Well, how are you this morning? I hope well considering the stunning amount of disgruntled Edmonton Oilers fans who took to Twitter last night after the draft to let their feelings of discontent be known regarding who the club took in the first round of the 2020 NHL entry draft and how bad GM Ken Holland did at the trade deadline considering he’s letting Andreas Athanasiou and Matthew Benning walk.
Well, if you’re feeling deflated that perhaps this blog post will turn that frown upside down as I got bombarded with DMs late last night letting me know what Edmonton is attempting to do this week.
Now keep an open mind when reading these rumors and consider the time we’re in. A lot of unique and unorthodox transactions may very well take place, so anything can happen even if they don’t seem all that realistic right now.
The team is interested in bringing in the following players,
Jacob Markstrom
Taylor Hall
Tyson Barrie
They’re also looking at a top-four defenseman in the Eastern Conference. Someone who can definitely play on the 2nd pair but in times of need can hop up into the 1st. I was told someone like Brett Pesce or Brady Skjei. Not those players necessarily but ones like them.
I was also notified that the team has the slightest interest in Justin Abdelkader (surprise!) and that Oscar Klefbom’s career is in serious jeopardy due to a chronic shoulder problem that surgery may not fix.
There are also some people who believe that the club may move Mikko Koskinen in order to bring in a higher-tier goalie. I’m told there’s a chance Edmonton could possibly get a 3rd round pick for him.
Another way the club might be able to bring in some upgrades is to move James Neal to free up cap space.
Lastly, there seems to be a bit of pressure on Holland to find that top-pairing stud on the blueline and bluechip defender Evan Bouchard is being used as trade fodder to make that happen. I’m of the belief that the team thinks that Philip Broberg and Dmitri Samorukov have a higher ceiling.
Other News
Yesterday, Bob Stauffer said that the Ottawa Senators aren’t done adding size to the club and they’d like to add another big body to the team which means they’re looking at someone on the Oilers.
He also said to expect an announcement detailing the signing as soon as Friday of a veteran AHL goalie to help out in Bakersfield and maybe in Edmonton in a pinch.
During the same show, Mark Spector mentioned that the Oilers should be announcing the signing of Jesse Puljujarvi any day now.
I’m sure more will come in the following days! Enjoy day two of the draft everyone!
Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!Get your “Stanley” today!
Great news! The Oilers are most likely going to announce a contract extension for Zack Kassian next month! I remember being told before Christmas that this new deal would be around four to five years in term and just over three million dollars. My feeling today is that it might be closer to four million than three. And to those of you who are saying that you’d only give him a shade over two million per year… Give your head a shake… Be a better supporter than that. It’s not easy playing consistently well with Connor McDavid. Just ask Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, or any of the other talented forwards that have tried since Connor joined the club. Kassian plays well with McDavid and 97 likes him there. He’s also a massive contributor inside the locker room and is adored in the city. The other thing is, he wants to stay in Edmonton which is a huge flip flop from last year.
Get good Kassians, keep good Kassians!
Kassian was put on McDavid's line a year ago. In the calendar year 2019, he posted boxcars of 82 GP, 26-24-50, with 49 points at EV, 1 SHP & 0 PPP.
In that year he was 3rd among Oilers in goals, 4th in points, 2nd in plus, 2nd in PiM & 1st in hits.
Have you taken the time to appreciate the lineup that John Chayka has built in Arizona? He’s got Derek Stepan and Phil Kessel on the Coyotes 3rd line… That’s how much depth they’ve got there. If they could find a way to get some goalies who could stay healthy, the Coyotes might be on to something
Speaking of team depth, the Oilers are getting closer and closer but it still needs a tweak and possibly a season or two for the talent on the farm to become NHL-ready. As nice as Arizona’s roster looks right now, Edmonton’s could look even better by 2022. But let’s focus on today.
I believe the current edition of their top-six is good to go. They’ve found a nice blend of skill and power that has been quite effective since the turn of the year. So I believe it’s time to address one of the lines in Edmonton’s bottom-six.
Nygard-Sheahan-Archibald
Gagner-Haas-Chiasson
Then we’ve got Gagner, Khaira, and Russell getting spot duty in there.
The Nygard/Sheahan/Archibald line might be set. I feel like the coaching staff likes the speed, tenacity, offensive threat, and defensive acumen of this group, so they’re probably safe but on a good team, they should be the 4th line.
Therefore, we’re left with the Gagner/Haas/Chiasson line. I think we’re all in agreement here in that this line needs better players. I’ve loved what Haas and Chiasson have brought, but Gagner, aside from spurts, hasn’t produced as I’d like him to have.
