June 9, 2022 /

Edmonton Oilers Offseason Talk: Oilers Unwilling to go Long-Term w/Kane and Puljujarvi to Chicago?

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, and The Daily Goal Horn just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

The Athletic

Oilers end-of-season takeaways: Jay Woodcroft’s future, trading Jesse Puljujarvi
  • Holland felt as though Puljujarvi lost his confidence in the New Year.
  • The right winger was in COVID-19 protocol during the December holiday break and then suffered a lower-body injury that cost him 12 games until he returned March 17.
  • Woodcroft said that injury impacted Puljujarvi’s skating and took him a while to get back to full speed. He also missed three games near the end of the regular season with an illness, which Woodcroft felt hindered the winger as well.
  • Holland sounded like someone who’s almost less certain about what he has in Puljujarvi now than when he arrived in Edmonton three years ago. Woodcroft seems more bullish on him.
    • “We have a strong belief in the next wave of young players coming through our organization — and Jesse’s one of them.”
  • …there are only two that were meaningful contributors in the playoffs and would warrant consideration for the Oilers to re-sign: Evander Kane and Brett Kulak.
  • The Oilers, I’m told, aren’t willing to go long term on Kane. They’re more willing to consider short- and potentially medium-term options.
  • Though Barrie is a trade possibility, retaining Kulak likely wouldn’t allow much flexibility to alter the blue line — aside from allowing a rookie like Philip Broberg, Markus Niemelainen, or Dmitri Samorukov to win a job.
  • Assuming Klefbom’s career is over — Holland said he’s earmarking the last season defenceman’s $4.167 million for LTIR — moving that contract might be helpful.
  • As noted Tuesday, Mike Smith is considering not playing next season. If he retired, the last season of his contract and a $2.2 million cap hit would be wiped out. There’s the possibility he could end up on LTIR, too.
  • There appear to be three players under contract for 2022-23 (and an additional season, too) who are prime candidates to be moved to create more cap space.

BLH’s Thoughts: Let’s say Ken Holland could clear another $7M of cap space, would you be willing to walk away from Evander Kane and use the financial assets available to shore up the team’s depth and defense? This is something TSN’s Ryan Rishaug sort of brought up on the Jason Gregor Show yesterday. 

Another idea floating around in the event Edmonton lets Kane explore the market is targeting Florida’s upstart winger and the son of former Edmonton Oiler Bryan Marchment, Mason Marchment. He’s 6’4″ 201lbs, 27 years old and he scored 47pts in 54 games this past year after the Toronto Maple Leafs gave up on him. Marchment also plays both wings and is an unrestricted free agent. 

Personally, I think the Oilers should try to bring in one or two really good vets for the middle/bottom six.

  • Paul Stastny is reportedly looking to move on from WPG.
  • a dream addition would be Ondrej Palat (TB).
  • The quick and shifty Vlad Namestnikov (DAL) really impressed me in his club’s first round series vs. Calgary after he grabbed Nikita Zadorov out of a scrum. Courageous fella. 

  • Mattias Janmark (VGK) is an annoying winger that would surely draw a few penalties.
  • Pittsburgh’s Evan Rodrigues can skate like the wind and he was a 40pt winger for the Pens last year for only $1M.
  • There’s always Stauffer’s fav, Nick Paul out of Tampa. 

As for dman set to hit the market, Erik Gudbranson performed really well for Calgary last year and the Oilers don’t have a cycle breaker like him with his kind of experience. If they could move Tyson Barrie, having Brett Kulak or Duncan Keith and Gudbranson on the 3rd pair wouldn’t be that shabby. I’d still like to see Ken Holland trade for Islanders shutdown defender Scott Mayfield, but I’d also be happy with Guddy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQZIf7zAR-Y

Edmonton Sun

Ken Holland uncertain on Jesse Puljujarvi’s future with Edmonton Oilers
  • He did some good regular-season things with McDavid, for sure, and he’s a good defensive player, but he’s also a busy-looking player who didn’t get much done with the puck on his stick in January, February, March, April and May and into June.
  • …there were many playoff games where his shifts were very short and it seemed he just wanted to get off before making a possible mistake because he had little confidence with the puck.
  • …would there be any appetite for a Dylan Strome for Puljujarvi trade?
  • Strome has played 270 games, Puljujarvi 259. Strome has 170 points, Puljujarvi 98. Puljujarvi skates better; Strome has more offensive chops so far.
  • Is he a legitimate top-six winger who can provide offence or a third-line forward who has to start killing penalties to get more ice-time?

