Edmonton. Voices who bear Stanley Cup rings from the Oilers glory years, many of them don’t believe McLellan should be the Oilers head coach. Others would have him remain as a coach, but want to install at least one of their own to help him out.

Edmonton Sun – Edmonton Oilers need to reduce number of starts by goalie Cam Talbot next season – The Oilers won’t say how many games they would like Talbot to play, but 60 should be the max if they don’t want to burn him out before the playoffs,

Cult of Hockey – Why I am OK with Peter Chiarelli returning as Edmonton Oilers GM – Mostly it’s because I saw all kinds of coaching issues with the team last year and believe that is the main issue in the team’s weak showing.

Oil on Whyte – Oilers to Sign Goalie Out of KHL – Will the Edmonton Oilers visit a non-traditional market to find themselves a goaltender to back up Cam Talbot in 2018/19?

The Oil Knight –  Say hello to your next Edmonton Oiler – Now if we assume the Oilers won’t be getting a Top 3 pick and don’t move down in the draft it is unlikely they will get an NHL ready winger at #9 so finding that puck moving Defenceman should be priority #1 even if he isn’t ready for 2-3 years down the road. Why? Well for one…

Oilersnation – Pick Bait – It may be poor asset management to move a pick that will become an exempt asset for a player that will need to be protected. While you contemplate that, I’m going to lay out the only three options I see making sense for the Oilers.

OILERS PODCASTS

Oilers YYC – Episode 42: Chiarelli/Nicholson Press Conferences

Cult of Hockey – The Cult’s “Chiarelli Hints at Coaching Changes” Podcast

 NHL RUMORS

NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators – The Draft, Erik Karlsson, and the Coaching Staff

NHL Rumors: St. Louis Blues and the New York Rangers

NHL Rumors: Detroit Red Wings – Youth Injection, Mantha, and the Rebuild

NHL Rumors: Dallas Stars and Jason Spezza … Buffalo Sabres and Chad Johnson

NHL Rumors: Toronto Expansion, Senators, Blues, Sabres, Islanders, Stars, Hurricanes and Rangers

NHL Rumors: Bereglazov, Koskinen, Shestyorkin, Hutton, and the Panthers

Friedman | Summer will tell tale of rebuilding Rangers

McKenzie | O’Reilly would be absolute godsend to Canadiens

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Guest Post: Don Cherry Diagnosed Oilers in October by Ryan Garner

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This is a post from Oilers fan Ryan Garner originally published at Hockeybuzz. I contacted Mr.Garner and asked him if it would be okay if I re-posted his article on our site here and he agreed. A big thanks to him!

You can follow Ryan on Twitter @RyGarner. He’s a local lad that works at the Edmonton Journal as the Home/Travel Editor. 

Coaching expert Donald S. Cherry diagnosed the Edmonton Oilers in October, three games into their doomed 2017-18 season. This Coach’s Corner segment was broadcast on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 and Cherry is in top form right from the start — “Do they have pool tables out in Red Deer?” — but the relevant bit arrives at 2:07, when Ron MacLean introduces “a little advice for coaches, first on pulling goaltenders.” Run it until the 2:32 mark, then pause and we’ll discuss.

“Here’s Talbot at the end. 
He’s so embarrassed
he got pulled he left his mask on the whole time.”

Here’s some background. Coming off a shutout in the Oilers’ season opener, Cam Talbot allowed three goals on seven shots and was yanked by Todd McLellan 32 seconds into the second period. Sounds bad, right? But let’s look at those tallies to determine Talbot’s night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXN3Mik7S5s

Draw your own conclusions, and then return to Don Cherry. Pause it again at the 3:30 mark.

“Nothing bugs them more than when you pull them
during (the game) 
and then you embarrass them.
They start looking at the bench.”

Talbot went on to post a career-high 3.02 goals against average and career-low .908 save percentage this season. Did Todd McLellan’s early hook contribute? Perhaps. At least I would put more stock in that line of reasoning than any of the sleep deprivation malarkey some have bandied about. Either way, two nights later the Oilers welcomed the Winnipeg Jets to town, losing 5-2. Return to the Cherry video and pause it again at the 4:14 mark.

“Now you want me to comment on that?”
“I would love you to comment on that.”

First of all, watch how surprised Cherry is that they’re even going to the McLellan footage. He’s legitimately stunned, and then very reluctant to comment afterward, but he does. Roll it on and pause again at the 5:22 mark.

“They’re gonna play Ottawa, that right side with
Borowiecki and Phaneuf, 
it’s gonna be a challenging
night for the superstars in the crosshairs.”

MacLean’s words would prove to be prescient. The Oilers lost to the Senators 6-1 that night, and McLellan was reserved in his postgame comments afterward. Three nights later, desperate for a win to halt a three-game skid, the Oilers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Here’s how it played out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mya5qxgNt_I

What game story would you have written after that one? Here are some facts to fill in the pieces.
-Leon Draisaitl missed the second of four games with an injury
-The Oilers outshot the Hurricanes 51-21
-Laurent Brossoit stopped 16 of 21 shots
-Cam Ward stopped 48 of 51 shots
McLellan chose to focus on some individual efforts in his postgame presser, most notably Oscar Klefbom’s performance.

Klefbom had a horrible night and McLellan carved him for it, pinning the loss on a 24-year-old top-pairing defenseman with fewer than 200 regular season games under his belt. Local media folks sharpened their knives during the disastrous first period, took their cues from the head coach in the postgame presser, and launched an all-out attack on the 1-4 Oilers. Here are some of the stories that ran after the 5-3 loss.

Edmonton Oilers fail to show up again in loss to Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes storm to early lead over host Edmonton Oilers, coast to win

Oilers’ arrogance getting shoved back down their throats

Rattled and reeling under a barrage of expectations and hung out to dry by their head coach five games into the season, the young Oilers would go on to miss the playoffs by 17 points. To sum it up, let’s return to coaching expert Don Cherry. Go back and run it again from 4:18 to 4:50.

“I never, ever, ever give the players — I wanted to, in the paper —
but once you do you know that players will say you don’t have their back.”
“How would he fix that? How would Todd…”
“You can’t fix it.”

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Around the Oilogosphere, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Around the Oilogosphere: Cult of Hockey – Oilers Coaches Have Consistently Failed to Get Out Top Performers on Power Play

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The Edmonton Oilers finally came alive on the power play against Tampa Bay, creating seven Grade A chances in one third period power play.

Not surprisingly, perhaps Edmonton’s five most skilled attackers, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Strome, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Oscar Klefbom were all on the ice, for that two minute power play. Their passing, vision, puck-winning and puck control was superlative to a man.

What is surprising — and perhaps a bit appalling if you’re an Oilers fan — is…

Read more from David Staples on his critique of the Oilers’ PP here: http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/oilers-coaches-have-consistently-failed-to-get-out-top-performers-on-power-play

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*We’re experimenting with some content curation tactics here at Beer League Heroes and so many of the posts you’ll find coming from the BLH website will be snippets of full posts from other sites. We’re not interested in ripping any other writers off but we are looking to expand our audience a bit. If your blog has been featured in one of our “Around the Oilogosphere” posts and you don’t want it to be, contact us @beerleagueheroe on Twitter and let BLH know. He’ll be happy to remedy the situation. Otherwise, we hope you enjoy the content!*

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