Edmonton Oilers Rumors: “A couple of veteran rental options who make sense are…”

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TheSuperFan.ca

Chasing goals

…what is a reasonable expectation for Draisaitl? He has 20 goals so far in the first 19 games of the season – 9 goals at even-strength (5v5, 4v4, 3v3), 10 on the powerplay and one shorthanded.
…if he continues to convert 26.5% of his shots into goals like he has so far this season, he’ll score 30 more goals at even-strength over the last 63 games.
Let’s say he cools off and regresses closer to his career levels – then we can expect him to score 17 more times at even-strength.
If Draisaitl continues to get the same on-ice share of the team’s shots, he’ll get another 100 shots over the rest of the season. And if he somehow maintains a 33.3% shooting percentage, then he would score 33 more powerplay goals – crushing a few records along the way.
…if his shooting percentage comes back down to the still-excellent levels he’s posted over the last three seasons, converting on 22.7% of his shots, he should score another 18 powerplay goals.
I think realistically, Draisaitl could target scoring 65 goals, which is what Ovechkin posted in the 2007/08 regular season.

BLH’s Thoughts: How are you enjoying the internal competition in Edmonton between Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl? Wouldn’t it be nice if some other players joined in and started depositing some goals for the team like the guys down the QE2 are doing?

Oilersnation

Trading For An Impact Forward

The Arizona Coyotes have zero aspiration of winning games this season and impending free agent Phil Kessel will surely get moved ahead of the trade deadline. Kessel hasn’t been great in the desert but he has a pedigree of playoff success from when he won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They don’t have a good rental option for the Oilers to look at but a different name stands out to me as a reclamation project. Dylan Strome, Connor McDavid’s former teammate in the OHL, has just three points in 12 games this season.
A couple of veteran rental options who make sense are Ryan Getzlaf and Joe Pavelski, though it’s hard to say if either will be available.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’d love for the Oilers to grab a Kessel but he looks like he enjoys the sunny weather too much to waive his modified NTC and I can almost guarantee you that the Oilers aren’t on his list of teams he’s green lit to go to.

Strome would be an excellent reclamation project but not this year, where’s he going to play? The top-nine is full and are you putting a skilled guy like that on the 4th line to play five minutes a night?

If Anaheim wasn’t in such a good position right now, Getzlaf would be the perfect addition with his experience and leadership qualities. With Pavelski, he’d be another really good pickup for the same reasons as Getzlaf, but I wonder if he’s in the same boat as Kessel.

I’d say Edmonton shores up the 4th line, grabs an extra defender, sorts out the goaltending, and then calls it a day before heading into the post-season. Maybe they grab Luke Glendening and Braden Holtby if Dallas is out of it, Marc Staal and Ben Chiarot are on their radar, that’s no secret, and Carson Soucy, Mason Appleton, and Nathan Bastian seem to be the names coming out of Seattle according to the host and guests on Oilers Now.

The Hockey Writers Rumors

According to Elliotte Friedman, Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin isn’t going to trade Fiala just because he’s in the middle of a difficult run right now. The Wild are still leading their division despite a lack of production from Fiala, but trading him would make the team worse if they don’t get the right return.
Mark Lazerus of The Athletic offered updates on a number of running storylines out of Chicago. Noting the team is still near the bottom of the Central Division standings, there are three players that will make over $9.5 million next year on the roster and if they choose to rebuild, the Blackhawks may move some of those pieces to restock their cupboards with better and guaranteed draft picks.
Sean McIndoe of The Athletic was asked when the Canadiens might start to tank their season and said that GMs tend to do so early if they know they’ll be out of it at the end of the year. That said, the Marc Bergevin factor in Montreal makes it less likely the Habs do so.

“Bergevin might not want to take the hit to his reputation that would come with a last-place season right before hitting the open market.”

TSN’s Darren Dreger confirmed an earlier report by Friedman that Claude Julien will be the head coach of the Spengler Cup team with Bruce Boudreau as his assistant coach. If the NHL is forced to pull out of the Olympics, this same coaching staff will coach in the Olympics games.