Tag Archives: Trades

Edmonton Oilers, Micah Kowalchuk, NHL, Trades, Zach Laing

Kowalchuk and Laing: Evaluating Peter Chiarelli and his transactions

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This morning on Twitter, I had seen a Montreal Canadiens writer sharing the team’s roster changes from the beginning of the year, to this point in the season. With the Oilers having already flipped nearly half their roster over from the beginning of the year, I thought we should take a look at the Oilers opening day roster and compare it to today’s.

Oddly enough, BLH’s Micah Kowalchuk drafted a similar article without me realizing that looked at all of Chiarelli’s acquisitions. I included his thoughts and whether we liked, or disliked the move. His thoughts will be italicized. The thoughts I had on the new acquisitions are through my write up, and Micah and I’s analysis.

Season Opener vs. the Blues, Oct. 8, 2015

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Teddy Purcell
Taylor Hall – Connor McDavid – Anton Slepyshev
Lauri Korpikoski – Anton Lander – Nail Yakupov
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Luke Gazdic

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Griffin Reinhart – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot
Anders Nilsson

Scratches: Rob Klinkhammer, Brandon Davidson, Jordan Eberle (inj.)

Off the opening day roster, Teddy Purcell, Justin Schultz and Anders Nilsson have all been traded. Anton Slepyshev, Luke Gazdic, Rob Klinkhammer and Griffin Reinhart ended up back in Bakersfield despite the fact Gazdic is now with the Oilers sitting in the press box.

Oscar Klefbom was lost in early December and that was a huge loss for the Oilers. Brandon Davidson, who was healthy scratched at the time, has since been the Oilers most consistent defender all year. Now he has fallen ill with the injury bug.

Jordan Eberle was injured to start the year.

Take note of two rookies missing…

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How Many Oilers Have Left the Opening Night Group?

Eight.

Oilers vs. Jets, Mar. 6, 2016

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Patrick Maroon
Nail Yakupov – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Zack Kassian – Mark Letestu – Lauri Korpikoski
Matt Hendricks – Anton Lander – Adam Cracknell

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Adam Pardy – Brandon Davidson
Darnell Nurse – Adam Clendening

Cam Talbot
Laurent Brossoit

Scratches: Nikita Nikitin, Iiro Pakarinen, Luke Gazdic

How Many Oilers Have Been Added to the Lineup Since the Opening Night group?

Ten.

What a difference. First off, the two rookies missing from the day one roster were Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse. They both narrowly missed the cut to join the opening day roster but soon joined the roster after each playing six American League games.. Both have since not been sent back down, and have both played very well in their first full seasons.

Injuries to guys like Klefbom, Nugent-Hopkins and now Benoit Pouliot have given the Oilers the chance to look at some different bodies.

On the wings, Patrick Maroon, Zack Kassian and Adam Cracknell have been welcome additions to the club. The size each player brings has allowed for more space for others on the ice. Maroon has been a star, despite playing only three games.

With four points, a fight and a plus four rating it will be interesting to see where his play goes from here. It is clear that he is able to play in a top six role and seems to be a solid fit alongside Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl. While his foot-speed is a bit of a concern, it doesn’t appear to be limiting him in any way. His play down low with the puck has been fantastic, and his willingness to stand up for his teammates has already made him a fan favorite.

Kassian is still a bit of a question mark. In 22 games this season he only has scored six points and he seems to have hit a wall in Edmonton. Call it what you will about his time in Edmonton, but I see the Oilers resigning him this offseason. Kassian has a very low PDO rating which could be means for why his possession numbers have been sub 50 per cent during his time in Edmonton. I’m optimistic for him.

The defensive moves the Oilers have made thus far haven’t hurt the team, which is what we are looking for. The loss of Oscar Klefbom severely impacted the team and forced the strain to be put on players who may not have been ready for it.

The acquisition of Pardy has again been one I am a fan of. As I noted in my tweet above, his ES TOI has risen and so have his possession numbers. He hasn’t really looked out of place and could be an option to resign over the summer if the team feels he brings more to the table than Eric Gryba. Although I like the move, I am still apprehensive about him playing 20 minutes a night long term. I think he is still a bit of an unknown and we will have a better idea the more we see.

I am still really unsure of what the team has in Adam Clendening, but I think there is more to his game than what we have seen.

As we get down to the final stretch this season, it will be interesting to see how the Oilers players audition themselves for next season. After all, that is basically what the end of this season is for. Guys like Pardy, Clendening, Cracknell, Kassian and even Laurent Brossoit need to prove to the team they belong here, otherwise they will be forced to find new homes or play back in Bakersfield.

Break It Down Real Slow For Me.

A reminder from earlier, Micah’s thoughts are italicized below.

