Edmonton Oilers Talk: Bold Predictions, The Waiver Wire, and the Latest NHL Rumors!

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!

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The Cult of Hockey

Bold prediction from NHL insider: “Edmonton Oilers are going to shock everybody and win the Stanley Cup”

This in from NHL insider Brian Lawton, talking to Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now, saying his bold prediction of the year is that the Edmonton Oilers will win the Stanley Cup, even as Lawton has the team ranked somewhere between the sixth and ninth best team in the league.

“My bold prediction was — and I did this partly because (fellow NHL network analyst) Mike Johnston told me that Edmonton is not that good, they’re not going to do that well, they don’t have the overall depth, the goaltending they need — so my bold prediction … The Edmonton Oilers are going to shock everybody and win the Stanley Cup this year. That was my one bold prediction.”

Lawton makes clear he sees Edmonton ranked sixth-to-ninth, but he also sees them as a squad that could well catch fire in the playoffs and go all the way. And Lawton is correct. If Edmonton gets solid goaltending next spring, it’s got the scoring power in the line-up to win the Stanley Cup.

BLH’s Thoughts: All the Oilers have to do is get to the dance, then all the bets are off. At that point, everything falls to the goaltenders because as we know, the teams with the best netminding usually make it to the Final.

I’m certain that Ken Holland will bring in one or two quality trade deadline assets to bolster the roster. So the skaters won’t be my worry.

So the real question is, are Edmonton’s goalies of the Stanley Cup winning variety?

I think anything’s possible considering what I’ve witnessed to date, but if you were asking me to bet my mortgage on the Oilers winning the Cup today, I’d probably decline.

Ask me again after the trade deadline and I might change my tune though.

Lowetide.ca

WAIVERS

LW Jonah Gadjovich, Vancouver. I think there’s a chance he gets plucked off the waiver wire, he’s a PF who scored 40 in his draft year and 15 goals in 19 AHL games one year ago.
RW Kole Lind, Seattle. A skill winger with a solid pro resume, Lind not making the Kraken is no big surprise (they have a lot of candidates for work) but Lind might be a player of interest for another NHL team looking for complementary scorers.
RW Alex Volkov, Anaheim. Genuinely surprised he didn’t make the team, Volkov has size and skill, he has been productive (seven goals in his most recent 37 NHL games) enough to warrant a roster spot.

BLH’s Thoughts: Bob Stauffer said on his radio show during a hit with David Staples that Tampa Bay Lightning were offering Volkov and a draft pick for Puljujarvi before he re-joined the Oilers… Man, talk about avoiding disaster…

Interesting that Gadjovich didn’t make the Canucks. I always thought he looked like a better skating Pat Maroon. The Sharks might’ve scored a good one here.

As for Lind, stylistically he reminded me of Ryan Smyth when he was playing in the WHL. Tough break. Lots of time for him though.

NHLRumors.com

Ken Warren of the Ottawa Sun: Unless they can reach a deal real soon, it’s looking like Brady Tkachuk won’t be taking part in the Senators training camp nor pre-season games. Contract talks could drag into the start of the season.
Kevin Kurz of The Athletic: It’s very unlikely that the Evander Kane investigations will wrap up soon and he’ll be showing up at the arena.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: Evander Kane is under investigation for submitting a fake vaccination card. It may not be something that would allow the San Jose Sharks to terminate his contract.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: If the Sharks are not in the playoff race at the trade deadline and Tomas Hertl hasn’t signed a contract extension, they’ll have to at least listen to trade offers for the pending unrestricted free agent center.
The Fourth Period: Teams that have shown some interest in Eichel include the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Jimmy Murphy: As of last week and not sure if things have changed, but the Los Angeles Kings have moved away from trade talks with the Buffalo Sabres about Eichel.
Nick Kypreos: “Some @NHL teams like @NYRangers who are in on Eichel are passed medical issues. It appears #NYR will support Jack for artificial disc replacement surgery providing they can come to terms on a hockey trade with @BuffaloSabres . No indication they’re close on a deal.”