Edmonton Oilers Offseason Talk: Philp Retires, Staios to Ottawa, and Trading Broberg

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!

Click the pic above and get your Vegas Golden Misfits t-shirt today!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, and The Daily Goal Horn just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

The Athletic

Oilers GM Ken Holland on salary cap space, Steve Staios, 2023 NHL Draft and more: Q&A

On Derek Ryan – “We are cap-challenged. We got him at $900,000 a year. Certainly, at the age of 36, there are always questions about when a player’s legs are going to fall off. But he’s incredibly smart. He doesn’t turn pucks over. He chips pucks in. He makes very few mistakes. He’s very trustworthy.”
On Steve Staios – “With Steve, I don’t really know anything. There’s lots of speculation now that Andlauer has bought Ottawa and his relationship with Steve in Hamilton. I have not spoken to Steve about it. My focus is the offseason (for the Oilers).”
On Losing to the Eventual Stanley Cup winner again – “Well, you can always be pretty close and never win it. But to win it, you’ve got to be close, right?”
On the One Position Holland Wants to Improve – “We were third in goal differential at plus-65. I’m not sure if we can score as much, but the defensive side of the puck is probably an area where we’d like to move up the ranks a little bit.”
On Bringing in Another Big Contract – “No chance.”
On Buying Somebody Out – “It’s a possibility. I hope to avoid it because then I’ve got money on the cap going forward.”
Will All of the RFAs get Qualified? – “Yes.”
- “(Noah) Philp is not playing hockey next year. He’s made a decision to call it a career. It was a very, very difficult year for him. He told us he wants to be around Calgary and close to his family and friends. For personal reasons, he’s not playing hockey.”
- “I’d like to re-sign Kostin. I’ve had some chats. We’ll see where it goes.”
On Bouchard – “We found a solution a year ago with McLeod on a one-year deal. I’ve got to find a deal that works for the Bouchard camp and works for the Oilers.”
On Edmonton’s Approach to Free Agency this Summer – “I do know that we have to move a player out just to get cap compliant.”
- “…it’s important to build a bottom six that can check, kill some penalties, and maybe chip in with some offence.”
- “In free agency, we’re not in on the $4 million, $5 million or $6 million players. I’m not even sure we’re in on the $2.5 million or $3 million players.”
On Broberg – “I don’t really have an answer for you right now. That’s what I’ve got to sort out in the next couple of weeks. But being in the seven hole, playing five minutes, I don’t know that that’s doing much for his development and growth as a player. He needs to play 15 to 20 minutes.”
On the Draft – “Nothing is going to happen with the sixth and the seventh. We’re going to use them. We’re planning on using the two. Does a deal come up where I put a two in a trade? Maybe. I’m not expecting that to happen. Does the phone ring and somebody want to move up to two and we move back a little bit and get an extra pick? That’s a possibility.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m guessing that Staios is Ottawa bound and that’s why he wasn’t given any more of an official title after the Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs.

A lot of pundits saying that Edmonton probably would’ve won the Cup had they beat the Golden Knights but I’m not so sure of that. They had trouble against teams with high octane forechecks in the regular season and with Dallas and Florida possessing two of the nastiest high pressure forward groups in the league, I just don’t think they would’ve beaten both. Especially with how well Oettinger and Bobrovsky were playing prior to meeting Vegas.

Who had Noah Philp retiring on their Oilers offseason bingo card? That’ll certainly make Jayden Grubbe’s path to an AHL job a lot easier.

They should really try hard to bring back Nick Bjugstad and try to create a similar 4th line to what Vegas was running. Could a line of Kostin-Bjugstad-Ryan be as effective as Carrer-Roy-Kolesar?

Sounds like a bridge for Bouchard is coming.

Pretty cryptic message on Broberg. Stauffer keeps throwing out that the Swede should be in Bakersfield next season but how do you do that to a kid that was in Edmonton for most of last season? He is only 22 but at the same time, if he’s not a full-time NHLer by now, perhaps it’s time to move him on for some more immediate help because it doesn’t sound like Holland has any plans on moving Kulak.

The Oilers are going to look to move down in the draft. Holland laid it out in that interview but I don’t know if it’s going to be as easy with some teams having as many as FOUR second round picks.

Lowetide

THE TRADE MARKET

“So far this offseason, Holland added a big center prospect (Jayden Grubbe) in a smaller level repeat of the Kostin trade. I look at the available talent in trade and would love to see Holland pursue Taylor Hall ($6 million), Tom Wilson ($5.16 million), Conor Garland ($4.95 million cap), Chris Tanev ($4.5 million) or Andrew Peeke ($2.75 million) on the roster, but how do you get it done?”
“No sir. I think the Kostin trade might be the template. Look for RFA’s who could be available, like Yegor Sharangovich, Morgan Geekie, Trent Frederic, Oliver Wahlstrom or Nathan Bastian. That’s where the value is in trade this summer. Pretty sure. That and finding opportunity for Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway and Raphael Lavoie will be key.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Boston and Washington are looking for centers because Bergeron, Krejci, and Kuznetsov are moving on or getting moved. If I was Edmonton, I might explore an expandable RNH for Hall trade or see if the Caps would have some interest in moving Wilson for Nuge.

That said, I really dig this Sharangovich kid. He can snipe but I’m worried he’s going to be getting paid Yamo money. However, if he continues to produce, he’ll be worth it, but if he’s a flash in the pan, that will be a tough pill to swallow. Bastian and Frederic would be wonderful additions to the 3rd line and PK. Wahlstrom has an elite-level one-timer and he’s got some edge to his game, but not a lot more.

What you’ve got to ask is if Holloway or Lavoie will be on par with those RFAs LT mentioned this year or if they’re still a year or two away from becoming important contributors to this team’s success? As the team is in win-now mode, they might never get a better return on them than now if they choose to trade them for immediate help.

Personally, they just need to be patient with Holloway and they’ve got a top-sixer home grown. Keep him. Lavoie doesn’t have that same luxury because I don’t see him as anything more than another Alex Chiasson. Meaning, a big physical bottom-six winger with a ridiculous shot. I’d move him if the deal was right.

Trade Rumors

Spector’s Hockey

David Alter reports there have been no contract negotiations between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Michael Bunting.
- The Toronto Star’s Nick Kypreos suggested Bunting could get between $4.5 million and $5 million on the open market.
Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal recently compiled a list of potential buyout candidates… Edmonton Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto topped their list, followed by Dallas Stars defenseman Ryan Suter, Boston Bruins blueliner Mike Reilly, and Pittsburgh Penguins winger Mikael Granlund.

BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think Bunting is going to get the Hyman deal. That suspension in the playoffs might’ve cost him a few dollars.

The first buyout window opens tomorrow I believe and I’d be a little surprised if Yamo’s name popped up. You’d think that Holland might want to get something in return for him in addition to that cap space and use the buyout as a final option. With that in mind, Holland did mention in that Q&A with The Athletic that he knows somebody needs to go before he can become cap compliant and the deadline on that is the night before game one of next season if I’m not mistaken.