Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer recently tweeted out what he felt like the Oilers would be adding going into the 2019/20 season under the context of an $81.5M-$82.5M salary cap.
- Sign 1B goalie who can start 30-35 games ($1.5M-$2.5M).
- Add one top-9 forward ($2.5M-$3.5M).
- Bring in two forwards for the bottom-6 ($1M or less).
- Get creative opening up a couple of spots on defense for Caleb Jones, William Lagesson, Ethan Bear, and/or Joel Persson.
Well if I had to guess for each one of the suggestions above and taking into consideration Ken Holland’s relationships created through his time in Detroit, I would say that there’s a really solid chance that he’s going to be able to spruce up the Oilers roster in short order.
THE 1B GOALIE
I really liked Petr Mrazek’s season for Carolina and I believe there’s still a lot of game left in the 27-year-old. He played 40 games and 2.39 GAA and a .914 save percentage. If the Oilers are looking for a guy who’ll be able to play a solid chunk of the season, then Mrazek is their man. I think it would be tough to say if playing for Holland in Detroit was a pro or a con at this point. He was traded away from the Red Wings after all, but if anybody knew this guy through and through, it’d be Holland.
If the Oilers are looking for a more veteran presence here, Maybe Mike Smith. As much as I disliked him in Arizona and Calgary, he’s a pretty ornery goalie who doesn’t take any shit and he was the only Flame to show up in their brief playoff appearance this past season. I also like how he can play the puck, that said, it does come back to bite him in the butt from time to time.
THE TOP-9 FORWARD
Joonas Donskoi is my pick here. He’s the perfect middle-6 option for the Oilers. He’s fast, he can play both ways, and he’s seemingly good for around 30-40pts a year. He can skate quite well and he will go to the dirty areas. I also happen to believe that he’d be a great help to Jesse Puljujarvi and be able to mentor him a bit in the event that Pulju gives this new regime a chance. I’d reckon he’ll command close to $3M per year depending on the term length.
If the Oilers were to open up some cap space with a trade or two, I think Gustav Nyquist and Mats Zuccarello would most definitely be in their sights. I do see them demanding closer to the same dollar value and term as Jordan Eberle mind you. So would you be satisfied paying either $5.5M for five years?
Now if we come back down a bit, then I see Brett Connolly and Michael Ferland in the $4M-ish camp. Maybe Connolly will try to really bank on that career year of his and Ferland might get a bit more considering the narrative set from this year’s Stanley Cup Final. That being teams need to have tough mobile forwards to win.
And if we come right down, Alex Chiasson shouldn’t be commanding more than $2.5M nor can I see Richard Panik or Thomas Vanek charging any higher.
Some wildcards here might be Wayne Simmonds, Marcus Johansson, and Ryan Dzingel. Simmonds has really slowed down in recent years. His point totals have been decreasing and his PIMS increasing. Maybe that’s born out of frustration, but can you think of a GM that would pay him more than $4M given the unsure status of the cap and the expansion draft coming? He’s become a bit of an injury concern to boot.
Johansson was outstanding for the Bruins in the playoffs I found. His speed and puckhandling made him a dangerous target for Boston. Unfortunately, his health has been a major concern for the last two years and thus his production has dropped. What would you pay someone with a recent history like that?
As for Dzingel, I think he might be happy sticking in Columbus. He played college hockey there and with Artemi Panarin leaving, there’s pretty much a spot there for the taking. But in the case that he wants to hit the open market and see what’s out there, his speed and tenacity would be very welcome on the Oilers. Is he going to price himself out of Edmonton’s range though? Might be another guy looking at $5.5M a year.
THE TWO BOTTOM-6 FORWARDS
Daniel Carr has been on the Oilers radar for a long time. He’s basically a Brendan Gallagher-lite. Same playing style and traits but to a lesser degree. He spent the year in the AHL last season but he lit it up with 71pts in 52 games. He’s too good for that league and Edmonton could use him in their bottom-6. He’s a local lad too, so that might help getting him in under a million bucks.