A couple of questions come to mind here,
Can Tyler Benson be that guy to spark the offense enough so that the Oilers don’t need to make a trade?
Should the Oilers make a trade regardless of Benson’s impending debut for the club?
Fact is, the Bakersfield Condors best player (and AHL all-star) is going to get a look-see this season and that is going to dictate who the Oilers target, but I have one more question.
Should the Oilers forget about upgrading the wings and focus picking up a third-line center with some scoring punch and maybe move a guy like Gaetan Haas to the left-wing? This option would allow Benson to marinate in Bakersfield some more too.
Most of us will have JG Pageau immediately come to mind, right? And that’s fine, but the cost to bring him in without any guarantee he’ll be in Edmonton beyond this season might be too dear.
You know who would be cheap though? Pittsburgh’s Alex Galchenyuk.
Pens GM Jim Rutherford is dying to get Galchenyuk’s name off of his roster that I’d be willing to bet he’d eat some salary to do it (hopefully 50%). Nail Yakupov’s BFF from back in the day can play both wing and center too… Buy low, sell high, yeah? What’s the risk? With all due respect to the players on the roster whose spots are in question, can he be any worse than what Edmonton has already? I would think the answer to that is no. But could he be any better though? I say possibly.
I know that James Neal to the bottom-six is an option as well, but I’d be remiss to remind you how that worked out for Calgary last season… James Neal shouldn’t even be touching the bottom two lines in my opinion. Young Benson could though…
The Next Ten Games (41-50)
vs. Calgary Flames (19-15-5) – The Oilers should be bitter as hell coming back from the Christmas break and looking for retribution. In terms of gf/ga on the year, the Flames are -12 and Edmonton could feast on that. The Oilers have taken two of the past three contests. (WIN) LOSS
vs. New York Rangers (17-15-4) – Edmonton will get its first look at 2019 2nd overall pick Kaapo Kakko and welcome back former Oiler, Ryan Strome. This should be a scheduled win for Edmonton as the Rangers aren’t anything special this year. The Oilers have won three on the trot vs. the Rags. (WIN) WIN
@ Buffalo Sabres (17-14-7) – Generally, over the years the Oilers have had pretty good luck in Buffalo, but this year Jack Eichel is a man possessed and last time Rasmus Dahlin was out of the lineup. If Dahlin is back in for this game, he’ll add a significant threat. I like Edmonton’s chances here though. (WIN) OT LOSS
@ Boston Bruins (22-7-9) – The Bruins went into the Christmas break on a bit of a slump going 2-4-4 in their previous ten. This is going to be a challenge for the Oilers to win even when Boston is at their worst and there’s no better team to bust a slump against than Edmonton, right? (LOSS) WIN
@ Toronto Maple Leafs (20-14-4) – Toronto’s confidence was sky high before baby Jesus’ bday, but guess who comes to play each time he’s back home. That’s right, Connor McDavid. It will take a complete team effort for the Oilers to beat their nemesis, Freddy Andersen, though as he’s really had Edmonton’s number. (OT LOSS) WIN
@ Montreal Canadiens (18-13-6) – I really enjoyed Edmonton’s performance against the Habs in their earlier match. If the Oilers can replicate that, I don’t see why a win is out of the question. (WIN) WIN
@ Calgary Flames (19-15-5) – Round two! Ding. Ding. In Calgary, I think the Flames might be able to muster up a win here. (LOSS) LOSS
vs. Nashville Predators (18-12-6) – Is Pekka Rinne in net? If so, I’ll give this one to the Oilers. If it’s Saros, the Preds have a much better chance of success. They’ve been an interesting team to watch this year and are playing in a tough division. Their 42pts at the break had them in 3rd last in the Central… (WIN) WIN
vs. Arizona Coyotes (21-14-4) – Hallsy’s back and if the Oilers would like to go that extra mile, they could show him how much of a powerhouse they plan to be next season by wiping the floor with Arizona, but it’ll be a tough game. Arizona is a lot deeper than the Oilers and their netminding has been much better. This needs to be a game where Edmonton’s defense shines. (OT LOSS)
vs. Calgary Flames (19-15-5) – Coming off of a 10-day break, Mikko Koskinen and the Oilers will be well-rested. In theory, they should be as ready as they’re ever going to be to take on their inter-province rivals. (WIN)
(Standings as of December 26th, 2019)
Three Players to Watch for the Coyotes
#91 Taylor Hall – Historically, Hall has done “poorly” in his games against the Oilers. In seven games, he’s only amassed three points, is -1, and shoots at 4%. Is it something about returning to Edmonton that rattles him? Will he still feel that way in this game?
