Tag Archives: Shane Gostisbehere

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

BLH’s NHL Trade Rumors and Ramblings: Hall, Gostisbehere, Puljujarvi, and More!

The Jesse Puljujarvi Trade that Fell Through

The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal reported recently that a trade between the New York Rangers and the Edmonton Oilers broke down about a month ago. The only details given where that Puljujarvi and struggling Swedish center Lias Andersson were included. Dhaliwal also pointed out that the Canucks were not interested in the player despite the encouragement from a portion of the Vancouver fanbase to acquire the Finn.

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BLH’s Thoughts: Andersson for Puljujarvi straight across is an instant loss for the Oilers and this is really a trade that Ken Holland can’t afford to lose. Would a second-round pick have evened things out? Maybe. Edmonton is sure to lose their 3rd rounder to Calgary in the Lucic/Neal trade. I assume that the Oilers were looking at possibly Andersson plus Brendan Lemieux though. Holland witnessed first hand the destruction a Lemieux can do in the playoffs as Brendan’s dad Claude was quite the post-season performer in Montreal, Colorado, and New Jersey. 

More on Taylor Hall

It does seem like every major beat writer covering an NHL team has written about their team getting into the Hall sweepstakes, right?

Darren Dreger is reporting that the Coyotes are in on the former MVP, Pierre LeBrun and Elliotte Friedman say Colorado is on him too. Bob McKenzie says the Devils “haven’t set any parameters” and will just ask for the best offer from any interested teams, regardless of what exactly that includes. (source)

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m really torn on this. On one hand, I’d like the Oilers to have two very strong lines to compete with night in and night out. On the other hand, I don’t want the salary cap getting all mucked up with another heavy deal. I don’t think that Edmonton can compete with the offers NJ will be receiving from other clubs though. 

If the Avs can get Hall tied down long-term, this is a fair trade I feel. Colorado has the cap space to make the deal and they’ve got the depth on defense. With Makar, Timmins, Zadorov, Girard, and Johnson being part of the foreseeable future on their blueline, they could afford to make a trade like this. The risk being what happens if Hall runs into injury problems, but is it really a risk with the defense they’ve got? When do we expect Byram to be an impact defender? In four years? Three at best?

I do not mind this trade from an Oilers perspective and I wouldn’t throw it out immediately because if it was such an asinine idea, Oilers media would’ve laughed it off by now and they haven’t… Nurse is trending fairly well this year, but I don’t think he’ll hit the 40pt mark that some thought he might. I really feel like Holland knows that he’s in for a tumultuous summer of negotiating with the Nurse camp and if he could get out ahead of it, he might. Is it a one-for-one? If it was, how do you think the Oilers fanbase would react? I think another thing you have to ask is who’d have more impact on the Oilers record, Darnell Nurse or Taylor Hall? I think it would be Hall and Caleb Jones, William Lagesson, Philip Broberg, and Dmitri Samorukov are coming. Some sooner than later. How would a Jones/Bear pairing look on the Oilers defense?

Habs in the Market for a Ghost Bear?

Oft-scratched Flyers defender Shane Gostisbehere has been connected to the Montreal Canadiens in trade rumors lately. The Habs are in dire need of a left-handed defender to pair up with Shea Weber and/or Jeff Petry.

BLH’s Thoughts: If I were Marc Bergevin, I’d be exploring the acquisition price ASAP. Gostisbehere isn’t the best defensive defender out there but if his partner was Weber or Petry, why would you need to worry about that? The salary cap isn’t a concern, the Canadiens have lots of space there. 

Quick Hits

  • This week’s 31 Thoughts had lots of trade talk in it including notes on Hall, Sam Bennett, the LA Kings, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and more. (source)
  • Could Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu be on the move if his team falls out of the playoff race? (source)
  • Did the Predators try to trade Kyle Turris last summer? (source)
  • Toronto is in desperate need of a backup goalie. (source)
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Edmonton Oilers, Kosmic Burrito, NHL

Kosmic’s World Cup of Hockey Team North America Roster Prediction

March 1st 2016
Post Deadline

Well….here I am…I must have done something right, because I’m back to trip with the BLH Universe again! How’d you like Chia Pete’s first go as an Oiler at the ol’ deadline? Do you think that the Oilers made out alright? Me, I don’t really have any complaints, plus, that’s not what my post is about, haha…

As promised, this is my 2016 World Cup of Hockey Team McDavid, errr, I mean Team North America roster predictions/report. Let’s face it folks, this team belongs to the McWizard!