Another player who spent the year in the Vegas Golden Knights organization, Brandon Pirri, would be a nice fit for Edmonton’s bottom-6. He scores wherever he goes but he can never stick. Now I’m not sure if that’s an attitude thing or what, but he produces and the Oilers need depth scoring. Had 12 goals in 31 games for Vegas last year.
Brandon Tanev piled up 29pts in 80 games for Winnipeg in 2018/19 while averaging around 14 minutes a game. 15 of those points were goals. Tanev plays a very aggressive game and he’s both fast and quick. Quite the waterbug he is. He won’t be signing for $1M but if the Oilers were interested, I wonder if he’d sign for Kassian money (a shade under $2M).
Other options here might be Adrian Kempe, who gave the Oilers fits last season with his tenacity and smart play down low. Garnet Hathaway would add some toughness to the bottom-6 IF Edmonton were looking for that, and Kenny Agostino kind of came out of nowhere to score 24pts in NJ/MTL last year. He’s got some speed to his game too.
The wildcard in all of this is Patrik Berglund. Yes, he quit the Sabres last year, turned down a crapload of cash to return home, but he says he’s ready to return to the NHL. At 31 years old, do you think he’s done as an NHLer? Would he be a decent 3rd line center?
THE DEFENSE
My feeling here is that Kris Russell and Matt Benning will be traded to open up that right side for Joel Persson and Caleb Jones. I get that Jones isn’t a right-shot defender, but he played that side almost all season last year in Bakersfield as he was pair with Mattias Ekholm clone, William Lagesson.
Getting back to Russell, no question, he’s not in the same bracket as Justin Braun, Matt Niskanen, or Radko Gudas, but he’s a wanted man in the NHL. His teammates love him wherever he goes and he’s well respected by coaches across the league.
Now if Braun can be moved for a couple of draft picks, I would think Russell could too (not a 2nd and a 3rd) and that would really create some wiggle room for Holland and co. They’ve got just over $9M in cap room right now and if they could move him without taking salary back that would take them to around $13M.
On the other hand and to make this a bit bigger of a deal, yesterday on Lowetide’s show, Tom Gazzola and Tyler Yaremchuk were discussing the possibility of moving Darnell Nurse for a right-shot top-4 defender and then using Sekera on the 2nd pair. It’s not a bad idea depending on who the dman coming back is… Ideally, you’d want someone who puts up as much as or more offense at evens than Nurse AND is a threat on the powerplay.
People aren’t going to like this suggestion, but what about Rasmus Ristolainen? His 65 points with the man advantage over the past three seasons has him tied with the $11M-man Erik Karlsson and that total has him above other all-star defenders like Kris Letang, John Klingberg, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Morgan Reilly, and Drew Doughty.
I’ve always liked this player because he’s massive, he’s tough, and he’s got a Cannon the likes Edmonton hasn’t seen since Sheldon Souray was around. That said, he’s not as proficient a scorer at evens as Nurse (60pts to Risto’s 51 in the past three years). I imagine folks will point to his fancy stats and complain as well, but it doesn’t matter which metric you use, I can most likely show you someone you might consider to be a much better defender who has similarly poor numbers there too.
Ristolainen is tied down for another three seasons at $5.4M per and if he’s putting up around the same stats as Nurse but better on the PP and the Oilers have players to fill in for Darnell, what’s the problem? Can you tell me that Darnell Nurse isn’t going to be asking for around $7M on a long-term deal next summer? If so, what number do you think he’ll sign for and do you think he’ll have earned that?
In three seasons, if it’s not working out, the Oilers could move Ristolainen if need be. It’d be easier due to his handedness and his PP production AND it would give the Oilers more time to develop their bluechip prospect, Evan Bouchard.
BLH’S TOP-50 2019 NHL DRAFT PROSPECTS
After extensive research and the use of around five draft guides this year, this is my list of 50 prospects for the upcoming 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
I dinged guys for work ethic issues or consistency problems. Players that were poor skaters were ranked lower if they didn’t have much else they could bring to the ice. If a player was considered a perimeter player, that didn’t help their case either. I do take size into consideration a bit. I found that there is a massive influx of sub-6-foot players eligible for the draft and that if everything was equal, I’d probably still take the bigger player.
