Speculating from an Oilers fan’s perspective, BLH comments on the latest Edmonton Oilers news as well as the freshest NHL speculation featuring players such as Evgeni Malkin, Duncan Keith, Taylor Hall, Travis Hamonic, and many more!
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— Anton (@bolaniii9) October 24, 2020
The News and Rumors
- Lance Lysowski (Buffalo News): Doesn’t expect any blockbuster trades from the Buffalo Sabres as they will be quite close to the salary cap after getting Sam Reinhart, Viktor Olofsson, and Linus Ullmark signed, but he does say that they’ll likely want some flexibility at the trade deadline to do something.
- “While upgrades are unlikely, I do envision a scenario in which the Sabres part with a player for a draft pick – possibly Colin Miller or Brandon Montour to recoup a third-rounder – and give a prospect such as Will Borgen an opportunity to make this team.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Yesterday we posted that Anaheim was looking to upgrade their defense, would they bring back Brandon Montour? He looked awfully promising when he was a Duck.
- Adrian Dater (Colorado Hockey NOW): Believes Mike Hoffman could go back to Florida, “He’ll go back and enjoy the 0% state taxes.”
BLH’s Thoughts: If Joel Quenneville will have him back, that is. Coach Q has much more of a say as to how Florida’s roster is managed now and if he wants more competitiveness, The Hoff is gonna be looking for work elsewhere. Why else would they have let a perennial 25-30 goal-scorer leave for nothing?
- Dan Kingerski (Pittsburgh Hockey NOW): “Even though San Jose is talking to Conor Sheary, I would put Athanasiou first. Sheary is a known quantity. I’m not sure Athanasiou has fully matured as a player and could have a lot more to give, on both sides of the puck.”
- Kingerski also thinks LA would be a good fit for Anthony Duclair, “Duclair just seems to fit with the vintage LA vibe. A dash of offense, a dash of power forward, and a little star power potential. Like Jeff Carter, he could be a star there.”
- He also lists the following players from the Penguins as potential trade candidates; Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jason Zucker, Zach Ashton-Reese, and Jared McCann.
BLH’s Thoughts: Chicago is going to go through a retool for the next two-three seasons, is it time for the Penguins to start their rebuild? Trading Malkin, Letang, and Zucker would pretty much seal that I’m thinking.
Duclair playing for Todd McLellan? LOL!
- National Hockey NOW: Four out of the seven writers involved in the NHN’s most recent roundtable believe that defenceman Travis Hamonic will sign with the Winnipeg Jets (Sheng Peng, Joe Haggerty, Dan Kingerski, and George Richards). Christian Arnold (NYIHN) suggested the Edmonton Oilers could be a destination whereas Jimmy Murphy (BHN) said New Jersey and Adrian Dater mentioned Los Angeles.
BLH’s Thoughts: Hamonic would be a fantastic add to the Oilers blue line but unless Adam Larsson is moving on, I can’t see them shelling out for the former Flame. The Jets seems much more likely.
- Ken Wiebe (Sportsnet): Believes the Jets could package youngsters Jack Roslovic and Sami Niku in a trade to bring in someone like MacKenzie Weegar. He also has suggested they may re-visit Ben Hutton as an option on defence.
BLH’s Thoughts: Have the Panthers got another deal just waiting on a Weegar trade? Unless he’s asking for the moon, this is a good young defender just entering his prime years. He must’ve found a way to get on Quenneville’s wrong side or wants out.
- Harman Dayal (The Athletic): Is of the opinion that since the Vancouver Canucks missed out on the addition of a top-6 winger after losing Tyler Toffoli to the Montreal Canadiens that they may have to trade for one mid-season.
BLH’s Thoughts: OR! Hear me out… Develop a top-6 winger in-house… See what Nils Hoglander can do there or maybe give Jake Virtanen a shot. Are Kole Lind or Jonah Gadjovich ready?
- Mark Lazerus (The Athletic): There’s some speculation that 37yr old Duncan Keith could be moved. According to Lazerus, “Keith’s name has surfaced in speculation before each of the last two trade deadlines.”
BLH’s Thoughts: If the Oilers can weather the storm until the trade deadline and Oscar Klefbom is no closer to returning, will Duncan Keith be a viable trade candidate for the club?
The Oilers Talk
Frank Seravalli was on Lowetide’s show last Friday and the topic of trades that have allegedly dried up was a point of conversation, this is what the TSN insider had to say,
“I think that the other shoes that are waiting to drop are some of these RFA settlements and new contract agreements. I floated the idea previously and something the Oilers had talked about was something like a swap for Alex Chiasson and Anders Bjork from Boston. And that never came to pass, at least it hasn’t so far and I don’t know that it’s totally dead. Boston would seem to be in the driver’s seat given that Bjork has the extra year and that he would also have some significant certainty in terms of what you’re getting out of him with his speed.
So I think there has been plenty of interest in tiny moves like that that aren’t going to be generating headlines but if you’re a team like the Oilers and you’re heavy on the right side, those are the types of deals you’d want to be heavily investigating.
Once that fell apart the Oilers circled back to two or three other possibilities that they could be visiting and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see something like that happen where you can have your team better positioned depth-wise and lineup-wise if you can balance out things like that left-right swap.”
I read recently that Chiasson is a bit of an analytics darling when it comes to the powerplay and I guess so eh? He sits 28th in the NHL for g/60 on the PP (2.42) over the last three seasons. That puts him in the same company as players like Nathan MacKinnon, Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin, Jamie Benn, and better than superstars such asa Vlad Tarasenko, Sidney Crosby, and Connor McDavid.
So it makes sense that Edmonton would keep him for that reason alone, but he brings more to the team than just good fancies with the man advantage like his compete, his shot, his ability along the boards and in the muck. He doesn’t take any shit from the other team, he sticks up for teammates, and he’s well-liked on the team. $2M for a player that contributes to the club on as many levels as Chiasson does is not an overpayment.
I reckon it’s safe to say that he plays a pretty big role on Edmonton’s near-record breaking PP from last season. If he was a drag on the club 5×5, an argument could be made for trading him, but he isn’t. The last two seasons his GF%/60 relative is over four. Why would the Oilers want to trade that kind of impact player?
Want a better idea? Take one of the right-wings and throw him onto the left-wing? Josh Archibald can do it, Chiasson can do it, Neal can (and most likely will), as well as Puljujarvi. That would probably be a lot easier than trying to work out a trade for a LWer.
Last question, where do Joakim Nygard and Tyler Benson fit in to the Oilers equation of nobody is talking about either of them as an option for the club’s available spot on the LW?…
Maybe they don’t fit in…
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