Edmonton Oilers Talk: 2022 Draft, Carter Savoie, Andrei Kuzmenko, and More!!!

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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The Hockey Writers

Oilers’ Top NCAA Prospect Carter Savoie Could Turn Pro After Frozen Four

Appearing between periods during the Sportsnet TV broadcast of Edmonton’s game against the San Jose Sharks Tuesday (April 5), Oilers radio commentator Bob Stauffer said he believes there could be several players from the Frozen Four signing NHL deals as early as the beginning of next week.
“I think Savoie has to consider looking at signing with the Oilers and get going,” Stauffer said. “The Oilers are light on the left side, in the future, and there could be an opportunity for him right away.”
For his part, the 20-year-old Savoie sounded genuinely uncertain about his future when he was a guest recently on TSN 1260 radio. Asked by host Jason Gregor if he would be returning to Denver for his junior year, Savoie said he was not sure. “I think I’ve learned a lot here, and I don’t want to give up on that.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I was passed along a note from a source of mine last night that said a three year ELC is all but signed and Savoie will report to Bakersfield after his season with Denver is over.

So you can take that for what it’s worth. The Condors are going to have some elite scoring talent on their roster next year if Savoie, Lavoie, Holloway, Tullio, Bourgault, and possibly Petrov join the team. Although, I reckon Petrov will head back to the OHL because there’s probably more value in him playing 20+ minutes a night there than 3rd line minutes in Bako.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEa31snpVaM

Oil on Whyte

Oilers Draft Candidates: 2022 NHL Entry Draft

Denton Mateychuk – Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
- Mateychuk, 17, is a left handed D man with the Warriors in the Western Hockey League.
- He currently averages a point per game through 61 games, with 11 goals and 50 assists.
- He is seen as a two way player, who not only has a good stride and impressive offensive impact, but can become a shutdown defensemen in clutch scenarios when his team needs him the most.

Jagger Firkus – Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
- Firkus, 17, is a right handed forward with the Warriors, and has been one of their strongest and best players all around, as well as one of their most important on the impressively stacked team.
- Through 64 games this season in the Western League, Firkus has 79 points and is currently on pace for 84 as they finish out their regular season.

Lian Bichsel – Leksands IF J20 (SWI)
- Bichsel, 17, is a left handed D man playing in Switzerland.
- The one thing specifically that stands out about him is his height, standing tall at 6’5, and weighing in around 220 pounds.
- Although not having a strong offensive side, Bichsel is a shut down player, and is expected to be picked in the top 25.

BLH’s Thoughts: I still like Quebec Remparts center Nathan Gaucher if the Oilers keep their pick in the first round this year, but I am wondering about Finnish/Canadian center Brad Lambert. This guy’s stock is dropping like crazy and personally, I don’t think he’ll fall to the Oilers but if he does, maybe that’s the kind of talent you take a swing at. I just remember Sean Couturier dropping and look how that’s turned out. That said, Joe Veleno dropped for Detroit and he’s not exactly blown anybody’s mind since turning pro.

Filip Mesar is a dynamic right-wing who might remind folks of a guy Edmonton played last night, a Swede by the name of Arvidsson. Thing with him is that the Oilers would have to be okay with the fact that he’s not Jere Lehtinen. Meaning, they’d need to develop him according to his strengths and he’s pure offense.

Another forward I feel like digging into is Jimmy Snuggerud. He’s got good size (6’2″, 180lbs) and an NHL shot already. Preliminary reports make me feel like he’s a very similar player to former Oiler Bill Guerin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npw-UZNMyko

Trade Rumors

The Hockey Writers: According to Dan Rosen of NHL.com, “I think [Filip] Forsberg will eventually re-sign with the Nashville Predators.”
- Rosen also believes that most of the big names in the Blackhawks trade rumor mill aren’t going to ultimately be moved. He thinks all of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Alex DeBrincat will stick around and says that the trades for Kane and Toews in particular are difficult to make because they both need to ask to be traded and the NHL salary cap is an issue.
NHLRumors.com: Chris Johnston says that pending KHL free agent Andrei Kuzmenko is being watched by NHL teams. SKA St. Petersburg has moved onto the third round.
- “He had over a point per game this year in the KHL. I think what’s interesting is that even with the situation with Russia having invaded Ukraine, it doesn’t seem to have scared teams off at this point.”

BLH’s Thoughts: We know the Oilers are very interested in Kuzmenko and Ken Holland’s relationship with the Russian’s agent, Dan Milstein, could come in handy here. Now, with that in mind, the feeling I get is that if Holland wants Kuzmenko, it’ll come at the cost of Evander Kane and vice versa. So, it’s basically pick your poison and I would imagine that Kuzmenko would rather get a deal done sooner than later and that in itself could take Edmonton out of the running for the skilled winger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abl4F9RFgUA