The Worst Trade Proposal of the Oilers Offseason So Far…

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

From NHL Trade Talk

Possible Matthew Tkachuk for Vladimir Tarasenko Trade Being Discussed

Shane O’Brien said during the Power Play podcast Matthew Tkachuk that he wants to go back to St. Louis, and a trade might be in the works.

“O’Brien said that Vladimir Tarasenko is the player the Blues would be moving in a deal because the team is ready to move on from him. He said, “His time there is clearly done.” And, because Tkachuk wants to leave and go back to him hometown, the central pieces of a deal could be there.”

“He said he wouldn’t just make up rumors and he was hearing it from from ex-players and people who might know Tkachuk well. He called it something you hear during “crazy season”, but he said that with things not going the right way, the two teams might work together to give both players a fresh start”.

BLH’s Thoughts: Tell ya what, as an Edmonton Oilers fan, I’d love nothing more than for my favorite team to be playing Vladimir Tarasenko in the Battle of Alberta than Matthew Tkachuk.

Now, if you’re Brad Treliving, is Tarasenko really the player you want to get in return for your franchise player? There’s some speculation that St. Louis would start the negotiating with Vince Dunn and Jordan Kyrou, but I feel like if I was Treliving, I’d want to be talking about a first line center like Jack Eichel or a first-pair dman like Seth Jones in the event that I was set on trading Tkachuk and the Blues do not have one of those. The closest would be Colton Parayko and Ryan O’Reilly, but they’d be daft to let either of those two go if their plan was to keep on competing for a playoff spot.

The Flames’ little reset here must include acquiring an upgrade on Sean Monahan and/or Mark Giordano, or at least that’s how I feel. Would St. Louis consider Parayko and Robert Thomas?

The Athletic

How the Oilers Could Make a Jack Eichel-level Trade Happen This Offseason

“Is a package of Puljujarvi, Holloway, Koskinen, Turris and a 2021 first a reasonable idea? Arguably Buffalo’s getting too much of a grab-bag with no single player comparable to Eichel. On the other hand, Edmonton’s arguably gutting the future (especially up front) for a single $10 million forward with injury concerns on a roster that’s already top-heavy.”

“All it requires is a lot of sacrifice, a willing partner (whether team or free agent) and a certainty that the player coming back the other way is the piece that’s going to make the difference. Those, rather than cap space or lineup details, are the biggest stumbling blocks.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Man, Jonathan Willis must be hitting peak boredom in order to put together a piece like this. I don’t know if there’s even anything to comment on here. The deal is basically Jesse Puljujarvi and Dylan Holloway for Eichel and as sweet as that might sound to the Oilers and as much as I love Pulju, that looks lake a sale as opposed to a trade.

From NHLRumors.com

Larsson and Oilers to talk this week

David Pagnotta: There hasn’t been much recent progress on a contract extension between the Edmonton Oilers and defenseman Adam Larsson.

Have been told that the Oilers and Larsson’s camp will resume that contract talks this week.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m hoping for some very good news on this front and soon. There was a time when Larsson was having second thoughts about being in Edmonton not too long after his father had passed away but he’s come around and now he wants to be part of the solution with the Oilers. Seeing the defenses that are having success in the post-season this year and knowing The Iron Swede wants to return is music to my ears and should be to every fan and member of that organization.

Some Red Wings free agents will be re-signed, some will be let go

Ansar Khan of MLive: The Detroit Red Wings won’t be re-signing Valtteri Filppula. It’s not known if they’ll be sending a contract offer to Darren Helm.

It seems likely that the Red Wings will re-sign Luke Glendening.

They’ll likely sign RFA forward Adam Erne to a multi-year deal.

It’s possible that the Red Wings use Givani Smith to replace Helm as he’s no longer waiver exempt.

BLH’s Thoughts: I wouldn’t be shocked in the least if Ken Holland and Darren Helm had a conversation this summer and I’m still holding out hope that Holland can get the best faceoff man in the league under contract for at least a year. Then again, how much are these two vets going to help Edmonton’s 5v5 ES scoring? Probably not a lot… That said, Andrew Cogliano gets a lot of tire pumping in and around Edmonton and he only had three more points than Helm this past season.