On the June 8th episode of Oilers NOW Host Bob Stauffer and NHL insider Elliotte Friedman were conversing about the Jordan Eberle/New York Islanders rumors and they had this to say:
EF: The one interesting one, and you (Stauffer) could answer this as much as anyone. You know Kelly Buchberger is going to the island, he’s going to be the assistant coach. What was their (Buchberger/Eberle) relationship like?
BS: Hmph. Yup! That brings up a good point.
EF: You know I heard they butted heads periodically, which isn’t necessarily a big deal. Everybody butt heads. You look at Malkin and Kessel in this final and in the last round they butted heads at times. Is it a good butting of heads or is it an edgy butting of heads?
BS: How important is it for the Islanders to upgrade their, you know, their offense?
EF: I think it’s important to them. I definately think it’s important to them to upgrade their offense but I wonder, if Buchberger’s going there, and he is; how do Eberle and him feel about each other? Is that a mix?
BS: I think that is a completely fair question.
EF: So that’s the one thing I’ve wondered about with Edmonton and the Islanders. I know they’ve (Eberle/Buchberger) battled a bit before but again, I don’t know if that’s good or bad? Like, it just might be something.
skip ahead to about the 13:50 mark to hear the above.
I’ll be honest, I had no idea Bucky and Eberle were getting into it when Buchberger was behind the bench. Man Alive! That’s 6 years of butting heads… Eberle might’ve been biting off more than he can chew there… That said, he stayed on while Buchberger was moved along.
I wanted to find a fight that Buchberger didn’t get his ass handed to him but it took me a while to find one that was a draw at least. I give him credit though. He must’ve had balls the size of Saskatoon because he fought above his weight far too many times and rarely won. Check out his profile on Hockeyfights.com.
Anyways, Elliotte Friedman isn’t the only insider quashing the Eberle to the Islanders rumors as B.D. Gallof, a writer for the Islesbeat.com, had this to say on Twitter:
when you hear Eberle rumors connected with #isles – its bc Chiarelli seems to like leaking it. doesn't mean not interested, just EDM a sieve
— B.D. Gallof (@BDGallof) June 8, 2017
I'd think Tatar, RFA over in Detroit, has to be top of their list, well above any interest in Eberle for #isles (Detroit needs D)
— B.D. Gallof (@BDGallof) June 8, 2017
I don’t believe the Isles are where Eberle will end up anyhow, it’s just a convenient locale given Travis Hamonic would be the perfect return for Edmonton and the Isles need to move a dman before the expansion draft. I do wonder about Carolina though…
There’s a spot open in the Hurricanes top 6, unless you consider Joakim Nordstrom better, and the ‘Canes could use some scoring. Friedman did say mention Noah Hanifin’s name yesterday as well… Not saying that would be a one-for-one deal but I’m sure you could come up with something.
