BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Sam Gagner (DET), Philip Broberg (EDM), Zach Hyman (TOR), Ilya Kovalchuk (FA), and more!
This is not the kind of news Edmonton Oilers fans will like.
*NEW* What’s the plan for Edmonton’s defense after this season? Check that out here!
*NEW* Are the Edmonton Oilers poised to make a tough trade before next year? Maybe…
NHL Rumors and Speculation
Ansar Khan (MLive): (mailbag) The Detroit Red Wings currently won’t have salary cap issues next season. They have 11 players under contract at only $32 million, with $2.3 for Justin Abdelkader‘s buyout.
- GM Steve Yzerman may have interesting in re-sign UFAs Bobby Ryan and/or Sam Gagner.
- St. Louis Blues UFA forward Mike Hoffman may fit into the Red Wings top-six, but would he want to sign with a rebuilding team? Yzerman may not be interested in offering term to UFAs.
- The Red Wings aren’t going to buy out Danny DeKeyser or Richard Panik this offseason. Both could be exposed for the expansion draft.
Rory Boylen (Sportsnet): A look at 10 teams who could lose a good player in the expansion draft or at least will have to make a tough decision on who they’ll keep.
- Colorado Avalanche – Can they get Erik Johnson to waive his no-movement clause? Could lose one of Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi, Tyson Jost, Valeri Nichushkin, or Ryan Graves.
- Edmonton Oilers – Could they leave Oscar Klefbom exposed? Do they re-sign UFAs like Adam Larsson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Tyson Barrie before the expansion draft? Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto, Ethan Bear or Caleb Jones could end up being exposed.
- Minnesota Wild – Would Zach Parise waive his no-movement clause? Will Matt Dumba be left unprotected? They may need to make a side deal with the Seattle Kraken.
- Carolina Hurricanes – Re-signing Dougie Hamilton before the expansion draft will play a big role on who they could lose. Warren Foegele, Jesper Fast, or defenceman Brady Skjei could be made available.
- St. Louis Blues – Defenseman Vince Dunn could be exposed.
- Nashville Predators – Likely the eight skater route. Could leave Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen unprotected and would they add a sweetener to get the Kraken to take one?
- Toronto Maple Leafs – Re-signing pending UFA Zach Hyman before the draft would mean they would need to protect him. Do the Leafs risk it?
- Calgary Flames – Will Milan Lucic waive his no-movement and will 37-year old Mark Giordano be left unprotected? Roster changes are likely coming this offseason for the Flames and could happen before the expansion draft.
- Dallas Stars – Re-signing Jamie Oleksiak before the expansion draft would mean they’d go the eight-skater route and would expose all but one of Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa and Denis Gurianov, and Joe Pavelski.
Ryan S. Clark (The Athletic): Would the San Jose Sharks be interested in moving their first-round pick for the Kraken to take on Brent Burns and his $8 million cap hit for four more seasons?
Mikhail Zislis (sport-express.ru): Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 22-year old goalie Ilya Konovalov decided to pursue his career in North America. Expect him to sign contract with Edmonton Oilers in a few days. He was drafted 85-th overall in 2019 NHL draft.
BLH’s Thoughts: I haven’t had a lot of time to read up on this but it’s certainly an interesting development. Unless one of Stuart Skinner or Olivier Rodrigue are moving on or getting a promotion, I have to wonder where Konovalov is going to play Bakersfield. UNLESS! He’s going straight to Edmonton… That’s always possible but I’m not sure the likeliness of him making the team when Ken Holland’s M.O. is all about proper development and players being overripe before they join the big club.
It’s a bit of an embarrassment of riches having Skinner, Rodrigue, and Konovalov all in the pipeline, but do you really think any one of those three are heading to Wichita (ECHL)? I don’t believe for one second that Konovalov would leave the KHL to come over to North America to play in an inferior league.
Something will have to give.
Oiler faithful should be pretty excited with Konovalov coming over to North America. A bit under the radar, but this is a very legitimate goalie prospect for the big club. https://t.co/0gNuqjcqjI pic.twitter.com/wvFSc9gS3D
— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) May 1, 2021
Rasmus Kågström (Hockey Sverige): News has surfaced that defenseman Philip Broberg is leaving Sweden now that his club team Skelleftea is out of the playoffs. He will be making an attempt to return to North America and will try to join the Edmonton Oilers, supposedly as soon as the team can facilitate his travel.
En rad spelare lämnar nu Skellefteå AIK – däribland Philip Broberg (ingen direkt skräll, kanske). Vad jag hör är att #Oilers vill ha över honom fortast möjligast till Nordamerika – och det är inte för att spela AHL-hockey.#twittpuck #skeaik
🔗: https://t.co/Qfq8VLdsY4 pic.twitter.com/WEBZxdqtdO— Rasmus Kågström (@rasmuskagstrom) April 29, 2021
BLH’s Thoughts: What I said about Konovalov above goes ditto for Broberg. A minor difference might be that instead heading to Bakersfield where they’ve got a massive glut of defensemen, he’ll head to Edmonton where they’ve got a massive glut of defensemen… I imagine once he gets to E-town, he’ll join Evan Bouchard in Chateau Tippett where the two will practice with the team but not get into any games.
That said, he took a massive hit in Skelleftea’s last game and considering what he went through at the World Juniors, maybe some time away to heal would be the best course of action for him. It’d be a shame if he went down the road Oscar Klefbom chose and 8 years later was considering his future as an NHL hockey player…
LT: Yikes! Maybe the news on Broberg we’ll hear will be something we’d rather not… Fack! That is a brutal hit to take. https://t.co/saUWeHN0go
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) April 29, 2021
Andrew Zadarnowski (HabsEOTP): Regarding the future of former Atlanta Thrashers great Ilya Kovalchuk since his contract with Avangard Omsk was mutually terminated, Zadarnowski has written the following,
- “Avangard mentions that the reason they agreed to terminate the contract was that Kovalchuk was planning to return to the NHL next season. It doesn’t specify whether he already has an offer, or if he just wants to be free of commitment in order to explore his options.”
Sources: nhlrumors.com, nhtradetalk.com, Twitter
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