The Latest on Tayor Hall
Chris Johnston from Sportsnet is saying that it could take 3-4 pieces to acquire Hall and that the Colorado Avalanche appear to be the front-runners for the former league MVP.
“The feeling in the industry … is that the Colorado Avalanche are the favourites right now pushing to try to get Taylor Hall; perhaps as soon as the Christmas break, which starts Dec. 19,” Johnston said.
Scribes out of Colorado are split on the idea of bringing Hall in. Mike Chambers (Denver Post) said Hall would be the perfect addition to Nathan MacKinnon’s left-wing but Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater reckons re-signing Hall could offer problems when it comes time to re-up the Avs’ other big guns like MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog, and Cale Makar.
BLH’s Thoughts: The Oilers have just recalled defenseman Caleb Jones and sent struggling Swedish dman Joel Persson back to Bakersfield (AHL). It’s odd because Jones and Persson had just swapped rosters very recently, this tells me that Jones is possibly being showcased for the Devils. Is that for a Taylor Hall trade? Possibly. I think that there’s a different line in the sand for each team that is asking about Hall and Edmonton’s is the one that Chris Johnston is talking about above since they’re unwilling to include Philip Broberg or Evan Bouchard in a trade. If I had to guess what those pieces might be, I think that Jesse Puljujarvi, Caleb Jones, a conditional first-round pick, and a player who is on a larger contract but is expendable (Gagner, Manning, Chiasson, Russell?), would be who the Oilers are content to send over for Hall with 50% retention on his salary.
Long-term, is Jones in the Oilers plans? We know Puljujarvi isn’t and what are the odds that the first-round pick becomes a better player than Hall? This sort of deal clears out a bit of space for Ken Holland to continue his re-vamping of the Oilers roster and I am of the belief that Hall would sign a contract with the Oilers that would be considered “team-friendly” and at a discount. Think what Leon Draisaitl makes which is $8.5M last I checked.
Galchenyuk Soon to be an Ex-Penguin?
Elliotte Friedman has reported that Nail Yakupov’s BFF is on the outs in Pittsburgh and the Buffalo Sabres are interested. The upcoming UFA has absolutely hit the skids since being dealt from Montreal for Max Domi last year and even playing him on the wing with mega stars like Sid Crosby and Evgeni Malkin hasn’t helped.
“I do think Buffalo was one of the teams that looked at him,” Friedman said during the Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada. “I’m sure there’s more. But Galchenyuk is someone who could be finding a new home.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Some might say that if you can’t score on Sid’s wing, who can you score with? It’s not easy to play with elite players, even for skilled wings like Galchenyuk but this player is on his third team in a year and that leads me to believe there’s something else going on. When his own GM is saying that there isn’t a fit for him on Malkin’s wing and that he’ll have to work very hard just to get into Pittsburgh’s top-12, that’s a good indication that things aren’t working out. Might they send the former 3rd overall pick to Buffalo for former Pen, Conor Sheary?
Could the Rangers move Buchnevich and/or Howden?
In the post below, Rangers beat writer Larry Brooks muses about the futures of forwards Pavel Buchnevish and Brett Howden.
Buchnevich is a taffy-pull for Quinn. The winger is simply not physically engaged consistently enough to warrant the minutes and assignments his skill-set would otherwise merit. It has been a year-plus of cajoling from the coach and a year-plus of intermittent responses from the player. If the 24-year-old Russian cannot get top-six and power-play minutes, then it is probably better for all concerned that he play elsewhere.
And if Howden is going to continue in a fourth-line role in which he can expect a ceiling of 10 minutes a night, it is probably best for both the center’s development and the organization that he join Andersson in Hartford. Howden has three assists in his past nine games and five points (one goal, four assists) in his past 20 contests.
BLH’s Thoughts: This is a scene from a movie Oilers fans have witnessed far too many times before. Rushing young players before they’re ready and/or not putting them in a position to succeed.
Look, if the Rangers don’t want Buchnevich, I’m sure they’d find a trade partner in the Oilers. The big Russian would look wonderful alongside one of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He had over 20 goals last year and Edmonton is starving for offense aside from 97 and 29.
Now it's Howden who is stuck in Rangers no man's land. https://t.co/H7RhqwPqUT via @nypostsports
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) December 8, 2019
Quick Hits
- Sizing up the backup goalie market. Oilers fans will probably want to read this. (source)
- Are Sami Vatanen (NJ) and Andreas Athanasiou (DET) available? (source)
- Should the Islanders be in on Taylor Hall? (source)
2020 NHL Draft Talk with Keith Fries
Breaking Down Craig Button’s Top-5
(1. Alexis Lafreniere, 2. Quinton Byfield, 3. Cole Perfetti, 4. Yaroslav Askarov, 5. Hendrix Lapierre)
I’m not going to completely obliterate Button’s recent top-5 ranking as 3/5 prospects listed are also in my own top-5. But, I will say I am 100% certain that neither Cole Perfetti nor Hendrix Lapierre should be in this conversation.
