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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Cult of Hockey
NHL insider on Edmonton’s off-season strategy
- “When it comes to the defence on the team, Rishaug said he’d be curious to see how Evan Bouchard and Vincent Desharnais develop next season, and also to see if Cody Ceci can return from (nagging) injury and play better this year.”
- “I would probably press pause on any major moves on the blueline and just let ‘er go. This was the best team in the league from February on with that blueline. They didn’t get out-of-this-world goaltending and that was the same blueline that did that. So I wouldn’t necessarily over-react.” – Rishaug
- “The plan would be wait until the trade deadline in February, assess the team then, figure out exactly what the team needs then, and make your move with that knowledge at that moment, Rishaug said.”
- “Edmonton might bring in an excellent veteran this summer, but it sounds like that will only happen if that player is willing to take a major, major haircut to play here.”
- “What I expect is for Edmonton to sign four or five veteran forwards and d-men, but all in the $800,000 to $1.15 million range.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Aside from Yamamoto, and it’s not that much money, I feel like there’s no big contract to feasibly cut this offseason and Holland doesn’t really make a lot of player-for-player trades in the summer, so it only makes sense for the team to run with the roster they’ve got (for the most part) to start the year. To add to that, the club doesn’t have a lot of tradeable futures to use if they want to send somebody playing on an albatross deal.
I’m going to make a prediction that the Oilers will have a sizeable contract on LTIR come deadline time and that’ll allow them to make some significant moves for their playoff run. I mean it will not surprise me if somebody struggles for a little while to start the year and around January to mid-February they go on LTIR until the playoffs.
Now, watch the NHL finally decide to crack down on this tactic if it comes to fruition and Edmonton gets penalized just as the salary cap is about to explode…
Oilersnation
Fighting for jobs, Matthew Tkachuk, and what’s next for Kailer Yamamoto
- “Even if Holland can clear some cap space, can he afford to bring back Bjugstad?… If the answer is no, who are the top candidates to play in coach Jay Woodcroft’s third and fourth spots at pivot?”
- “Might Jayden Grubbe, the 20-year-old Red Deer Rebels captain the Oilers acquired from the New York Rangers for a fifth-round draft choice and inked to a three-year contract Wednesday, be in the mix behind Ryan McLeod when camp opens next September?”
- “Then, there’s Noah Philp, a 24-year-old pivot who played 73 games with Bakersfield over the last two seasons after spending 2019-20 and part of 2020-21 with the Alberta Golden Bears.”
- “Philp is big, skates well and is reliable defensively. Simply put, Philp has the attributes coaches value. I don’t know if he can make the jump next season, but he has a chance.”
BLH’s Thoughts: What. The. F*ck? Seriously.
Why in the world would a 20yr old, with ZERO bloody professional hockey experience, who was a day from becoming a free agent because the team that drafted him didn’t think he had what it takes to play in their organization all of a sudden become an opening day option for a Stanley Cup contender? How does a player who struggled to score 20 goals in his 4th year of junior jump over Noah Philp, James Hamblin, Dylan Holloway, or even Seth Griffith for Christ’s sake?
IF the Oilers are going to promote somebody to play center on their 4th from within, it has to be Philp or Holloway, but I would think Hollywood’s role is higher up the lineup considering the skill and speed he possesses.
Noah Philp will be 25 when the season starts and by all accounts he’s got what the Oilers need for their 4th line. Speed, size, defensively responsible, takes draws well, sneaky scoring ability and maybe most importantly, professional experience.
I reckon if Grubbe pans out, he’ll be the next guy in line after Philp. IF he pans out…
I’d actually feel more comfortable if Holland signed a veteran 4C to share the duties with Philp. Noel Acciari, David Kampf, Tomas Nosek, somebody in that vein. There’s also guys like Darren Helm and Luke Glendening with ties to Holland who are on their last days that might come to Edmonton for another run. I’m just not sure if the guys I just named are still full-time centers though.
Trade Rumors
Spector’s Hockey
- Elliotte Friedman reports the Ottawa Senators have begun exploring the trade market for Alex DeBrincat.
- The Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils are Larkin’s top-three landing spots for Hellebuyck… Larkin also listed the Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights as possible destinations.
- Scott Billeck believes it would be shocking to see Blake Wheeler back with the Jets next season… Billeck suggests buying out Wheeler. While that would cost $2.75 million against their salary cap, it would provide $5.5 million in cap savings for next season…
BLH’s Thoughts: In a perfect world, how good would Debrincat look in Edmonton? Nevermind the junior ties, a Debrincat/Draisaitl “double D” duo would be lethal.
Vegas is going to win the Cup this year and I’m thinking they’ll go out this summer and find a way to bring Connor Hellebuyck in. Winnipeg doesn’t want to rebuild? That’s cool, the Golden Knights have some prime NHL ready skaters on their team right now they could move on from. Are you telling me Reilly Smith, Nic Hague, Danil Chayka, and a 1st round draft pick could get it done?
If Blake Wheeler become a UFA, the Oilers should be all over him to come to Edmonton. That’d be such a prototypical Ken Holland move. A 37yr old forward who is still tossing up 50pt seasons? Yes, please! Here’s a spot next to Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins!
