The Edmonton Oilers were left off a list of teams who Elliotte Friedman released over the weekend as being the most active teams at the moment and from what I’ve been told, they should be included with those organizations.
“Just asking around, the teams that seem to be at the centre of a lot of these conversations: L.A, Philly, Minnesota, Boston, Pittsburgh, Florida, St. Louis, and Chicago,” said Friedman during Saturday’s Headlines on Hockey Night in Canada. “
“All for different reasons, but those seem to be the most active teams and anything that’s kind of happening around the league is kind of flowing through them.” (source)
Before we get into the list of players that the Oilers have been scouting recently, I’d like to point to you some articles of mine that have been getting really good traction this week.
The Hockey Writers – Bruins GM Takes in Edmonton/Calgary Affair
The Hockey Writers – Are the Oilers Looking to Move on From Spooner Already?
Beer League Heroes – Andrew Ference’s Controversial Comments
Beer League Heroes – Could the Oilers be in on Alex Pietrangelo?
**Obligatory preface: I leave it up to you with regards to if you want to believe what you’re about to read. I don’t work for the Oilers, in fact, I don’t have a direct connection to the team. I, like a lot of people who live in or around Edmonton, know somebody who has a direct connection to the team. I’ve been given permission to post portions of our conversations to keep the fans engaged. If anything, take what you’ll read next as nothing more than entertainment or water cooler banter.**
The Five Players
I tweeted out the other day that I had this list passed on to me and that you should think Ichiro Suzuki, not Barry Bonds. I wanted you to guess as to what you think I meant by that and I got some pretty funny responses.
What I meant was that you should think small deals as opposed to big deals. I think that the Oilers are in a self-imposed pickle cap-wise and that smaller deals are what we’ll probably see in the future.
If I were to get a bit more specific, I think the Oilers are scouting character team-first players who have manageable contracts.
Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers Framed Autographed 46″ x 20″ The Show Photograph – Upper Deck – Fanatics Authentic Certified – $1,499.99
Retail Price: $1,694.99
You Save: $195.00
from: SportsMemorabilia.com
Click the link above!
But let’s get on to the five names here.
- Jordan Weal (PHI) – W – Weal is a bottom-six winger with speed, quickness, and skill. He’s not afraid to go to the net. Was told that Caggiula for Weal could be a deal once Drake returns. Weal makes $1.75M this year and then is a UFA.
- Jori Lehtera (PHI) – C – The Finnish pivot had his best years under Hitchcock in St. Louis. He’s having a horrid time since joining Philly and there’s a sense that if Philly retains around 700k on his contract ($4M/yr), he could be moved for Spooner. He’s also a UFA at season’s end.
- Zack Smith (OTT) – C/W – Not a lot of info on Smith. I’d say the Oilers like his attitude and work ethic and see he’s not in a great situation in Ottawa. Remember they put him on waivers at the beginning of the year? Perhaps if Kassian or Lucic are moved, they could bring Smith in and slot him onto The Identity Line. That’d be a seamless transition.He’s on pace for around 45pts and makes $3.25M/yr. With Duchene out, is this another Spooner trade scenario? Lefty though.
- Colin White (OTT) – C – Of all the names on this list, White’s excites me the most. His offensive metrics aren’t anything to brag about, except for his 5 PP goals this year and maybe his 2.19 pts/60 (5×5), but apart from that things are pretty average. His defensive fancies rival those of Patrice Bergeron though and THAT is a player I’d love on the Oilers.Let me show you some of them in the relative form 5×5 with Bergeron’s numbers in brackets:
CA/60: -6.17 (-4.49)
FA/60: -4.25 (-3.52)
SA/60: -.52 (-.77)
GA/60: -.15 (1.5)
SCA/60: -3.18 (-4.77)
HDCA/60; -2.81 (-.16)
HDGF/60: -44 (.5)Am I getting excited over nothing? These stats look amazing! White is on the last year of his ELC though and he makes $925k. He’ll be an RFA at the end of the year and I think he’s going to get a handsome raise. Then again, this is Ottawa we’re talking about.
- Jesper Fast (NYR) – RW – The Oilers like this Swede’s speed. He’s not a physical player but he’s a quick and fast skater and he looks like he could be a bargain add as his shooting percentage from this has dropped near 10% from last year. He makes $1.85M/yr until the end of next year.
My source did also ask me if I liked Brendan Gallagher… 🙂
What do you think about those players? Let me know in the comments below!