Conversely, skaters who had a high work ethic and those that were outstanding skaters were ranked higher. I feel that skating is of the utmost importance with regards to the direction of hockey now. I’m also a fan of players who will play a bit old-school, meaning they aren’t afraid of the rough stuff and will get their noses dirty. Defensive IQ is as important to me as offensive IQ as well.
But as it is every year, sometimes a player is just so good at one thing, it overshadows his flaws, like Kirby Dach (consistency/work ethic) or Trevor Zegras (High risk/selfish). These players are ridiculously skilled and should be taken in the first seven picks I imagine, but for me, they drop a little bit. Whereas Matthew Boldy and Vasili Podkolzin probably aren’t as skilled as Dach and Zegras but they are much smarter players at both ends of the rink and if their offense dries up, they can still be impactful to the game.
The players in bold are where the Edmonton Oilers would be selecting.
- Jack Hughes – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Kappo Kakko – RW – TPS (SM-Liiga)
- Bowen Byram – LHD – Vancouver (WHL)
- Alex Turcotte – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Matthew Boldy – LW – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Vasili Podkolzin – RW – SKA-Neva (VHL)
- Cole Caufield – RW – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Alex Newhook – C – Victoria (BCHL)
- Kirby Dach – C – Saskatoon (WHL)
- Trevor Zegras – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Dylan Cozens – C – Lethbridge (WHL)
- Peyton Krebs – C – Kootenay (WHL)
- Spencer Knight – G – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Raphael Lavoie – C – Halifax (QMJHL)
- Cam York – LHD – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Viktor Soderstrom – RHD – Brynas (SHL)
- Philip Broberg – LHD – AIK (Allsvenskan)
- Pavel Dorofeyev -LW – Magnitogorsk (KHL)
- Thomas Harley – LHD – Mississauga (OHL)
- Simon Holmstrom – RW – HV71 J20 (Superelit)
- Bobby Brink – RW – Sioux City (USHL)
- Jakob Pelletier – LW – Moncton (QMJHL)
- Mortiz Seider – RHD – Mannheim (DEL)
- Nils Hoglander – LW – Rogle (SHL)
- Tobias Bjornfot – LHD – Djurgardens J20 (Superelit)
- Lassi Thomson – RHD – Kelowna (WHL)
- Ryan Suzuki – C – Barrie (OHL)
- Matthew Robertson – LHD – Edmonton (WHL)
- Phil Tomasino – C – Niagara (OHL)
- Connor McMichael – C – London (OHL)
- Ville Heinola – LHD – Luuko (SM-Liiga)
- John Beecher – C – USNTDP (USHL/NCAA)
- Samuel Poulin – RW – Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
- Arthur Kaliyev – RW – Hamilton (OHL)
- Vladislav Kolyachonok – LHD – Flint (OHL)
- Patrik Puistola – RW – Tappara U20 (Jr. A SM-Liiga)
- Robert Mastrosimone – LW – Chicago (USHL)
- Albin Grewe – RW – Djurgardens U20 (Superelit)
- Semyon Chistyakov – LHD – Tolpar (MHL)
- Brayden Tracey – LW – Moose Jaw (WHL)
- Yegor Afanseyev – LW – Muskegon (USHL)
- Nolan Foote – LW – Kelowna (WHL)
- Anttoni Honka – RHD – Jukurit (SM-Liiga)
- Ryan Johnson – LHD – Sioux Falls (USHL)
- Nic Robertson – LW – Peterborough (OHL)
- Ilya Nikolaev – C – Loko Yaroslav (MHL)
- Jamieson Rees – C – Sarnia
- Jackson Lacombe – LHD – Shattuck (MIN- HS)
- Shante Pinto – C – Tri-City (USHL)
- Ethan Keppen – LW – Flint (OHL)
