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, Sportsnet, and TSN 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!
- Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
- Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
- Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
- Facebook: Beer League Heroes
The Hockey Writers
Oilers Have Trade Targets in a Penguins Fire Sale
- Jeff Carter is a player who could be popular at the trade deadline and I agree. The Oilers might be one of the teams who poke around if the winger/center is made available. He’s got an affordable contract at $2.6 million and Carter is a pending UFA, which is critical for the Oilers who will not be making major changes to their forward corps over the next few seasons.
- Brian Dumoulin is an interesting option because he’s a steadier, more reliable lefty who offers playoff experience. He could easily come in and shore up the Oilers’ depth issues — assuming the injuries continue to stay a problem. However, Dumoulin has term on his contract which isn’t ideal for the Oilers.
- (Tristan) Jarry has one season after this remaining on his current deal at $3.5 million, which is actually perfect for the Oilers. It’s not a terribly expensive contract, Edmonton can see what Jarry looks like for a season while further evaluating Stuart Skinner and Mike Smith’s final year will be expiring at the same time with Mikko Koskinen out of the picture.
BLH’s Thoughts: Normally I’d say that these names sound perfect, but the Pens are on a helluva run right now and they’re not in the basement of the Metro any longer. Pittsburgh has won five on the trot and are now tied with Columbus for 4th in that division.
I don’t see the Pens moving any of their core pieces, do you?
Sportsnet
Things we’ve learned at the NHL’s one-quarter mark
- Connor McDavid is fantastic and generational, but Leon Draisaitl is the MVP
- Leon Draisaitl, with 40 points in 19 games, is four up on McDavid in the scoring race and in fact he’s the only non-Wayne Gretzky Oiler to reach 40 points before the 20-game mark. In league-wide historical context, Draisaitl is off to the best start in 25 years.
- Take out the man advantage, and Draisaitl has 18 points at 5-on-5 to McDavid’s 14 and, impressively, a league-leading nine primary assists to McDavid’s three.
BLH’s Thoughts: This is fun to watch and all, but if these two are doing all of the scoring, it points to a much larger problem that seems to escape every GM that tries to solve it.
NHLTradeTalk.com
Serious Uncertainty Surrounds Oilers Left-Side Defense… Trade Coming?
- Ben Chiarot might be an option out of Montreal but the Canadiens aren’t officially selling yet. Brayden McNabb would be a nice fit out of Vegas, but Jack Eichel isn’t ready to return and the Golden Knights aren’t in a situation where they need to clear salary-cap space yet.
- The Oilers may have no choice but to wait this out and hope the rest of the roster can pick it up, with less-than-ideal options doing what is needed to keep this team afloat for a few weeks.
BLH’s Thoughts: Unless the Oilers lose Broberg or Russell, they’ll ride this little injury crisis out or use internal options like Dmitri Samorukov or Markus Niemelainen in the short-term.
