Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!
From Spector’s Hockey
ESPN.COM: Emily Kaplan wonders if the Pittsburgh Penguins will face a roster shakeup following their first-round elimination by the New York Islanders. Veteran core players Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have a year remaining on their respective contracts, with Malkin carrying a no-movement clause.
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Matt Vensel also wonders about the futures of Malkin and Letang, as well as that of head coach Mike Sullivan.
Based on comments earlier this season by Brian Burke, the Penguins president of hockey operations, Vensel speculates they could try to bolster their goaltending while also adding some size and toughness to the lineup. The shaky performance of Tristan Jarry could send the Penguins into this summer’s trade and free-agent markets in search of help between the pipes.
THE ATHLETIC: Sean Gentille believes Jarry’s goaltending cost the Penguins the series. He wonders if they’ll move around some money to pursue a free agent such as Detroit’s Jonathan Bernier or Buffalo’s Linus Ullmark or look to the trade market for help.
BLH’s Thoughts: With Brian Burke and Ron Hextall running the show in Pittsburgh now, I reckon there’s going to be a little bit of short-term pain but the team will be built in a manner that will make playing the club a painful endeavor.
The Penguins were first in their division this year, how much really needs to change? I mean, the club was without Evgeni Malkin for a number of games this year and still finished tops in their division. With him in the lineup and healthy, I’d think they add a bit off muscle and as said by the pundits above, they could switch up the goaltending and one name I do wonder about is Anaheim’s John Gibson… Burke has some connections there.
ESPN.COM: Emily Kaplan speculates the Florida Panthers could lose a good roster player to the Kraken in the expansion draft. It could be a forward such as Patric Hornqvist or Mason Marchment, a blueliner like Gustav Forsling, Radko Gudas or Markus Nuutivaara, or pending UFA goaltender Chris Driedger.
SUN-SENTINEL.COM: Dave Hyde pondered what promising goalie Spencer Knight’s performance in the final two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning means for Sergei Bobrovsky’s future in Florida. He wondered if general manager Bill Zito will try to move Bobrovsky this summer if someone is willing to take on the veteran netminder’s hefty contract.
BLH’s Thoughts: If Seattle could get their hands on Hornqvist, Gudas, or Dreidger, that would be fantastic for them. Just watching the FLA/TB series that closed out this week, those three players stood out to me for the Panthers and as an Oilers fan, I’d take any one of them on Edmonton’s roster at the drop of a hat.
Can you see any team saying yes to a trade that involves Sergei Bobrovsky without multiple 1st rounders and prospects also heading with him in addition to half of his salary being retained. Then you have to contemplate whether or not the Panthers owners would be down with retaining that cash in this post-covid economy…
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Jim Matheson doesn’t expect Oilers GM Ken Holland to go on a massive spending spree this summer to bolster his roster. While Holland will have $28 million in cap space, a portion will be spent on trying to re-sign pending UFAs Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Larsson and Tyson Barrie.
Matheson considers Larsson the cheapest and most likely to be re-signed. Nugent-Hopkins will be the most expensive while Barrie could be departing after a year in Edmonton because he’ll want a long-term deal.
Holland said he intends to bring back goaltender Mike Smith for another season. Matheson wonders if Mikko Koskinen will be traded, perhaps packaged with a draft pick or prospect to a team like the Columbus Blue Jackets for one of their young goalies.
Buyouts are also possible. Matheson believes James Neal to be the most likely candidate. Holland didn’t rule out trading a prospect such as Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg or Dylan Holloway for immediate help but he said he’s not doing that for a one-year player.
BLH’s Thoughts: There’s some talk that the Oilers could move Koskinen in a trade where they retain 50% on the remainder of his contract in order to facilitate the trade. that would see them paying $2.25M to have him play for another club. Other whispers have the team buying him out which would cost them $3M over the next two years. So we’ll have to see where things end up landing there because there’s a possibility neither of those options pan out and he stays and plays in Edmonton to start the year.
The Koskinen to Columbus rumors make sense to me too. Toss in Caleb Jones and maybe a third asset and that might be enough to pick up one of the Blue Jackets’ young keepers.
I can’t see the Oilers trading Bouchard, Broberg, or Holloway for immediate help. It would be a massive mistake, in my opinion. Edmonton needs players who are capable of contributing positively on an ELC in order to make the most of the salary structure they’re working with.
Also, all those fans and media types who were all pissy when Ken Holland said he was going to stay the course this week would be even angrier if he traded their ‘A’ prospects.
Even skaters like Rafa Lavoie, Carter Savoie, Markus Niemelainen, and Dmitri Samorukov I see the team hanging on to.
Now, the likes of Tyler Benson, Stuart Skinner, Ethan Bear, and Caleb Jones could be used in a trade to bring in some help for sure. These fellas are a bit older, more established, and closer to everyday NHLers than the others. Possibly a tad easier to move since the other pro scouts would have extended books on them.
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