Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Latest NHL Speculation (8/27/2020)

• TheFourthPeriod: “According to what sources close to the situation have told me, I would be borderline-shocked if Taylor Hall signs a new contract with the Coyotes this off-season. Arizona might be part of the mix, maybe they won’t, but Hall’s going to test the waters when the free-agent market opens up. Pending UFA Carl Soderberg won’t be back either. Neither will Brad Richardson.As for the Flames, I’m not expecting UFA Travis Hamonic to return, while TJ Brodie might be playing elsewhere next season – the Flames agreed to trade him in a package to Toronto for Nazem Kadri last summer, but Kadri refused to waive his NTC … the addition of a top-4 defender will be on their priority checklist.

  The Leafs want to re-sign Kyle Clifford and I believe they will consider extending another league-minimum offer to Jason Spezza, but Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie’s time in Toronto is likely over.

BLH’s Thoughts: Arizona is fooked. They’re in cap Hell and for the first time in a long time, they had a half-decent roster but could barely beat the Nashville Predators before getting their asses handed to them by the Colorado Avalanche. The GM bailed on them and the league took them out behind the tool shed for some “learnin'”. Who is going to willingly sign there? Oh, and how could I forget that they’re shopping their franchise player right after signing him to a long-term $8M contract… #Yikes

I think the best thing the Coyotes could do is blow it up and start fresh. By the time things have blown over and the team is ready to compete, Auston Matthews will be a free agent 🙂

Calgary has a better team than most think and that’s coming from a guy who can’t stand that bloody team. I do agree with TFP though. They could use at least one top-four defender to compliment Mark Giordano, Juuso Valimaki, Rasmus Andersson, and Noah Hanifin. 

• Luke Fox (Sportsnet): Keep an eye on the Columbus Blue Jackets this off-season. They have no pending UFAs to take care of and have cap space to spare.GM Jarmo Kekalainen: “I don’t believe in the July 1 signings to be the answer or recipe for success. That’s been shown very many times. Growing from within is going to be a key for us.”With so many Eastern contenders struggling with a flat cap, the opportunity is there for CBJ to add an impact forward or two this off-season. Would be shocked if RFA Josh Anderson isn’t used as a trade piece.

BLH’s Thoughts: I wonder if this is a team that would go after Johnny Gaudreau? Given the success that Artemi Panarin had there, Johnny Hockey is not that far off. Would Josh Anderson, David Savard, and maybe Joonas Korpisalo get it done? 

• Eric Stephens of TheAthletic (subscription required): Anaheim’s reported interest in acquiring Kasperi Kapanen before he was dealt to Pittsburgh means that GM Bob Murray has no intention of blowing it up. There might be other players available in a similar role this off-season for cheaper: Jake Virtanen and Josh Anderson are both pending RFAs with Arb. rights. Maybe it’s worth a shot at Jesse Puljujarvi.

BLH’s Thoughts: Ken Holland isn’t shy about inter-division trading and if the Ducks want to go after Jesse Puljujarvi, that’s fine by me but it’ll cost them. Trevor Zegras is an interesting prospect as is Maxime Comtois. Although, Cam Fowler would be amazing on the Oilers. THAT is a guy that can pass the puck. 

• NHLRumorsDaily: The bubble plan the NHL has discussed for next season is only as a potential last resort option, nothing is in the advanced stages. Still hopeful that next season can begin with fans at every team’s market.
• Tarik El-Bashir (Q&A) on the Capitals’ off-season: “I do think there’s a chance Brenden Dillon re-signs, maybe a little less after the playoffs than before. Braden Holtby walks. I don’t see GM Brian MacLellan blowing it up. But I do think there’s a decent chance there will be a move no one sees coming … I expect MacLellan to work the phones and try to use a trade to add another impactful defender.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Would the Caps move on from Tom Wilson? He’s got some major value and maybe a team in the Pacific Division would have some interest in this player. What about Lars Eller? He’d be a really nice option for the Oilers at 3C and the Capitals might be thinking about promoting Connor McMichael next season… 

Just spitballing here so don’t roast me but would you trade Darnell Nurse and Zack Kassian for Tom Wilson and Lars Eller?

• Scott Burnside (TheAthletic): Recently fired Capitals coach Todd Reirden will probably be one of the top pursued assistant coaches this off-season. One thing to consider: Reirden was at one point getting interest from the Flames before he signed an extension with WSH in 2017. It’s hard to see how the St. Louis Blues and Alex Pietrangelo find a way to make a contract extension work unless he takes a huge “hometown discount.” It looked like Vegas could have been a fit but the Alec Martinez acquisition pretty much negates that. The 7-year, $6.5M AAV extension to Justin Faulk seems like an enormous anchor.Hard to imagine the Flames don’t explore what’s available to them on the free-agent goalie market before inking Cam Talbot to an extension.

  A number of sources indicated they don’t think Steve Sullivan is ready for the Coyotes GM role yet. They don’t have much time to sort that out and improve the team. On Taylor Hall, scouts say he doesn’t drive play and isn’t a cornerstone player. One NHL executive on Hall’s upcoming free agency: “Watch Nashville.” They’d probably have to move out salary (Turris) to make it work.

  The Hurricanes have shown interest in Robin Lehner before, maybe he’s the answer to their goaltending problem. They’d have to move out one of Mrazek or Reimer, but “that doesn’t seem like a Herculean task.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Elliotte Friedman said last week that one of Todd Reirden’s problems was that he didn’t problem-solve on the bench during the game. If that’s the case, how many teams are going to be looking at Reirden when so many other veteran NHL coaches are available? 

If Pietrangelo wants to stay in St. Louis, the Blues will find a way to keep him. The folks that I talk to say that they really missed Jay Bouwmeester and his defensive influence on their blueline against the Canucks. Maybe they go out and make some cost-cutting moves in order for them to re-sign their captain as well as bring in a defender who can bring some calmness to their blueline as J-Bo once did. 

Taylor Hall is going to be a daily conversation until he’s signed, isn’t he? I’m kinda curious to see if he’ll wait things out as long as he can to see what the lay of the land is going to be before committing. He knows that he basically has the pick of the litter, right? And he can choose whether he wants to sign long-term or short-term. So waiting right up until camps are started probably wouldn’t hurt him.

I thought Carolina was going to do a lot more damage in the playoffs but some of their forwards went MIA. What happened to El Nino? He was on the 4th line! You can’t have that from a guy who makes as much as he does. I thought the goaltending was fine, to be honest, but other parts of the team simply didn’t step it up. That’s a team with a lot of assets and could make a splash or two if they wanted. Plus they’ve got a crazy owner. Expect the unexpected with this team. 

For more NHL rumors and speculation visit The Scoring Touch!