Speculating from an Oilers fan’s perspective, BLH comments on the latest NHL news and rumors feat. Patrik Laine, Johnny Gaudreau, Torey Krug, Jonathan Huberdeau, and many more!
Hearing that Tampa Bay has talked to Tyler Johnson’s camp about working together on a possible move. Johnson has a full no-trade clause. Let’s see where this goes.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 5, 2020
The News and Rumors
- Jim Matheson (Edmonton Sun): If Jesse Puljujarvi returns, the Oilers could have to move one of; Zack Kassian, James Neal, or Alex Chiasson.
BLH’s Thoughts: We’ve been hearing that the Oilers will have to move a right-wing in order to fit Puljujarvi in for some time now. Most recently Alex Chiasson being linked to the Boston Bruins.
My feeling is that the club likes what Neal and Chiasson bring to the team’s PP and maybe Zack Kassian is the one they’d prefer to move because he makes the most amount of money and Tippett only really uses him at even-strength.
- Elliotte Friedman (Sportsnet): The Washington Capitals have major interest in goalie Henrik Lundqvist, but the Swedish netminder has interest in heading to Arizona.
BLH’s Thoughts: Well, if the Coyotes can find a way to move Kuemper and Raanta, King Henrik would definitely have a place to play in Arizona.
- Friedman cont: The New York Islanders could potentially go for a big free agent like Torey Krug or Taylor Hall this off-season.
BLH’s Thoughts: This is interesting because I was under the impression that the Islanders were vulnerable to an offer-sheet on Mat Barzal. They have a shade over $8M to re-sign Barzal, Ryan Pulock, and Devon Toews… I don’t see how they’ll be able to take on Hall or Krug without moving a big contract like Nick Leddy’s ($5.5M) or Andrew Ladd’s ($5.5M) and then there’s rumors that they’re bringing Zach Parise ($7.5M) in…
- More Friedman: the Carolina Hurricanes offered forward Martin Necas and a defenceman to Winnipeg for Patrik Laine, but the Jets are holding out for more.
BLH’s Thoughts: I wonder what defenceman added to that deal wasn’t enough for the Jets to green light that deal? I’m betting it was Brady Skjei and Winnipeg wants one of Slavin, Pesce, or Hamilton.
- Even More Friedman: The Florida Panthers will listen to trade talks on any player that isn’t named Alexander Barkov.
BLH’s Thoughts: This is more or less old news. If I remember right, at the beginning of last month the Aaron Ekblad rumors started coming out.
Edmonton should definitely be seeing what it’s going to take to pry Ekblad and possibly Brett Connolly away from the Panthers.
- David Staples (Edmonton Journal): There is plenty of talk that links the Edmonton Oilers to Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Tyson Barrie this off-season.
BLH’s Thoughts: Man, Barrie to the Oilers has been a topic of off-season conversation for at least four years, if not longer. I reckon that this sort of deal could hinge on whether or not Ken Holland decides to address the left-side of his defense with Oscar Klefbom possibly being out for the season or to allow Caleb Jones and Darnell Nurse to take the wheel. If the latter is the case, then Edmonton would be very deep on the right-side with Adam Larsson, Ethan Bear, and Barrie patrolling the blueline for them there.
- Bruce Garrioch (Ottawa Sun): The Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, and Florida Panthers are among the teams that could pursue Jets forward Patrik Laine.
BLH’s Thoughts: Winnipeg wants a 2C and a top-four defenseman for Laine. Are the Blue Jackets, Habs, and Bruins going to let go of one of their top d-men? What are the Red Wings going to offer apart from futures? The Sabres are looking to cut salary, not add it and the Wild are also looking for a top-6 center. So that leaves Florida and the Rangers really.
- The Fourth Period.com: The Calgary Flames are open to moving Johnny Gaudreau. The Minnesota Wild, Philadelphia Flyers, and Columbus Blue Jackets are interested.
BLH’s Thoughts: Are the Flames not looking for a defenseman in return for Johnny Hockey? Minnesota could offer Dumba and prospects but I don’t see the Flyers and Columbus being able to offer anything defensively for Gaudreau. Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, and Ivan Provorov aren’t going anywhere and you’d have to think that’s the caliber of trade that Calgary is looking for in return for their star winger.
- Larry Brooks (NY Post): The New York Rangers are undecided on whether or not they’ll qualify Ryan Strome. He becomes a UFA at 5pm EST on Tuesday if not qualified.
BLH’s Thoughts: THIS is going to be something to watch for Oilers fans. Strome and Puljujarvi had fantastic chemistry when they played together in Edmonton and the former Oilers center would be a perfect fit for their hole at 3C. If he hits the market, I fully expect Edmonton to meet with his representatives. Some believe he’ll be asking for around $4.75M but I wonder if he might drop that a tad to return to the City of Champions.
