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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The Oilers Rig
Do the Edmonton Oilers need to make blockbuster trades or just be patient?
- “My original suggestion was to trade Jack Campbell for Hellebuyck. Obviously there would have to be picks thrown in, possibly other players (I’m looking at you Cody Ceci), and maybe some retention from Winnipeg depending how things shook out. The problem with a Campbell trade is that he has a modified 10 team no-trade that could kibosh the whole deal.”
- “Defenceman Dylan Demelo ($3M) is also another interesting Jet that Oilers fans have been commenting on as well.”
- “Nikolaj Ehlers. The Danish forward has two more years left at a $6M cap hit and is also only 27 years old.”
- “Maybe there’s a deal to be made with Campbell, Ceci and Yamamoto, plus picks and a prospect to Winnipeg for Hellebuyck, Ehlers, and Demelo, with retention from the Jets. “
- “Demoting Ceci and promoting Broberg could be a solution that’s best for both worlds. I am probably one of 25’s biggest fans and if he is unable to take a young defenceman with Broberg’s skill set under his wing, then his contract would be beyond ridiculous.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Look, don’t blame the writers of these posts. Once EA Sports put trades in their hockey games folks started to believe that you could just package up a bunch of garbage and swap it for another club’s diamonds. I mean does The Oilers Rig have somebody that proofs the posts before they get posted?
This article has to be in parody. It has to be. I can’t believe for one second that somebody who follows hockey would suggest the Jets send their no.1 goalie, their no.1 winger, and their no.2 defenseman WITH SALARY RETENTION (don’t forget about that… Ffs) for three of Edmonton’s WORST performing players plus picks and prospects…
But it doesn’t stop there. If Nurse can’t handle playing with Broberg then his contract is beyond ridiculous? THAT’S the breaking point on Nurse’s deal? Jesus Christ…
This has to be a joke… I don’t know. Maybe I skipped something in the post that would explain the absurd ridiculousness.
Good news for that Rig writer though, it all goes up from here.
So here’s the thing. You want Hellebuyck, you’re not giving up Jack Campbell, Skinner’s the one heading to Winnipeg. Plus you’re tossing in one, maybe two first rounders, I would imagine that one of Xavier Bourgault or Dylan Holloway is in that deal too AND you’ve got to throw in some money to even things up. Perhaps that’s Foegele.
Connor Hellebuyck is a top-5 goalie in the league. You’re not getting him for pennies on the dollar.
Now, what’s left to send to the Jets if you want Demelo AND Ehlers? Broberg… Yamamoto… No more first rounders left now, are they going to accept a handful of 2nd rounders? How do you even sort out the money seeing as Ehlers has another year left @$6M?
The simple fact of the matter is that Edmonton doesn’t have the tradeable assets to make massive deals like the one being suggested. Don’t like Campbell, Ceci, and Yamamoto? You’re paying to get rid of them or accepting another team’s struggling player in return. Probably somebody on the verge of free agency so that you can walk away in the offseason and say you happy with the newfound cap space…
C’mon people…
Oilersnation
- If the only thing you could do to improve the team this summer is make one trade. What would it be?
- “I’m freeing up cap space so I’d move Yamamoto to Chicago for a 5th. They currently have eight forwards signed for a total of $12m.” – Gregor
- “I’d see what caliber of defenceman I could get for Nugent-Hopkins. Shop him and find out… My second choice would be to move him along for a draft pick/prospect/cap space.” – Brownlee
- “Trade Cody Ceci for a 2024 third-round pick and then move Kailer Yamamoto and a 2024 second-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Dylan Demelo.” – Yaremchuk
- “I also would like to see the Oilers pursue Travis Konecny and maybe dangle Xavier Bourgault.” – Horrobin
- Do you think one of Bourgault or Lavoie will be a contributing, full-time roster player in the upcoming season?
- “I think Lavoie will get a longer look because he has to clear waivers. Not to mention, that right side is wiiiiiiiiiide open.” – Baggedmilk
- If Oilers wanted to make a big deal, what could they get for Nurse? What would you want them to pursue?
