Coming from an Edmonton Oilers fan’s perspective, BLH comments on the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Vitali Kravtsov, Jaden Schwartz, Brandon Saad, and more!
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- Adam Gretz (NBC Sports): Believes if Brandon Saad has a good year and the Colorado Avalanche as well, maybe they’d re-sign the newly acquired winger. Gretz figures $5-$5.5M might be doable if the Avs let some free agents walk such as Ian Cole, Philip Grubauer, Matt Calvert, or PE Bellemare. GM Joe Sakic’s priorities will be getting Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar re-signed long term though. Also, Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky will be out of contract next summer.
- With Both Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Binnington slated to become UFAs next off-season, the St. Louis Blues have some tough decisions to make. Which one do they prioritize?
BLH’s Thoughts: With the Avs, I think they’re close but not quite there yet. The final piece that they need, a no.1 goalie. Could that be someone like Tuuka Rask or Frederik Andersen? Saad will be a nice complimentary piece who brings goal-scoring, speed, and championship pedigree to the club, but ultimately, I believe they’ll let him walk unless he’s willing to take a serious hair cut on his next deal.
I’m not overly convinced that Jordan Binnington isn’t riding a Jim Carey-like wave here. The Blues were a great team but they’re going to take a hit in the goals against category next season due to Alex Pietrangelo moving on and Torey Krug isn’t going to be able to plug that up. They might be best off seeing what hits the market next off-season. I mean, would Mikko Koskinen make sense for them?
- Sport-express.ru: Apparently over in Russia there were some rumors that had New York Rangers blue chip prospect Vitali Kravtsov heading to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
BLH’s Thoughts: The Rangers have some fantastic wingers right now and bubbling under. Kaapo Kakko, Pavel Buchnevich, Alexis Lafreniere, Chris Kreider, and Artermi Panarin will fill New York’s top-6 slots and then they’ve got Will Cuyle and Lauri Pajuniemi coming.
I would deal Buchnevich before Kravtsov, but that’s just me.
- Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers have agreed to terms with defenceman Philip Kemp on a three-year entry-level contract through the 2022-23 season. The 21-year-old was drafted by Edmonton in the seventh round in 2017 & played for Yale the last three seasons.
BLH’s Thoughts: Chalk another one up for the Chiarelli regime!!! Ol’ Chia Pete is going to have his mitts all over the Stanley Cup should the Oilers win one in the next three years or so.
In an interview with Bob Stauffer, Kemp said he idolized players like Dan Girardi growing up and if you watched him play, you could definitely see that he takes pride in being a defense-first d-man.
He joins Evan Bouchard, Filip Berglund, and big Michael Kesselring in an ever-expanding pool of right-shot defenders in Edmonton. Maybe at some point, if his skating improves, he’ll be the Oilers’ new Adam Larsson?
- New York Islanders: After numerous and extensive medical exams, New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk’s career has come to an end, due to an eye injury suffered during the 2019-20 regular season.
BLH’s Thoughts: Shitty deal that that eye injury did him in. He’s quite the story eh? Played over 400 games in the AHL and never really got his NHL career going until he was 25. Colorado gave up on him and let the Boston Bruins give him his shot. He never looked back. Congrats on a wonderful career are in order for Boychuk.
- TSN: TSN Hockey asked a panel of 12 international World Juniors experts to vote on the 25 best players in tournament history to mark the 45th anniversary of the event. #5 will be of interest to Oilers fans.
BLH’s Thoughts: Quite the list of players here. Did you know that Esa Tikkanen had 36 points in 21 World Junior Championship games for Finland in the early 80s? I had no idea…
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