Edmonton Oilers Rumors: “Holland will be active at the deadline…” Says One Prominent Pundit

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The Athletic (Mitchell)

Lowetide: What should Oilers expect from Duncan Keith in his first season?

What can Keith deliver this season to the Oilers playoff effort?

If the Oilers want Keith to deliver optimal performance, third pair deployment with a veteran like Cody Ceci is the ideal spot in the batting order.

Is the issue offensive, defensive or both?

In looking at Keith’s numbers over three seasons, and observing his recovery time on broken plays, I think the problem is going to be foot speed.

Will Holland be forced to find an external replacement during the season?

The bet here is that Holland will be active at the deadline. Edmonton’s 2022 first-round pick might be in play.

What can Oilers fans expect from Keith?

A season of struggle is indicated if he’s used on the second pairing, and even though some players overcome the odds (Mike Smith a year ago) and perform at unusual levels, the smart play with Keith is third pair minutes at even strength, no time on the power play but significant time penalty killing.

BLH’s Thoughts: A rejuvenated Duncan Keith is going to surprise a lot of people and he’s going to get a really long leash from his teammates and his coaches. I reckon the post-season is where his impact might be seen most obviously, but subtly, his presence in the locker room, the gym, the practice ice, on the airplane, and off the ice will affect everybody on the roster.

I don’t know if Evan Bouchard will get a lot of ice-time with the former Norris Trophy winner, but that’s a mentorship I look forward to hearing about.

As for the trades, it’ll cost the team a helluva lot less to go out at the trade deadline and pick up a few grunts and depth roster players than to sign them in the summer time. Plus, the club has quite a few younger left-shot dmen in Bakersfield who could get a cup of coffee to show their mettle if need be.

So, I don’t know if they’ll be making a substantial trade in the event that Keith can’t keep up on the 2nd pair.

I’d say that if Holland is going to go big fish shopping during the year, it’ll be for a goaltender that can contribute in the post-season.

Copper N Blue (Chapman)

Forecasting Kailer Yamamoto’s 2021-22

The good thing about his 2021 numbers? You’re getting almost all even strength Yamamoto in the results. Any power play time will likely put some more numbers on top of last season’s 30 point even strength projection; a season that saw Yamamoto shoot a much more realistic 11% while at evens.
I’ll take Yamamoto’s 30 point even strength scoring pace, and I’ll add some power play time into the mix. Over an 82 game season, I like Kailer Yamamoto to score 38 points (13-25-38) with a chance to push for 40.

BLH’s Thoughts: Extremely fair prognostication from Chapman. I couldn’t agree more with his prediction.

With that in mind though, I wonder if Killer will produce more from the 3rd line facing that kind of opposition as opposed to the 2nd line with Draisaitl and the top-4 defenders that’ll surely be deployed to stop him.

NHLTradeRumors.me

Carolina Hurricanes Trying to Make a Trade

…reports have surfaced suggesting the Hurricanes are trying to acquire a left-winger.
“If something comes up that makes sense between now and when we start we’ll take a look at it. If not, it gives us a lot of flexibility during the year.” – Hurricanes GM Don Waddell
The Hurricanes have a decent farm system to pull from, along with four draft picks in first three rounds in 2022. Expect to see the team use their cap space and sell off some assets at some point this season.

Details Revealed on Claude Giroux’s Future in Philly

This will be the final season of Giroux’s current deal that’s paying him $8.275 million for the season.
“I’ve had good conversations with Claude and with Pat Brisson, his agent, and at this point our plan is to play the season out and we’ll talk at the end of (it). I think we’re both comfortable with that.” – Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher