Tag Archives: Patrick Eaves

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Was There Any Doubt? Oilers into 2nd Round of Stanley Cup Playoffs

As I watched the San Jose Sharks lay the boots to my Edmonton Oilers in game four, I remembered that Don Cherry would often say that you never embarrass your opponent because it’ll come back to bite you in the ass. Well…

San Jose simply blew their loads in that 7-0 drubbing of the Oilers and a bit into the 1st period of game 5 but after that they were spitting sand and it was ALL Oilers.

Crikey, that’s graphic…

The Sharks simply couldn’t keep pace with the Oilers and I’m not wondering where that “experience” was when they needed it most? Were the Sharks not a Stanley Cup finalist last season? There were some that were saying that McLellan was outcoached in that blowout but I think over the course of the series, it was McLellan who outcoached Deboer by keeping Nuge’s line on Thornton’s as much as possible and leaving McDavid to Vlasic and Braun.

Something I’ve noticed as the season went on is that the Oilers got better and better and tying down 1-goal games. They seemed to have won so many more tight games this year and they certainly were okay with playing without the lead as well, no?

GM OF THE  YEAR?

Peter Chiarelli said he was going to come in here and build a team that could compete in the Pacific, no? So in came players of higher character and out when players who had trouble buying into McLellan’s system. Chiarelli brought in players that knew what it took to get to the playoffs and surrounded his young phenoms with humble leaders.

Now, I love that the Oilers GM has built a team to take care of business in its own division because after all, if you can dominate in your own division, the playoffs aren’t that far from your reach, right? And once you make the playoffs, anything can happen.

DUCK HUNT

There are two narratives that instantly come to mind:

  1. Can the Anaheim Ducks roll through the Alberta teams?
  2. Can the Edmonton Oilers take care of the California teams?

It was Edmonton that officially eliminated the LA Kings from playoff contention I believe and wouldn’t it be something if they could run through the Sharks AND the Ducks after all these years of being their whipping boys for a decade?

One has to reckon that the Ducks are going to be more of a challenge to the Oilers than the Sharks but I’m not so sure to be honest and here’s why:

  • Anaheim’s Forward Depth: Their top 6 is pretty good but Edmonton can equal it without question. The Ducks bottom 6 is where the Oilers have the edge I believe. Apart from Corey Perry, it lacks skill and speed. I’ll take Pouliot/Desharnais/Slepyshev over Wagner/Thompson/Shaw anyday.
  • Anaheim’s Defense Depth: It’s a young d-core right now with Montour/Theodore filling in for Fowler/Vatanen. Korbinian Holzer is basically Mark Fayne with a bit more sandpaper. So AHL level. When Fowler and Vatanen come back, that’ll definitely change things but how long will it take them to get into playoff shape and can the Oilers take advantage of this fortunate turn of events? That said, Josh Manson is no joke.
  • The Ducks have nobody to sick on McDavid: Ryan Kesler? Good luck with that. Anaheim simply doesn’t have a Vlasic that can shut down an elite forward.
  • Who will RNH’s line be tasked with?: McLellan shut down the Sharks top line by using Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ line. That Sharks trio is a heavy line to deal with. Will the Oilers 2nd line go head-to-head with Getzlaf/Eaves/Rackell or Cogliano/Kesler/Silvferberg?

There are two players that do concern me on Anaheim though:

  • Patrick Eaves
  • John Gibson

Eaves has continued his scoring tear from the regular season and Gibson, apart from one game (like Talbot), looked sensational versus the Flames.

Look, without sounding like the homer of all homers, the Oilers have a better roster. Simple as that. The Flames barely scraped into the playoffs where as the Oilers nearly beat out the Ducks for first in the Pacific. Anaheim might be rested right now but the Oilers are just getting going. Sickness or not, Edmonton can go toe-to-toe with any team in the Western Conference right now and feel confident of beating any one of them.

