BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Jakob Silfverberg (ANA), Bobby Ryan (DET), Adam Larsson (EDM), and more!
TSN1260’s Jason Gregor is pissed! Check out this rant on the Oilers here!
BLH has some ideas for the Oilers lineup card. Check those out here!
NEW: Keith Jones and Patrick Sharp think the Calgary Flames have a better chance at the playoffs this year than the Oilers. Read about that here.
Is Leon Draisaitl’s excellent two-way presence just a mirage? One Edmonton pundit says they may very well be, BLH says not so fast. Read about it here.
NHL Rumors and Speculation
The Athletic: Eric Stephens says that the struggling Anaheim Ducks will continue to do just that unless some significant changes are made.
- “Difficult decisions do need to be made. Real change needs to be made. Among the things that should be on the table are a roster of high-salaried players who have led the Ducks into oblivion and the longtime GM who put it together.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Aside from Adam Henrique, Anaheim has one mega contract on their hands and that belongs to their franchise player and captain Ryan Getzlaf. There’ve been some rumors that he could be moved on from and even some coming out of Edmonton (his agent is based there) that maybe the Oilers could see if he wants one last kick at the can before he retires, but as for the club, I don’t know any other teams that are itching to take on more money right now and do the Ducks REALLY need to move players like Jakob Silfverberg and Kevin Shattenkirk?
The right thing to do might be to slowcook this thing and simply let the fat fall off when it does and promote the kids when they’re ready as they’re doing with Trevor Zegras and Maxime Comtois.
The Fourth Period: Says that the Edmonton Oilers and Adam Larsson’s camp have yet to talk about a new contract yet.
- “A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to TFP on Monday that the Oilers have yet to reach out to Adam Larsson’s camp about a new contract and there are no talks are currently planned.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Bob Stauffer (630CHED) has intimated on a couple of occasions that he believes Larsson would like to remain in Edmonton and would take a haircut in order to do so because he knows the d-men who play like him are crashing out of the NHL.
Now, where I stand on this is that I’d like The Iron Swede to stick around. A lot of folks get pissy about Larsson’s fancies and I like to remind them that he plays against the league’s best and when a defender is tasked with that responsibility, they tend to play a bit of hockey in their own zone. I’d love to see Caleb Jones spend 20 minutes a night going up against Auston Matthews and Mark Scheifele and see how his fancies look. I bet they wouldn’t be too pretty.
Teams who compete in the playoffs need warriors, full stop. If they try to go into the post-season with a bunch of soft puck movers, they get crushed.
Adam Larsson is only 28 years old and this season is playing lights out, if you can get him to sign a contract that is around $3M/yr or less, you have to consider that a win.
I’ve got one more part to this scenario though, what do you do with Tyson Barrie when you’ve got Ethan Bear and Evan Bouchard right there? Bouchard isn’t ready for top-4 minutes yet, but Bear, Barrie, and Larsson are and Kurt Leavins (Cult of Hockey/Edmonton Journal) has hinted at one of those young guys getting moved on a number of occasions this year… Tyson Barrie, apart from a few games at the beginning of the year, has been as advertised and the Oilers could really use that element on the back end at the right price.
Could you trade Caleb Jones to Seattle in exchange for them to select James Neal in the expansion draft, keep all four righties, and force one to move to the left side?
JESUS! I totally forgot about Oscar Klefbom! What if he returns next year at some point? You’d have a d-core that could potentially look like this,
Nurse/Barrie
Klefbom/Larsson
Bouchard/BearAnd then you’ve got Kris Russell, William Lagesson, Philip Broberg, and Dmitri Samorukov twiddling their fingers. Good Christ… What a problem to have.
TSN: Frank Seravalli on last night’s Insider trading made note that three Detroit Red Wings are guaranteed to be on his next trade board when it gets released. Those three skaters being winger Bobby Ryan, outstanding faceoff man Luke Glendening, and veteran defenseman Marc Staal.
BLH’s Thoughts: The Red Wings continue to do it right by signing players who’ll be in demand come trade deadline, eh? And even if they didn’t get moved, they’d be excellent mentors for the young players coming through Detroit’s system.
I’d have time for Ryan in Edmonton. He’d be a great complimentary winger for Leon Draisaitl as he can play both wings. Kahun has been okay this year, but not quite as productive as I’d have wished.
As for Glendening, I’ve been campaigning for the Oilers to acquire him for a few seasons because it seems Edmonton is always looking for a right-shot center who is a wizard on the draw. I asked around and my sources say that he might be too slow and he brings zero offense, but he’d be great for a team who spends a lot of time with the lead… So Riley Sheahan?
Montreal has fired Claude Julien and Kirk Muller
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) February 24, 2021
BLH’s Thoughts: Holy shite, that fire got hot fast! I was only just reading last night that Julien was on the hot seat and now he and Kirk Muller are gonzo! Dominique Ducharme has been hired as interim head coach and that’s pretty cool because he’s a younger guy who’s worked his way through the system, but what shocks me is Alex Burrows was hired too… Keep your head on a swivel and watch your fingers kids, you just might lose ’em both if Burrows is nearby.
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