So we’re switching things up with our “Around the Oilogosphere” segment. Instead of posting individual snippets and linking to them, we’re going to basically make a “Oilers blogs of the day” sort of post. Not sure if it’ll be daily or weekly but we’ll work that out. We’ll probably include some links from other NHL news as well like trade rumors or major happenings.
Either way, you can enjoy coming to one place to get all your Oilers links (minus the athletic ones because they’re behind a pay wall) and information.
Enjoy!
Oilersnation.ca – Here’s some great news for the Edmonton Oilers — the NHL’s salary cap ceiling is set to rise from $75 million to somewhere between $78 and $82 million for the 2018-19 season.
Oilersnation.ca – Looking ahead to the future it seems likely Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse are the Oilers top-two left defencemen. So where does that leave Andrej Sekera and his $5.5 million cap hit?
Oilersnation.ca – This morning, the Oilers announced via their Twitter account that they have signed forward Ostap Safin to a three-year entry level contract.
Cult of Hockey – Remember the Patrick Maroon trade, when the Edmonton Oilers sent the Big Rig to join forces with Taylor Hall in Jersey for a pick and a prospect? As of today, that trade is effectively for two prospects, as the Oilers sent Jersey’s third-rounder in the 2019 draft to Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for college centre Cooper Marody.
The Hockey Writers – The pitchforks and torches are out. It’s easy to question the abilities of Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli. Fans are upset with his asset management and misappropriation of funds under the salary cap. Then there are the trades that have blown up in the Oilers’ face.
PODCASTS!!!
Oilers YYC Podcast – This week’s guest was Shane Sanders from The Hockey Writers
Oilers Live – “I’m Still Pissed At McLellan” – Paige Bednorz (Guest)
TRADE RUMORS!
Senators, Canucks, Rangers, Stamkos and the Maple Leafs – What kind of offer di the Toronto Maple Leafs make to Steven Stamkos last summer? Is Ryan Lindgren going pro? What are the Canucks and Sens doing about their NCAA prospects?
Apart from upgrading the defence at the draft and during the summer, Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is probably looking at doing something with his 3rd line center position. At first glance you might say that is silly, they’ve got Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who could slot in there very nicely and if you did say that, you’re probably partially right but only partially.
MOVING TO THE WING
I’m of the belief that Oilers head coach Todd McLellan is going to try Nuge on the wing at the World Cup whilst they’re competing for Team North America. From there he’ll have an idea as to how effective RNH can play on the flank. They tried it for a very short amount of time at the end of last season but that can’t be used as a gauge to determine if it’s a safe play or not.
Leon Draisaitl played RW alongside Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall last year and put up great numbers. One would have to assume that if the Oilers do find a way to sway Jordan Eberle or Nail Yakupov out, that Leon could be a candidate to replace them.
THE THREE SPOT
So if everything does fall into place and eberle/yak are moved, leon scoots to the wing; and Nuge takes his rightful place at 2C, the Oilers are going to need a centre for that 3rd line. Ideally I of the belief that they’d love a guy in the mold of Nick Bonino. A hard-working pacey bulldog with a never quit attitude, but the player would need to be a right hander who could help on the special teams and be great on face-offs.
For me that face-off percentage is key here. The Oilers NEED an older player that can take over on the dot and one of the best on the team at the moment is Mark Letestu. His FO% with the Oilers is 51.3%. So any candidate would have to have a better career percentage than his and hopefully be able to chip on the offensive side of the puck as well.
THE UFA CANDIDATES
Steven Stamkos – Has he ever seen the light of day beyond the 1st line on any team he’s been part of?
Sam Gagner – He’s been written about before… But a career FO% of 45.1 is not going to cut it.
David Backes – A pricey grab and I’m inclined to believe he’d like to stay in the US.
Trevor Lewis – His FO% is worse than Gagner’s.
Riley Nash – Didn’t pan out the first time in Edmonton but did he really get a chance? Has a career FO% of 48.2.
Boyd Gordon – Yes on the FO% but no based on the fact that he’d be no better than 4C.
Kyle Brodziak – Not good enough to play 3C at this point.
The UFAs apart from Backes and Stamkos don’t exactly emit a feeling of anticipation when lumped into the candidates for third line centre of the Edmonton Oilers, do they?
