July 28, 2021 /

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Barrie Signing with Oilers (3yrs @ $4M-$5M) and is Ethan Bear off to Seattle or Arizona?

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

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The Athletic (Allan Mitchell)

Lowetide: Oilers targets for early and late in NHL free agency, from Ryan Getzlaf to Linus Ullmark
  • Nick Ritchie is a late entry into the free-agent pool and might be an option for Edmonton as a later addition. He has power-forward attributes and there are some similarities to Patrick Maroon in style and presence.
  • Ryan Getzlaf is heading to free agency and that’s a big deal… He’s a right-handed centre and a bull on the ice, with a long history of success. He is above 50 percent in the faceoff circle and Puck IQ had him above 50 percent in possession against elite opposition in 2020-21.
  • David Kampf is not a famous player and many NHL fans know little about him despite 235 games in the league. He is a defensive centre whose possession numbers are positive relative to teammates in three of his four seasons. He has been a regular penalty killer during his career, although he has an uneven record in this area.
  • Mark Pysyk is a solid late target, although the evidence is incomplete and anecdotal… Pysyk is not a shutdown type but has good speed and can outlet passes well. He won’t replace Adam Larsson or Barrie but he can play defence.
  • Ryan Murray is the best early option for Edmonton at this spot, although his role will be secondary… Murray could serve as a mentor to Evan Bouchard on the third pairing and offer some insurance in case Duncan Keith is unable to handle second-pairing minutes. 
  • Linus Ullmark is the perfect early option in goal for the Oilers and it isn’t close… Ullmark’s consistency through his NHL career has been remarkable and he’s young enough (he turns 28 at the end of July) to backstop a team for several years into the future. His 2020-21 five-on-five save percentage was .937, making him one of the five best goalies in the category.
  • Laurent Brossoit is an established NHL backup with parts of seven seasons in the league. He has struggled at times but the teams in front of him were also having some issues as his game went sideways.

BLH’s Thoughts: Seravalli said Ullmark’s asking for Jordan Binnington money ($6Mx6), and that might be out of Edmonton’s range. I don’t know if I could see Brossoit returning to the Oilers, that seems unrealistic to me. He doesn’t really fit what the club is really looking for in net. 

Murray would’ve been a good signing had Holland decided to pass on Duncan Keith and re-sign Adam Larsson earlier. He’d be too expensive as a 3rd pairing dman. 

Pysyk is an interesting option though. I think the Oilers will want to get one more extra RHD since they are overflowing with lefties right now. He’d be on the cheaper side, so there could be some merit in suggesting him.

There’s going to be a shit ton of suitors for Nick Ritchie, I wonder if the Penguins will take a real good run at him. As for Kampf, I don’t believe he’s got enough offense or experience for Edmonton to be a realistic option for them. 

Edmonton Sun (Jim Matheson)

Oilers have several other free-agent targets outside of Zach Hyman
  • Goal: Ullmark, who put up wonderful numbers (the last 54 games over two seasons: 26-20-6, .916 save percentage) in Buffalo behind a bad defence. Most pro scouts feel he’s ready for a much bigger role in net as he turns 28 Saturday. Maybe he turns into somebody as good as fellow Swede Robin Lehner.
  • Fall-backs in net: Carolina’s Petr Mrazek, who played for Holland in Detroit. Freddie Andersen, who has beaten the Oilers for fun in his Toronto days… Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper, who has one year left on his contract. True starter, but he’s also hurt a lot (knee).
  • They have circled back to Tyson Barrie, the highest-scoring defenceman in the league last year, about returning but short-term (three years). They don’t want Barrie to block fellow offensive D Evan Bouchard.
  • Travis Hamonic would fit too but at this stage he’s a third-pairing right-D. Long-shot in a trade, although he would have to waive a no-move clause: Colorado’s Erik Johnson, 33. But only if Avs would be willing to eat $2 million of his $6 million cap hit for the next two seasons.
  • Getzlaf. We know he’s 36 and we know he’s got a wife and four kids who have spent their life in southern California but he was born in Regina. There’s some smoke here… 
  • Nick Bonino in Minnesota. Oilers assistant coach Glen Gulutzan was in Vancouver doing same job when Bonino played for Canucks so there’s intel there. Bonino’s wife Lauren is from St. Albert; maybe she wants to come home.
  • Florida’s Alexander Wennberg had bounce back year and has offensive pop (17 goals). Mikael Granlund in Nashville plays left wing, also centre and was one of coach John Hynes most trusted players with 13 goals and 27 points.
  • Buffalo has no goalies with Ullmark and Carter Hutton UFA and Holland has certainly called about Koskinen.
  • Would Oilers want to bring back UFA Andrew Cogliano at $1 million to play fourth-line wing? He’s still got great wheels. Just turned 34, 1,066 NHL games.

BLH’s Thoughts: It looks like the Oilers have Barrie locked up for three years for something between $4M and $5M according to the Bobfather and I’ve got to say that is outstanding! I thought he was going to come in over $5M. If he signs for under $5M/yr, that’ll be a major win as it’ll leave more funds to allocate elsewhere. If Ullmark really wants $6M/yr, Edmonton is going to have to pony up. 

It sounds like Wennberg might be staying in Florida and if I’m not wrong, I believe it was Bob Stauffer saying that yesterday.

