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!
From ESPN
Grading the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers on the Duncan Keith trade
The Edmonton Oilers acquired Chicago Blackhawks veteran defenseman Duncan Keith and prospect forward Tim Soderlund on Monday in a trade for defenseman Caleb Jones and a conditional 2022 third-round pick, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Which side comes out ahead in the deal? We grade both GMs here:
Edmonton Oilers: D+
For the Oilers to have acquired a player at this age, with this decline, without any semblance of cap relief from a team with limited options to remove that contract from their own cap, is frankly negligent.
Even if Keith has more left in the tank than the metrics would indicate, and even if his experience and intangibles are an asset to the locker room, bailing the Blackhawks out of this contract without any salary cap relief to the acquiring team is just specious management.
To get anything of value for Keith at this point is a win for Chicago.
The conditional pick favors the Blackhawks, too: The conditional third-round pick becomes a second-round pick if Edmonton wins three rounds in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs and Keith is among the top four Edmonton defensemen in total ice time through those rounds.
BLH’s Thoughts: Whenever Wyshynski has an opportunity to lace into the Oilers, he’s never been one to back away. That being said, I do have to agree with him in that the Oilers were in a very good position to win this trade outright, yet chose not to and that makes me very curious what other moves Ken Holland has loaded up for after the expansion draft…
The grade given to Holland is fair, but let’s wait until next summer or the summer after that and revisit this trade to see how it’s panned out. I’d be willing to bet that it won’t be as bad as it is today.
From Oilersnation (Robin Brownlee)
Everybody Has One…
A handful of people think Holland gave up too much by sending Jones and a draft pick to Chicago, especially since Keith had asked Bowman for a trade. On top of that, and this is what really grinds critics of the trade, is Holland is taking on a $5.5 million AAV with no salary retained. Unless I’m missing something, Holland had the hammer and he didn’t use it. He overpaid to make this deal.
I fall into that last camp. I don’t know how the trade is going to play out, nobody does for certain, but I do know Holland paid full freight for a 38-year-old player when it looked like he had all the leverage in the deal but didn’t use it
I’m not really concerned about losing Jones. He went from prospect to suspect in my mind last season when he was made a healthy scratch by coach Dave Tippett, who didn’t have enough confidence in the kid to play him at times.
I’m not concerned that the wheels have fallen off Keith…
While leadership and experience are intangibles some people have little use for because it can’t be charted or measured, I see value in it – as long as Keith can still walk the walk out on the ice.
What I do know is having Keith in the line-up instead of Jones makes the Oilers better right now. What I do know is Holland over-paid. As for the rest, there is no choice but to wait.
BLH’s Thoughts: Pretty fair assessment from Brownlee. I do feel almost exactly the same way. I also feel like this is only the beginning as I’m hearing that the feeling amongst those in the know is that Ken Holland is going to be very active this summer and this Duncan Keith trade may very well be the first domino to fall…
From NHLRumors.com
Flames linked to Eichel, Taraseko and Rakell
The Fourth Period: The Calgary Flames have interested in Buffalo Sabres Jack Eichel.
Flames GM Brad Treliving is also believed to be looking for a top-winger that can score. They’ve been linked to Vladimir Tarasenko (Blues) and Rickard Rakell (Ducks).
It’s still believed that the Sabres and Flames continue to talk Eichel.
Contract extension talks with Johnny Gaudreau started this past week. How those go could also come into play with any future moves.
Teams that should be after Tarasenko
Adam Gretz of NBC Sports: Teams that should be calling the St. Louis Blues about Vladimir Tarasenko include the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Seattle Kraken and the Nashville Predators.
Long shots to land Tarasenko include the Columbus Blue Jackets, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders.
BLH’s Thoughts: So, if Edmonton should be in on Tarasenko, which RW would you be more comfortable trading, Jesse Puljujarvi or Kailer Yamamoto?
It doesn’t really matter because those other teams Gretz is mentioning have a lot more assets to move than Edmonton. For example, Nashville could trade Filip Forsberg for the Russian or the Rangers could move Pavel Buchnevich plus picks or prospects. The Oilers aren’t really in the same boat as those two teams, in my opinion.
With that in mind, Tarasenko does have a Stanley Cup ring on his finger and we know now that Ken Holland will pay a premium for those guys…
From The Fourth Period
OILERS EVALUATING GOALIE MARKET
The Edmonton Oilers had another conversation with Mike Smith’s camp on Friday about a new contract, and as the two sides try to hammer out a deal, Oilers GM Ken Holland is also exploring the trade market.
The Oilers recently tabled a multi-year offer but it sounds like the dollars were lower than what Smith was expecting. His side was expected to counter, at some point, and that could have been part of yesterday’s discussion.
As those negotiations continue, Holland is assessing the trade market for another veteran goaltender. It sounds like adding a goalie via trade may have more to do with replacing Mikko Koskinen, should the Oilers buy out the final year of his contract, than it does replacing Smith.
BLH’s Thoughts: A multi-year offer for Smith?! Man, Holland is really trying to piss off his fanbase and I’m here for the whole show! I love it!
Duncan Keith and Chris Driedger are represented by Edmonton-based player agent, Gerry Johansson, any chance the trade Holland just made has an impact on where Driedger is playing next season?…
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