BLH’s Thoughts: Jason Gregor made an interest point on his show yesterday with regards to Jesse’s defensive chops, he said if Pulju is so good defensively, why has he never been put on the penalty kill? 

It’s a question I’ve wondered myself over the years because he’s so good at disrupting plays and he’s got that massive wingspan. My feeling is that he lacks a bit of fast twitch that is needed to be part of the PK. That said, I do recall Bob Stauffer mentioning something about JP getting some TOI on the PK in 2022/23. 

But what about keeping him and asking him to get in touch with a skills coach over the summer. A lot of pundits are screaming about how much better Kailer Yamamoto was this year but the fact of the matter is Yamo only had five more points (41) than Jesse (36) did and he had to play 16 more games to do it. 

Maybe Holland keeps JP because his RW depth is not great and Jesse knows the systems and is willing to do whatever is asked of him. Pulju isn’t going to hit it out of the park with his next deal either, so he becomes a bargain.

I often say I’d like to see Jesse move on and there’s a strong feeling that Edmonton may move on from him, but I still believe there’s a player here that simply needs to get his chops. However, I understand why portions of the fanbase and media would like to see him moved on. Both Ryan Rishaug (TSN) and Brenden Escott (Oilers Now) let it be known that they felt too many plays died on Pulju’s stick this year and I can’t say it’s not something I noticed too. Jess seemed very tentative when he got the puck and on top of that, I wondered why his shifts are so short… Did he feel like if he was out too long he might screw up and cost the team?

As for Matheson’s trade proposal, if the Oilers are going to trade Jesse, they need to get back more than a prospect or a draft pick. This kind of trade would require a player coming back to Edmonton that could contribute immediately. Dylan Strome had 48pts in 69 games last year, maybe he’s turning a corner. 

Wildcard trade idea: Kirby Dach for Puljujarvi… I’ve heard there are some whispers Chicago would be willing to move him as he’s not quite producing like the Blackhawks thought he would. Plus if you recall, Bob Stauffer brought his name up around the trade deadline if I’m not mistaken. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQpJk96ESa0

Trade Rumors

Spector’s Hockey
  • The New Jersey Devils have been mentioned as a potential suitor for Gaudreau given their salary-cap room. LeBrun also suggested the Seattle Kraken as a bit of a wild card but they also have the cap space and could be aggressive in the UFA market.
  • Montreal Hockey Now’s Jimmy Murphy suggested Puljujarvi could be a fit with the rebuilding Canadiens. Sammi Silber of Washington Hockey Now thinks the Capitals should keep an eye on the Oilers winger.
NHLRumors.com

BLH’s Thoughts: Pulju to MTL, eh? Could the Habs be interested in a package that includes JP and Tyson Barrie for Brendan Gallagher? 

If the Capitals were a team to come calling for JP, you’d have to think Ken Holland would be asking for Connor McMichael or Ilya Samsonov. 

With regards to the goaltending, I don’t get the feeling Mike Smith will be pulling on an Oilers jersey next season if he pulls one on at all. I’ve considered Jack Campbell because it seems like every player that leaves Toronto for Edmonton these days does pretty good, but his contract demands might be too rich for the Oilers. I really like Husso but that lack of experience and his less-than-stellar post-season has me second thinking him.

Braden Holtby and Scott Wedgewood are probably the two I’d sign if I were Ken Holland. Holtby has a ton of experience to pass down to Stu Skinner and Wedgewood is a fantastic no.3 that could shuttle between the AHL and NHL if need be. 

Seattle Karen
The new NHL franchise in Seattle already has their AHL affiliate worked out! Click the pick and grab a Karen shirt today!

CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

Tags2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs 2022 Western Conference Final Cale Makar Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers Edmonton Oilers Rumors Leon Draisaitl Nathan MacKinnon NHL NHL Rumors

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!