I think I can guarantee one thing though, this series is going to be a battle of epic proportions. It’s going to get physical and it’s going to be dirty and we’re going to see some ridiculousness. I mean a team with Corey Perry and Kevin Bieksa on it is going to be unpleasant to play against.

But what are we worried about?

I can’t wait.

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

Celebrations and Trade Deadline Whispers

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I just wanted to share a bit of good news with you before getting into today’s post but a little background first.

When I started this blog way back in 2012 over on Weebly, my goal was to hit the first page of google without having “Edmonton” or “Oilers” in the URL because I figured that it’d be that much more challenging.Now I’m no SEO expert, I may have read a few blogs on the topic but if I’m not mistaken, one would like all the advantages he/she can get when it comes to making it easier for people to find your website, right?

Next, I wanted to step up the site’s coverage back in 2015 and take it to the next level, so I picked up the domain and registered www.beerleagueheroes.com with the idea that maybe, just maybe, it’d help the site reach the first page.

Well after 5 years of existence and 2 years as a dot com…

BEER LEAGUE HEROES HIT THE FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE UNDER “EDMONTON OILERS BLOGS”!!!

So I’m pretty stoked about hitting Google page one as I can honestly say I did almost the bare minimum to get it there. That being said, you are the ones that made the most impact. You chose to read our content! And we thank you so much for that. I hope we’re still up there when you get around to reading this.

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Trades Completed and Otherwise

  • Patrick Eaves going to the Ducks for a conditional 2nd rounder is interesting. It turns into a first rounder if the Ducks make it to the Western Conference Finals AND if Eaves plays 50% of the games in the rounds previous. So even if the Ducks do make it to the conference finals, that 1st rounder will be akin to a 2nd rounder anyhow.

I would’ve liked to have seen Eaves on the Oilers previously but I have to question if he’d be surplus to requirement on the Oilers now that Pakarinen is healthy, Slepyshev, when he’s in the lineup, is looking dangerous and he’s not shying away from the dirty areas. Leon Draisaitl is racking up the points again and Jordan Eberle appeared to have some real jump in his game vs. Washington. And Lastly, I’m loving Zack Kassian more and more each time I watch him.

How much would Eaves have really helped? And don’t forget, Puljujarvi is lighting up the AHL right now. So he’s there to call up if need be.

  • Tomas Jurco for a 3rd rounder

I asked my source if the Oilers had any interest in this guy as a depth scorer with speed and a good possession game. I was told the Oilers had ZERO interest.

Source Says…

  • PC is talking to STL about Shattenkirk. He’s open to coming to Edm. He sees what’s happening in Edm with McDavid, Draisaitl, and Co.

So this is an interesting twist. If you’ve been following any NHL media whatsoever in the last 48 hours, you’ve probably read or heard all the talk about Shattenkirk turning down deals to go to other teams, Edmonton included. But what I was told was that as far as an extension goes, the Oilers would have to win a couple of playoff rounds to convince Kevin Shattenkirk to re-sign in Edmonton. Otherwise, the Oilers aren’t willing to go any higher than what the market is currently dictating for rental defensemen. Michael Stone went for a third and Hainsey went for a 2nd rounder plus a career AHLer, so read between the lines there.

I got a bit of flack on Twitter for asking why a team would pay more than a 3rd rounder for a player that isn’t interested in re-signing with their club. I understand that Shattenkirk is a MUCH better player than Michael Stone and Ron Hainsey but would you give up a 1st or a 2nd round pick for a rental? Providing he’s gone on July 1st?

I know a few GMs (Bergevin/Rutherford) who might but the Oilers GM won’t be unless Shattenkirk agrees to re-sign in Edmonton. And if that happens, we should be able to put the Kris Russell 2017 contract debate to bed.

  • Speaking of Russell, the Oilers have broken off talks with his camp. I guess he’s still angling for a 4 year deal with $4M per year. Surprisingly price isn’t the problem, term is.
  • Derek Ryan should be an Oiler soon. They’ve been scouting him something fierce lately.
  • The Oilers are trying their damnedest to move Pouliot and Fayne but doesn’t sound like anything is going to happen on that front.
  • No on Hanzal and Vrbata and Iginla.