- “You need two legit top four LD to win and Ekholm doesn’t skate like Nurse and in the coming years, I don’t see him getting faster. You want to build a team that has a chance to be a serious contender. The Oilers are finally that and people want to trade Nurse because he’s one million overpaid.” – Gregor
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think I can do a better trade than Gregor’s. Send Yamo to Chicago to play with his childhood mentor Tyler Johnson. Grab that 5th and use that $3.1M on a RWer that can help the 5v5 scoring.
Lavoie will get some games next season. He’s got the size and the shot plus that whole waivers thing is a kick in the jibblies. There will be other teams interested in him, so if he doesn’t make the team out of camp, what are the odds Holland moves one of his green bananas before the season starts?
Funny. Nurse’s skating hasn’t done ANYTHING with regards to his inability to pass the puck or to prevent him from icing the damned thing more than anybody else on the team. And conversely, Ekholm’s “lack” of speed didn’t hurt him one bit because he could move the f*cking the puck. So why don’t we just stop trying to fool ourselves. Until the Oilers find 25 a partner that he trusts more than himself or he miraculously discovers how to make a 5ft pass, the team is stuck with that contract and the media will continue to come up with comical excuses for him.
The solution with Nurse is simple, don’t put him on the ice with forwards who are blowing the zone looking for that Hail Mary pass all the time, in fact; give him forwards who will support him down low and give him options. NONE of Edmonton’s top-six forwards are good at this in my opinion. They all hang high unless it’s Connor hooking in for a pass so he can go end-to-end, but Hyman, Nuge, Kane, Leon, none of them really help the defense out as much as they should. Maybe that’s a system thing though and in that case, Woodcroft needs to re-evaluate. Also ask Nurse to emulate the great defensive dmen of Edmonton’s past like Kevin Lowe or Chris Pronger. Darnell is at his best when he’s the meanest MFer out there. He’s at his worst when he’s trying to be the guy doing everything.
If the Oilers and Darnell did that AND provided him with a partner who could ease his worries, man, they will have found their second unicorn pairing and the Cup wouldn’t be far behind.
Trade Rumors
Spector’s Hockey
- Matt Larkin recently cautioned that the Leafs might not win any trade involving one of their core four of Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner or William Nylander.
- Ansar Khan wondered if Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman would attempt to bolster his scoring by pursuing one of the Leafs core four.
- Tarik El-Bashir looked at some possible free-agent targets for the Washington Capitals to bolster their forward lines this summer… l-Bashir’s proposed targets are (in alphabetical order) Chicago’s Andreas Athanasiou, Vegas’ Ivan Barbashev, Boston’s Tyler Bertuzzi, Toronto’s Michael Bunting, Colorado’s J.T. Compher, Dallas’ Max Domi, the New York Islanders’ Pierre Engvall, and Colorado’s Evan Rodrigues. He also suggested re-signing Connor Brown, who missed this season with a knee injury.
BLH’s Thoughts: All of those options El-Bashir is suggesting for the Capitals might be on a similar list for Edmonton sans Athanasiou. Max Domi is having a good series for Dallas right now as the attempt to tie things up with Vegas. Compher’s got speed and scores a bit. Evan Rodrigues was a target for Holland previously and we all know about Connor Brown.
Could the Leafs win an Auston Matthews trade? Would Seth Jones waive his no-trade protection to go to T.O.? You’d have to think Bedard would be a sticking point but why do that trade if you’re not getting a top-four dman and the next great goal-scoring Canadian? Blackhawks aren’t exactly emptying the coffers either. They’d still have plenty of good young players coming up.
As for Toronto sending one of the other members of the “core” to Detroit, who would the Red Wings be able to offer? The Leafs would want somebody who is already contributing and a high rate? I can’t see Yzerman souring on Mortiz Seider so soon. How close is Lucas Raymond to hitting his peak and would Toronto want another Mitch Marner-like forward in their top-six? I don’t really see a fit for these two clubs to make a significant deal together.
