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!
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Oilersnation
Random Thoughts: What’s next for the Oilers…
- “Would it make sense to give Bouch a two or three-year contract with an AAV of around $4-4.5 million per?”
- “…is it reasonable to expect that Ken Holland (or Steve Staios) will be able to do better than Ceci in that 2RD spot for the same price or less? Would there be suitors for a Ceci deal that wouldn’t require the Oilers to take back an ugly contract in exchange? I don’t think moving on from Ceci — if that’s the plan — will be as easy as some of us think it would be.
- “Would a guy like Raphael Lavoie who just put up 25 goals and 45 points in 60 games with the Condors have a chance to lock in a spot in the bottom six? Would that role even suit his skillset?”
BLH’s Thoughts: If Bouchard signs a short-term deal, I’m expecting the club to try and get him under $4M/yr. Holland’s had some luck getting players to say yes to a little less in recent years (Kane/RNH/Hyman), I think it’s entirely reasonable to think he could do it again.
I don’t think the team could find a better 2RD for $3.25M/yr but at the same time, there is one ugly contract I could foresee Edmonton exploring options on and that’s Erik Karlsson’s. However, in order to get a deal like that done, they’re going to need to send some of the $3M men to SJ.
I don’t know if I’m getting all that excited for a 0.75 PPG winger at the AHL level. Especially one that is streaky as hell and isn’t exactly known for his defensive IQ.
Look, Rafa Lavoie has got a lot of tools to admire, right? A hard shot, great size, he protects the puck well, and he drives the net, but if he’s going to play in the NHL next season, he’s not going to be a 15 minute/night player. He’ll be getting 5-7 minutes/night and on the 4th line. For me, he’s Alex Chiasson. Always has been and I think his career path will follow a similar trajectory where he won’t be a regular NHLer until he’s matured and has accepted whatever bottom-six role he’s given.
I’d love to see him have some success in Edmonton, but at the same time, what makes him different from Klim Kostin? Trading Lavoie for somebody who can contribute now or to clear cap room is a better play in my opinion.
The Athletic
7 ways the Oilers can create cap room for 2023-24
- “If Edmonton starts the 2023-24 season with some or all of Desharnais, Niemelainen, Raphael Lavoie and Noah Philp, the club could save cap room at the end of the roster.”
- “Bridge Bouchard, McLeod, and Kostin… If Holland can bring these three names in around $7 million or less on short deals, that should be judged a success”
- “If Holland can offload Foegele and Yamamoto, while bringing back veteran UFAs Derek Ryan and Mattias Janmark, the team will have an easier time with the cap.”
- “Edmonton needs two-way forwards in the worst possible way. Fortunately, those things are not the most expensive item at the free-agent store.”
- “Use LTIR aggressively.”
- “Holland won’t be in LTIR in the final season of his current contract as Edmonton’s general manager. This will afford him the opportunity to save cap dollars throughout the year so as to maximize his room to wheel in trade… It would behoove him to run the team short by one or two men whenever possible, with an eye to entering the deadline window with enough room to make significant moves.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Holland’s going to go big in the final year of his contract as the Oilers transition to a new GM for 2024/25 and I reckon he’s going to break the bank to bring in some massive names like the aforementioned Karlsson, the big names out of Winnipeg (Scheifele, Hellebuyck), Guentzel, Backlund, Arvidsson, or DeBrusk depending on each team’s position.
Wild card… The door on Taylor Hall has never completely closed…
So if he takes the summer with a more relaxed approach and starts the year off with a more home-grown roster with eyes on accruing as much cap room for the trade deadline as possible, I won’t be shocked. I will feel a bit sorry for the next GM though as he will not have a lot to work with going into his first season running the team.
Trade Rumors
Spector’s Hockey
- Yaremchuk thinks Sharks management might be kicking themselves for not taking whatever the Edmonton Oilers were offering for Karlsson before the March 3 trade deadline.
- Defenseman Samuel Girard keeps coming up among the pundits with Daily Faceoff listing him at No. 3 on their recent list of off-season trade targets.
- Kristy Flannery reports the New Jersey Devils lack a first-round pick in the 2023 draft. It’s the first time that’s happened in a decade. However, general manager Tom Fitzgerald isn’t ruling out making a trade to get one.
BLH’s Thoughts: Colorado will be a team to watch this year with all of that Landeskog LTIR money burning a hole in their pocket. Do you think they’d make an attempt to reacquire Nazem Kadri?
There’s some talk that a team might offer up a draft pick to NJ for the rights to Damon Severson. Maybe as high as a 2nd round pick.