Andrej Sekera
MK: 67 games, 24 points, HERO Chart says he’s a solid 2nd pairing defenseman, has had to overachieve as a 1st pairing defenseman with Klefbom’s injury and has held up well.  Good move

ZL: After a bit of a slow start which was due to adjusting to a new team, Sekera has been everything we have hoped for. Good move

Eric Gryba
MK: 53 games, 6 points, HERO Chart says his goal production is bad, but he’s a very good 3rd pairing defenseman who can fill in on a second pairing and perform, as he did here when it was needed. Good move

ZL: I really have been pleased with what he has brought to the table. A solid 3rd pairing guy is something every team needs. Good move

Adam Clendening
MK: No HERO numbers due to limited games, has put up 2 points in 9 games for the Oilers, and is likely a 3rd pairing RHD at best, however the cost was right. Neutral move

ZL: Neutral move

Adam Pardy
MK: 4 games, 2 points, HERO Chart is all over the map, defensively at shot blocking and shot suppression he’s 1st pairing level, scoring-wise he’s been 3rd pairing at best in his career (making his 2 in 4 performance as an Oiler an aberration).  In theory, a pairing of Pardy-Gryba would be a very good 3rd pairing for the Oilers next year. Good move

ZL: Neutral move

Lauri Korpikoski
MK: 17 points in 57 games, HERO Chart says he is a 4th liner at best, and his CORSI numbers say 13th forward.  Although he has the occasional good game, stats-wise he’s a 4th liner on an expensive contract, consider this a miss for Chiarelli. Bad move

ZL: Korpi has been about everything I expected out of him. I think the plays a solid game, and he is basically a fourth-liner. The salary is too high, but the Oilers have the space to sit on a guy like Korpikoski. Being named to Team Finland as a part of the first 16 was a great booster for him. Good move

Mark Letestu:
MK: 17 points in 68 games, HERO Chart says he’s a high quality 4th line forward with some skill, he was signed to be the 4C, and he’s good value and performance if he could stay in that role.  Once he can go back to just being the 4C and not play out of his league as a 3C (and stop using him on the power play), he’ll be a solid player at a cheap price. Good move

ZL: Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mark and I don’t know how I feel about him. He seems to be quiet on the ice while not making any costly mistakes, and that isn’t a bad thing. Being a reliable faceoff guy is always a plus. Neutral move

Adam Cracknell:
MK: 0 points in his 3 games, no HERO numbers, career scoring totals indicate 4th line winger, doesn’t provide anything here to suggest keeping him, but he was a filler pickup off waivers. Neutral move

ZL: Neutral move

Patrick Maroon: 
MK: 4 points in 3 games as an Oiler, big man with skill.  HERO Chart says he’s a high end 2nd liner or low end 1st liner defensively, first liner for first assists, 3rd liner for goals, but all in all he can be considered a potential 2nd line forward who may trend to a first liner.  Considering Chiarelli gave up very little to get him. Good move

ZL: As I wrote earlier, Maroon has been awesome. I spoke with a former Anaheim Ducks writer who said this was going to be a very good move for the Oilers moving forward. So far he hasn’t disappointed. Super awesome good move

Zack Kassian: 
MK: 6 points in 22 games, HERO Chart says his Goals/60 is 1st line caliber, and primary points.  His first assist is 2nd line level, and his CORSI numbers are 3rd line to 2nd line level.  Call him as an elite 3rd line forward or a quality second line forward if he continues his trend, and he cost the Oilers their backup goalie. Good move

ZL: Neutral move

Cam Talbot:
MK: He’s the best goalie in the league since Dec. 21.  Took him a little bit to get used to the Oilers, since then he’s lived up to his billing and he’s proven to be a good puck control goalie. Good move

ZL: Talbot has been everything and more for the Oilers, and he appears to be our guy for at least the next three years. He has been critical for the Oilers this season. Good move

Anders Nilsson: 
MK: He was a swing and a miss at no real cost, and was moved on for what he was paid for. Neutral move

ZL: Hey, he helped the Oilers win some games earlier this year, and got us a fifth-round pick in the upcoming draft. That is a-ok in my books. Good move

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

What’s Bruin in Boston?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTx9q8CrLt4

Ohhhh BOY! Those Bruins are in trouble. Dennis Seidenberg just had lower-back surgery and is out for two months, Zdeno Chara played 4 minutes the other night before leaving the game and Joe Morrow took a slapshot in the leg during the same game. The Boston Bruins are having a fever of sorts and the only cure is a trade with the Edmonton Oilers.