#8 Nick Schmaltz – This player is a tricky skiller. He has very good playmaking capabilities and he knows how to capitalize on an opportunity. He’s been on fire as of late too with eleven points in his last ten games.
#6 Jakob Chychrun – With six assists in his previous ten games, the son of former Philadelphia Flyer Jeff Chychrun, is playing well at the moment. His skating ability leads me to believe that he might be asked to cover Connor McDavid in this one.
𝙂𝙍𝘼𝘽𝙉𝙀𝙍 𝙄𝙉, 𝙁𝙄𝙎𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙊𝙐𝙏#Coyotes lineup, per warmups:
#6 Adam Larsson – Three points in his last five games is pretty good for a shut-down defender. I think he’ll be tasked with shutting down Hall in this one. So I’ll be curious to see how he fares there.
#97 Connor McDavid – How will Connor’s last game before the break go? Will he give us something to talk about that’ll last the entire time? Seven points in his last five games and eleven points in his previous ten matches. He’ll surely add to that.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Nuge is shooting at a 50% success rate in his last five. Is it safe to assume he might carry that one for just one more game? Please…
Have you ever sat down and watched the original Wizard of Oz movie with Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” synced to it? I’ve done it a couple of times but not whilst writing an Edmonton Oilers post. I’m curious where it might take me or rather, where it might take us.
Tonight the Oilers will take on the Champs in St. Louis and it looks like it might take Hell freezing over for Edmonton to leave Missouri with any points, but I want to point out that the Blues are having a bit of an injury crisis. I’m going to list out the players that are banged up for St. Louis and by the end I’m hoping you can tell me what most of them have in common.
Carl Gunnarsson (D)
Ivan Barbashev (W)
Sammy Blais (W)
Vlad Tarasenko (W)
Having the first three names out of St. Louis’ lineup means a significant amount of sandpaper will be watching this one from home or the press box and that might play into Edmonton’s hands perfectly. Not that the Oilers require their opposition to be Dairy Queen soft serve in order for them to win. Did you see how hard Dallas played them two nights ago? All I’m saying is that we might see more of a skill game instead of the big boy hockey that won St. Louis the Cup last year (along with some epically hot goaltending…).
*WofO/Pink Floyd Update: Dorothy just landed in Munchkin land and opened the doors from her home and the cash register tones from “Money” greeted her and the yellow brick road. Very cool.
The Hallout: Where the Oilers Will Turn Next
Taylor Hall has some funny official pics eh? These ones look like he's using his face to cry out, "HELP ME…" pic.twitter.com/8GT23IaKHV
— B.L.H. (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast) (@BeerLeagueHeroe) December 18, 2019
It’s been done. Hall is back in the Pacific and nobody is smiling more than Drew Doughty…
The return for Hall was pretty atrocious in my opinion, but people tell me times are changing. Kevin Bahl, Nick Merkley, Nate Schnarr, and a couple of draft picks sounds like a lot of hoping and wishing. There are rumors that Florida had Vincent Trocheck on the table and NJ passed… Brutal.
I don’t think Bahl will be anything more than a bottom-pairing defender and at best he’ll be Jamie Oleksiak. No disrespect to Oleksiak, but I feel like these sort of dmen could be had for cheaper. He’s turning heads because he’s having a good year in the OHL, but he should be. He’s 6’7″ and towers over everyone. He’s simply too strong for his opposition to stop him. Merkley is the equivalent of Cooper Marody and like the Condor, I doubt Merkely makes it to the NHL for any extended period of time. He’s had a real issue getting traction in Tuscon for Arizona’s farm team and staying healthy has been a big problem for him. Nate Schnarr had a good final year of junior when the team loaded up for the Memorial Cup. The two seasons prior he barely cracked the 30pt mark. A couple of draft picks later in their respective rounds (1st and 3rd or first if Arizona signs Hall AND makes it past the first round of the playoffs this year) aren’t really anything to get giddy about unless John Chayka plans on using them to open up cap space for next season as they have just over $1.6M available and only 15 players under contract on their current roster…
In my opinion, they need to get an asset that would’ve impacted their roster short term in this deal and Ray Shero decided against it. I always thought that Shero would be able to get more for Hall than he gave up for him but that’s not the case. Adam Larsson has been a top-pairing defender for the Oilers over the last three seasons and I don’t mean top-pairing because that’s where he plays. I mean overall. His fancy stats over that time frame put him in the top-60 of multiple “relative” categories of NHL defenders who’ve played 2000 minutes or more at 5×5. Metrics like CF%, FF%, xGF%, HDCF%, etc.
