Edmonton Oilers Talk: Berglund, Yamamoto, Nugent-Hopkins, and More NHL Rumors!

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!

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Lowetide.ca

TRAINING CAMP HOPEFUL NO. 2: FILIP BERGLUND

What role will he play in Bakersfield? Berglund has played in the SHL for several years, averaging almost 20 minutes a night last year. He’s coming to the AHL, a slightly less impressive league. I expect he’ll play on one of the top two pairings at even strength, and on both special teams. That was his role in Sweden.
What does he do well? Berglund has a wide range of skills. He is mobile, a fine passer, he’s 6.03, 206. He has a large wingspan, can defend, gets pucks through from the blue line. On his draft day, speed was mentioned as a concern but he’s a more mobile defender now and should be a capable player in North America.
What will get him to the NHL? He has multiple skills, best described as a two-way type and unlikely to spent much time on the power play should he arrive in Edmonton.
What will keep him from the NHL? There’s a lot we don’t know about Berglund. I rated him just outside the second round in his draft year, based on some solid numbers. Swedish Poster chimed in and his scouting report was encouraging. And honestly, we’ve kind of been in a holding pattern since. His skating improved, his playing time and offense spiked, but he never did come over and now he’s 24. I think he’ll need to impress right away to get an NHL shot. It may not come right away, but a strong start in Bakersfield would set the stage for greater things.
Do you think he’ll make it? I honestly don’t know. He has talent, and plays a position NHL teams are always casting about to fill. We’ll find out where he is this winter, and go from there. Will he play in the NHL? He’s long in the tooth to ask the question, but he hasn’t given himself a chance before now, either. Terrible answer.

BLH’s Thoughts: Unless Berglund blows the doors off of things in Bakersfield offensively and/or the Oilers go through an injury crisis on their blue line, I don’t know if he’ll make it to Edmonton.

He’s 24 already and if he was going to make it, he probably would’ve been in North American by now. To add to the unfortunate pessimism, Edmonton has Kesselring (who’s getting some really good reviews) and Phil Kemp on the right side for competition in Bakersfield. Toss in Tyson Barrie and Evan Bouchard as offensive-minded blueliners already in Edmonton and Berglund has a really difficult road ahead of him if he’s going to make it with the Oilers.

If we’re being completely honest, the club might be better served developing him into a highly valuable trade asset.

Copper N Blue (Jeff Chapman)

A Tip Of The Cap?

The Oilers will be right up against the cap ceiling this season, as they look to win a playoff series for the first time since 2017. What will the Oilers’ cap look like in 2022-23?
For better or for worse, he Oilers are committed for the next few with this roster. Unfortunately for the Oilers, there are a lot of pieces that are missing after this year and not a whole lot of cap space to fill them in.
With 13 million projected in cap space, they’ll need to figure out what they’re going to do on the right side. Not surprisingly, Zack Kassian is the only right winger signed with term. The Oilers will need to figure out what their long term plans are for 2016 fourth overall selection Jesse Puljujärvi and 2017 first round selection Kailer Yamamoto.
If cap space isn’t able to be freed up this season, the club will be counting on at least a few prospects to take steps a bit quicker than Holland would likely hope. Dylan Holloway will be pushing for a roster spot by 2022, Philip Broberg or Dmitri Samorukov will hopefully be ready to take a big step on defence. The club would love it for Ilya Konovalov or Stuart Skinner to become a big piece in the crease.

BLH’s Thoughts: My biggest worry, because I’m a massive fan and totally biased, is that this deal costs the Oilers Jesse Puljujarvi down the road.

I do wonder if Kailer Yamamoto is the one that gets sacrificed though since he’s already getting moved down the lineup in favor of an underperforming Zack Kassian… Remember the coach and the GM prefer vets unless the young player is killing it and Killer didn’t have a great year last season.

Then again, what would stop Ken Holland from using both RWers to recoup futures assets that he lost building today’s roster?

Something to keep an eye on…

Oilersnation (Robin Brownlee)

Getting Paid…

Nurse picked a great time to put together a season that saw him finish seventh in voting for the Norris Trophy. With 16-20-36, he finished 12^th in scoring for defencemen. He was first in even-strength goals with 15, and fourth in even-strength points (29) and ice time (25:38).
The bottom line is what Nurse brings to the Oilers’ core group with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Where would the current group of blueliners be without Nurse? How much better are they with him as the team enters what Holland has called win-now mode and primetime for McDavid and Draisaitl?

BLH’s Thoughts: How pissed off do you think Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is after he took that massive haircut and Nurse is out there near-doubling his contract?

Spector’s Hockey

NHL Rumor Mill – August 6, 2021

ESPN.COM: Greg Wyshynski explored the trade market for Jack Eichel amid his impasse with the Buffalo Sabres over treatment for his neck injury as well as the difficulty of moving the 24-year-old center’s hefty contract.

It’s believed the Vegas Golden Knights are still on the trail. Wyshynski suggested they could free up the necessary cap space by trading Reilly Smith ($5 million) and the sidelined Alex Tuch ($4.75 million). He also believes the Anaheim Ducks are still there but they won’t part with promising prospects like Trevor Zegras or Jamie Drysdale.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are reportedly in the mix. Wyshynski wondered if the Seattle Kraken would get involved given their cap space, though they lack sufficient prospect depth.

THE ATHLETIC: In a recent mailbag segment, Joe Smith was asked if Brayden Point’s recent contract extension increased the likelihood of the Tampa Bay Lightning trading Steven Stamkos at some point.

He doubted any club would be willing to take on the remainder of Stamkos’s contract. The 31-year-old Lightning captain carries an $8.25 million annual cap hit through 2023-24. He also doesn’t see Stamkos retiring before his contract expires.