Look, the Boston Bruins defence would look like this if the regular season started tomorrow:

Joe Morrow (maybe) – Torey Krug
Zach Trotman – Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller – Matt Irwin
Linus Arnesson/Colin Miller/Chris Kasto

And these were the pairings for the last game on the 22nd courtesy of Dobber’s Hockey:

Chris Casto – Joe Morrow
Torey Krug – Adam McQuaid
Linus Arnesson – Kevan Miller

This would be a chance for Don Sweeney to mend some fences with Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli after F-ing him over at the draft in the Hamilton deal… I’m still miffed about that. The Oilers have a glut of men on the back end that could be of service to the Bruins.

Ship ‘Em Out!

Andrew Ference is a former Boston Bruin and one has to wonder if he’d be okay waiving his no-trade clause to go back to the place where he found success. I think the Oilers probably wouldn’t mind him heading that way as well so they could get this captaincy business off the table and so they could let Griffin Reinhart know he can find a place in Edmonton to live in. His value can’t be more than a 5th or 6th round pick right now.

Nikita Nikitin would be the ultimate apology from Sweeney. Even if the Oilers took on some salary to force this deal through, it would be a blessing for them. Nikitin has done jack shite this preseason so far despite what Jack Michaels and Bob Stauffer have been saying during their radio broadcasts. You can even hear it in their voices as they since Nikitin’s praises, it sounds like they’re going to puke. Nikitin’s value surely sits at “Steaming Pile of Rhino Dung”, so if Chiarelli could get a late draft pick I’d see that as a major victory.

Brandon Davidson, if I’m not mistaken, will have to clear waivers to go down to the AHL this year and there’s no way he’s making the team with Reinhart and Nurse sitting there. Personally I think he’s 50/50 to get claimed and he’d probably have the most appeal to the Bruins apart from maybe Ference. Davidson’s a young guy still and I reckon he’d probably go for a 4th rounder.

Mark Fayne doesn’t seem to be in the foreground of Chiarelli’s mind and I wonder aloud if he’s going to be one of the Oilers GM’s trade chips this year. Fayne doesn’t really standout when he plays but he’s a very steady Eddie type and at this point he’s still a serviceable NHL defenceman and the Oilers should hold on to them in fear of becoming what the Bruins are right now. But with all of that said, is he really a no.4 dman or is he more of a no.5/6? I could see Fayne’s value at around a Chris Kelly or a 3rd rounder.

A Bear Market

So what is it that the Bruins have that maybe the Oilers would covet? We know that Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan like heavy teams and Chiarelli said in his interview with Bob McKenzie that he’d like to acquire some “heavier” players. The way I read that is he wants some higher-end foot soldiers. Yes men that make it easier for the skillers to work their magic.

Unfortunately the only players that fit the description of “heavier” players are players that the Bruins just signed, have ugly contracts or will never leave the team.

Matt Beleskey is a gritty winger coming off a career season but he’s a recent signing and Benoit Pouliot is doing a fine job. Not gonna happen here.

Jimmy Hayes is an interesting character. He’s 6’6″ 220lbs, can skate and is a shooter. He put up 19 goals and 16 assists last year for the Panthers and would be a nice replacement for say Nail Yakupov if he were sacrificed. Not gonna happen here either.

Patrice Bergeron? Not unless Nugent-Hopkins is going the other way…

Loui Eriksson isn’t quite the player that comes to mind when I think heavy and his contract is ugly. But even then, as unfair as it would be, Nikitin for Eriksson straight across might rid each team of a headache as their contracts are identical ($4.5m for 2015/16). Do the Oilers really need him though? Somebody would have to be sacrificed to fit him in the top 9.

Chris Kelly… He’s probably the guy with the greatest potential of becoming an Oiler but how much better is he than say Rob Klinkhammer or Tyler Pitlick?

So as it looks, any deal that could potentially take place between the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers would most likely see the Oilers taking back draft picks or prospects that might never see the light of the NHL.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! Take Care!

BLH

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Rumors

McDavid Day Rumblings

Happy McDavid Day! I just want to get out a quick post about some Oilers pre-draft roster rumblings before I head to bed. It’s blistering evening here in Taipei.. Hot… Very hot…

What if I told you the defence of the Edmonton Oilers would start the season looking something like this:

Oscar Klefbom – Brent Seabrook
Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne
Barrett Jackman – Adam McQuaid
Darnell Nurse

Would that be something to perk the ears? Who would you rather pay top price for? Brent Seabrook or Dougie Hamilton? Would you be willing to buy out or take a bad deal to get rid of Andrew Ference and Nikita Nikitin? The bottom three names there just scare me looking at it. Not a trio of dmen I’d want to mess with. Older and more physical albeit but who’d you rather pay $4.5 million for, Nikitin or Jackman?

https://twitter.com/InsideTheRink/status/613934550612226048

https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/614134509886435332

And What if I said the goaltending might look something like this:

Cam Talbot
Craig Anderson

You might say I’m crazy but how would you feel if that was your Oilers goaltending tandem going into 2015/16? Would you be happy to go without draft picks in the 2nd round for a couple seasons? I think I might.

