Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Oilers Never Offered Koskinen, Samorukov, and a 1st Rounder for Korpisalo says Pundit

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

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The Athletic (Allan Mitchell)

Lowetide: The future may come early for three Oilers prospect defencemen

What is down on the farm and NHL-ready when help is needed? Let’s have a look, starting with how things might look in Edmonton to start the year.
Dmitri Samorukov played in the best league outside the NHL last season (KHL), Philip Broberg in the second-best league (SHL) and Markus Niemelainen in the third-best league outside the NHL (AHL). Each man has a specific skill set and could slide in on the third pair and deliver in the short term.
- Defensively, Samorukov’s numbers are incredible. His on-ice goal differential screams NHL-readiness, but he struggled playing a depth role in Bakersfield during the 2019-20 season.
Philip Broberg is the opposite of Samorukov in that he has shown very well in North America (Ivan Hlinka, Oilers bubble, world juniors before injury; all in Edmonton) but has dealt with his own injuries and defensive gaps in Europe.
- His performances at Rogers Place have shown Broberg to be effective on the smaller ice, his foot speed (the big part of his game) a bigger advantage… He’ll need to blow the doors off training camp in order to slide ahead of Samorukov based on last season’s results.
Markus Niemelainen was drafted in 2016 and spent most of his post-draft career in Finland, playing in Liiga.
- Edmonton likes his size, and his speed was on display and effective in Bakersfield. He has a chance to move up the depth chart if he can continue to deliver as he did last year.
My handicapping of the race has Samorukov in front of Broberg and Niemelainen in overall readiness, with Kemp and Kesselring likely one year or more away.

BLH’s Thoughts: So, last summer Dmitri Samorukov went home to Russia, got married, and was allowed to stay there and play in the KHL. Do you think that him being that happy and comfortable had anything to do with how well he played for CSKA? I do…

I think that Philip Broberg is going to get a good long look at training camp this year. Physically, he’s good to go at the NHL level and on the small ice. Mentally, he still needs some work but the Oilers might just give him a go and see how he does and if he’s struggling, then send him down. The reason I’m thinking that is because they may just forego signing another LHD right now and instead give someone a PTO at training camp because money is tight.

I wish I would’ve watched Niemelainen last year. All I’ve got to go on is reports from Bob Stauffer and with how he was talking about the rangy Finn, it sounds like Edmonton could have themselves a bit of a diamond in the rough here. Maybe the Oilers have a Justin Holl-Type on their hands.

I’m going to say that Philly Broberg has the edge on who gets called up first.

Oilersnation (baggedmilk)

Random Thoughts: The Free Agency Recap

Rather than drone on about the length of Zach Hyman’s contract or how much he’s paid on an hourly basis, I’m choosing to look forward to what he’ll bring to the team here in year one.
- This isn’t like crowbarring Ty Rattie into the top-six and hoping it will work, Zach Hyman is legit and that has me feeling hopeful about the results.
- The potential for different line combos with him in the mix grows significantly, and I wonder how long it will take until Hyman is partnered with Nugent-Hopkins on the second line while Connor and Leon do their thing up top?
The Oilers got their heads kicked in when the third and fourth lines were on the ice, and upgrading some of those slots was absolutely necessary, and Ryan helps achieve that.
- “Derek Ryan is a really reliable bottom-six forward. He doesn’t have a lot of flash to his game, but he’s supremely steady and predictable. He kills penalties well, is a good right-side face-off option, and will provide 10-12 minutes a night of anxiety-free hockey. His lack of flash is probably why he’s a fourth-line guy, but he’s a really strong depth player.” – Ryan Pike (Flamesnation)
The Oilers needed to add more offence into their bottom six and Warren Foegele will certainly help with that, but the cost of acquisition is what’s going to be the sticking point for a lot of people because Ethan Bear was a fan favourite for so many.

BLH’s Thoughts: So, undoubtedly, Warren Foegele is now the new Adam Larsson because that’s how this fanbase behaves, but he’s not alone, Cody Ceci will join him. So whenever either of these players has a tough game or makes a unfortunate play, they’ll be compared to Ethan Bear or Larsson. They’re going to begin their careers as Edmonton Oilers already behind the 8-ball…

I thought that Edmonton’s forward group was deep last year and man, was I wrong. The players that I thought were going to help the bottom-six thrive simply didn’t and the egg was on my face…

Now, I want to think that this one is as deep or deeper though. Adding Ryan and Foegele to help out with the depth scoring should prove to be a plus for the Oilers, in theory.

But, it’s the look of the forwards that has evolved. It used to be full of skillers and now it’s filled with grinders and muckers but accented by some of the highest skilled forwards in the entire world.

I’m very excited to see how this change pans out.

The Cult of Hockey

Grading the off-season performance of Edmonton Oilers G.M. Ken Holland: 9 Things

9. Oilers 1^st 2021 1^st Round Draft Pick Xavier Bourgault is in Calgary this week, attending Hockey Canada’s summer development camp ahead of this year’s World Junior Hockey Championships.
6. As for Ryan, he will be a 3-4 for the Oilers. He can play up a rung up if Ryan McLeod isn’t quite ready but at this point in his career is a strong 4C and 1st rotation PK man. The $1.25m AAV is good value.
5. Warren Foegele has signed a 3-year extension with the Edmonton Oilers, carrying an AAV of $2.75m. He’s a physical North-South player with explosive straight-ahead speed and is a dogged forechecker, an attribute that has followed him from junior through to the pro ranks. While not a high-level finisher Foegele gets to the tough areas on such a consistent basis, he becomes a dangerous offensive player through pure volume. And that has mostly been without elite line-mates. Foegele is also an adept penalty killer. He slots in as the 3LW but could effectively slide up if/when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins nudges over to 3C under certain circumstances, including injury.
4. The Ethan Bear trade to Carolina was not a popular one. But “popular” doesn’t win Stanley Cups… Both Barrie and Bouchard have aspects of “great” in their skill sets. Not sure you can say the same about Bear.
1. While the Mikko Koskinen is not Ken Holland’s fault, it is Ken’s problem. If Koskinen was at $2m or even $2.5m, his numbers would be acceptable enough as a back-up. But that’s “just the money” side of this. On the ice, the heavier his workload he has seen, the less effective Koskinen has generally been. And if anything the big Finn will have to play even more this year. Yes, Koskinen’s 2020-21 numbers were “o.k.”. But sorry…I’m just not sold.
The Joonas Korpilaso rumor was innocently mis-interpreted by some fans… The price-tag that ended up swirling around social media was what Columbus said the cost would be, not what Edmonton “offered”. Big difference.

BLH’s Thoughts: It would be completely out of character for this team’s fanbase to get hold of a rumor and go hog-wild as if it had already happened, right?

One of the main criticisms of Mikko Koskinen is that he makes too much money, right? Folks always start with that point or use it as a caveat, but if you take that point out of the equation entirely and just see him for what he is, a backup goaltender, how bad is he? Also, if Mike Smith hadn’t have started the year on the IR and forced Koskinen to start all those games consecutively after that ridiculous amount of time off, is there a plane of existence where Mikko might’ve had a better year?

I’m very excited to see if Bourgault makes Team Canada’s team at the World Juniors. Seeing as it’s in Edmonton this year, that would make it extra special and obviously put no pressure on the kid to a) make the team and b) perform very well. God help him with this fanbase if either of those things fail to come true.