Speculating from an Oilers fan’s perspective, BLH comments on the latest Edmonton Oilers news as well as the freshest NHL speculation featuring players such as Nate Schmidt, Jack Roslovic, Alex Pietrangelo, Jonathan Toews, and many more!
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— TV4 Hockey (@TV4_Hockey) October 11, 2020
The Oilers Speculation
I can’t say I blame Taylor Hall for picking the Sabres. The potential for him and Jack Eichel to explode on the NHL next season is massive. Throw in the fact that he’s going to be playing for a coach as good as Ralph Krueger and one that knows Hall from their time in Edmonton together, it sounds like the Sabres could be a fun team to watch in 2020-21.
But unless they upgrade their defense and goaltending, it’s going to be a lot of the same for poor Taylor and Jack. They’ll have good seasons, but I can’t see their team having a good one. There’s always the draft lottery I suppose and we know Hall’s history there…
How does this tie in with the Oilers you ask? Well, next season Edmonton is going to have north of $20M is cap room and I fully expect them to go after Hall in addition to re-signing RNH, Bear, Yamamoto, etc to long-term deals.
Another move that I could forsee happening is Ken Holland bringing Brendan Gallagher in. He’ll be a UFA next summer and he was an Oilers fan growing up. His agent is Edmonton-based as well.
Now, you might be asking what about Jesse Puljujarvi? I’d love for things to be different, but I think he’ll be moved before the 2nd year of his newly-signed contract is up.
Could we see a top-6 that looks something like this next summer?
Hall-McDavid-Gallagher
RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Personally, I’m torn. I want the club’s spine to be the strength of the club. So, naturally I’d like them to go out and pick up a bonafide no.1 goaltender and a top-pair defender but Philip Broberg is will be on the club in 2021 very likely and he’s trending in a very positive manner. So well that the team probably shouldn’t go out and pay for an expensive dman.
That said, a high-end goalie still remains and Frederik Andersen is the best free-agent goalie scheduled to hit the free-agent market next year. That’s good, but could it be better?
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The News and Rumors
- Andy Strickland (The Athletic): The Vegas Golden Knights are in talks to trade defenseman Nate Schmidt to the Florida Panthers in order to sign Alex Pietrangelo.
- David Pagnotta (The Fourth Period): Doesn’t believe the Panthers are a potential destination for Schmidt.
- George Richards (Florida Hockey NOW): Acquiring Schmidt would add more heat to the MacKenzie Weegar trade rumors.
- Kevin Paul Dupont (Boston Globe): Schmidt would be a top candidate to play alongside Charlie McAvoy on Boston’s top-pair if the Bruins traded for him.
- Mike McIntyre (Winnipeg Free Press): The Jets are looking to move Jack Roslovic for a high-end left-shot defenseman. Trade talks are currently active and potential returns for the disgrunted 23yr old forward could be Nick Leddy (NYI), MacKenzie Weegar (FLA), or Nate Schmidt (VGK).
BLH’s Thoughts: Sounds like this Weegar fella is the talk of the town right now. I looked into him yesterday and he sounds like a helluva defenseman. Why would the Panthers want to even move on from him is my question.
He’d look really great on Edmonton’s blue line for a couple of years while the Oilers wait for Philip Broberg if the fancies are telling the truth.
- Rick Dhaliwal (TSN): Canucks continue to look for a defenseman. They are one of the teams that have checked in on Sami Vatanen.
- Mark Lazerus (The Athletic): Chicago Blackhawks veteran core players (Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and captain Jonathan Toews) are fed up with management’s offseason moves. They’re “pissed off” and have “had enough”. Toews said the recent moves came as a shock, adding he was never told the club was going through a rebuild.
BLH’s Thoughts: Ya know… These guys make a disgusting amount of money to be behaving this way. As if they didn’t see the writing on the wall and if not them, those around them. So they trade Brandon Saad, who hasn’t been himself for years, and they move Corey Crawford, who is definitely on the back-9 of his career. It’s early days in free-agency and there are still some good players left. But if they’re still pissed, maybe it’s time they moved on from Chicago and if the Blackhawks were smart, they’d be shopping them for the best return they could get in this flat-cap era. It’s that or else sit there and have a clique of grumpy old men on their roster whilst in the middle of developing the next generation of Chicago’s stars…
- Ryan S. Clark (The Athletic): Speculates the Colorado Avalanche’s next move could be adding a top-four defenseman. Clark figures that defender would need to be willing to accept a one-year deal starting at $4M/yr. The alternative could be the promotion of one of their young blueliners like Connor Timmins or Boewn Byram.
- Harman Dayal (The Athletic): The Vancouver Canucks could turn to the trade market to replace departed defensemen Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher. Potential candidates include MacKenzie Weegar (FLA), Damon Severson (NJ), and David Savard (CBJ).
- Adrian Dater (Colorado Hockey NOW): Most teams who offered a one-year deal to Taylor Hall were in the $6.5 million range. When Buffalo went to $8 million, done deal.
BLH’s Thoughts: So this is what Bob Stauffer was talking about when he said he thought no forward was going to make over $6.5M… The Pegulas showed him! Now Mike Hoffman is going to be looking for the same I’m betting. I thought I read that Hoffman was close to signing for Montreal but now I’m seeing reports that Nashville are close. So basically every team that Hall was connected to but missed out on.
- Dean Blundell (DeanBlundell.com): The Toronto Maple Leafs have been offering Travis Dermott and William Nylander and are interested in a young winger with ‘some jam’ who can slide into their top-six forwards. With Dermott a restricted free-agent, his next contract looks like it will start with a three and Nylander is owed just under $7 million. Moving these two out creates the financial flexibility the teams needs to bring in Pietrangelo.
- More Blundell: Matt Dumba on the Minnesota Wild and Ryan Ellis off the Nashville Predators continue to be of interest to the club.
BLH’s Thoughts: Are the Preds looking to move Ellis? I haven’t heard anything on that or seen it online anywhere. That would be a tough move for them as he’s a real rock for that club.
Does Dumba for Nylander make sense? Surely Dermott could get the Leafs a really good forward with some jam. Would Timo Meier work? That guy has jam coming out of the wazoo! Gross…