Edmonton wants a sniper and would prefer a bit more speed and size up front. But none of those players are fleet of foot and their price tag is too high.

  • Dallas is strapped to the cap and looking to move some bodies. The names that came up were Sharp, Eaves (already spoken for), and John Klingberg…

I can see Sharp and the Oilers being a potential fit but John Klingberg?!! Why in the world would Jim Nill be open to moving him? If I were the Oilers, I’d have a separate phone special for Jim Nill and I’d be calling him constantly to see what the price is. Klingberg has a beauty long-term contract similar to Larsson and Klefbom’s and that would fit in too well with the Oilers future plans.

  • The Oilers are looking at two players with regards to the backup position. Jaroslav Halak and Ondrej Pavelec. With either of those players, the Islanders/Jets would need to retain salary.

Now, I know which goalie I’d prefer. The one who had a helluva playoff run not too long ago for the Montreal Canadiens. A run so amazing that it had fans of the Habs asking for the team to trade Carey Price away… But alas, we’ve heard from Bob Stauffer that he believes Halak will be bought out at season’s end by the Isles. So, who knows what will happen there. I’m not sold on Pavelec one bit…

Personally, I’m guessing the Oilers go out and grab a right-shooting face-off man for sure. I think if they can’t get the right deal for a backup, they’ll wing it and go with Brossoit or if disaster hits, Nick Ellis. I’m with Chiarelli in that the Oilers are right on the precipice of becoming a great team with excellent depth at the minor league level and the prospect level and there’s no real reason to bet the farm this season. Next season mind you, that will be a different story.

That’s it for now. I’ll update you later on if something comes in! And thanks again for helping us to page 1 on Google! Check out our T-shirt shop! There’s a sale going on right now where you can get some pretty sweet tees for you or your kids or maybe someone else or their kids… Click the pic below and it’ll take you to our shop! You’re a beauty!!!

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

Subtle Moves says Stauffer

Happy Valentines Day!! Make sure you let your special someone know how much you care about them today!

If there’s any time during the year to pay extra attention to what the host of Oilers Now! Bob Stauffer is throwing out there, it’s right before the trade deadline because his cadence changes a bit when talking about certain players and he tends to throw our some tidbits regarding the players that the Oilers are targeting.

Case in point, during yesterday’s show (2/13/17) during the second segment where Bob is taking calls. A caller said that he heard the Oilers were linked with Patrick Eaves (our post on Eaves is here) and Bob immediately and pointedly, nearly cutting the poor guy off, asked the caller,

“Where have you seen that?” 

Normally Stauffer takes a moment to offer his opinion and he’s usually pretty jovial when talking about these sort of armchair GM comments/queries but this got Bob awfully serious right quick and at the beginning, his reply was kind of all over the place.

Bob: I think Dallas is going to have to sell. Eaves has had an incredible year. I think part of it is just the fit for him and Dallas and he is a RW. So, you know, we’ll see.

A lot of short and obvious notes given here. Just seems like Stauffer was caught off-guard to me. Below you can tell he’s back to his normal self though.

Caller: He would be able to help out on the PP, would he not?

Bob: Well, he’s had a tremendous year. I wouldn’t consider him an elite PP guy. To me, he’s a 3rd line RW that’s having a career season. Like, he’s got 20 goals. He’s been on fire all year but there’s so much focus when you play Dallas on the likes of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin and Eaves has been the guy that’s stepped up. Especially, given the fact that they lost Hemsky in the first game of the year. So there’s one right winger down, they lost Janmark, that’s another top 9 forward. They don’t have Spezza right now either. 

I think you’d have to look at Eaves. The price point is good, he’s cheap. That’s another thing that makes sense.

“Another thing that makes sense”? I’m assuming that Stauffer is talking about how Eaves is having a great year in addition to his cap hit being a paltry $1M.