Now, the Edmonton Oilers will turn their attention to Jean Gabriel Pageau. There’s no doubt in my mind that they want him badly. Now whether that will be as a rental or as a trade and sign remains to be seen. Bob Stauffer said on Oilers Now yesterday that the Senators key man is looking for $5M per year. That’s a solid hike in pay from the $3M he’s making now but he’s only 27 years old and he’s sort of exactly what the Oilers need in their lineup, an elite utility man.
Actually, Ottawa has a few nice players that I think would benefit Edmonton. Anthony Duclair is having himself a helluva season (19 goals so far!) and he’s got wheels to burn. Connor Brown is another mid-20s winger that would offer the Oilers some size and scoring touch on the wings.
Of the three Sens forwards, I’d say Brown would be the cheapest, Pageau the most impactful, and Duclair the wildcard. If you’re Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion though, wouldn’t you want to re-up all three players? You can’t be gutting the team every year, right? And consider the fact that they have their own first-round pick, as well as San Jose’s and the Sharks are trending down down down. Could you imagine the Senators hitting the “lottery” with both and drafting Alexis Lafreniere in addition to Quinton Byfield?
Other options for Edmonton to keep an eye on are Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell, Detroit’s Andreas Athanasiou, Chris Kreider from the Rangers, Nick Bonino, Mikael Granlund, and Craig Smith from Nashville, and lastly, Kyle Palmieri and Sami Vatanen out of New Jersey.
The magnifying glass is on Mike Smith to boot. If he continues to underperform, Ken Holland will not hesitate to rectify that should the Oilers be in a solid position to make the playoffs.
The Next Ten Games (31-40)
vs. LA Kings (11-16-2) – A pissed off Oilers team will make short order of the Kings in this rubber match. (WIN) WIN
vs. Buffalo Sabres (13-10-5) – No Dahlin for Buffalo but Jack Eichel is on a tear. Captain Jack will get his points but his team will not. (WIN) OT LOSS
vs. Carolina Hurricanes (16-11-1) – Carolina is too deep for this Oilers team plus Andrei Svechnikov is making a mockery of the NHL as a 19-year-old. (LOSS) LOSS
@ Minnesota Wild (13-11-4) – The Oilers seem to have trouble against teams like this for whatever reason. Immaturity in the club maybe? (LOSS) LOSS
vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (13-13-4) – The Leafs defense is soft like a Wendy’s Frosty but they’ve got the kind of offense that could really tear open the Oilers. It’s a toss-up for me but I’ll say Edmonton takes it. (WIN) LOSS
@ Dallas Stars (15-11-3) – Tough match-up for Edmonton here. Dallas already beat them once this year but that was when they were struggling. Now that they’re playing well, will the Oilers’ mindset going into this one be different? (WIN) WIN
@ St. Louis Blues (18-6-6) – Edmonton’s been performing very well against the league’s top teams. I don’t expect that to stop in St. Louis. (WIN)
vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (15-9-4) – The first game of a back-to-back at home and the Oilers are one up on Crosby’s Pens. Pittsburgh is going through one hell of an injury crisis mind you but as we’ve seen, the Oilers have failed to take advantage of these situations in the past. (LOSS)
vs. Montreal Canadiens (12-10-6) – I feel like the Habs usually give Edmonton a hard time when they come to town and their team is a lot better than their record tells us. (LOSS)
@ Vancouver Canucks (14-11-4) – I like the Oilers chances against Vancouver here and it’s the last game before the Christmas break. (WIN)
(Standings as of December 5th, 2019)
Three Player to Watch for the Blues
#33 Jordan Kyrou – This is the Blues’ crown jewel in terms of prospects. They’ve been marinating him in the AHL delicately and he’s proven he’s ready for the show now. He has a wicked shot and he’s very fast. Is already up on the first line.
#52 David Perron – the former Oiler always finds a way to make his former team pay on the scoreboard and he’s having another good year. He’s also super annoying. A shame the Oilers don’t have him anymore, he was a beauty.
#18 Robert Thomas – He will be St. Louis’ no.1 center someday. I see a lot of Claude Giroux in his game. Very crafty with the puck and is a really evasive skater. His emergence basically pushed Robbi Fabbri out I feel. The knee injuries probably had something to do with that too mind you.
