Today’s news and speculation from the NHL includes notes on Jack Eichel, Jake DeBrusk, Adam Larsson, Brandon Saad, and much more!
Big Congrats to Pat Maroon! Two Stanley Cups in a row for the former Edmonton Oiler! Good on him!
**Yesterday I wondered if Braden Holtby would come to the Oilers on a bonus-laden deal not knowing that it was against the rules as he’s not 34yrs old. My bad. Egg on my face and now I know. Thanks to those who contacted me to clue me in!**
Last 6 #StanleyCup Champions
2015 #Blackhawks
2016 & 2017 #Penguins
2018 #Capitals
2019 #Blues
2020 #TBLightning#NHLDraft first overall picks2003 #Penguins
2004 #Capitals
2005 #Penguins
2006 #Blues
2007 #Blackhawks
2008 #LightningHmm…
The next 5#isles, #Oilers x3, #Avs pic.twitter.com/WLTMqfLSa6— Paul Almeida (@AzorcanGlobal) September 29, 2020
The News and Rumors
- Bob McKenzie (TSN): “Imagine my surprise when I started making calls today and heard Jack Eichel trade rumors, including unverified chatter he may have at some point recently requested a trade out of BUF and that NYR were amongst interested teams. This, of course, required further investigation.”
BLH’s Thoughts: This was later debunked by the Bobfather, but Elliotte Friedman did say on Oilers Now last week that there are some unbelievable names being discussed right now. Eichel would definitely be one of those.
If I was GM of the Sabres and the Rangers wanted him, they’d have to give up at least Mika Zibanejad, Vitali Kravtsov and one of their young goalies or defensemen. I know that Zibanejad has a NMC, but I’m not moving Jack Eichel for a package of prospects. I need a top-line center AND a package of prospects. He’s too good and the Rangers would make bank like mad if Eichel played there.
Now, if you were the Oilers, would you offer Draisaitl and Nurse to Buffalo for Eichel AND Dahlin?
- Dan Murphy (Sportsnet): Canucks trying to move out salary. Heard a rumor that Vancouver offered Virtanen a 1yr deal. Likely they offer Stetcher a 2yr deal at slightly less than his qualifying offer.
BLH’s Thoughts: Is it just me or could the Canucks do better on the open market than Virtanen (who they can’t seem to get going) and Stetcher (same problem as Matt Benning below)… They’ve got Olli Juolevi and Brogan Rafferty bubbling up in the minors too…
- Jason Gregor (TSN): Oilers won’t give Matt Benning a qualifying offer at $2M, but there will be conversations to see if he will sign for less.
BLH’s Thoughts: If you were Benning, would you sign for less? He might have to because the market is going to be absolutely flooded with RHD this off-season who are as good as or better than Benning…
- Jeremy White (WGR550): “If you want some random Sabres chatter, some names for you here – Georgiev, Saad, Palmieri, Grzelcyk, Josh Anderson. Tire kicking and such.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Watch out, the Sabres have some serious cash to spend this summer ($33M). They could very well load up like crazy on free agents or take advantage of some teams who are in cap hell.
- Pierre LeBrun (TSN): Evan Rodrigues’ camp has had productive talks with the Maple Leafs. It’s unknown whether those will lead to a new deal. Toronto would want the AAV lower than his $2M qualifying offer.
- More LeBrun: Coyotes Bill Armstrong, “I think other people have really pushed OEL’s name out there because I haven’t. He’s a good player and I’m a big fan of his.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I think Armstrong is intimating that OEL’s agency are the ones advertising his availability… Yeah… Not sure if this marriage is good for much longer.
- LeBrun cont: Shayne Gostisbehere is available for trade and the Flyers show a serious willingness to trade him.
BLH’s Thoughts: Man, they’ve been trying to move this guy for what seems like forever. Look, he’s really good offensively. If a team who could afford to shelter him properly and give him a solid partner brought him in, I reckon he’d be a really good addition. Plus, he’s been in Philly too long now and could use a change of scenery to spice things up.
- Sara Civian (The Athletic): Goaltending options for the Hurricanes include: Matt Murray, Darcy Kuemper, Jacob Markstrom, and Marc-Andre Fleury.
BLH’s Thoughts: The Canes are in a really nice spot if they want to do something with their goaltending. Having James Reimer and his sub-million dollar paycheck this year is giving them quite the leverage. Freddy Andersen seems like he’d be a good fit with that club. Maybe that’s just me though.
- Josh Yohe (The Athletic): The Pittsburgh Penguins will try and include Jack Johnson in a trade. Likely to a team trying to reach the cap floor. They could end up packaging Johnson up in a Matt Murray trade.
BLH’s Thoughts: That just screams Ottawa, doesn’t it? They need a veteran defenseman and they’ve been rumored to be in on Murray…
Do you think Pens fans think about Sidney Crosby’s buddies being traded away as much as Oilers fans think about McDavid’s friends getting dealt?
- Adam Vingan (The Athletic): The Nashville Predators’ two 2nd round picks (37 and 42) are valuable trade chips that the Predators could end up flipping one of for immediate help.
BLH’s Thoughts: The Oilers need a 2nd round pick… Maybe they could offer a defender to Nashville for one of those picks and Kyle Turris at a discounted rate?
The Oilers Speculation
I’m wondering about the future of Oscar Klefbom right now. I understand that the Oilers would like to improve its back-end a bit and alter the makeup of the group and the sense I get is that there are some within the organization that are of the belief that Darnell Nurse still has a gear to his offensive game that is yet to be found. Therefore, Klefbom may very well be used to upgrade the club elsewhere.
That elsewhere may be on Edmonton’s wing and that upgrade could be Bruins RFA winger Jake DeBrusk.
When I asked a source a couple of weeks ago if DeBrusk could be had by the Oilers I was basically told, no way. Now, when I ask around, the replies are less certain…
The Bruins are on the hunt for a top-4 LHD now that Krug is heading elsewhere in search of $7M/yr and Klef has been a target of theirs since back in the early Chiarelli days.
Now, we know the two teams have been talking about a swap of wingers (Chiasson/Bjork), is it possible that the original deal has been killed and a new one involving DeBrusk and Klefbom been born out of it?
If the trigger is pulled on this sort of swap, who do you replace Oscar Klefbom with? Couple that mystery with the fact that it looks like Adam Larsson could be traded for a cheaper forward (Andreas Johnsson?) according to Bob Stauffer and Edmonton’s top-pair from last season is gone. That could be two 21-24 minutes/night d-men missing from next season’s lineup that need to be replaced if they’re traded for help on forward.
Who trades away a top-pairing like that unless they’ve got replacements lined up?
Nobody does that. I figure it’ll be one or the other (Klefbom or Larsson) if the return includes a LWer and I’ve only heard two names on defense consistently connected to the Oilers since they were eliminated from the qualifiers, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Tyson Barrie.
With all of that said, Ken Holland made a big move with Milan Lucic last off-season, will he pull another rabbit out of his hat again this off-season?