In the end, I’m probably reading a bit more into the demeanor in which he’s saying those things. That’s just me though.

Look, I’m certain the Oilers are looking at Eaves but I can’t be 100% sure as I’m not an insider (even though I pretend to be on the internet) but did Stauffer let the cat out of the bag a bit here?

A Subtle Move

It’s a subtle move to go out and get yourself a backup goaltender, maybe some forward depth up front, with some help down the middle. 

Stauffer has been talking up these “subtle moves” for a week and now he’s getting a tad more specific.

You could potentially see a backup goaltender being acquired. Absolutely! If that’s what you’re saying.

Stauffer was touching on a caller’s question about Cam Talbot needing someone trustworthy to back him up in case he starts to tire late in the season. I haven’t heard much in the way of who might be coming in to backup Cam Talbot. I think Lowetide has been championing Reto Berra but I’ve been seeing his name connected with various Swiss league teams and he’s not exactly lighting up the AHL right now.

A different caller did ring up Oilers Now! and ask about Halak but Stauffer said he’s too expensive in his opinion and I’m of the same belief. That being said, if the Islanders took back Mark Fayne or Benoit Pouliot, why not? Same difference, right? And who knows what happens at the draft? Maybe a team who loses out on Ben Bishop or M.A. Fleury comes calling and BINGO! You can move that contract on. Halak would be a helluva backup to have for a playoff run, no?

I think the forward depth up front is referring to another right-winger (Patrick Eaves perhaps? Chiarelli did, in fact, trade for him back in 2009 when he was GM of the Bruins and Eaves was part of the Carolina organization.) and the help down the middle is most likely Brian Boyle (TB) or Derek Ryan (CAR). I wrote a post on Ryan previously and the likelihood of the Oilers picking him up here.

Personally, I think that Chiarelli REALLY wants Brian Boyle but won’t be dragged into a bidding war for him. He might participate in the bidding but in the end, will refuse to pay the price in the hopes that somebody else does. 

Even if the Hurricanes are in the playoffs and they keep Ryan for the post-season, I could see the Oilers re-visiting the Ryan camp in the summer and offering him a deal to come back to Edmonton to play hockey again. The guy is a beauty on the dot and Edmonton really needs help there.

I’m surprised Bob didn’t say anything about a defenseman because Chiarelli has a history of making trades for solid defensemen.

  • Adam Larsson (2016)
  • Andrej Meszaros (2014)
  • Wade Redden (2013)
  • Tomas Kaberle (2011)
  • Dennis Seidenberg (2010)
  • Aaron Ward, Dennis Wideman, Adam MacQuaid (2007)

Check out his trade history here. Is the market for defenders dry or the prices too dear for Chiarelli right now?

Do you think there’s anything to read into Bob Stauffer’s words yesterday? Let us know in the comments below but right after you pick up a sweet t-shirt from our Teepublic shop!

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

Oilers Trade Deadline Target: Patrick Eaves

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Eaves in Dallas is one of those unrestricted free agents along with Patrick Sharp that Jim Nill will have to make a decision on. His stats might actually stun you. Patrick Eaves has 19 goals this season. A career year, his best year in 12 seasons. So, maybe the Dallas Stars could find a suitor for him on the market as well. – Frank Seravalli, Oilers Now! (Feb.8th, 2017)

The bearded fellow on the left is a man by the name of Patrick Eaves. He stands 6′ tall and weighs in at close to 190lbs. He’s currently a member of the underachieving Dallas Stars ice hockey team but will be free to play where he likes on July 1st as he is an unrestricted free agent. This is a player I believe would be of much benefit to the Edmonton Oilers playoff run and he’s currently no.4 on TSN’s trade list.

Patrick Eaves has never really been much of a point producer in the past. Previously, his best year point-wise was back in 06/07 when he was in his 2nd NHL season with the Ottawa Senators where he tossed up 14 goals and 18 assists in 74 games played. In the current campaign whilst playing on the right wing with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, Eaves has racked up 19 goals and 33 points, surpassing his career high in points and goals and is sure to top his career-best in assists (18). Only 5 more apples to beat that personal record.