#10 “Dwight” Joakim Nygard – He’s due for a goal on that top line. He’s fit in pretty seamlessly and is providing an extra bit of intensity to that line. He keeps the speed up whereas Leon likes to slow things down. It’s a good change-up to be able to throw at the oppositions.
#39 Alex Chiasson – He’s on one of his streaks right now with six pts in his last ten games. I do wonder if he’s one of the players on the block for Holland, but damn, he brings that extra bit of oomph to a line and if Edmonton is in the playoffs, he could be really useful.
#6 Adam Larsson – For three games now he’s been Edmonton’s best defender. Would it be too much to ask for one more?
Oiler lines remain the same at practice inside the newly renovated Enterprise Center…
Final WofO/Pink Floyd Update: Toto pulls back a curtain to reveal that the great and powerful Oz whilst Pink Floyd sings, “Breathe, breathe in the air/Don’t be afraid to care/Leave but don’t leave me”…
I don’t hate the Leafs like some Oilers fans but I thought this design was pretty funny! Click the pic above and get one for the Maple Leafs fan in your life!Hockey players are the toughest athletes on the planet. Click the pic and purchase this shirt right now!Hey Flames Fans! Neal with it! Click the pic above and grab this beauty!
The Oilers are barely hanging on to their spot on the top-three of the Pacific Division after last night’s NHL action completed. Tied with Calgary for 3rd place but now behind a surging Las Vegas team as well as the Coyotes, a loss might see them drop right out and into a wild card spot by the time their game starts against St. Louis on Wednesday.
It’s going to take some Herculean efforts to come out of Dallas and St. Louis with points, but we’ve seen this team do just that already this season with wins over Colorado, Arizona, and Vegas just a month ago.
I’d like to see their forwards work harder on the backcheck and in their own zone. Part of the reason they’re making these little mistakes is that players are being compromised by the fact that their teammates aren’t in the places they’re supposed to be, both defensively and offensively. They’ve got to be more aware of the scenario at hand when they’re on the ice.
Edmonton’s 3rd line is outscoring its 2nd line… That’s nice and all, but it’s bass ackwards.
Now Dallas can be hit and miss sometimes but they’ve always got the potential to kill. We saw Jujhar Khaira put up a brace against them already this season, so we know that they have deficiencies that can be exploited by bottom-six forwards in addition to a team’s star players. I would think the trick will be to try and get McDavid’s line out against Sekera/Polak as much as possible as well as Klefbom/Larsson against Benn/Seguin/Radulov. Not sure of that viability being the road team though.
Puljujarvi Stars at Channel One Cup for Finland
My boy had himself quite the international appearance for his national team over the weekend. It took him some time, but he’s starting to come around. I mean it’s kind of weird to say that because he’s basically been a point-per-game player in the Finnish league, but on the smaller ice surface he was dominant and stood out against a team of highly-skilled KHLers. His team lost mind you, but he was the one giving the Ruskies a hard time and in the end, was voted best player for Finland in that tournament. He finished tied with Vadim Shipachyov for the scoring leadafter putting up a goal and three assists in three games.
The longer the Taylor Hall sweepstakes draw out, the more it seems that the Oilers are in this. Not that it was ever a question but long before Colorado and Arizona were the “frontrunners” for the former MVP, the Oilers were being rumored to be in on Hall IF he were to go to market.
Long been has the reference to the Mark Stone trade been made to Hall’s situation and I believe that was mostly when talking about the return New Jersey might receive for him, but I’ve been wondering recently if it was the consequent long-term contract that was signed by Stone merely hours after being acquired by Vegas.
Continuing with the contract talk, Edmonton Oilers colorman Bob Stauffer has mused on more than one occasion about what kind of contract Hall could sign with the Oilers. A Leon Draisaitl-like deal is what was concluded upon which makes sense because what I’ve always been told is that Hall would like to come back to Edmonton to finish up some unfinished business and he would take a discount to play with the Oilers again.
In his most recent Sunday, Dec. 15 report, Friedman said of Hall: “I’ve mentioned several times I don’t believe Hall will sign during the season, and New Jersey is well aware of that. But, that doesn’t mean the Devils won’t allow a conversation if they get an offer they like that’s contingent on one. Not every team will consider that essential, but a couple might.”
