Edmonton Oilers Offseason Talk: Gudas, Mayfield, Nylander, 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!

Click the pic above and get your Vegas Golden Misfits t-shirt today!

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 Hockey Writers

3 Potential Trade Destinations for Cody Ceci

Detroit Red Wings – “They chose to trade Filip Hronek during a career year while he’s young and on the rise, leaving just Moritz Seider as the only clear RD the team has under contract next season.”
Minnesota Wild – “It is not an easy job to do, but they need value contracts in order to pull it off. With all the experience on the first pair for Edmonton, bringing in Ceci in a second-pairing role would benefit both parties.”
San Jose Sharks – “They are in desperate need of right defencemen and Ceci will cost them nearly nothing to acquire. The Sharks don’t necessarily care about winning at the moment, just developing the skilled young players they do have.

BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t know about you but I think Ken Holland is done dealing with the Red Wings unless it’s a clear win for Edmonton. Plus, Ceci doesn’t seem like the Yzerman type.

Minny’s got to stay competitive but at the same time work within the constraints of their cap. The feeling I get is that he’ll be forced into giving some young players more of an opportunity in 23/24. Another thign, Bill Guerin likes some bite to his boys and Ceci really doesn’t have a lot of that.

San Jose could be an option if the Oilers follow through on Karlsson but that’s the only way.

For me, Washington and Columbus might be better options considering their defense groups need a RHD and one with experience.

Oilersnation

Analyzing potential RD targets for the Edmonton Oilers

Damon Severson (NJ) – “Severson is a valuable asset. The fact that he can successfully defend zone entries and move the puck out of the DZ at a high volume instantly makes him a significantly better stylistic fit with Nurse than Ceci… Severson is prone to defensive gaffes and errors that lead to his goaltenders consistently posting a lower save percentage than expected with him on-ice.”
Dylan Demelo (WPG) – “Demelo is quite efficient at exiting the zone. Demelo certainly isn’t as good as Severson in zone exit volume, but he’s much better at limiting turnovers, and he’s fantastic at shutting down top lines.”
Radko Gudas (FLA) – “Using his size and physicality, Gudas is a reliable defender that can very effectively defend zone entries, and he’s also above-average at retrieving pucks in the DZ… However, Gudas doesn’t play significant minutes against top opposition… Additionally, zone exits are not his strongest suit.”
Scott Mayfield (NYI) – “Mayfield is a player that’s gained a lot of trust from his coaches, playing a higher portion of his TOI against elite competition than various defencemen like Makar, Hedman, Slavin, Fox, and so on… In these minutes, Mayfield’s impact on driving scoring chances has been quite strong, ranking in the 86th percentile. He’s also quite aggressive at defending the blueline… Mayfield mightily struggles with breakouts. He’s ranked near the bottom of the league at exiting the zone with possession, while he’s also a bit prone to turning the puck over or icing it as he attempts to exit.”
Brandon Carlo (BOS) – “Carlo’s impact on both goal and expected goal differential rank in the top third of the league. That said, Carlo is mediocre at breakout passing and doesn’t play a significant amount of time against top opposition.”

BLH’s Thoughts: This is exactly the kind of article I was hoping would pop up. Kudos to Sid for doing this one up and specifically for the graphics included.

Look, Demelo as the third-pairing dman would be dreamy and it would mean Edmonton’s defense is complete. Won’t happen but I just want to throw that out there.

Radko Gudas would make the in-division battles all the more fun to watch but at the same time one has to wonder, given his playing style, if the other team’s elite would eat him up? All that said, is Vinnie Desharnais being developed for this sort of role at a fraction of the price?

We’ve spoken about Severson already this week, so we’ll skip him today.

Brandon Carlo doesn’t really do much for me at that price point.

Personally, I like Mayfield. I’ve liked him for a few years now because he’s a straight-up defensive dman that’s built for rock em’ sock em’ playoff hockey. In that series vs. Carolina, their little skilled guys (aka Seb Aho) skated circles around New York’s big dmen. I reckon he’d thrive in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference but my concern echoes Sid’s. If he’s going to partner Nurse, the Oilers are going to be playing in their zone a lot thanks to all the unforced icings.

Could an Ekholm/Mayfield shutdown pairing work? Would Nurse allow himself to trust Evan Bouchard to move the puck instead of himself?

Trade Rumors

Spector’s Hockey

The next Leafs GM has to decide whether to trade Mitch Marner or Michael Nylander if they won’t stick with the core four. Nylander is the more spectacular player who can change a playoff game. Marner is a better all-around player but has not yet become a postseason game-changer.
Pierre LeBrun looked at recent conjecture over possible candidates to fill the Leafs’ vacant post of general manager. He claims there have been rumblings linking them to St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong.
Frank Seravalli reports the St. Louis Blues are willing to move their two late first-round picks to improve in the short term. They acquired those picks from the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs.

BLH’s Thoughts: Even if the Leafs were granted permission to talk to Armstrong, there’s no chance STL would allow him to work the draft. So what’s the point really? Maybe wait a year and if the Blues are still living in the basement of the West, he’ll get let go and they could have a run at him then.

Mitch Marner is going to bring the Leafs much more in a trade than Nylander will and I think Willy is the new Kessel anyhow. Whereas if they trade Marner, his on-ice value will be missed infinitely more and all Marner needs is one good productive series and a run that goes into the 2nd round that doesn’t see him disappear; then the narrative will flip.

Toronto needs to find their Patrice Bergeron or their Joe Pavelski. They were a tad early when Joe Thornton and Jason Spezza were there but for me, those are the kind of veteran forwards they should be looking for. Might not hurt to take a look at Winnipeg’s roster in that case.