But first, I have to get something of my chest. I don’t even like the inclusion of the 23 and under North American and European teams. Do you really think that Mcdavid wants to be the one who scores the goal that eliminates Team Canada (hypothetically speaking)? Of course he doesn’t!! He wants to score the huge goals for Canada, and party with the big boys!! But….here we are, and that train has left the station.

Too be honest though, as an Oilers fan this team does possess a lot of Edmonton connections. First off, the GM is Peter Chiarelli, and the Head Coach is Todd Mclellan. Plus some key members of the team I might add.

So, just like my last report, we’ll start with the Goaltenders. Speaking of which, I think this is going to be the team’s weakest position. Only due to the lack of experienced ’tenders. There is USA’s John Gibson, who has won both gold and bronze at the World Juniors. Also, Jets prospect Connor Hellebuyck won bronze at the World Championships. So there is some experience there, that can’t be discounted. I do honestly believe that Gibson is on the verge of breaking out huge, and what a scene that would be if he could do it on the world stage.

Potential Goalies: John Gibson, Connor Hellebuyck, Malcolm Subban, Matt Murray, and Zach Fucale

Again, this is just my personal opinion, but you can’t ignore Gibson and Hellebuyck’s international resumes. So I see Chiarelli going with (in this order):

John Gibson – Connor Hellebuyck – Malcolm Subban

The defence is a different story….this is seriously a stacked backend ladies and gentlemen! We’re talking about names like Ekblad, Reilly, Jones, and Hanifin. That’s heavy duty. Baby’s got back! I didn’t realize just how stacked they are until I started to research this story. So let’s get on with it.

Potential Defencemen: Aaron Ekblad, Noah Hanifin, Matt Dumba, Morgan Reilly, Colton Parayko, Seth Jones, Dougie Hamilton, Connor Murphy, Jacob Trouba, Cody Ceci, Colin Miller, and Ryan Murray

Making my prediction for the defence was actually tougher than originally thought, but if I was GM, the defence would like something like this:

Seth Jones – Aaron Ekblad
Morgan Reilly – Jacob Trouba
Ryan Murray – Dougie Hamilton
Extra Skater: Matt Dumba

Ah yes, now the Mcdavid’s, I mean the McJesus’, Errg…Now for the forwards. You thought that the defence was stellar? Shit dude, you haven’t seen anything yet! We’re talking about names like 2 time Cup winner Brendan Saad, Johnny Hockey himself, and that other fellow, what”s his name, oh yeah…CONNOR MCDAVID! Honestly, this team should not be taken lightly at all. There is A LOT of potential firepower on this squad. So let’s get cracking at it.

Potential Forwards: Connor McDavid, Brendan Saad, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nathan McKinnon, Curtis Lazar, Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Sean Couturier, Ryan Strome, Sean Monahan, Alex Galchenyuk, Jonathon Huberdeau, Mark Scheifele, Jonathon Drouin, Sam Reinhart, Max Domi, Dylan Larkin, Boone Jenner, Sam Bennett, Robby Fabbri, Anthony Duclair, and Bo Horvat

See, I told you that they’re doing pretty well for themselves….so take this with a grain of salt, but here are my line predictions:

Johnny Gaudreau – Connor McDavid – Nathan McKinnon
Brandon Saad – Sean Monahan – Jack Eichel
Alex Galchenyuk – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Ryan Strome
Max Domi – Sean Couturier – Curtis Lazar
Extra Skater: Auston Matthews

As awesome as it will be for all of these kids to play together, you can’t tell me that they wouldn’t have preferred to play for their respected countries? So hopefully the next inception of the World Cup only includes countries. But regardless, the North American team is an incredibly talented squad and they’re my sleeper pick to win it all. They definitely shouldn’t be underestimated just due to their age, they have a lot of international hardware between them, plus…..McDavid.

Well folks, once again, thanks for tripping with me!! Stay tuned for my next article……an introduction to the future, the man known as Laurent Brossoit….

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