Above, David Staples’ latest for the Cult of Hockey confirms my suspicions, that there’s a chance the Oilers have been granted access to talk about a new contract. Now, is that because Hall has made it known that he’s unwilling to sign with certain teams? Is he, in a roundabout way, engineering a move to the Oilers by doing this and has his camp through various 3rd parties made it known to the Oilers what he’d be willing to sign for if Ken Holland can manufacture a deal for him?
Now, obviously that’s against the rules, but it’s not unheard of.
Holland has always had interest in acquiring Hall. He and Shero have had talks for the past three weeks. Whether their offer is as good as what other teams offers remains to be seen. Is he willing to outbid teams is the bringing question. #NHL#Oilers
The Oilers could outbid any team looking to trade for Hall, no doubt in my mind about that and that’s one reason I reckon they’re slow-playing this and letting the Devils attempt to create a bidding war for the former Oiler. They could end all of this and offer Philip Broberg, Ethan Bear, or Evan Bouchard in addition to what’s being rumored right now. Although, It’s my belief that at this moment in time, Edmonton is only willing to part with Caleb Jones and Jesse Puljujarvi as well as a 2nd round pick that could turn into a first-rounder if they make the playoffs (h/t to Jim Matheson). That doesn’t take into account the financial aspects of the deal though and on that though. It wouldn’t shock me if one of Sam Gagner, Alex Chiasson, or Brandon Manning were sent to New Jersey with Jones and Pulju and another be sent to Bakersfield to free up the required cap room along with the Devils eating 50% of Hall’s remaining contract.
To put it more plainly,
To AHL: Brandon Manning (frees up $1.075M)
To NJ:
Sam Gagner ($3.15M)
Jesse Puljujarvi
Caleb Jones ($720k)
Conditional 2nd round pick in 2020 (could turn into a 1st rounder if Edmonton makes the playoffs)
To Edmonton:
Taylor Hall with 50% salary retained
The Oilers should come out with around 200k more in cap room if this exact deal is consummated. That said, I am pretty confident that the only way this deal gets done is if there’s a mid-long term contract in place the minute he arrives in Edmonton.
I feel like Edmonton is in a potential win-win situation here, whether they win in the short-term with a trade (and sign) or long-term they sign him in the summer without giving up any assets. Another way they might win out in all of this is by NOT trading for him or signing him and using the money and roster space to create more depth throughout the lineup starting next season.
An interesting side-product of this trade is that it’d open up two contract spots under the 50-man limit that would offer Holland some more flexibility going forward in his bid to rebuild the Oilers into a championship team. The importance of this while an expansion draft is coming cannot be understated.
Just as an aside, there’s some talk of a one-year deal for Hall. A “show-me” type of contract that would expire the same time Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ deal would. Would they, in two summers, for a second time, sign twin long-term contracts and potentially end their careers as Edmonton Oilers?
My sense on Hall remains the same as before. Oilers won’t want to pay premium for him (Broberg/Bouchard/1st rounder) so they’ll wait to see if prices drop over time and if so, will try and find a deal. Just don’t see them mortgaging much for A level futures at this stage.
Uncle Evan there speaks a lot of sense there. It’s not even just a waste of those players, but the high-end draft pick involved. I suppose they could try and flip Hall’s rights at the draft to try and recoup in that scenario… More interesting would be the excuses all those people would make for Hall in the event that things didn’t work out. I wonder who would be to blame? The coach, the GM, the Zamboni driver?
For the record, I still think there are teams better positioned to make trades for Hall, namely the New York Islanders, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Philadelphia Flyers. I also wonder if Nashville is a wildcard team in all of this. Right now, the only teams being reported in it officially are Arizona and Colorado along with the Oilers.