There seems to be a consensus top-3, in Alexis Lafreniere, Quinton Byfield, and Lucas Raymond. Then, when you factor in elite-level talents like Anton Lundell and Yaroslav Askarov, that top-5 fills up rather quickly. So why does Button feel like Perfetti and Lapierre are in that discussion? First off, I can’t answer for the man. However, my educated guess is that he’s leaning toward the market he’s selling to – Canadians. One gripe I have with Canada-based scouting services and/or pundits are their leanings in-favor of homegrown players, rather than simply ranking the best prospects in their rightful spots. Such is the case, here, as both Perfetti and Lapierre are (realistically) more mid-to-late first-rounders. What further baffles me about this list is how Button was one of the first analysts to jump on Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz as premiere, international, prospects, well-over a year ago, yet they’re both completely absent from his list.
Rankings that Make Sense; Rankings that Don’t
I thought listing Tim Stutzle (7) and Jamie Drysdale (8) in the top-10 – and notably in the back end of the top-10 – was really accurate. They’re definitely in that draft stock category of, ‘’Ok, now that the first wave of talent has been selected, who’s the best available prospect on the board?’’ Additionally, having Justin Sourdif at 18 was reasonable. His high-end skating should keep him in the running for a pick within that range.
Where Button lost me was, as I mentioned above, having Hendrix Lapierre (5) in the top-5 and not Lucas Raymond (6). But, what’s even more whacky is seeing Anton Lundell at 13 and Noel Gunler at 28. Lundell, as my rankings show, is a highly-regarded prospect in most circles and seen as a guaranteed top-10 selection. Some might even make the same claim for Gunler. But, no one – and I mean NO ONE – will let Lundell slip to 13. Getting back to Gunler… If a team snagged him at 28, we’re talking about one of the biggest steals in NHL Draft history!
“He has Dylan Holloway at 12, do you see him creeping into the top 10?
Holloway isn’t in my top-10 but one could certainly the argument as to why he should be. When you look at how well he’s performed on such a talented U. of Wisconsin team, especially as an underager, it’s easy to see why he’s in that 10-20 range. 12 actually isn’t a bad place to be for Holloway, as a team selecting there may be a consistent playoff bubble team who could use his services sooner-than-later to make that push into the post-season. Furthermore, I think NHL clubs are really seeing the value in sending a high-end prospect to the NCAA for a year-or-two. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him crack the top-10, though, as anything really is possible.
Who the Oilers Should Select from Button’s List?
With Edmonton currently as the third-best team in the NHL standings, at this point, it looks like the Oilers won’t be selecting until late, on night one. Button currently has Ottawa 67’s’, Jack Quinn, at the 29th-overall spot, but, I’m going to include the players from 27-31. These would be Lukas Reichel (27), Noel Gunler (28, as mentioned above), Yan Kuznetsov (30), and Ryan O’Rourke (31).
For myself personally, seeing Lukas Reichel as a first-rounder (in Button’s eyes) puts a huge smile on my face. I absolutely love this kid and would be ecstatic to have him in the Oilers organization – largely so I could watch him during his stint with Bakersfield. However, as I said earlier, if Gunler’s still sitting on the board you’d be hard-pressed not to pull the trigger on drafting him. Either would be a solid pick, but I’m going to lean toward Gunler simply for draft stock reasons – a prospect I feel should be in the top-10.
Antonio Stranges to Edmonton
Start pounding this drum, now, Oilers fans, as Stranges has solidified himself as one of this draft’s best skaters available. The Oilers could definitely stand to add some more speed to their depth chart and Stranges certainly fits that bill. In fact, his offensive success is largely from his pace of play. He can quickly hit the jets and separate from trailing defenders, much in the way that Connor McDavid does. If both were to play on the same line, we’re easily talking about the fastest 2-on-none breakaway in the league. Fortunately for Edmonton when it comes to Craig Button, Stranges doesn’t appear AT ALL in his top-62 ranking. Meaning, if Edmonton really has their eye on him, they could grab him in the second-round, even while picking at #60.
If the Oilers could walk away from the 2020 NHL Entry Draft with both Noel Gunler and Antonio Stranges, it doesn’t matter who they select in rounds 3-7 as these two will give Edmonton a high draft grade on their own.
Thanks for joining me, Heroes. Until next time, cheers!
Fries TOP-20
- Alexis Lafreniere
- Anton Lundell
- Quinton Byfield
- Lucas Raymond
- Yaroslav Askarov
- Tim Stutzle
- Noel Gunler
- Alexander Holtz
- Marco Rossi
- Jamie Drysdale
- Cole Perfetti
- Jaromir Pytlik
- Justin Barron
- Jeremie Poirier
- Alexander Nikishin
- Kasper Simontaival
- Lukas Reichel
- Antonio Stranges
- Justin Sourdif
- Hendrix Lapierre
