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 the Cult of Hockey (David Staples)
Edmonton Oilers come up empty at moment of Bargain Basement prices
- The Edmonton Oilers have many needs. Several other NHL teams were able to fill similar needs of their own before today’s NHL’s pre-Kraken expansion draft roster freeze kicked in — and to pay only bargain basement prices doing so.
- The Oilers? No such luck. They came up empty when a few other NHL teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, were striking it rich.
- It would have been excellent, of course, if Oilers GM Ken Holland had been able to fill some major holes on the Edmonton roster. That said, the Oilers were short on draft picks
- It could well be that the opportunity simply wasn’t there today for Holland to make a significant move. The vast majority of NHL GMs today made no big move to bolster their team.
BLH’s Thoughts: Why should Toronto get any praise for picking up Jared McCann? His pts/60 is a mirage I feel. My guess is that he got some cherry TOI and better linemates because Evgeni Malkin was out of the line up quite a bit.
As far as I’m concerned, the Maple Leafs just traded for another perimeter player who is now on his 4th NHL team and is only 25yrs old. We should be praising Ron Hextall for being able to bring back Hallander and shedding himself of that contract. As it stands, Toronto has more or less traded McCann for Kasperi Kapanen and Hallander since the 21yr old Swede was involved in the original trade that brought Kapanen back to Pittsburgh.
Are folks in Edmonton mad because Ryan Ellis and his $6.25M contract got moved to Philly for pennies on the dollar basically? He’s 30 and he would’ve cost the Oilers Evan Bouchard, Ryan McLeod, and another piece most likely. I can’t see a lot of fans enjoying that trade.
The one thing that fans have to get through their heads is that a GM isn’t going to quote the same price for a player to every other GM he talks to and that’s because each team has their own set of roster challenges.
My belief is that Holland will start to make some noise after the expansion draft when GMs have a clearer picture of their roster before free agency starts on the 28th.
From The Oilers Rig (Alex Thomas)
Are The Oilers Back In Front Of Adam Larsson Race?
- The Oilers did not re-sign defenseman Adam Larsson prior to the roster freeze, meaning the Seattle Kraken are now in position to speak to Larsson and offer him a contract.
- Mark Spector of Sportsnet had a detailed tweet on Saturday that felt more like informed speculation than anything.
- Though deal is not done, Adam Larsson should come in at 4 x $3.9 M if/when he signs w/EDM. If he went to market, could probably push near Chris Tanev numbers ($4.5 M AAV). Suspect he’ll stay as a leader and core player in EDM though.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs will make a pitch to Larsson if he hits the open market. The Leafs had eyes on Larsson dating back to the 2019 NHL trade deadline, when Keith Gretzky was running the show for the Oilers.
- The Boston Bruins, once seen as a possible suitor, are likely to look elsewhere. The Bruins are eying a more able puck handler, and are likely to focus on recently bought out options Keith Yandle and Ryan Suter.
BLH’s Thoughts: Frankly, I’m getting tired of talking about this. I don’t think he’s going to sign elsewhere and I think other teams might know that, hence why the team most recently rumored to be in on him went out and traded for Ryan Ellis.
From NHLRumors.com
David Pagnotta: There is lots of chatter coming out of the Arizona Coyotes though it may not happen before the trade freeze.
The Coyotes have spoken with the Seattle Kraken about defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Max Bultman: The Detroit Red Wings would be among the teams interested in Maple Leafs pending UFA forward Zach Hyman if he gets to July 28th.
Hyman and Dylan Larkin were linemates at Michigan.
Brace Garrioch: Have been told that the Winnipeg Jets are trying to trade Mason Appleton.
Adam Vingan of The Athletic: (mailbag) Don’t see the Predators being able to acquire Patrik Laine if he’s made available. Aaron Portzline said if the Columbus Blue Jackets move Laine they want a first-round pick and a “good prospect.”… Zach Hyman could be an option.
“If (the Predators) have interest, he will have interest,” Todd Reynolds, Hyman’s agent, recently told The Athletic.
John Dietz of the Chicago Daily Herald: The asking price for Seth Jones remains high.
A source said it could cost the Chicago Blackhawks Ian Mitchell, Nicolas Beaudin or Adam Boqvist and their 2022 first-round pick. Kirby Dach‘s name has also come up.
BLH’s Thoughts: Man, Zach Hyman is atop of a lot of wish lists. Until the Oilers start freeing up some cap room, I’m not going to consider them a favorite for the winger. I’ll stand by my original prediction and say the Red Wings though. They’ve got the cap room, he’s familiar with the area, he’d still be close to family in Toronto, and they’ve got a bright future with Steve Yzerman at the helm. Having an old college teammate in tow doesn’t hurt either.
If the price to acquire Seth Jones has fallen to a first round pick and a young defenseman, why hasn’t Stan Bowman jumped all over that? I mean, Beaudin and a first-rounder is bloody dirt cheap in my opinion. No disprespect to Nic Beaudin, but I don’t see him developing into a top-pairing NHL dman any time soon.
If you’re Arizona, do you find a way to acquire a first round pick only to flip it with a 3rd rounder and OEL to Seattle?
Give us a follow on the socials!
- Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
- Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
- Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
- Facebook: Beer League Heroes