I love the idea of adding Nick Bonino, but if Ryan Getzlaf is willing to go to Edmonton, I know who I’m picking. 

Bob McKenzie is also saying that Cogliano could be going to San Jose.

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1420086862429966340

Oilersnation (Zach Laing)

Report: Edmonton Oilers “potential fit” for UFA Ryan Getzlaf
  • Getzlaf, 36, has spent his full 1,101 game NHL career with the Anaheim Ducks scoring 279 goals and 982 points in that time.
  • He’s coming off a down year having scored just five goals and 17 points in 48 games this year, but had scored well over 2 P/60 in the years prior.
  • The 6’4, 225 lb. right-shot centre fits the bill for what the Oilers are looking for to fill that 3C slot and Getzlaf still brings a lot on the ice.
  • According to hockeyviz.com, at even-strength this year he contributed offence at a five percent rate above league average and defence at a three percent rate above league average. He would undoubtedly bring the intangibles the Oilers are looking for, too.

BLH’s Thoughts: “I wouldn’t say never say never on Getzlaf.” – Bob Stauffer

Yesterday on Oilers Now, Stauffer read a text out loud from Getzlaf’s agent, Gerry Johansson, that said Edmonton would be a place Getzlaf would consider. Stauffer also stated that he thinks there’s an outside chance the Anaheim captain would sign with the Oilers. Mark Spector, on the other hand, said that all the people he spoke to felt that there’s no chance he goes north to play in Edmonton… 

Also mentioned on Stauffer’s show yesterday morning, Duncan Keith has been in contact with Getzlaf. The belief there is that since they were Olympic teammates, Keith spoke to the career-long Duck about coming to Edmonton and joining him in their bid for Lord Stanley’s Cup. 

Cult of Hockey

Edmonton Oilers’ free agent targets likely include Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci, NHL insiders report
  • “EDM and Tyson Barrie are getting closer to a multi-year contract that would take the defenceman out of free agency.” – Bob McKenzie
  • “Some rumblings Cody Ceci will be in mix, too.” – Elliotte Friedman
  • Barrie is reportedly looking for a four-year deal somewhere in the $5 million range, with the Oilers said to prefer a three-year pact.
  • Cody Ceci, 27, is nearly as experienced, with 549 NHL games under his belt. The 15th overall draft pick in 2012 (Ottawa Senators) was in the NHL to stay by his Draft +2 season. Since then he’s averaged a relatively modest 6-16-22 per 82 GP, with a career average of 20:46 ice time. That’s effectively top four minutes
  • A persistent buzz this summer is that it might be Bear who is the odd man out and might be shopped. While that prospect will leave a sour taste in the mouths of many Oil fans including this one, my pragmatic side has to ask what might they be able to get in return for the popular rearguard?
  • Seattle might be a prime target given Bear’s connection to the city where he played four years of junior hockey, winning the WHL’s defenceman of the year award in his final campaign in which he helped lead the Thunderbirds to a berth in the Memorial Cup.
  • From this distance, a defence involving Barrie, Ceci and Bouchard playing the right side would be a vulnerable group, but if history has taught us anything, it’s “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”

BLH’s Thoughts: If the Oilers lock up Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci, they’re going to have to find their “muscle” on the left side. Ian Cole, to me, would be a good signing for the bottom pair. The Avs really missed him in their playoff series against Vegas this year and I just feel like he’s almost picture perfect for the role he’d be filling. He’s also much better than Kris Russell and William Lagesson… Brayden McNabb might be another option, but the Oilers would have to trade for him.

Dan Tencer said something interesting on Twitter regarding Tyson Barrie last night that I’d like to share with you,

  • “The right handed shot barely 30 year old D who led the league in defense scoring is voluntarily re-signing in a city that many players (still) shrug off. So naturally people will be…furious?”

The last time an Edmonton Oilers defenseman lead the league in scoring amongst defenders the internet didn’t even exist. It’s amazing to me that there are fans of the team who are so quick to dismiss the kind of talent Barrie is. Then again, most of those folks probably weren’t born yet.

Another thing, the analytics community within the Oilers fanbase are bringing out metrics that show Barrie as a drag on Connor McDavid when they were on the ice together last season. My question is, what’s the motivation? What more do you want aside from having the highest scoring forward and the highest scoring defenseman on the same team? Is this some sort of journey to find the perfect hockey player? NEWS FLASH! HE DOESN’T EXIST!!! So stop denigrating the accomplishments of an individual because your charts don’t show him a good light according to your publicly available numbers. 

What’s more amusing is that that same group of individuals would rather have a defenseman who’s never finished a year with more GF than GA on their top pairing and are screaming bloody murder at the notion that the team might move him to upgrade the roster elsewhere. A player who the coaching staff obviously doesn’t trust yet and was benched on multiple occasions during the most important time of the year for the Oilers.

FYI: Ethan Bear is NOT Jeff Petry. He’s not Justin Schultz. He’s not Chris Pronger, Paul Coffey, Eric Brewer, or Oscar Klefbom and I’ll say it right now, he’ll never be those players and do you know why? Because he’s going to be Ethan Bear, a very capable and solid middle/bottom-pairing defenseman at his peak. Why does he have to be somebody else just because his name is coming up in trade rumors?

Sorry about the rant… I just feel like some fans in Edmonton are so entitled and it drives me nuts. 

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CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

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Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!