Edmonton Oilers Talk: “I’d bring him in despite the addition of Ryan”

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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Lowetide.ca

LITTLE PTO.

PTO CANDIDATES

1. RW Kyle Palmieri. I don’t see him coming to Edmonton, but it’s worth a call.
2. LHD Zdeno Chara. I don’t care. I know he’s rumoured to be heading to Florida, but he’s No. 1 on my list until he signs.
3. RHD Sami Vatanen. He appears to have lost his offense but the possession numbers and puck moving remain solid.
4. RC Tyler Bozak. I’d bring him in despite the addition of Ryan. That’s a position where the Oilers have great utility, but one more RH pivot would be a wonderful luxury.
5. RHD Michael Stone. He played 21 games (2-2-4) with possession stats around 50 percent. He is a veteran but past 30 and has some coverage gaps.
6. RHD Jason Demers. He was 41, 0-4-4 with the Coyotes, outscored 21-34 and at 33 he may be done. You never know.
7. LHD Erik Gustafsson. Surprised he’s still out there, and he does bring chaos, but this is a talented puck mover.
8. RW Alex Chiasson. I would bring him back, he was effective in his Edmonton years.
9. LW Michael Dal Colle. He’s a Glen Sather special. Former top pick looking for a second chance.

BLH’s Thoughts: So, take a look at that list and then ask yourself which ones would be eligible to play in Bakersfield, by choice or not. I’m talking your Perlini types and I don’t see more than one person on LT’s list there who’d be willing to play in the AHL. Michael Stone would because he has done it the last couple of years.

I think what also must be considered is that Edmonton will not have a lot of rookies on the team, so the majority of contracts on the roster this season will be one-way deals and that throws a wrench into things when bringing in potential PTOs. The Oilers have lots of room under the 50-man list, but just not a lot of room in the lineup.

Oil on Whyte (Lynch)

Edmonton Oilers: Ten Storylines To Watch This Upcoming Season

1. Will Connor McDavid have another career year?

“McDavid had a remarkable regular season, putting up over 100 points in 56 games. Yet his year still ended with the same long summer and the same short postseason run. Maybe there will be an extra spark under him to see the team do well this season, or maybe some frustration will hurt his game. Time will tell.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Connor McDavid doesn’t need any help with motivation. We know that barring injury he’s going to have a very good season statistically and we also know that he’s had a hand building this year’s roster as well. All of the members of Edmonton’s leadership core have helped in that regard because Ken Holland has said as much.

Frustration may help one bring more emotion to their game, but there’s not guarantee that positive results will follow.

2. Is Leon Draisaitl going to outshine McDavid again?

“This team has the star power, and those stars are some of the best around the entire league, but for some reason or another, they just have not gotten it done during the postseason. Maybe Draisaitl can help lead the charge.”

BLH’s Thoughts: They haven’t gotten it down because the team hasn’t been as good. This isn’t basketball where two guys can bring a championship to a team. There are multiple variables that come into play, but you know that or else you wouldn’t be reading this.

We shouldn’t be expecting Leon to outshine Connor or vice versa, we should hope that everybody on the team brings their ‘A’ game more often than not and it results in the Oilers winning the league’s final game of the year and hoisting the Stanley Cup over their heads.

3. Does Duncan Keith still have anything in the tank?

“I think this is one of the biggest question marks for this team. If Keith can go out and play great as he has in the past, then they have a heck of a player to help add depth on the back end behind Darnell Nurse, but if he is a liability that cannot be trusted in big situations, then the Oilers are in for a long season.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Elite hockey players tend to stave off the eventual downtrend in their games as their careers get longer. In Keith’s case, some believe he’s already in a free-fall but at the same time forget that Chicago has been a tire fire for a few seasons now.

What will Duncan Keith look like on a better team with fewer responsibilities and if he wasn’t on the team and Darnell Nurse went down with injury, who would move up to the top-pair?

Two valid questions to consider.

