Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Buchnevich, Landeskog, and the One Thing Duncan Keith can Teach Evan Bouchard

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!

From Oilersnation

Edmonton Oilers players said Duncan Keith was “difficult defensively” in Edmonton bubble

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recorded a 31 Thoughts podcast not long after Holland’s Monday night presser where he spoke about Holland’s discussions with his own players about Keith.

“I believe one of the things Ken Holland was doing over the past couple of weeks was asking some of his top players about Duncan Keith. I think he asked his top guys what do you think about Duncan Keith? I know last year his numbers weren’t very good but I think a number of those players talked about that Chicago-Edmonton series in the bubble and how difficult defensively they found Keith to deal with. I think that’s one of the reasons the Oilers did that deal. I heard that today and I double-checked that in a couple of places and got confirmation on it that I think some of the input a couple players gave on the way Keith played in that series in the bubble is one of the reasons Edmonton made this deal.
“I think it’s more than just hard to play against. Hard to play against is sometimes in hockey lingo ‘he put his stick through my nose.’ I think it was more than that. I think it was that they found it really difficult to play offence against him. That this was still a guy who knew how to play defence and at least made it challenging to deal with him when he was on the ice. It’s different than ‘hard to play against.’ I think they still respected his ability as a defensive player, I think that’s a better way to put it.
“I’m with you and everyone else: I was stunned Chicago didn’t have to either eat some of the cap hit, or take say Koskinen back to buy him out. I don’t think James Neal was ever a legitimate factor to buy him out because that’s a four-year buyout, and I don’t think the Blackhawks were ever interested in that. It came down to even though he’s a 5.5 cap hit, his cash is 3.6 the next two years. I think that’s where Chicago held the line. I think they said ‘we are going to take a run at Jones and or Hamilton and we are not hurting ourselves in our ability to do that.
“The Caleb Jones thing, I understand how everybody feels about Jones as a player and I do think Jones last year — I think he needed to get out of Edmonton the way last year went for him and what Edmonton has coming. Caleb Jones needed a new start. I don’t think he wanted to be back, and I think the Oilers understood he wasn’t going to be back. And to be honest, I think they thought they were going to lose him anyway so they made the deal with Jones in it.”

BLH’s Thoughts: One of the things I’ve learned about Keith throughout the week is that he defends by attacking the puck carrier very quickly. Meaning he’s quite assertive in his approach to defending and what have we heard about Evan Bouchard? He can seem a tad relaxed with regards to how he takes care of his own end at times…

Of course, the Oilers aren’t going to pair Bouchard and Keith up if they can help it, but during practise and in the video sessions, DK is going to be a massive influence on Edmonton’s young defenders.

From Lowetide.ca

SUPERSTITION

SWEDISH POSTER

Since everyone is loving this trade so much I’ll just add a short comment on throw in Tim Söderlund, who’s played a couple of seasons with Filip Berglund in Skellefteå, think they even spent some time together with the junior team. He’s a small, speedy forward with good not great hands who’s offense has never really translated to the pro ranks.

I don’t think he has the playmaking ability nor the shot to produce at higher levels… Söderlund’s speed is more about quickness, I mean in terms of figuring out how to be able to use his speed to create a lot of chances rather than a clean shot or great vision to produce.

The hope is that he finds a way to use his speed, skill combo more efficiently, he skates a lot, works hard on the forecheck but it doesn’t really lead to much. That hope is slim though, he’s had a couple of pro coaches trying to help him figure it out already. At least he’s a familiar face for Filip Berglund coming over and he adds some speed to the Condors.

BLH’s Thoughts: At this point, if he’s not done anything to make himself standout to the coaches he’s worked under, I wouldn’t bet on him becoming a FT NHLer anytime soon. That said, Jay Woodcroft is a miracle worker and if Filip Berglund joins him in Bakersfield next season, there’s a better chance than none Soderlund could see improvement.

Personally, I haven’t read up on him too much, but if he doesn’t have much offense to show for, could he pivot and take on a role similar to Lehkonen in Montreal? I’m not going to hold my breath, but I’m just throwing that out there.

Dreger on Insider Trading says the Avalanche and Gabriel Landeskog or not even close to an extension. The position of the Colorado Avalanche has to change significantly or else Landeskog will go to market. #GoAvsGo

— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) July 13, 2021

From NHLRumors.com

NHL Rumors: New York Rangers, and Top Trade Candidates

Trading Buchnevich makes some sense for the Rangers

Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic: Have heard that New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich‘s name has come up but it’s not known if teams are just calling about him or if they put his name out there.

“I expect some talks to come up,” Buchnevich’s agent, Todd Diamond, told The Athletic on Monday. “I expect the Rangers to qualify Pavel and then depending on whatever else Chris (Drury) is working on, that could potentially affect the way the contract may look or other issues.”

Top 25 NHL trade targets

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff: Ranking the top 25 NHL trade targets this offseason.

5. Conor Garland – Pending RFA. No talk with Coyotes since Garland’s camp made two contract proposals back in May.

16. Jake DeBrusk – Could be moved if the Bruins could re-sign Taylor Hall.

23. Warren Foegele – Looking for more of an opportunity than what the Hurricanes may be able to offer.

24. Rights to Chris Driedger

BLH’s Thoughts: These four names are the most likely, in my opinion, to be targets of the Oilers. Foegele might have the lowest price tag but the highest capacity for reward. He’s big, fast, and has a helluva a shot. I happen to think he’s a pretty decent two-way forward that would really compliment Edmonton’s middle-six too.

However, what kind of contract he’s looking for concerns me a little since he’s an RFA and his latest deal paid him $2.15M/yr. He’s got arb rights and is most likely looking for something closer to $3M or more on a new deal. Ideally, if a team was to trade for him, they’d like to get him on a one or two year “show me” deal, but the risk with that is it would walk him pretty close to unrestricted free agency… So there’s that.

I really dig Buchnevich, but in order for the Oilers to acquire him, they’d have to trade one of Jesse Puljujarvi or Kailer Yamamoto and I’m not sure there’s an appetite there to do that at this point in time. The Oilers still have the two young whipper snappers under team control and Buchnevich will be looking for $5M+ at least on his next deal. Could see a team like LA or Detroit making a play for him though.

Friedman on 31 Thoughts says Holland asked some of his top players about Duncan Keith and they talked about the Chicago-Edmonton series in the bubble and how difficult defensively they found Keith to deal with. EF feels that's one of the reasons the Oilers did this deal.

— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) July 13, 2021

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