Every now and there comes a time in a player’s career when they’ve surpassed their best before date with the club they are currently on. Sometimes that’s because they’ve gotten a bit long in the tooth, other times it’s because the fit isn’t there stylistically anymore, and lastly, circumstances can change in a player’s life that makes it difficult to continue on with the team.
Is it possible that there’s a player on the Edmonton Oilers who falls into one or more of these categories?
Even though he signed an extension Zack Kassian is a player Oilers are willing to move …..as per Garfield
— Tracy Lane (@TreenasOil) August 24, 2020
First things first, this post has nothing to do with that tweet from Ms. Lane and I LOVE that Zack Kassian is an Edmonton Oiler. I am in no way, shape, or form suggesting that he be traded, bought out, or anything of the such. I would, however, like to explore the idea of the team moving him regardless of how opposed I am to the idea.
For whatever reason, Kassian didn’t show up for the play-ins vs. Chicago. The Oilers could’ve really used him but, and this is just me talking, I’m not sure how badly he wanted to be there. He has a young family at home and I just reckon he was good with not playing but being the team guy he is, he put that aside and did what he felt he could do to help the team.
But getting to some even-strength numbers, Kassian had 19 goals and 15 assists this year, all at even strength since he was pulled from the penalty kill and only gets the odd shift on the Oilers’ second PP unit. Kass’ pts/60 relative increased from 1.41 in 2018/19 to 2.21 this past season (good for 19th in the NHL amongst wingers who played more than 400 minutes this year during the regular season). He was on the plus side of the ledger in nearly every shot and goal metric found on Natural Stat Trick save for expected goals for/60. Even his PIMs/60 came down by nearly half (4.21->2.29). So one could argue he’s really rounding into a solid hockey player who’s ironed out some of the risks, but then he goes out and gets suspended for kicking a guy in the chest… So all of that good stuff is forgotten and he’s back to being “Crazy Kassian”.
It’s funny. He’s one of the rare players who doesn’t drag McDavid down when they play together yet Edmonton’s coach saw him bad in the play-ins and that was that. Kassian was down on the third line getting TOI with Riley Sheahan (who wasn’t having the best play-ins of his own).
So we know that Kassian’s new 4-year deal at $3.2M per year kicks in next season, right? He’s already spent close to five seasons with the Oilers and now he’s set to extend that another four. It’s not often that a player will come from outside of the Oilers’ organization to spend almost a decade with them and this is what I’m talking about when I bring up a player’s best-before date.
Kassian has wanted out of Edmonton before and I do wonder if this deal that he signed has a handshake agreement element to it. Meaning, was there an agreement made to move him in the following offseason if he signed on the dotted line. I mean, a four-year deal, in my mind, might be a tad easier to move than one with less term. His recent stats help his cause as does his ability to move up and down the lineup.
Whether you like that contract or not, it’s a really decent contract for a 30-35pt winger who can actually co-exist with Connor McDavid. What I want to ask though is, could the Oilers find a cheaper option or one that will benefit the team a bit more down the road?
- Bryan Rust (PIT), 28 yrs old – Not a cheaper option since he makes $3.5M for another two seasons, BUT, he’s a safer player and he knows how to operate with highly skilled generational hockey players. 33 even-strength points last year and 17 on the PP. His pts/60 was 2.54 (6th in the NHL this past regular season). Bob Stauffer did talk about Rust with Mark Spector just last week.
- Ilya Mikheyev (TOR), 25 years old – I wouldn’t think this player is available but before he had his wrist cut, he was emerging into a very good player for Leafs this year. He’s big, fast, and very skilled. His pts/60 in 39 regular-season games was 2.44. He’s an RFA this offseason and James Mirtle was recently quoted as saying he thinks this player will only receive $2M maximum on a new deal with Toronto… What’s that sound? Is that opportunity knocking I hear?
- Oliver Bjorkstrand (CBJ), 25 years old – Would the Oilers add another Dane to the team to play with Patrick Russell? Who knows, but this one only makes $2.5M for one more year and his pts/60 is very comparable to Kassian’s (2.25). The one thing I really like about this player is that the ice tilted HARD in his team’s favor when he was out there in 2019/20.
I don’t know if Pittsburgh (they’ve had interest in the past), Toronto, or Columbus would have interest in these sort of swaps and if I were a betting man, I’d think that Kassian would love to get closer to home (Windsor, ON) or maybe somewhere in California since he heads there every off-season on his motorbike. I remember that Todd McLellan (LA) used him in all sorts of situations when he coached the Oilers.
I think the fact of the matter is, should Jesse Puljujarvi come back, he’s under the impression that he’ll be given every opportunity to make the team and if the Oilers have Kassian, Yamamoto, Archibald, Chiasson, and (possibly) Patrick Russell already penned in, there’s really no space for the Finn. Someone has to move and only Kassian’s contract could be considered problematic. Some might argue Chiasson, but he has a role on the PP plus there are no question marks regarding his level of compete night-in/night-out. Others might say Russell is surplus, but the coach loves him. You’re not trading Yamamoto and Archibald is important for the PK.
I really dig having Kass on this team, he’s one of my favorites, no doubt; that said, if Edmonton moved on, I would wish him good luck on his new team and be very grateful for the memories he gave us when he was in Edmonton.
With all of this in mind, I don’t think he’s moving. I don’t get any Earth-shattering indications that the Oilers are looking to trade him and depending on who you ask, the man with the mutton chops will be back.
What do you think? Would you shop Zack Kassian if you were GM? Let us know in the comments below!
