Today’s NHL news, rumors, and speculation feature the likes of Philip Danault, Josh Anderson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Devan Dubnyk, Brian Elliott, Jake Virtanen, Craig Smith, and more!
Nice! Good ol' Camrose boy! Congrats to him! https://t.co/HAJsKnEKnj
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) September 11, 2020
The News and Rumors
- Michael Russo (The Athletic) says Devan Dubnyk and Victor Rask are potential buy-out candidates for the Minnesota Wild. He also says that nobody is untouchable on the club, even Kevin Fiala and Kiril Kaprizov.
BLH’s Thoughts: Well, in that case. I hope the Oilers are chatting it up daily with former Oiler Bill Guerin about some of his players. Ryan Hartman and Matt Dumba would perk my ears a bit.
- Fluto Shinzawa (The Athletic) reports that the Bruins could take a look at tough-guys Matt Martin and Brenden Dillon if they hit free agency this offseason.
BLH’s Thoughts: Did Cam Neely’s voice get a whole lot louder in Boston all of a sudden? Trying to bring back the Big Bad Bruins? Signing one of Martin or Dillon might have the opposite effect…
- Lisa Dillman (The Athletic) tips Craig Smith and Tyler Ennis as potential free-agent additions for the LA Kings.
BLH’s Thoughts: I love Craig Smith. He gets very little attention for how good of a hockey player he is and has been for a while now. He’d be a fantastic complementary addition to Edmonton’s top-six and a little better than Ennis if you ask me. His game is rounded out a bit more than Ennis’ but he’d also be more expensive.
- The Fan590’s Pat Steinberg says the Flames will likely bring back free-agent-to-be Erik Gustafsson as they like what he brings to the lineup.
BLH’s Thoughts: Damn. Gustafsson would be a perfect 2nd-pair defender for the Oilers. Ah well, I suppose I could watch a few more years of Kassian running him over if he signs in Calgary.
- Lowetide (TSN1260) reckons the Oilers might look at trading for Panthers forward Brett Connolly, and Blues pivot Tyler Bozak this offseason.
BLH’s Thoughts: Edmonton would be moving some pretty good salary back to Florida and St. Louis if they wanted these guys. I mean a Kassian for Connolly trade would work because FLA is looking to add some more physical players but unless James Neal is going to the Blues or they’re eating cash, I’m not too sure how Bozak would get to Edmonton. Maybe that’s a trade deadline move though as that’d be a tad easier of a time to bring him in since the cash isn’t as much of an issue.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi reports that the Flyers want goalie Brian Elliott to return for next season and have begun extension talks with him already.
BLH’s Thoughts: Great move in my opinion. Carter Hart is the future of that franchise and Elliott has been an outstanding mentor for him.
- Pierre LeBrun (TSN) believes the Edmonton Oilers have not ruled out bringing back netminder Mike Smith, but they’d prefer another option.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’m not totally against the idea of Smith returning. It would give Edmonton some financial flexibility to sort out some other pieces, but there is a part of me that would love to see Anton Khudobin sharing the net with Mikko Koskinen.
- Elliotte Friedman (Sportsnet) is saying that the Montreal Canadiens could opt to trade center Philip Danault instead of winger Max Domi this offseason. He’s only one year from UFA status and could be looking to cash-in.
- The Athletic’s Scott Burnside is saying that the Carolina Hurricane’s biggest issues going into this offseason are Nino Niederreiter, Jake Gardiner, and Ryan Dzingel.
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think it would be a smart idea to put a lot of responsibility on Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki just because they had a good post-season. They are still very young and really should have a player like Philip Danault around to help.
I like Ryan Dzingel. He had a down season in Carolina but he’s a buzzsaw out there. Probably makes a shade too much but aside from that, he’s a rad hockey player to watch.
The Oilers Speculation
If you listen to a lot of Edmonton Oilers talk radio like I do you might have noticed the uptick in Oliver Ekman-Larsson talk recently. I’d like to just point out a few observations just from listening to Oilers Now over the week.
- Remember when the Taylor Hall rumors were running rampant? One day, out of the blue, host Bob Stauffer brought out the name Adam Larsson. Shortly thereafter Larsson was an Edmonton Oiler…
- So Stauffer’s been dropping a few names consistently. Those of Henrik Borgstrom and Ekman-Larsson. But he brought one name up and then dropped it pretty quick, Aaron Ekblad.
- Yesterday, he talked about how the PK Subban/Shea Weber trade was initially perceived by fans and that in the end, the Habs actually won that trade. I feel like he could be setting the stage for a deal that Oilers fans might not be a big fan of…
- Bob has been bringing up Oscar Klefbom having his ice-time reduced recently and then made some points about when Chris Pronger was traded to Edmonton he allowed the team to play the other defensemen in their correct roles.
- The fact that he talked about how Adam Larsson was OEL’s d-partner for Team Sweden at the Worlds was interesting and even more so is how he’s been pumping Darnell Nurse’s tires lately. A lot of talk about Nurse’s 5×5 scoring from him, Jason Gregor (TSN1260), and Kurt Leavins (The Cult of Hockey).
- The Oilers don’t really need an upgrade in net, they need a backup more importantly, but there’s almost too much chatter about the Oilers and a netminder. All most as if it’s taking the attention off of a potential blockbuster trade.
So, my guess is if the Oilers trade for a proper 1st pairing defender like Aaron Ekbld, they’ll definitely move Adam Larsson. If they go for the likes of OEL, then I say Nurse is on the move because it’s all about slotting guys where they should be playing instead of where they need to be slotted because the team lacks the proper personnel.
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) September 11, 2020
