This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!
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Cult of Hockey
The “Dog Days of August” dish roster decisions during Ken Holland’s summer holidays
- Do not expect 2021 Oilers 1st Round draft pick Xavier Bourgault to play for the Canadian World Junior team this Summer.
- Meanwhile, the Oilers are switching their ECHL affiliate from the Wichita Thunder to the Fort Wayne Komets… The Komets won the ECHL championship in 2020-21 and have a good development program.
- And there is one more addition to the Oilers NHL coaching staff: Mark Stuart, a veteran of 673 regular season NHL games. I see this is Jay Woodcroft’s “guy,” a coach he would have requested Ken Holland to entertain.
- I continue to see smoke around Edmonton and Phil Kessel…
- Jesse Puljujarvi’s new, 1-year, $3m contract accomplishes one of two things: It either firms a spot on the right side in the Oilers middle-6 for this upcoming season or it makes him more tradeable…
- There were rumblings around Montreal and Puljujarvi at the draft table earlier this Summer. And neither’s club’s rosters are “done” yet. Sometimes where there is smoke there is fire.
- August 7th is Kailer Yamamoto’s arbitration hearing date… expect the winger to get a multi-year extension north of $3m.
- Some see a Tyson Barrie trade as one solution for what ails Ken Holland’s salary cap headache. They feel Barrie’s and Evan Bouchard’s primary skill sets are redundant.
BLH’s Thoughts: With Bourgault, I expect him to get a long look in preseason if he can stay healthy…
I do like that the organization is targeting its developmental capabilities because they’re really going to need those ELCs in about three or four years when Draisaitl’s and McDavid’s deals are up.
Did Mark Stuart not play with Evander Kane in Winnipeg and Atlanta? If there’s a guy out there who’d be able to notice the warning signs (if any might crop up) with Kane, it’d probably be Stuart.
Let me get this straight, the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers, two teams looking to clear up cap space, are talking about a Jesse Puljujarvi trade? How exactly does each team accomplish the goal of clearing cap space while being required to take on a roster player in this transaction?
I’m going to have to assume there are other shoes waiting to drop with Montreal and/or the Oilers in order for ANYTHING to go down between these teams.
Now, that said, if the Habs can get Kirby Dach re-signed, I might have to become a Habs fan so I can watch Slafkovsky, Dach, and Puljujarvi run roughshot on the rest of the Atlantic.
I do agree with Leavins on not trading Barrie though. Tyson’s got a bit more fast twitch than Bouch and if he’s nothing more than a fulcrum on the PP, Barrie will be running the powerplay for one more year because I think there’s a very good chance Barrie is traded next summer.
Oilersnation
Monday Mailbag – How comfortable are you with the Oilers’ defence?
How comfortable are you going into next season with the defensive group as it’s currently constructed?
- “It will be good enough to get the job done in the regular season, but I do think they need to add one more veteran piece for it to really be a strength. I would also say that they need to add a piece who is a strong defender…” – Yaremchuk
What does Nurse have to do to ensure the team gets at least a reasonable value out of his yearly $9.25m salary?
- “He’s never going to live up to that contract.” – Brownlee
Which young player do you think has the most pressure to perform from where they were at a year ago?
- “Edmonton is expected to be a Cup contender, and all their young players should be looked at to be complementary players, not drivers or difference makers.” – Gregor
BLH’s Thoughts: In its current form, the Oilers defense is not of Stanley Cup caliber. I believe it’s a good regular season group, but we need to wait for Philip Broberg to hit his stride and for the 3rd pairing to feature a pair of cagey vets like Radko Gudas and Marc Staal or conversely, a young pair of eager cycle breakers like Samorukov and Desharnais who’ll keep the cap structure in place in the short term. Then, there’s a chance I’ll feel comfortable with the group.
Brownlee kinda nailed it on Nurse’s deal.
Ryan McLeod might have a bit of pressure on him to take the next step. He’s truly a homegrown player that’s been through the grind to get to where he is and 3rd line center in Edmonton is a big deal, especially for a somebody who’s come up the traditional way.
If Puljujarvi is traded, Yamamoto is going to have a significant amount of pressure on his shoulders not to fuck up too seeing as the team would be betting on him and with all the “teammates love to play with him” rhetoric out there.
Trade Rumors
Spector’s Hockey
- [Luke] Fox doubts Nazem Kadri will be returning to the Colorado Avalanche unless the 31-year-old center accepts another discount. Paying him $7 million into his mid-30s is a luxury they can’t afford.
- Jeff Marek recently wondered if Phil Kessel might end up with the Edmonton Oilers. Elliotte Friedman considered it “an interesting idea”.
- Sonny Milano has plenty of potential as a middle-six forward despite being cast off by the Columbus Blue Jackets and being cut loose by the Anaheim Ducks.
- …former Pittsburgh Penguins middle-six forward Evan Rodrigues drew some interest from the Vancouver Canucks, Flames, Red Wings and New Jersey Devils.
- Veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan could be an economic second or third-pairing guy.
- Josh Wegman recently wondered if trading Vancouver Canucks center J.T. Miller to the New Jersey Devils for a package including defenseman Damon Severson would work for both teams.
- Stefen Rosner suggests Jesse Puljujarvi might be a more affordable option for the Islanders in their quest to add a forward this season.
- Rosner suggested the Isles offer up Kieffer Bellows and a third-round pick.
BLH’s Thoughts: Bellows isn’t the guy I would be accepting from Lou Lamoriello if I was trading Puljujarvi to Long Island.
Oliver Wahlstrom intrigues me a bit. I think he has some edge to his game and he’s got one helluva shot from the half-wall. That might be handy on the 2nd unit PP. He had 13 goals in 73 games last year.
Junior standout William Dufour (66gp 56g 60a 116pts) had himself a wonderful 20 year old season for Saint John and then tossed up 7 goals in four games in the Mem Cup. He’s a 6’2″ 195lb RWer too…
One would assume Aatu Raty and Simon Holmstrom are out of the question but they had productive seasons in Finland (47gp 40pts for Raty) and the AHL (68gp 43pts for Holmstrom) respectively.
Either way, the Isles have some nice looking prospects but none that will develop to be as good as Puljujarvi will be at his peak.
