Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Subban and Kessel to Help Bring the Cup to Edmonton?

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, and The Daily Goal Horn just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

Cult of Hockey

The best thing Ken Holland could do for the Edmonton Oilers is “slow it down”

…one guy not yet working on his golf game is Ken Holland, who has been taking in the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament. Holland has retained the club’s last 10 1^st Round draft picks and may be hoping to get a glance at an 11^th.
I like the Jack Campbell acquisition. But often, it takes a while for players to adjust to their new surroundings. It is harder than you may think. For that reason, I would not be surprised if Stuart Skinner plays more than just a back-up role in the early going.
Two well-known veteran NHL’ers continue to be linked to the Edmonton Oilers: P.K. Subban and Phil Kessel. Subban has made over $80m in his career, Kessel $93m. At this point in their careers, they have made most of the money they will probably ever need.
I contend the Flames have done a more than admirable job pivoting in the face of its 2 best players bolting. But Calgary will not be quite as good.
There is no “must sign” guy left out there for the Oilers, and whoever you may still want to sign (I think Edmonton would like to add one more forward) will likely get cheaper as time wears on as it is an extreme buyer’s market.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Ken Holland will trade his 2023 first round pick for a player that’ll help them in the playoffs this year. That doesn’t mean he won’t have an 11th first rounder to use but it’s a deep draft and if he can secure another first or even a second rounder, he’ll be getting quality prospect nevertheless.

Ah… Here comes the crowd preparedness protocol. New players take time to adjust to their new surroundings, right? I suppose Florida and Calgary won’t mind if Tkachuk and Huberdeau take 20 or 30 games to get sorted and Columbus will be fine if Johnny Hockey takes his time finding his feet for the Blue Jackets.

The Oilers cannot afford for Jack Campbell to find his feet. He needs to have them from the get-go in Edmonton. He’s being paid like a starter and he’ll be expected to perform like one right off the bat here. Personally, I think he’ll be fine, but at the same time, Edmonton’s defense isn’t considered impenetrable. In fact, one might look at its lack of true high-end defensive dmen and call it ‘leaky’.

Either way, I foresee some real blowouts where the Oilers are on the losing end this year, however, I do believe they’ll be few and far between and my playoff time, this team will be sorted.

PK Subban, eh? First I’ve heard his name connected to the Oilers. Is he the missing piece to Edmonton’s championship puzzle? I mean, if Phil Kessel and PK Subban are getting mentioned in connection to the Oilers it should surprise nobody as these are typical Ken Holland targets, but are these the older veterans Edmonton should be chasing?

I mean, there’s a ton of offense on this team as it is and in my opinion, it needs to shore up the defensive end of the roster. Who’s out there that can come in and we’re not going to worry about production because he’s shutting the other team down?

Also, does it bug anybody else when somebody assumes that since a player has made X amount of dollars that they don’t need any more and so playing on the cheap and a Stanley Cup should be their motivation now? I get it, that makes sense for veteran players because we’ve seen that story a hundred times before, but really? Who are you to assume how much money somebody needs or doesn’t need at this point in their lives?

“Calgary will remain very competitive this season, despite being in a very rough spot prior to this deal. But the trade can’t receive a final grade until we see how the Flames handle the 2 UFA’s.” – Leavins on 7/23/22

I said Florida won this trade hands down and I still believe it. That said, I think Calgary will remain a very relevant team in the Pacific with the depth of their defense and strength of their goaltending leading the way. What will screw them is Huberdeau’s contract and possibly the new deals for Weegar and Hanifin down the road. But, then again, you never know what will happen when the cap starts going up more and more. At any rate, I wouldn’t discount Calgary giving Edmonton a strong push for Kings of the Pacific in the short-term here.

Oilersnation

Monday Mailbag – First thoughts on the Kailer Yamamoto extension

First thoughts on the Kailer Yamamoto contract extension in regards to term and dollars?

“I do get nervous that he may blossom over the course of this bridge deal but we’ll deal with that problem later.” – Baggedmilk

I’d love to know everyone’s opinion on the Jonathan Huberdeau contract extension that he just signed.