4. How will the goalies perform?

“The regular season probably won’t be an issue for these two netminders. Fans have seen the Oilers outscore opponents for years, it is in the playoffs that goals get harder to come by, and teams with not as great goaltending fall – that is where the Oilers need to be careful.”

BLH’s Thoughts: An older more experienced defense will help Edmonton’s netminding, I’m convinced of that.

5. Does Brendan Perlini find a spot?

” I think Perlini is one of the team’s underrated acquisitions as it gives someone that deserves another chance in the NHL a chance in a bottom-six that is in desperate need of talent.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I wouldn’t say that the team is “in desperate need of talent”, but I’m split on Perlini. He’s a better/faster skater and shooter than Devin Shore and Tyler Benson, but the rest of his game is full of holes…

6. Zach Hyman better bring a lot more than his contract

“Zach Hyman is an example of a player that got overpaid during free agency, but sometimes that is the price for a team that is desperate for talent. Hyman is a top-six forward that has been a great help on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The thing is, though, Toronto has a LOT of talent offensively, so whether or not Hyman really is the skilled player or just someone good with guys of high caliber remains to be seen.”

BLH’s Thoughts: How is Hyman an example of a player that got overpaid? He could’ve got one or two more million if he’d hit the market and he signed in Edmonton at a bit of a discount, if you ask me.

So with that out of the way, how much does Hyman need to do to outperform his deal? 50pts/season? 60pts? More?

I’d say he should be producing at a rate similar to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, so between fifty and sixty points/yr.

7. The Bottom Six Dilemma

“The best teams in the league, like the Tampa Bay Lightning, are able to roll four lines every night. It does not matter which line is on the ice; they are going to score goals, protect a lead, and basically overwhelm opponents any way they play. Edmonton needs to find a spark like that.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I agree and I think so does the team seeing as they went out and brought in proven bottom-six scorers Warren Foegele and Derek Ryan for the third line to replace JJ Khaira, Gaetan Haas, Dominik Kahun, etc.

8. Holland and Tippett

“If the Oilers struggle early in a game, does Tippett get desperate and mess with the lines or bench players as much as he did during last season’s postseason?… The moves Holland makes from now until the end of the season will be critical to the team’s success, and I cannot wait to watch it all play out.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Spot on. This will be an interesting season to see how Tippett reacts to certain in-game scenarios now that his roster is that much deeper.

The 2021-22 trade deadline should be something to marvel as well if the Oilers are in a very good position to make the playoffs. Conversely, if the team is struggling a bit, how will Ken Holland handle that?

9. Warren Foegele has a lot to prove

“It will be interesting to watch Foegele play this season and see if he can win over the fans as much as Bear did during his time here. Fans often hold a little resentment against players when they are a part of the trade that sends fan favorites away – even though it is not their fault.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Foegele is already behind the 8-ball with a portion of the fanbase. I hope he scores some big goals next season in order to get the ultras off his back or it’s going to be a long few years in Northern Alberta.

10. Evan Bouchard already has a lot of pressure on him

“The Edmonton Oilers said goodbye to some fan favorites on the blue line, like Adam Larsson; a loss to the team very few expected. The other guys like Caleb Jones and Ethan Bear were also surprises that could have been avoided. The Oilers are moving on from those two young guys to make room for another, Evan Bouchard.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Evan Bouchard will make the fans forget about Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, and Adam Larsson before the end of October. That’s my story, it has been since that trio left the club, and I’m going to stick to it.

The Daily Goal Horn

The Eichel to Canadiens trade rumors are starting back up again

On his last podcast, Elliotte Friedman started to speculate that the Canadiens may not match the Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet from the Hurricanes. Instead, they will take the first round pick and third round pick as compensation and use it in a package for Eichel.

“I’m not sure Montreal is big in the Jack Eichel sweepstakes,” Friedman began. “There’s a long history between Pat Brisson and Marc Bergevin. I just wonder if this changes the dynamic between the Sabres and the Canadiens at all.”

The relationship between Brisson and Bergevin could be a small factor, but the key here is the additional picks the Habs could get as compensation to add to their previous package. Or maybe they match and send Kotkaniemi to Buffalo as part of the deal.