Coming from an Edmonton Oilers fan’s perspective, BLH comments on the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Thomas Hickey, Ryan Getzlaf, Tyler Johnson, and more!
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- Dan Anderson (Black and Gold Hockey): Believes the Islanders and Bruins could help each other. Boston needs some help on defence and the Islanders could use a bit of cap relief. Anderson suggests the base offer that could be worked around would be Thomas Hickey and Kiefer Bellows for Nick Ritchie and Urho Vaakainen.
BLH’s Thoughts: Do the Isles have an appetite to lower the talent level of their defence right now? Hickey is a very consistent player that I’m sure Coach Trotz loves having around because he knows what he’s getting from him night in and night out. I’m just not sure that Nick Ritchie is the kind of player the Islanders require right now and to be honest, how much does Vaakainen move the needle? Boston is really getting the benefit of this trade on almost every front.
- James O’Brien (NBC Sports): Suggests it’s time for the Anaheim Ducks to proceed with a full-blown rebuild instead of trying to perform one on the fly as their best players’ peaks will be wasted.
- “No, the Ducks don’t have to trade away every Rakell/Lindholm-type player to rebuild. Still, it seems like their window to compete might not match up very well with the peak years for those players.”
BLH’s Thoughts: As this rebuild of Anaheim’s continues, they’re going to need vets on the club to help the kids along. Having Ryan Getzlaf there for Sam Steel and Trevor Zegras is massive value to the Ducks’ future. The player whose peak is really getting wasted is goaltender John Gibson. That is a player who would have ridiculous value on the trade market.
- Eric Stephens (The Athletic): On a Tyler Johnson to Anaheim trade,
- “I see the logic in moving Kesler’s contract (and another cap-related asset) for Johnson as it would give Tampa the ability to stash it on long-term injury reserve and open extra space to utilize.”
BLH’s Thoughts: The Ducks could also bury that Kesler deal on LTIR and add some bad contracts in exchange for high-end draft picks or prospects. They’re not going anywhere, so I’m not sure why they’d feel the need to help Tampa out here.
- Corey Pronman (The Athletic): Says the competition for first overall in 2021 is wide open with several candidates making a case to be the top prospect for this year’s NHL entry draft. He also mentions that there’s no “true potential special caliber” prospect so far. However, Pronman does go over a handful of the most notable players who’ve been competing to date including Owen Power, Aatu Raty, William Eklund, Matthew Beniers, etc.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve been on the William Eklund train for a year now. He’s a fantastic talent that should be rated in the top-10 of this draft, if not higher. I’ve yet to see Beniers but he’s getting a lot of praise online recently, so I might have to sit down and check him out.
As for the top prospect for this year’s draft, I reckon it’ll end up being Michigan’s Owen Power. He’s a Canadian version of Viktor Hedman but he doesn’t jump into the play like the Swede does and his skating isn’t as good as Hedman’s. He puts up points though and he’s 6’5″ too… You cannot ignore a talent with that sort of size and ability. He may not be as physical as Chris Pronger but I believe he’ll be able to control the game like the former Oilers defender used to.
Another player to keep an eye out for is the electrifying Fabian Lysell from Frolunda. Reminds me of Pavel Bure so much with the way that he flies around the ice. The speed and edgework on this kid to go with those hands… WOW! My favorite 2021 draft prospect so far, he is!
- Elliotte Friedman (Sportsnet): On 630CHED, the insider mentioned that there’s talk of a “taxi squad” being available for the Canadian-based NHL clubs who’s AHL affiliates are in the USA. Meaning Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver might get an expanded roster where those players in the taxi squad would earn AHL-level salaries but get NHL per diems.
- Friedman also spoke of training camps being much smaller. Instead of having 40-50 players, maybe only 35 would be invited and the camp would be shorter too.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve heard about an expanded roster now for a couple of weeks. The change here is that Friedman is making it seem that it only pertains to the Canadian clubs with US-based AHL teams. It only makes sense to have a taxi squad for every team though, right? If the AHL isn’t going, every team should have expanded rosters.
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