“You’re paying for the player he is right now, which is somebody who scored 115 points and finished fifth in Hart Trophy voting. If Calgary didn’t give him elite player money, somebody else would have next summer.” – Lewis

Jack Campbell’s current career high in games played is 49 from this past season with the Leafs. What do you think would be an appropriate split between he and Stuart Skinner?

“Can Skinner give the Oilers 25-27 solid games is likely more of a question than can Campbell start 55-57 at this point.” – Gregor

Where do you see Warren Foegele fitting on the team right now?

“He’s a third or fourth liner. What Mattias Janmark does will also have an impact.” – Brownlee

BLH’s Thoughts: I think Gregor hit it on the head earlier in the summer when he said he wasn’t sure if there’s much more to go with Yamamoto. Meaning, it’s entirely possible Yamo’s peaked as a 40pt winger and for $3M/yr, that’s decent. In two years, he’ll be a cap casualty though like Gourde and Johnson were in Tampa because he’ll want too much money and as an American, there’s a solid chance he’ll want to go home to play.

That Huberdeau contract is massive and I applaud his bravery for signing it before getting on the ice with Darryl Sutter. Do you think he talked to Gaudreau or Tkachuk before signing though? I mean, he is about to embark on a long-term deal with a team who’ll be competing with Connor McDavid and the ever-rising Edmonton Oilers year in and year out PLUS he has to do it in the Saddledome!

A couple of days ago, I was told the team is shopping Foegele and looking to keep Puljujarvi. Take that for what it’s worth. If they find a team that’ll take him for a pick in return, that’ll give Dylan Holloway a strong chance to make the team out of camp and to possibly form one of the league’s best 3rd lines with Ryan McLeod and Jesse Puljujarvi (or better yet, Kailer Yamamoto).

Trade Rumors

Spector’s Hockey

[Mark] Kiszla also suggested [the Colorado Avalanche] attempting to acquire Jonathan Toews from the Chicago Blackhawks sometime before next year’s trade deadline.
Stefan Rosner believes the Islanders must soon decide if Mathew Barzal remains part of their future before it’s too late… He cited colleague Jimmy Murphy tweeting a hypothetical trade in which Barzal is traded to the Detroit Red Wings to clear cap space to sign Kadri.
TSN’s Salim Valji took to Twitter to report a source said MacKenzie Weegar has a “strong, genuine desire” to re-sign with the Calgary Flames.
If the Blues did shop Tarasenko, [Dan] Rosen believes they’d want a top-six forward in return, especially after losing David Perron to free agency last month.
In a recent mailbag segment, Lance Lysowski was asked if the Sabres should attempt to sign Patrick Kane next summer if he’s interested in coming home to Buffalo.
- Lysowski doesn’t think the longtime Blackhawks star is a fit in Buffalo for the coming season. He believes the return would involve a haul of draft picks and prospects. “The Sabres don’t want to part with those yet,” he said.

The Daily Goal Horn

“The usual suspects continue to report that Nazem Kadri is still looking for a long term commitment with a sticker price that begins with a “9,” and if that is indeed the bottom line for the second-line center, who will turn 32 the week prior to the season opener, it is no mystery why he remains unsigned.” – Larry Brooks, NY Post
There’s no way [PK] Subban will ever see an AAV of $9 million, but he should get something in the neighborhood of $4-6 million on a one-year deal. The recent deal signed by John Klingberg with the Ducks will act as a good benchmark.
“If there’s a rift, Panarin could ask out, as near-impossible as it would be to move this mammoth contract.” – Arthur Staple, The Athletic
- “Where are they trading me? They can’t trade me. If these people understood at least a little, they would know that my contract [has a no-move clause] and a trade is impossible.” – Artemi Panarin

BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t see Subban getting anything close to $4M as a free agent right now. I’m betting he’ll be a PTO for somebody and if he wants to play, it’ll be on the cheap. Money’s tight and if teams were willing to take him for $4.5M last year, why would they sign him for anything close to that this year when he’s a year older and with no leverage considering his form and production are decaying at an incredible rate?