Things could change, but what I'm hearing this morning is that the Florida Panthers are no longer in the mix on Taylor Hall. I think their interest was tied to the idea of signing him or at least thinking they could eventually sign him… otherwise too big a price for a rental
vs. LA Kings (11-16-2) – A pissed off Oilers team will make short order of the Kings in this rubber match. (WIN) WIN
vs. Buffalo Sabres (13-10-5) – No Dahlin for Buffalo but Jack Eichel is on a tear. Captain Jack will get his points but his team will not. (WIN) OT LOSS
vs. Carolina Hurricanes (16-11-1) – Carolina is too deep for this Oilers team plus Andrei Svechnikov is making a mockery of the NHL as a 19-year-old. (LOSS) LOSS
@ Minnesota Wild (13-11-4) – The Oilers seem to have trouble against teams like this for whatever reason. Immaturity in the club maybe? (LOSS) LOSS
vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (13-13-4) – The Leafs defense is soft like a Wendy’s Frosty but they’ve got the kind of offense that could really tear open the Oilers. It’s a toss-up for me but I’ll say Edmonton takes it. (WIN) LOSS
@ Dallas Stars (15-11-3) – Tough match-up for Edmonton here. Dallas already beat them once this year but that was when they were struggling. Now that they’re playing well, will the Oilers’ mindset going into this one be different? (WIN)
@ St. Louis Blues (18-6-6) – Edmonton’s been performing very well against the league’s top teams. I don’t expect that to stop in St. Louis. (WIN)
vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (15-9-4) – The first game of a back-to-back at home and the Oilers are one up on Crosby’s Pens. Pittsburgh is going through one hell of an injury crisis mind you but as we’ve seen, the Oilers have failed to take advantage of these situations in the past. (LOSS)
vs. Montreal Canadiens (12-10-6) – I feel like the Habs usually give Edmonton a hard time when they come to town and their team is a lot better than their record tells us. (LOSS)
@ Vancouver Canucks (14-11-4) – I like the Oilers chances against Vancouver here and it’s the last game before the Christmas break. (WIN)
(Standings as of December 5th, 2019)
Three Players to Watch for the Stars
#91 Tyler Seguin – He hasn’t scored in a couple of weeks and you know how that will play out against Edmonton. They love playing the role of slumpbuster.
#24 Roope Hintz – He’s emerged as Dallas’ most electrifying forward. He’s so fast and hard on the forecheck, plus he has got a laser of a shot. I really like him.
#4 Miro Heiskanen – Another player I really enjoy watching. He’s part of a new revolution of young puck-moving defenders who can break ankles with their edgework. He’s such a smart defender too and for his age… That’s something.
These are the lines Dallas was rolling with in their most recent game. They’re obviously subject to change as I imagine Ben Bishop gets the start vs. Edmonton.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – two points in his last ten games isn’t going to cut it for Nuge. He MUST get his offense going and fast.
#74 Ethan Bear – Tough tough outing vs. TOR. How will he bounce back against an equally challenging opponent? The Oilers need him to be on his game, his transition game is paramount to the success of his pairing with Darnell Nurse.
#89 Sam Gagner – The only Oilers forward without a goal in his last ten games. He’s added five assists mind you and he’s been playing well on a line with RNH and James Neal.
The Oilers haven’t released their lines from this morning’s practice and after that last game against Toronto, you can be sure there are going to be changes.
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This season the information being passed along behind the scenes has been slow. I have a feeling that’s because the new management that’s running the Oilers has patched up the leaks. As well, there hasn’t been a need to use the media to gauge fan response to potential moves or to influence a transaction.
That said, I was talking to one of my Western Conference sources and we had a good conversation, here are some of the things that came out of it,
The Canucks are out on the Taylor Hall sweepstakes.
The Montreal Canadiens are STILL in it for Hall.
There is a sense that Darnell Nurse’s future with the Oilers is less clear than it might’ve been before. Ken Holland would like to upgrade the offensive depth and Nurse’s name is out there as someone who could potentially bring Holland said depth.
To add to that Nurse comment, I’ve heard names like Nik Ehlers (WPG) and William Nylander (TOR) come up. The Jets are doing pretty well right now but I do wonder if they’d like a player like Nurse to possibly replace Dustin Byfuglien. Nurse’s connections to Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas are painfully obvious, right? Plus it’s no secret that they need some help on the back end.
As I’ve said on countless occasions before, if Holland thinks that re-signing Nurse this summer will be more hassle than not, he might choose to move on from him and attempt to acquire players whose agents he has a better rapport with AND can help his team score more goals.
Would a draft-day deal with Detroit make sense? Maybe Nurse for Athanasiou? Both are RFAs and the Holland/Yzerman relationship helps this along I believe.
As for Hall, it’s anybody’s guess as to where he’s getting traded. It doesn’t sound like the Avs want to give up defenders Sam Girard or Bowen Byram (I wonder if he gets traded from Vancouver to Edmonton in the WHL though…).
If you were on Twitter last night, it appears that St. Louis and Arizona are the frontrunners at this point in time. Are the Blues offering Vince Dunn? I know they’ve got a young Finnish defender named Niko Mikkola that they’re high on but is he ready to go right now and would it make any sense to move Dunn right now. I would think something like a package including Klim Kostin and/or Jordan Kyrou would make sense for the Blues. Then again, they’re one of the best teams in the league, why fix something that’s not broken for a rental? Especially when they’ve got very little prospect depth.