- Aaron Portzline (The Athletic): The Columbus Blue Jackets are listening to offers on both of Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo. They will be in the market for a short-term veteran backup, Jimmy Howard would be a good option.
BLH’s Thoughts: They should probably pass on Howard and see what Henrik Lundqvist is doing.
I think Ken Holland will be monitoring Columbus’ goalie situation closely keeping in mind they’ve got interest in Jesse Puljujarvi. Maybe if the Oilers can acquire another draft pick in the first three rounds, they could flip Pulju and the pick for one of CBJ’s goalies.
- Marc-Antoine Godin (The Athletic): It is very far from certain that the Montreal Canadiens will buy out the contract of Karl Alzner. Habs GM Marc Bergevin says he isn’t concerned another year in Laval will be “toxic” to the team.
- Ryan Rishaug (TSN): The Edmonton Oilers won’t be able to sign any free agent goalies unless they move Mikko Koskinen first. Rishaug doesn’t see the Oilers spending $5M-$6M on a goaltender unless Koskinen is gone.
BLH’s Thoughts: My feeling is that the Oilers will most likely end up spending between $7M and $8.5M on goaltending for next season. No inside information, just a hunch.
- Ryan S. Clark (The Athletic): It is understood that the front office has started looking into new contracts for pending RFAs Andre Burakovsky, Ryan Graves, and Valeri Nichushkin.
BLH’s Thoughts: Adrian Dater also mentioned recently that the Avs could trade Nichushkin if his ask is too high (and it probably will be). I’d deal him if I were Joe Sakic too, but Graves and Burakovsky need to be re-signed. They were outstanding for Colorado this past season.
- John Vogl (The Athletic): Minnesota Wild forward Alex Galchenyuk could be a good and cost affordable option in free agency for the Buffalo Sabres to add to their weak left side. He is in for a big pay cut.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve wondered this same thing about him coming to Edmonton. He showed a very different side to his game during the series with Vancouver and if that gritty version of himself was the player he decided to be going forward, I wouldn’t mind that on the Oilers.
- Rick Dhaliwal (TSN): Washington Capitals UFA defender Brendan Dillon says he would be very interested in joining his hometown team, the Vancouver Canucks, if he were to hit free agency.
BLH’s Thoughts: Well, that would take them out of the OEL sweepstakes, wouldn’t it? HA!
The Oilers Speculation
As we sit here on the eve of the 2020 NHL draft, I’ve got four names for you to consider as possible selections for the Oilers at 14th overall. These are players that the Edmonton media have been talking endlessly about for the last week or so.
But before we get into that, I believe it would be a worthwhile idea for the Oilers to consider trading down and grabbing more picks, but as the great Jack Michaels says, “You can’t miss if you’re doing that.” and he’s right, you can’t…
That said, here are the Edmonton media’s candidates,
- Yaroslav Askarov (G) – SKA/KHL
- Kaiden Guhle (LHD) – Prince Alberta/WHL
- Seth Jarvis (RW) – Portland/WHL
- Dylan Holloway (C) – Wisconsin/NCAA
I really hope the club isn’t tempted into taking Guhle at 14th overall and no disrespect to the player. He’s one of the top defencemen for this draft, he skates extremely well, he’s a mean SOB, and he’s got a bomb of a shot. His problem is that he’s not a great puck mover and often takes himself out of plays with his aggressiveness. His NHL comparable is Darnell Nurse.
My argument is that the club has a bit of depth on defense prospect-wise with Philip Broberg, Dmitri Samorukov, Evan Bouchard, and William Lagesson (to a lesser extent) coming and there are players in the 2nd and 3rd round that have the same skillset as his like Ryan O’Rourke, Helge Grans, Emil Andrae, and Tyler Kleven. Perhaps even Justin Barron will drop a bit and be available to the Oilers and a guy like Donovan Sebrango shouldn’t be forgotten about either.
The team really needs to address its lack of prospect depth on forward. Raphael Lavoie is the player in the system that has the potential to be a top-6 forward (aside from Puljujarvi but should we be counting him in this?). So taking Seth Jarvis would be a fantabulous idea. Taking Anton Lundell if he drops would be awesome. If Rodion Amirov is there, grab him! They’d best be clicking Jack Quinn’s name furiously on their computers if he somehow drops. There is a solid group of 6-8 forwards the Oilers could take at 14th overall and I’d be pleased.
There are two caveats by the name of Yaroslav Askarov and Jake Sanderson though.
These two players have the potential to be game-breakers at the NHL level and I wouldn’t be upset if the Oilers decided to take either if they fell to 14 as Askarov has been called the next Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sanderson has drawn comparisons to Zach Werenski…