THE RFA CANIDATES
Andrew Shaw – Would love for the Oilers to acquire him but fails the FO% test. Career 46.2%.
The most realistic option out of the RFAs is Andrew Shaw, well at least he was until the Hawks dealt Brian Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen to the Hurricanes. I mean there are some very tasty players who will be restricted free agents like Nathan MacKinnon, Filip Forsberg, Mark Scheifele, Rickard Rakell, and Vincent Trochek but none of them will be moving to another city this summer.
So most likely the Oilers are going to have to hit the trade route…
TRADE FOR ME RIGHT FACKING NOW!
Tyler Bozak – Toronto Maple Leafs (Career FO%: 53.1%) – The Boz will make $4.2M per for the next two seasons. He’s no spring chicken at 30 years of age but he’s not Matt Cullen either. To me, Tyler Bozak would be a sound choice.
Zemgus Girgensons – Buffalo Sabres (Career FO%: 44.1%) – Yikes on the draw percentage and it’s too bad he’s not a righty… He’d be almost the perfect specimen for the third line. If you remember the short time that Mike Peca was an Oiler, well when Girgensons was up for the draft he was being compared to Peca. For whatever reason his production fell off a cliff under Bylsma. Maybe having O’Reilly and Eichel ahead of him was part of it.
Jay Beagle – Washington Capitals (Career FO%: 55.6%) – Well here’s a guy the Oilers could pick up for a fair price. Would do much for the team on the power play mind you but he’s a nuts and bolts type, a bit better than Letestu probably. Would you offer Yakupov for Beagle and a 2nd round draft pick?
The more I look into this the more I feel like the Oilers had better keep the three amazing centres they have and search for wingers. Apart from Bozak, I don’t think there’s a lot out there for right-handed centres that would be a fit on the third line. I suppose the team could draft Pierre-Luc Dubois and plug him in there but I might puke if that happens. A possible signing out of Europe could be another route to go as well.
LOOK WITHIN
Then there’s the modern-day mystery we call Anton Lander… What will come of the young Swede? Will he find his place in the Oilers lineup next year or might he be included in an upcoming trade? Last year he didn’t take too many draws but he had a 54.5% success rate in the face-off circle… I mean if he could rekindle whatever fire was burning in his belly two years ago, that’d be a blessing in disguise, right? Maybe the kind of break the Oilers need.
There’s also Jujhar Khaira, he didn’t play centre during his time with the Oilers but he did in the AHL. He’s a big-bodied, meat and potatoes type of player. He’s also on an entry-level deal until next year, so he’d be a cheap option from Bakersfield. I liked what I saw from him last year but it might be too much to ask to switch him to centre so soon.
I guess if Chiarelli is really hard up for a 3C, I could take him to the 3C shop just down the street from my house.
What do you think about the Oilers’ third line centre? Should they go out and trade for one, graduate from within or sign one through free agency? Let me know in the comments below!
You’d never be tired in this! Pick it up by clicking the pic!
Heading into the off-season Steven Stamkos is set to become the most coveted UFA to hit the market in years. It seems like the hockey world is split between where they think Stamkos will land on July 1; either he re-ups with the Tampa Bay Lightning or returns home to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. But what if he were to sign with the Edmonton Oilers?
I’m sure that many of you reading this will probably laugh at the idea of Stamkos leaving the warm weather and a Stanley Cup contender to come play in the harsh winter for a perennial loser, but there are reasons to believe that Stamkos and the Oilers could be a great fit.
The biggest selling point GM Peter Chiarelli has is offering Stamkos a spot on Connor McDavid’s wing for the next seven years in state-of-the-arena to play in. The four-time 40 goal scorer who recorded a career-high 60 goals in 2011-12 gave McDavid some heady praise before the season.
“He’s way better (than me),” Stamkos said. “He is good. The best I’ve seen for a player that age.”
Would Stamkos be willing to switch from centre to right-wing? If so, the Oilers would have an elite pair that would be on par with the likes of Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin or Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. With McDavid expected to take another massive step toward being the best hockey player in the world next season, having arguably the league’s best goal scorer not named Alexander Ovechkin on his line would make them two frontrunners to take home some major hardware at the NHL Awards for years to come.
