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 The Cult of Hockey
Duncan Keith open to trade to Western Canada but do Edmonton Oilers make sense? Hmm
Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports: “Keith’s family lives in Penticton, BC, and his son stayed there this season. As his career winds down, it would make sense he’d want to be closer to family. Trading Keith would also open up a protection spot, allowing the Hawks to protect Murphy, Zadorov AND Stillman.”
Did we not hear Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland recently wax poetic about the need for greybeards on a team? Keith is one of the greyest beards in the NHL. He will soon be 38-year-old. But he’s also got two years left on a deal that pays him $5.5 million per year. That is an awfully steep cap hit to pay for a d-man on his last NHL legs. But maybe Edmonton can move out an iffy contract, such as the James Neal deal or the Mikko Koskinen deal, in a trade for Keith.
It could also be that in the right situation where he’s not counted on to be a minute muncher that Keith could still help a team. But, it seems, the Oilers already have a wily, old veteran in that role, Kris Russell. I’m not sure that Keith is a fit here. I suspect younger, cheaper Slater Koekkoek is a better bet. But, again, I have not put in the work to properly assess Keith. I can only guess at his true level of talent.
BLH’s Thoughts: Expect the unexpected, right? I mean, Keith being traded to the Oilers isn’t out of the realm of possibility especially if there’s a team that would be willing to act as an intermediary to facilitate the financial part of the deal. In my opinion, it’s that or the Hawks take back a big ticket from Edmonton.
Now, for those who think that Keith might be over the hill, he didn’t look that way in the bubble and you never know with this wily vets. Just look at the old guys playing in the Cup final right now… The 38yr old can still skate and is one of the fittest players in the entire league, why couldn’t he contribute on Edmonton’s 2nd pair next season?
Duncan Keith is a champion and will be a HOFer someday as well. Could you ask for a better mentor with the likes of Evan Bouchard and Philip Broberg just starting their careers?
From Oilers Now
Ryan Murray Speculation
- “There is a player out there with a connection to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jake DeBrusk represented by the same agency that was a 2nd overall pick that is a pretty steady left-shot defenseman that might be right in the wheelhouse financially as to what the Oilers can afford, Ryan Murray.” – Bob Stauffer (630CHED)
BLH’s Thoughts: Louie DeBrusk said he’d be in favor of Edmonton bringing Murray in and I’m sure there are some amateur scouts that’d support the move too given at the 2012 draft he was the guy they wanted to pick instead of Nail Yakupov.
For me, he’s a steady Eddie type. He doesn’t do anything spectacular and if he can stay healthy, I don’t see why he couldn’t fit into this Edmonton roster and succeed.
Now, DeBrusk did also say that he’d only give him a short-term deal to see how he fared too. So there’s some yellow flags on this player around the league as it stands, but that said, a two year deal wouldn’t hurt if the plan is to develop Philip Broberg into a 2nd pair two-way defenseman on this team.
I don’t know if you’re paying close close attention to the names being bandied about by the media (Giordano, Keith, Dumba, Murray, etc) in connection to the Oilers, but I feel like there’s a bit of a theme going on and that gives me somewhat of an idea as to the direction they’re going with regards to their offseason. My spidey senses are screaming, “EXPERIENCED, RELIABLE, VETERAN!” and that makes perfect sense seeing how the Oilers were removed from Stanley Cup contention two years in a row at the first opportunity.
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