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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Sportsnet
Oilers poised to become powerhouse in West after big-ticket signings
- Today, with a 40-goal player like Kane signed to a tidy AAV of $5.1 million, the Stanley Cup window is officially open in Edmonton.
- Guys who score 40 get paid in the eight to nine million range, usually for six or seven years. Kane comes in at four years, $5.125 million per — not even $400,000 more than Ilya Mikheyev or Ben Chiarot received as UFAs.
- Kane’s reputation costs him money here, but during his half-season in Edmonton he was — by all reports — the model teammate.
- Kane is a unicorn, and could be hockey’s best contract at an AAV of $5.125. Or it could go the way it went in San Jose, Buffalo and Winnipeg.
- He’ll need to take another step in his career to win rounds in Edmonton, something he’s never done before. But with just 142 games played at age 30, he’s a late bloomer. He can still improve behind the right team — that is the hope for [Jack] Campbell here in Edmonton.
- Kulak comes in at a very affordable AAV of $2.75 million — especially considering the $16 million, four-year deal for third-pairing defenceman Erik Gudbranson that Columbus signed — and will slot into the spot vacated by Duncan Keith. Kulak will buy time for rookie Philip Broberg to percolate on the third pairing, with the belief that by the end of Kulak’s deal they will have switched places.
- Edmonton’s blue-line needs one more guy, a tough customer. But that will come.
BLH’s Thoughts: Real nice start to the season for the Oilers. They got all of their guys before the light even turned green and there’s not one contract to bitch about. It was a really weird feeling on the Twitter machine yesterday because with those three signings and Johnny Hockey giving Calgary and NJ the middle finger to go to Columbus of all places, it was like Edmonton had just won the Stanley Cup. Very surreal it felt.
As for that tough dman, I’m a little disappointed the Oilers missed out on Nikita Zadorov, but would Predators dman Mark Borowiecki ($900k) be an option now? He’s 6’2″ 205lb and lead all defensemen in majors last year. Left shot though and Edmonton is stacked with those. However, he drew the 2nd most penalties in the NHL amongst dmen last season… So, not only does he kick ass while he’s out there, he sucks guys into making bad decisions and he can play on the 3rd pair.
Borocop is just one guy though. There are lots of tough defenders out there if you look hard enough and that’s without speaking to the likes of Dmitri Samorukov, Markus Niemelainen, and 6’8″ Vincent Desharnais, who are already in the Oilers system.
Oilersnation
The Edmonton Oilers have reportedly kicked tires on Patrick Kane
- According to Frank Seravalli, the Oilers have checked in on Patrick Kane, but the star winger isn’t currently ready to leave Chicago.
- Now 33 years old, Kane is still an elite winger at the NHL level. He scored 26 goals and 92 points over 78 games for the Blackhawks last season and logged an average of 21:49 per game.
BLH’s Thoughts: Well, if you’re going to blow your wad on one guy, Patrick Kane might be the dude to do it. Mind you, I don’t think he’d re-sign in Edmonton if they did acquire him, but you never know. I just feel that if he was concerned about winning, he would’ve left Chicago a LONG time ago for a place like Vegas or New York.
Now, that said, if there’s one GM in the entire league who has a history of acquiring aged superstars and getting them to stick around, it’s Ken Holland.
Could you imagine having a first line of Evander Kane, Connor McDavid, and Patrick Kane? It’s almost sickening to think about.
Trade Rumors
Spector’s Hockey
- Jimmy Murphy cites a rumor from Radio-Canada columnist Martin Leclerc claiming the Montreal Canadiens almost acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets at last week’s NHL draft in Montreal.
- Scott Billeck reports the Jets are still trying to move team captain Blake Wheeler.
NHLRumors.com
- Frank Seravalli: The Dallas Stars and UFA defenseman John Klingberg have started talking again.
- Daniel Nugent-Hopkins: The Edmonton Oilers could trade defenseman Tyson Barrie to help gain some extra salary cap space… The Oilers did really like the pairing of Barrie and Brett Kulak.
- Patrick Johnston: Renaud Lavoie reporting that Patrice Bergeron is still undecided on his future.
- Taj: Frank Seravalli on DFO Rundown on Miller: “The other thing I heard on Miller was, not as many teams were in on it as you think. Significant interest but not as many teams.”