Pick up a 16-bit Stammer tee before he’s playing somewhere else!
Let’s just pretend Stamkos is interested in coming to Edmonton. What’s it going to cost? Stamkos and his agent reportedly took the Lightning’s initial offer of $8 million a year over the winter and threw it in the trash, so it’s fair to assume the Oilers would be handing out the biggest contract in franchise history. If I had to guess, I’d say somewhere in the ballpark of $11 million a year for seven years, which would take Stamkos up to 33 years of age and ensure that he is a part of the team through McDavid’s prime years.
However, there is an event later this week that could completely snuff out any possibility of a Stamkos signing, and that is the draft lottery. Should the Oilers win one of the three lottery draws and decide to keep the pick, then bringing in Stamkos probably wouldn’t make sense for the orange and blue.
With Leon Draisaitl needing a new deal in 2017 and McDavid able to sign long-term next year as well, adding in yet another high pick who will surely command a high salary down the road makes a Stamkos signing unrealistic for the Oilers. It could end up being a smarter move for the Oilers to bring in another player in McDavid’s age wheelhouse who can grow with the group.
I still think Stamkos will re-sign with the Lightning, and if they win the Cup this spring, those chances only increase, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping the Oilers were to get this guy. It will be interesting to see how this story develops over the next nine weeks and whether or not Chiarelli decided to go all in signing number 91.
If your’e a fan of Lowetide, you need this shirt! Click the pic and get yours today!
As I was listening to Lowetide’s show from Friday it got the wheels turning in my head bone. What they were talking about on that show was the idea of trading of Taylor Hall. Now this subject is as contentious as they come but most everyone with their heads screwed on right dismiss the idea right from the get go UNLESS the return is that of a no.1 defenseman but what if there was a way to trade Hall, get that no.1 dman AND fill the hole that Hall would leave?
Lowetide had his guests on the show address this very topic. My interpretation of his guests responses were as such: Will Fraser give his top 6000 right-handed shooting dmen he’d deal Hall for, Alex Thomas from the Oilers rig came on to give his opinion (If it’s a Subban/Hall deal, do it!), Matt Iwanyk said the Oilers should start the upgrading of the defense by offering Eberle and if that’s not working, move up to Hall. LT’s last guest Paul Almeida was saying that the Oilers should put Eberle’s name out there to see how the market values him, select Auston Matthews, and at least take a shot at Stamkos and see where talks go. Almeida made the comparison money-wise of Stamkos being equivalent to Eberle/Pouliot, which would you take?
So what came to my mind is that obviously you don’t want to trade Taylor Hall because he’s a driver and the team would suffer unless he was replaced in the line-up somewhere by another driver like Erik Karlsson, PK Subban, or a Drew Doughty type BUT what if the Oilers could secure Steven Stamkos as a free agent?
Pick up a 16-bit Stammer tee before he’s playing somewhere else!
There are a couple of reasons that Stamkos came to mind and one of them was watching the Oilers piss away a handful of powerplays and scoring chances versus the Avalanche because they didn’t have a trigger man and another reason is, the Oilers had better get him before the Flames do and you know damned well if they had a chance to sign Stammer, they’d get it done.
So here’s how it’d work in the circus that is my mind.
Oiler sign Stamkos to a Toews/Kane-like deal. ($10.5M x 8yrs)
Trade Hall to St.Louis for Alex Pietrangelo.
You trade Hall instead of RNH because you don’t know what you’ve got in Nuge quite yet and the team HAS to keep its centre depth. Hall is 6 years into his career and we’ve got a pretty good idea of what he is as a player but Nuge is JUST about to turn 23. Also, we’ve come to live with the fact that Hall isn’t the sniper the team requires but he is an elite playmaker and possession driver.
I entertain this idea regularly because I’m not sure the Blues make it out of the first round with Jake Allen/Brian Elliott/Anders Nilsson guarding their net. Also, and I’ve said this before, if they can get Shattenkirk under contract for better term and price point, they’d have to consider this.
Would you switch up the deal and use RNH/Nurse instead? The Blues are lacking a real solid LH dman. Maybe It’s a Klefbom package instead?