As for the Coyotes, they’ve got less cap-room than the Oilers and they’re also playing very well. It’d be nice to add to that for them, I’m sure, but who’s contract are they dealing to NJ in order to fit Hall’s in?
With Montreal, they have the defenseman and goaltending that the Devils want, but they’re not moving Weber, Petry, Price, or Primeau. So unless Ray Shero is taking back prospects only, I don’t know what the Habs could give New Jersey for Hall. UNLESS, they would take draft picks back. Montreal has an extra 2nd rounder this year in addition to three extra 4th rounders. The Devils lack a 2nd and 3rd round pick in this year’s draft.
Elliotte Friedman brought up the Flyers yesterday morning with Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now and that’s a team I could see making sense here. They’ve got Shane Gostisbehere on the block and he makes $4.5M per year. To even out the deal financially, the Flyers could include a player like Scott Laughton ($2.3M) and Bob’s your uncle.
The Islanders have over $6M in cap room, they could be a wildcard player in all of this too.
Gotta wonder about Florida. Pierre LeBrun said they’ve inquired but then again, who hasn’t… The Panthers have some nice prospects they could use (Borgstrom/Tippett) as well as a defender like Mike Matheson to offset some salary cap challenges.
Unless the Oilers overpay for Hall, I don’t think there’s much of a chance he’s an Oilers until the offseason where he could be persuaded into signing a “team-friendly” contract that might look like something similar to what Leon Draisaitl makes.
What do you think?
The Next Ten Games (31-40)
vs. LA Kings (11-16-2) – A pissed off Oilers team will make short order of the Kings in this rubber match. (WIN) WIN
vs. Buffalo Sabres (13-10-5) – No Dahlin for Buffalo but Jack Eichel is on a tear. Captain Jack will get his points but his team will not. (WIN) OT LOSS
vs. Carolina Hurricanes (16-11-1) – Carolina is too deep for this Oilers team plus Andrei Svechnikov is making a mockery of the NHL as a 19-year-old. (LOSS) LOSS
@ Minnesota Wild (13-11-4) – The Oilers seem to have trouble against teams like this for whatever reason. Immaturity in the club maybe? (LOSS) LOSS
vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (13-13-4) – The Leafs defense is soft like a Wendy’s Frosty but they’ve got the kind of offense that could really tear open the Oilers. It’s a toss-up for me but I’ll say Edmonton takes it. (WIN)
@ Dallas Stars (15-11-3) – Tough match-up for Edmonton here. Dallas already beat them once this year but that was when they were struggling. Now that they’re playing well, will the Oilers’ mindset going into this one be different? (WIN)
@ St. Louis Blues (18-6-6) – Edmonton’s been performing very well against the league’s top teams. I don’t expect that to stop in St. Louis. (WIN)
vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (15-9-4) – The first game of a back-to-back at home and the Oilers are one up on Crosby’s Pens. Pittsburgh is going through one hell of an injury crisis mind you but as we’ve seen, the Oilers have failed to take advantage of these situations in the past. (LOSS)
vs. Montreal Canadiens (12-10-6) – I feel like the Habs usually give Edmonton a hard time when they come to town and their team is a lot better than their record tells us. (LOSS)
@ Vancouver Canucks (14-11-4) – I like the Oilers chances against Vancouver here and it’s the last game before the Christmas break. (WIN)
(Standings as of December 5th, 2019)
Three Players to Watch for the Maple Leafs
#16 Mitch Marner – The hottest Leaf on the block with six points in his last five games. He’s this generation’s Denis Savard. Enjoy him while you can.
#4 Tyson Barrie – His production has slowed over this past week with only one point but he’s got the offensive potential to break out at any moment.
#88 William Nylander – He’s been ice-cold lately with only a single assist in his last five outings. What better place to snap that streak than in Edmonton?
#18 James Neal – Four points in his last five makes him the 3rd most productive Oiler forward in that time. From the 3rd line no less.
#91 Gaetan Haas – He’s been one of my favorite players this season for the Oilers. He takes a licking and keeps on ticking. If he could just get that puck to settle down for him, we might see the production arrows start to trend up. His line was very impressive vs. Minnesota and I think that the game tonight might offer some similar opportunities.
#77 Oscar Klefbom – He was VERY good against the Wild and he’ll be in tough tonight because he’ll either be matched up against John Tavares’ line of Auston Matthews’. He has two goals in his last five games and I hope that’s a sign that he’s starting to heat up.
Mikko Koskinen is expected to start tonight and the defense, as far as I know, will be the same as it was vs. Minnesota,
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