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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The Athletic (Luszczyshyn)
The NHL’s 10 best contracts, 2021 edition: Connor McDavid ascends to top spot
- 1. Connor McDavid: If McDavid can maintain this level of value (and for the record, he played at a 6.8-win pace last year) he is a $20 million player. The league max is $16.3 million meaning that even at 20 percent of the salary cap, McDavid would still be a bargain.
- 2. Cale Makar: The model currently expects Makar to be a four-win player for the life of his deal, an extremely high bar based on his age and first two seasons playing at that level. No other defender over the last decade has had a value that consistently high so the model is either a little too high or Makar is here to break the mould as the best defenceman of his generation.
- 3. Brad Marchand: His expected value given his contract is just 1.6 wins and considering his current height it’s difficult to see him falling that far over the next four seasons. He has a very high probability of living up to his deal considering where he stands now as a four-win player.
- 4. Carter Verhaeghe: The model is obviously wildin’ out a bit here, not totally sure what to do with a player who literally came out of nowhere to put up elite results. there’s a good chance what he showed last year was enough to consider him at the very least a high-end second-line player. For just $1 million next year and $4.2 million for three years after that, that’s a legitimate steal.
- 5. Leon Draisaitl: The deal might have looked a little wild at the time, but it’s always better to make those bets on young talent who have room to grow into their deal. Draisaitl did, and then some, and now he’s worth so much more than his cap hit. With four years left, the 2020 MVP is on one of the best contracts in the league.
The Rest: 6. Nathan MacKinnon 7. Shea Theodore 8. Auston Matthews 9. Samuel Girard 10. David Pastrnak
Honourable Mentions: Devon Toews, Mikko Rantanen, Jakob Chychrun, MacKenzie Weegar, Nikita Kucherov
BLH’s Thoughts: I’m hoping that Darnell Nurse will find himself on a list like this someday…
Cult of Hockey (Staples)
Ken Holland and Edmonton Oilers getting a wee bit of love from unexpected places
- Most recently in ESPN, Wyshynski, who is known for his critiques of the Oilers, gave Holland a B+ for his work in the free agency period, praising the Zach Hyman signing and the acquisitions of forwards Warren Foegele and Derek Ryan:
- “The Oilers’ offseason had some moves that are going to make this team potentially better in the short term and other moves that were, for lack of a better description, very Oilers.”
- Wyshynski said the Oilers signing of Cody Ceci was a “decent fix” for Adam Larsson leaving. “Bringing back Barrie at $4.5 million AAV was a strong move.”
- The ESPN writer concluded:
- “They were flirting with an A-minus here if they didn’t run back Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen as their average-at-best goaltending duo, and hand Darnell Nurse a $9.25 million AAV on an eight-year term with significant trade protection, which was a very ‘won’t be my problem’ contract from GM Ken Holland. Speaking of that: Trading Caleb Jones for what’s left of Keith so the Blackhawks can then acquire Seth Jones, hand him a contract that resets the market and jacks up Nurse’s price tag? Very Oilers.”
- Sportslogiq also gave the Oilers a B+,
- “The Oilers’ top-nine is much better with the additions of Hyman and Foegele, and Ryan is a good defensive forward who makes their bottom-six better. The defence is… different. A right side of Barrie, Ceci and Evan Bouchard might frighten some Oilers fans but time will tell if Ken Holland made the right moves.”
- At the Athletic (Dom Luszczyszyn), has the Oilers as the second most improved team in the NHL to date.
- Jackie Spiegel at The Sporting News, who has the Oilers ranked sixth out of 32 NHL teams in her power rankings,
- “There has always been something missing up front in Edmonton, but the Oilers may have finally gotten the missing piece in Zach Hyman… Hyman and the addition of Derek Ryan, who adds depth down the middle and to the penalty kill, were home runs.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I always take what the “Puck Daddy” has to say with a grain of salt. You never really know if he’s being facetious or sarcastic when it may appear like he’s praising the work of the Oilers.
Spector’s Hockey
NHL Rumor Mill – August 10, 2021
- THE ATHLETIC: Michael Russo examined the latest development in the contract standoff between the Minnesota Wild and Kirill Kaprizov. The 24-year-old winger reportedly has a tentative agreement with KHL team CSKA Moscow on a one-year deal said to be worth at least $10 million in US dollars beginning September 1.
- EDMONTON JOURNAL: Kurt Leavins expects the Oilers will add at least one more veteran depth defenseman before training camp opens next month. They’re looking for someone around $950K. Two primary names worth watching are Slater Koekkoek and Jordie Benn.
BLH’s Thoughts: I think this is all going to come down to which player the Oilers feel will be more useful in a bit role for them. I think Koekkoek would be better, but maybe Benn will be able to provide more muscle against the Vegas’ and in the Battle of Albertas, for example.