How does this tie in with the Edmonton Oilers?

Well, the Oilers are looking for some help on the right side. Preferably somebody who can score. Patrick Eaves is doing just that this year. If the Oilers were to indeed acquire the Calgary-born winger, he’d give them some very nice roster flexibility and his cap hit, a mere $1 million dollars, could allow them to reach out and pick up another player who makes a bit more.

So what is it that Eaves does well?

He’s a jack-of-all-trades really. He can play a lot of positions. He can play both sides of special teams. He’s been a power play guy. He’s been a penalty killer. He’s got the ability to score goals,” head coach Lindy Ruff said of Eaves at the time. “Jim [Nill] knows a lot about him. I know a little bit less, but from what I’ve heard he’s a guy you can use in almost any situation and can play in a lot of different positions.” – Defending Big D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqWb8TokYL4

Admittedly, I don’t watch a lot of Dallas Stars hockey, so I can only go from scouting reports from the media and from the numbers available online.

Eaves looks like the type of player that Chiarelli would get in on for sure. He’s physical, he shoots, and he’s on a bargain contract. He’s not a big guy but he plays big and with that usually comes with critique from the analytics community but let us look at some of those fancies if you will and make a decision ourselves.

stats.hockeyanalysis.com is where I find my stats and I take the 5×5 numbers almost always and since we’re talking about a forward, we’ll keep using only the forward’s numbers.

Corsi For per 60 Relative to Teammates should tell us how he’s doing as an individual player with regards to getting shots to the net. In this case, Eaves is first on the team with a 3.74 CF60RelTM. If we tossed him onto the Oilers with that he’d be 4th on the team behind Maroon, McDavid, and Eberle.

Corsi Against per 60 Relative to Teammates should tell us how Eaves is doing on the defensive side of the puck. How good he is at keeping those unblocked shot attempts away from his net. On the Stars he sits 4th with -2.58 behind Brett Ritchie, Seguin, and Roussel. Slide that over to the Oilers’ roster and Mr.Eaves would be 3rd behind McDavid and Maroon amongst the regular playing forwards.

Let’s do the same with the Fenwick numbers. These are the unblocked shot attempts. Basically, any shot tossed at the net.

FF60relTM: 3.98 (#2 on Dallas, #4 on Edmonton)
FA60relTM: -3.72 (#2 on Dallas, #1 on Edmonton)

Look at that, he seems to do pretty well keeping the shots away from his net and getting them onto the opposition’s net… Sounds like a pretty good player to me. His fancies are not elite mind you nor might you consider them great but they are good. Patrick Eaves might be considered a solid two-way winger.

What we might not dig about Eaves is that he has a considerable recent injury history. A concussion from an obliterated jaw courtesy of a Roman Josi slapshot, an ordeal with his foot, and multiple lower-body and upper-body injuries have cut previous seasons short. Apart from that, he seems to be riding the highs of a sweet shooting percentage (14.3%) too and that’s not something you want to be on the hind-end of, right Mr.Eberle?

I believe that if you are looking for the Oilers to pick up Iginla or Vrbata, that you’d be just as happy with what Patrick Eaves could bring the team. He’s basically a smaller version of Patrick Maroon with an epic beard and he has shown, like Maroon, that he can keep up with Elite players.

At $1M, there are bound to be many many teams in the Patrick Eaves sweepstakes because they can fit him under the tightest of salary caps. So Peter Chiarelli would have his work cut out for him and from what I can gather online, this summer, there’s going to be some massive overhauling done in Dallas. Coach, goalies, and prospects cleared out in an attempt to improve the team on the fast track.

I’m not a fan of the Dallas Stars but if we could see some more Stars/Oilers playoff battles, that would be something!

Looking for more Oilers trade deadline targets, check out this previous post.

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