Edmonton Oilers Talk: Adding a Top-four Dman, Nuge’s Comps, and Does OEL Hold the Key to Taylor Hall’s Future?

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!

https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/1409942818076839938

From Sportsnet

Cap Comparables: Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins inks unique contract

Nugent-Hopkins is the 20th UFA eligible forward to sign either a seven- or eight-year contract in the past five calendar years.

He is currently the youngest of all those players and has the lowest average annual value (AAV). His $5.125-million hit amounts to just 6.3 per cent of his team’s total cap at the time of the signing.

Here are those 20 players, ordered from highest to lowest AAV with their age at the time of the signing in parentheses:

– Artemi Panarin (27) seven years, $11.642M cap hit through 2026
– John Tavares (27) seven years, $11M cap hit through 2025
– Tyler Seguin (27) eight years, $9.85M cap hit through 2027
– Mark Stone (27) eight years, $9.5M cap hit through 2027
– Jamie Benn (27) eight years, $9.5M cap hit through 2025
– Jeff Skinner (27) eight years, $9M cap hit through 2027
– Steven Stamkos (26) eight years, $8.5M cap hit through 2024
– Matt Duchene (29) seven years, $8M cap hit through 2026
– Logan Couture (30) eight years, $8M cap hit through 2027
– Kevin Hayes (27) seven years, $7.142M cap hit through 2026
– Anders Lee (28) seven years, $7M cap hit through 2026
– Evander Kane (26) seven years, $7M cap hit through 2025
– Brayden Schenn (28) eight years, $6.5M cap hit through 2028
– Chris Kreider (29) seven years, $6.5M cap hit through 2027
– Brad Marchand (29) eight years, $6.125M cap hit through 2025
– Milan Lucic (28) seven years, $6M cap hit through 2023
– Kyle Okposo (28) seven years, $6M cap hit through 2023
– T.J. Oshie (30) eight years, $5.75M cap hit through 2025
– Andrew Ladd (30) seven years, $5.5M cap hit through 2023
– Nugent-Hopkins (28) eight years, $5.125M cap hit through 2029

BLH’s Thoughts: It’s funny what a pandemic will do to the financial landscape of a professional hockey club. Look at all the players who are going to fail to live up to those contracts… Wow!

That said, I think Nuge was forced to look reality in the eye a bit here whereas the Oilers were fine with adding term to that deal. Ken Holland won that deal for his organization because he got Nuge to sign for his price point and most likely he won’t be the GM of the team when RNH’s contract expires.

From The Oilers Rig

Oilers Looking For Defensive Help?

This off-season is arguably the biggest off-season in Edmonton Oilers history. The decisions made by Ken Holland will likely determine if the Oilers can win the franchise’s sixth Stanley Cup in the next five years. Effectively, this summer sets the table for the ‘McDavid window’.

Could Edmonton really be interested in Giordano or Dumba? Both are top-four defensemen, but do they give the Oilers what they need?

While Giordano is not a long-term solution, there is a case to be made that he is a perfect fit for the club for a season or two. His underlying numbers are still solid, and while he isn’t the elite defenseman he once was, he’s still a solid player. Again, Seattle would have to eat some of the salary in any ‘flip’ scenario, but the Oilers could do a lot worse than Giordano as the second left side defenseman behind Nurse.

The fit for Giordano is obvious. The fit for Dumba is less obvious. Dumba is a right-shot defenseman, and the Oilers already have Bear and Bouchard under contract for 2021-22. With Bouchard playing every night now a priority, and the club trying to re-sign Adam Larsson, where Dumba fits in is a big question.

If Klefbom’s career is over, which seems more and more likely by the day, then Holland clearly believes that he needs to add a top-four defenseman. There is smoke here, as Friedman normally wouldn’t just toss something like that out there.

BLH’s Thoughts: As usual, Alex says what I wanted to say yesterday in my posts but a million times better.

Remember, expect the unexpected… Is there a way that the Oilers could find themselves with both Mark Giordano AND Matthew Dumba or something that equates to that?

I’m a little less concerned about the “McDavid Window” that most, but it’s a point that can’t go ignored. That said, as much as everybody wants to treat this roster build as a race, it’s not that simple and considering it a marathon is a much safer bet in the salary cap world.

Just look at Tampa Bay. How long did it take them to go from basement dwellers to playoff contenders to Stanley Cup contenders to Stanley Cup favorites and ultimately, champions?

Trying to go from point A to point Z in two or three years is unrealistic. You don’t run before you walk and one cannot learn without making mistakes and falling down along the way.

From The Daily Faceoff

> The Boston Bruins may revisit trade talks on Arizona Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The bigger question: Could a potential package include winger and Boston native Conor Garland? The Bruins are believed to have interest in both.

One way to better pique the interest of the Bruins? Include Garland in the conversation. It’s clear that Garland is on his way out of the desert. The scrappy Scituate, Mass., native has enjoyed success in a Bruins jersey before – racking up 42 goals and 94 points in just 40 games in a season with the Boston Jr. Bruins playing alongside Jack Eichel. (He actually outscored Eichel that season.)

BLH’s Thoughts: If the Bruins find a way to bring both OEL and Conor Garland to Boston, does that mean they’re out on Taylor Hall? If so, what does that say for Hall if a team like Boston are willing to walk away thus forcing him to join his FIFTH TEAM IN THREE YEARS?

Read that again… If Boston doesn’t bring Taylor Hall back next season, he’ll be on his fifth team in three years. That’s bloody ridiculous and surely what he’d be able to demand on the open market as a free agent would come down significantly. Good news for a certain Northern Alberta team?

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