“If things get bad enough, GM Ken Holland might want to see what’s out there in terms of help on the market.” Says One Oilers Blogger

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Lowetide.ca

The current Condors have airmailed three players to Edmonton already (McLeod, Skinner and Broberg) with Samorukov or Niemelainen candidates for recall later in the year.
Oilers should have four excellent forwards to add in 2022 (Holloway, Bourgault, Savoie and Tullio) but need more to throw against the wall.
Ken Holland’s 50-man list isn’t a big one. Is he saving those spots (seven available) for the spring and college signings?
Oilers signed two college men in the last signing season, Dylan Holloway and Mike Kesselring. In the months to come, perhaps Holland will sign Marc McLaughlin from Boston College or Brandon Scanlin from Nebraska-Omaha.

BLH’s Thoughts: Jason Gregor was saying on his radio show recently that Niemelainen looks like an Erik Cernak-like player from his limited viewings of the Condors and wouldn’t you know it, somebody close to this blog has been saying the Oilers need just this type of player all season.

Do you think it’s possible that the Oilers will send Broberg back to the AHL once Darnell Nurse is back in around 10-14 days and recall one of Niemelainen or Samorukov?

It’d really be something if Holland wasn’t forced to spend valuable futures on vets if the kids bubbling under could come up and fill the desired hole in the lineup.

Sportsnet

Oilers getting important contributions from confident AHL call-ups

(Ken) Holland’s rule of thumb is, only call ‘em up once. That means, leave a young player in the minors long enough so that when he gets the call he’s ready — and he doesn’t have to go back.
Now, it doesn’t work out every time. But even when a player can’t make it in Edmonton, the AHL seasoning still serves him well upon his return to Bakersfield.

“Look at (Ryan) McLeod right now,” said Tippett. “He didn’t have the best camp — more was expected of him — he went down for a bit, came back up and bow his game is really picking up.” – Dave Tippet, Edmonton Oilers Head Coach

Skinner has shown up and been every bit as good in his four starts, posting a .939 save percentage and a 2.08 goals-against average.
It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, when you think about it: Build a better team, and it’s easier for young players to step in and play. Develop your young players longer and better, and they’ll help make you a better team.

BLH’s Thoughts: Adding to that last point, there’s a caveat, you’ve got to have good scouts on hand and an above average player development program. If one or both of those are poor, it won’t matter how many draft picks and prospects you’ve got marinating in your system to go along with your “better team”, the odds of them turning into contributing NHL players will be low.

The players will show you at some point or another that they’ve got what it takes. For example, I might have the year wrong, but I think the year after or two years after Ryan McLeod was drafted, there was talk he might stick with the Oilers because he was having a very good training camp. Last season, Stu Skinner was one of the best, if not the best, goalies in the AHL.

On the other hand, skaters like Benson and Marody, who’ve dominated in the AHL, never really shined in their appearances in prior seasons. Benson is waiver-eligible this year and there’s a legit worry he’ll get claimed, so I would venture a guess as to that being the reason he’s stuck with the Oilers this year.

I reckon the deal with Edmonton and the rate at which they’re developing players might have something to do with the role they’re being developed for. For years, the club forced young players into spots they couldn’t handle and now that’s changing.

That being said, the club has three very high-end forwards coming soon, Dylan Holloway, Carter Savoie, and Xavier Bourgault. These are players who are slated to be top-six contributors and the Oilers are pretty sorted there… So I’m wondering how they will bring this trio along in the coming years.

NHLTradeTalk

Rangers Trade Options at Forward: Calle Jarnkrok or Marcus Johansson of the Seattle Kraken, Chris Tierney from the Ottawa Senators, Nino Niederreiter from the Carolina Hurricanes, Phil Kessel from the Arizona Coyotes, Dylan Strome from the Chicago Blackhawks, Artturi Lehkonen from the Montreal Canadiens, and Gabriel Vilardi of the Los Angeles Kings are all names the Rangers might want to consider.
Narrative Around Nurse’s Salary Changing After Injury: When he signed his new long-term deal, fans in Edmonton (mostly fans outside Edmonton) were quick to say the term was too long and the money too much… When it was announced he broke his finger, Oilers Nation went into immediate panic mode. How were the Oilers going to replace his minutes? The answer wasn’t obvious, but it seems to be by committee… While Nurse’s injury isn’t deemed to be long-term, it’s long enough that the Oilers could lose some of the early points they’ve banked this season. If things get bad enough, GM Ken Holland might want to see what’s out there in terms of help on the market.
Islanders Looking to Fill Hole on Defense via Trade: Arthur Staple of The Athletic writes that GM Lou Lamoriello might be up for replacing the player in the short term in an effort to make sure the season doesn’t slip away… Staple suggests that Arizona Coyotes’ d-man Jakob Chychrun would be the Islanders’ home run get… Also on Staple’s list is pending UFA John Klingberg of the Dallas Stars, veteran UFA Mark Giordano of Seattle. Some other names that Staple called smaller adds were Vince Dinn (Seattle), Ben Chiarot (Montreal) and Marco Scandella (St. Louis).