Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from 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 Sportsnet
Here are a few rumors from Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts:
- 1. Nothing is done until it is done, but it sounds like Wayne Simmonds will be back in Toronto.
BLH’s Thoughts: I feel like Simmonds was very underwhelming this past year but he’s a gamer, he’ll stick up for his teammates, and he’s liked a respected in the locker room. I imagine Kyle Dubas is looking at what Corey Perry and Eric Staal are doing for the Habs and hoping that another year in Toronto for Simmonds will turn back the clock on his career for at least one more year. I don’t the guy, I’m just concerned he’s driving on his rims at this point.
- 2. This is what I can tell you about the rumours that Matthew Tkachuk wants out of Calgary: With Tkachuk, there’ve been firm denials. I do believe the Flames refused to include him in any Pierre-Luc Dubois trade talks last season.
BLH’s Thoughts: What I’d say to all these Tkachuk rumors is that there’s a chance he’s signaled to the club that he’d like to move on. Maybe he hasn’t walked into the GMs office and said to trade him, but in a more subtle manner has let the club know he’d be interested in playing somewhere else. Media guys rarely go on public radio and drop bombshells like that on their own because it can blow up in their face if what they say falls apart. So I think there’s some truth to the Tkachuk rumors.
- 3. Still hearing a lot of Philadelphia and Jones. The Flyers are definitely working at it.
BLH’s Thoughts: If Seth Jones is dealt to Philly, would the Flyers take a chance on his brother too? Chuck Fletcher has a couple of nice skaters on his team who’d look good in Edmonton, like Nolan Patrick.
- 6. Another name I’ve heard: Nashville’s Viktor Arvidsson. Tough, hard-working player. Three years left at $4.25 million.
BLH’s Thoughts: Send him to Edmonton, right now! I’d take a chance on Arvidsson’s ticket for the next three years at that price. I love this guy’s compete and he’s got a zippy little snap shot. Also, he reminds me of a Swedish version of Brendan Gallagher a bit.
- 7. There are definitely teams concerned that the Kraken will draft exposed players and flip them elsewhere. For example, would Seattle draft a Matt Dumba or a Mark Giordano, potentially eat some salary and take bids? Either player makes sense for someone like Edmonton.
BLH’s Thoughts: I told you to expect the unexpected, didn’t I? Yet there are still some folks out there who are disbelievers… Meh. If I were you, I would anticipate some more surprise names getting connected to the Oilers as we approach the expansion draft.
I like the idea of Edmonton acquiring one of these players but you’d have to wonder what the thought process would be though.
With Dumba, I get shades of Denis Potvin in his play. The former Red Deer Rebel is a hard MFer that takes no prisoners AND he can put up some offense. He’s still relatively young and I’m sure the expectation would be for him and Larsson to anchor the top two pairings on the right side. So would that mean Bear or Bouchard would move on or would they simply be left to master a role on the 3rd pairing with some special teams sprinkled in.
Mark Giordano could at least transition to the bottom pair and allow Bear or Bouchard the chance to earn that spot next to Darnell Nurse, right? He’d be a helluva mentor to have on the team though and acquiring him would carry on the team’s legacy of bringing in players who’ve seriously injured an Edmonton Oiler whilst playing on another club.
*LATE EDIT* I’m an idiot. I thought Giordano was a righty… My mistake. That said, I still think he’d have value on Edmonton’s 2nd pair and could still transition to the third pair.
I suppose the least savory options would be one of Bear or Bouchard moving on or Larsson not re-signing in Edmonton and if you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know where I stand on that.
- 10. I think New Jersey would consider moving the fourth-overall selection for a good, young defenceman.
BLH’s Thoughts: Is this how the Buffalo Sabres get another pick in the top-5 of the draft? Moving Rasmus Ristolainen for the #4?
- 11. Looks like there will be some churn among Carolina’s depth forwards. According to a Facebook post, Jordan Martinook’s family thinks he’s going to the open market, and there are Warren Foegele trade talks. Both player and team appear to want a change.
BLH’s Thoughts: Both of these players would be fantastic adds to the Oilers bottom-six. Foegele is a swiss-army knife and Martinook plays a similar game to Josh Archibald. Foegele has the size and some scoring whereas Martinook has the heart and the compete.
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