Move Eberle to the Islanders for Hamonic.
This would give us a glut of dmen on the back-end and bodies would need to be moved for future assets. So with that being said this is what I was thinking:
Nurse to the AHL?
I hate this idea. I don’t think it’d be fair to Darnell after playing nearly an entire year in the NHL. It’s not his fault the team kept him up even though he was getting snowed under but the fact is he’s in over his head regardless of the guys he’s kicked the shit out of and players like Oesterle and Davidson who have had time in the minors are passing him in short order on the depth chart.
Fayne has to go. If the team has Pietrangelo AND a Hamonic/Demers or David Savard/Brodin in the no.4 spot, there’s no need to play him as the no.6. Better off putting Davidson there.
Trade Klefbom? Yikes. I mean is anybody else really concerned about the future of this young man’s career and the fact that the Oilers are playing this card really close to the chest? My personal feeling is that the broken finger and staph infection weren’t/aren’t the only things he is/was dealing with. But would you swap him out for futures? I can’t see this even being a viable option in anybody’s books to be honest. His contract is way too cherry and he was the Oilers best defenceman before he went out with his injury.
Let Gryba/Pardy walk? The blue-collar fan would be sad to see either of these guys go but are they the necessary sacrifices to getting this team back on the path to the playoffs?
So yes, the Oilers lose their top two scorers for the past XX amount of years but they gain and they gain HUGE! Not only would its defense get the instant upgrade but so would the LW and the PP. Can you imagine McDavid feeding Stamkos on a regular basis? That alone would be an enormous plus for the Oilers. A fun fact about Stammer is that he can also play centre. So that’d give the team McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, and McDavid possibly in their top six. Surely something that would have Todd McLellan foaming at the mouth to implement.
Click the pic and grab a 97C Hoodie to celebrate a the best rookie in the NHL!
Could adding Stamkos, Pietrangelo, and another no.4 dman be added to the cap? Moving Hall, Eberle, and Fayne is about $16M-ish per year, adding Stamkos, Pietrangelo, and no.4 right-handed defender would be about $19-20M annually, no? So it’d be a tall order to get things moved around for a near-perfect fit but the Oilers do have some players they could move to get it done. Pouliot being one, maybe they’d have to move Yak as well, and perhaps they’d need to move Klefbom.
Would Stamkos be as pissy playing on the wing in Edmonton if Connor McDavid were his pivot? Come on, think about it… McStamkos?… Pretty tasty isn’t it? Could Tampa replace the face of their franchise with a reinvigorated Jonathan Drouin? Are they doing the right thing by letting him go, if in fact that is what they intend to do given the expiring contracts of Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Ben Bishop, etc. on the horizon?
Maybe this all pie in the sky and wishful thinking or maybe it’s not. Would this scenario have real legs come summer time? Let me know in the comments below!
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February 28th, 2016 Somewhere in the Universe (OK, just outside of Toronto)
So here we are…February 28th…NHL Trade Deadline Eve. Many GM’s suffering from what surely feels like cauliflower ear after working the phones for hours. Breath stinking with coffee, a side effect from not sleeping, or “conducting business” as they tell their families…
Whoa hold up dude! I am so sorry! Let me back this up. I was born in Canada, where are my manners?
Hello Beer League Heroes universe, my name is…well…just call me Kosmic Burrito. I’m going to be your bushy bearded, burrito loving blogger, bringing you some spaced out Oilers sports reports. Before I go any further, I want to say a huge thank you to the staff here at Beer League Heroes for giving me the opportunity to connect with their wonderful audience and fans. It is an absolute honour to be working as a part of this team. Might I add, that now being behind the scenes, holy f%8k these guys bust their asses off! Like come on, we all knew how hard they work for us fans, but…. No you didn’t! Trust me! I have a whole new level of appreciation for them, and I am more than stoked to be working with this great team.
3, 2, 1…Blast off…
Could Taylor Hall really make Team Canada for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey this summer?
Welcome aboard ladies and gentlemen, I’m glad to be taking this trip with you…I know, I know…It’s NHL trade deadline eve! But that’s not what I’m going to write about. We have a lot of fantastic authors taking care of all your fiendish trade needs. Do you know what’s going down this summer? It’s the return of the World Cup of Hockey…yes, and it just so happens to be taking place in my neck of the woods, Toronto. Yes that’s right, Kosmic Burrito is digging for Oil in Leafs Nation, haha!