As for the forwards, would these lines appeal to you?

Hall-RNH-Eberle
Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov
Winnik-Lander-Beleskey
Henricks-Gordon-Klinkhammer

If the Oilers don’t go out there and grab Beleseky, you know the Flames are going to and I believe he’d be an awesome RW on the third line with Lander and Winnik. And I know that a lot of people are penciling in Draisaitl but I can’t, at this point, see him starting the year with the team. He’s better off starting in Bakersfield. What about Nurse? Well he’s a beast of phenomenal proportions. On my list he’s a no.7 but surely that wouldn’t last, injuries will catch up to someone ahead of him and that will be that.

Do you think it’s even possible to trade for Brent Seabrook, Cam Talbot and Craig Anderson and keep all the major pieces intact for next year? Would signing Daniel Winnik, Barrett Jackman, Adam McQuaid, and Matt Beleskey as well as re-signing Martin Marincin be too much?

What do you think Oilers fans? Is it all a bit hasty for one off-season? I fear it may be.

With that said, I hope you enjoy the draft! I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and see what all the fuss is about this 3rd jersey everyone is talking about. Will it be better than the Beer League Heroes official jersey?

Ok that’s all! Have a great day! If you’re going out to one of the draft parties, drink responsibly and don’t let one bad decision ruin McDavid Day.

Take Care!

-BLH

Brennen York, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

1 – Edmonton Oilers

A single day remains before the fate of the Oilers changes forever. It’s been an incredible off season thus far, and Oil Country is buzzing. After the complete dismantling of the MacT regime, Peter Chiarelli has fans talking non stop about what may come from the draft. There’s not a lot of words to describe what Connor McDavid will mean to the Oilers but one thing is certain, he will change the Oilers franchise forever. Though the McDavid pick will be one that is fairly easy, Chiarelli & Co. will have some tough calls when it comes to trades, the 16th pick, and the 33rd pick. 

When it comes to trades, no one is too sure what is going to come down. The Oil need a goalie and I do believe they address that in the next two days, however after hearing that the New York Rangers turned down two second round picks for Cam Talbot, I’d be a like nervous about going after him. Lehner is an option, but he has some question marks around him. Martin Jones name has also been thrown around, but the asking price will be the 33rd pick. 

In the end, Chia will have to ask himself whether or not to worth it when he could throw money at Devan Dubnyk or Antti Niemi. The 16th pick has fans excited, as the last time the Oilers had two first rounders they walked away with RNH and Oscar Klefbom. There’s been trade rumours around this pick for a while as the possibility of making a major deal for a big name defenceman became real after the lottery win. I do believe waiting until the Oilers are finally on the clock before making this pick because the value on that pick will never be higher given the fact that a player like Jeremy Roy or Timo Meier may have slipped. 

If they plan on using the pick, there’s going to be a lot of options on the board. Players like Roy, Meier, maybe even Kyle Connor could slip, but in the likely situation that they’ve all been selected, players like Guryanov, White, and Svechnikov would all be hard to pass on. The talk around using that pick on Ilya Samsonov is blasphemous given the going rate of goalies both on the open market and via trade. He’s a good goalie, but you don’t draft a goalie in the top 20 unless he’s the second coming of Christ. The 33rd pick, however, would be perfectly suited for a goaltender named Samsonov, or even Blackwood. The depth in net is scary, and adding a piece like Samsonov could prove to be a huge pick up. I’m still on the Emil Garipov train when it comes to a solution in net for Edmonton. He’s been putting up stellar numbers overseas, but convincing him to come over for anything less than 4 million may be a challenge. 

It will be the greatest draft in Oilers history, and I personally can’t wait to see what Pete Chiarelli has up his sleeves.

Draft Day Gameplan

– It starts and ends with Connor McDavid.

– Find a goalie. Whether you trade a 5th for rights, or trade for Talbot, don’t leave without a netminder.

– Hit it big with the 16th pick. There will be some good players left, go BPA.

– Find a defenceman. The Oil are shallow on the blue line, so finding a guy capable of playing top pairing minutes is vital.

Oilers Big Board

1. Connor McDavid
2. Jack Eichel
3. Dylan Strome
4. Noah Hanifin
5. Mitchell Marner
6. Ivan Provorov
7. Mikko Rantanen
8. Pavel Zacha
9. Lawson Crouse
10. Denis Guryanov

Who do they take?

Tough call. Could take Connor McDavid OR they could take Connor McDavid. At 16, I like Jeremy Roy.

Darkhorse?

At 16, maybe Debrusk. I doubt it. Will be a player ranked in that range. Noah Juulsen would be interesting.