Speculating from an Oilers fan’s perspective, BLH comments on the latest Edmonton Oilers news as well as the freshest NHL speculation featuring players such as Corey Perry, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Vince Dunn, and many more!
Strong, passionate, funny and loyal.@EdmontonOilers legend Joey Moss was the greatest person @89SGagner ever met. 🧡💙https://t.co/OVyMiSa3fP
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) October 28, 2020
The News and Rumors
- Frank Seravalli (TSN): There was some mutual interest between the Ottawa Senators and Corey Perry. It’s unclear if a deal will come to bear but the Sens will keep trying to get better.
- The Edmonton Oilers could seek out a different RW/LW trade as the one with Boston that is rumored to involved Alex Chiasson and Anders Bjork is up in the air with the Bruins holding all the cards.
BLH’s Thoughts: Corey Perry and Brady Tkachuk on the same team? FFS…
As for the Oilers rumor, we’ve talked about that in the past. I’m not so sure they’ll want to move Chiasson who’s a magic man on the PP apparently.
- Gino Reda (TSN): The 2021 Summer Olympics begin July 23rd and NBC will want the NHL season to be done before that, which may affect how many games can be played.
BLH’s Thoughts: This week some have been saying that this upcoming season won’t be shorter than 48 games. Most have landed in the 60+ range, but I wonder if they could manage a full season if the teams were in regional bubbles and there were more B2Bs or three games in four nights?
- Front Office Sports: ESPN is “increasingly interested in bidding for the NHL’s TV/Media rights when their 10-year/$2B dollar deal witih NBC expires after the 2020/21 season.
BLH’s Thoughts: NBC’s broadcasts don’t really do it for me. I’d be very interested in seeing what ESPN could do with the NHL. Surely they’d be a helluva lot more entertaining than NBC’s. I think the league should consider changing directions and appealing to a new demographic, a younger one.
- James Mirtle (The Athletic): It sounds like the Maple Leafs didn’t want to give up as much as Florida wanted for defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. Pretty close though.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Captain Obvious comment of the day goes to…
- Hockey Sverige: Oliver Ekman-Larsson says he put Boston and Vancouver on his list as alternatives, but he never really wanted to move. He wanted to stay in Arizona and is really glad it ended as it did.
BLH’s Thoughts: So, OEL is going to have a year to make a decision on where he’d like to play out the rest of his massive contract. The reason I say that is because there’s no doubt in my mind that the Coyotes will continue to encourage offers on their franchise player so that they can avoid the $47.5M that he’s due over the next five seasons…
- Arthur Staple (The Athletic): The Matt Martin, Andy Greene, Cory Schneider signings for the NY Islanders appear to be all but done. Reason for not filing yet is for cap flexibility for the Mat Barzal and Ryan Pulock contracts.
BLH’s Thoughts: I won’t even pretend to understand the financial dynamics of what Lou Lamoriello is doing here. I can assume that if he waits until the decisions on Barzal and Pulock have been made that he’ll be able to tweak some numbers here and there on the three veterans mentioned above.
- Boston Hockey Now: Based on the trade rumor vibe for the last week or so, one name to keep an eye on is St. Louis Blues defender Vince Dunn. The Blues want to keep him, but he may end up a cap casualty.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve been angling for the Oilers to make a deal for Vince Dunn since the season ended. I love the way he skates, his edges are phenomenal, he’s a fantastic puck mover too. Someone is going to get a good young defender in his prime on the cheap this summer.
The Blues have bungled up their defense some fierce this summer with their handling of Alex Pietrangelo and now Dunn. I mean, ask yourself, would you rather have Petro and Dunn or Krug and Faulk? I know who I’d rather have.
The Oilers Talk
Alex Galchenyuk signed for $50,000 more than what the Oilers got Tyler Ennis for. Galychenyuk is FIVE years younger than Ennis. Is it safe to say that maybe Oilers GM Ken Holland should’ve kept some powder dry so he could have an opportunity to sign some of these bargains?
On his radio show this evening, Jason Gregor threw out the notion of Edmonton circling back on Andreas Athanasiou. Conor Sheary is still out there as is Anthony Duclair and Dominik Kahun.
Now, I can understand why the coaches and GM would go for Ennis over Galchenyuk and my guess is that it has more to do with team dynamics than on-ice production. He can play on either of the top three lines and he’s a good vet to have around for young players like Jesse Puljujarvi and maybe more importantly, Kailer Yamamoto.
My question is, will the Edmonton-area product be anything more than David Desharnais?
Jesse Puljujarvi has to change his number when he gets back to Edmonton. #98 is Joey's number… #LetsGoOilers #Oilers
— Archivist🏒🥅 (@Archivistttt) October 29, 2020
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