What version of Team Canada do you think we’ll see in September at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey? Will it be an offensive dynamo led by Sidney Crosby and John Tavares? Or will it be just like the defensive juggernaut that we saw in 2014 with Jonathon Toews? Speaking of which, who will be El Capitano? Toews or Crosby? Do you strip 2010’s Golden Boy of the “C” and pass it over to 3 time Stanley Cup champion, Captain Serious? That’s a huge decision, and I’m kind of glad that I don’t have to make it. Also, if Subban makes the team, will he actually see ice this time? Sorry not sorry Habs fans, I had to! And please, for the love of Pete!!! Give us a healthy Stamkos!
Since we already know that Mike Babcock will be returning as head coach, and with the official roster announcement coming on March 2nd, let’s take a look at some players that may be included on the roster. Some will be guaranteed locks (Crosby, Toews, etc), and some will have a potential roster spot (Eberle, Getzlaf, etc).
I’ll start with the goaltenders, since there really isn’t as much debate there.
Possible Goaltenders: Carey Price, Braden Holtby, Roberto Luongo, Corey Crawford, and Marc Andre-Fleury
Personally, I see them going with: Price, Holtby, and Luongo (in that order). With the year that Holtby is having, he almost deserves the shot over Price. Honestly though, congrats Braden, you’re having a helluva season! I added Luongo in there for some mentorship, and veteran presence. But really, this is Price’s job too lose. Especially with his 2014 Olympic performance still freshly lingering.
Moving on to the Defense, we’ll start with the left side. Because let’s face it, you know Babcock loves a balanced “lefty/righty” lineup. You can’t knock the job his defense did in 2014, it was historic. So he’ll definitely run the same type of game plan, I am sure.
Possible LHD: Duncan Keith, T.J. Brodie, Marc-Eduard Vlasic, Dan Hamhuis, Mark Giordano and Jay Bouwmeester
Possible RHD: Drew Doughty, P.K. Subban, Brent Seabrook, Shea Weber, Alex Pietrangelo, Brent Burns, and Kris Letang
The Defense always seems to drum up just as much debate among Canadians, as which forwards were omitted. So take my prediction with a grain of salt haha! I think that the pairings could look something like this:
Keith – Weber
Giordano – Doughty
Vlasic – Burns
Extra Skater: Letang
Now the forwards…..the forwards….WE HAVE SO MANY AWESOME FORWARDS!!!!!! I remember growing up, my Dad would always tell me:
“Son, Canada is so good, we could dress 3 teams and win all 3 medals!!” – Papa Burrito
I’d like to think that the rest of the world is catching up though. But on with the forwards!!! I’m not going to break it down by positional possibilities, because there will most definitely be a few guys playing out of their natural position. But I will make my predictions for possible line combinations.
Possible Forwards: Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Steven Stamkos, Taylor Hall, Ryan Johansen, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, John Tavares, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Claude Giroux, Matt Duchene, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Ryan O’Reilly, Jordan Eberle, Joe Thornton, and Logan Couture
Again, just like my defensive prediction, take this with a grain of salt as. But here is what I think the forward lines just might look like:
Hall – Crosby – Stamkos
Benn – Seguin – Johansen
Carter – Toews – Bergeron
Duchene – Tavares – Giroux
Extra Skater: O’Reilly
I’d like to think that this possible roster boasts a combination of size, speed, grit, and skill. It does have the Babcock trademark balance of left and right shot defensemen, and I’m not sure if you could find a better trio of goalies. All in all, I don’t know about you, but I am really excited to see the return of the World Cup.
Again, the great thing about being fans, is that we can debate the rosters all day. But it’s anyone’s guess until they make the announcement on March 2nd. I do know one thing though…it sure would have been nice to see McDavid’s name on there, possibly lining up with Sid and Serious…
Speaking of which, stay tuned for my 2016 World Cup of Hockey Team North America Under 23 team report.
Thanks for tripping with me, I’m going to look forward to your feedback!
