Edmonton Oilers Talk: Phil Kemp, Grading Off-Season Moves, and What’s to Make of the Pacific Division in 2021-22?

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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Oil on Whyte (Courville-Lynch)

Grading Three Of The Team’s Offseason Moves

Trading Caleb Jones, Acquiring Duncan Keith. Grade: B-

I do believe the Oilers overpaid. Caleb Jones may not have been in our lineup regardless of the rest of our moves, but he’s a 24-year-old defenseman, with plenty of room to improve, we could have gotten a more valuable asset for him.

BLH’s Thoughts: Pretty high grade for a move considered to be an overpay. As for Caleb Jones value, from what I’ve been told, I think the Oilers did well getting what the did for him…

Not Re-Signing Jujhar Khaira. Grade: C

I wasn’t pleased when I learned Khaira wasn’t coming back to the Oilers, he is solid forward depth, and brings grittiness to the lineup night in, and night out. The one thing that makes letting him walk smart, is the injury issues he has started to deal with.

BLH’s Thoughts: I feel like this move was more about JJ getting a fresh start somewhere else than it was the Oilers missing an opportunity to re-sign him. So, one can be upset that Edmonton didn’t bring him back, but be mindful of the potential fact that it was the player who wanted to go.

Keeping Mikko Koskinen. Grade: F

Koskinen is still a solid backup goaltender, but he needs a fresh start. Whether it’s sending him to Columbus in the rumored deal for Korpisalo, or buying him out and letting him choose where he goes, he needs somewhere new, to restart his career.

BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think you can just move a guy for the sake of moving him. It’s not fair to the player and it’s a bit of a bad look for the GM, to be honest.

You have to respect the fact that Ken Holland hasn’t just made any old trade with Koskinen. He’s got his eyes on the right deal and he won’t budge. Good on him for that.

Now, It wouldn’t shock me at all if Koskinen had a good year given he’ll be playing for a contract.

Oilersnation (Yaremchuk)

Digging Into the Pacific Division

ANAHEIM DUCKS

They did nothing to improve their team this summer.
They will likely finish in one of the bottom two spots in the Pacific.

LA KINGS

Unlike the Ducks, the Kings had a busy offseason and look better on paper than they were last season.
They got better this summer and have a solid wave of young players who could take steps forward. They’ll be in the mix to make the playoffs as long as @Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen give them decent goaltending.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

They added a couple of depth pieces up front and I don’t hate their forward group, but the future of Evander Kane is up in the air and he was their best forward last season.
I just don’t see a lot of reasons to believe this team will contend for a playoff spot. I don’t view them or the Ducks as a threat to the Oilers’ playoff hopes.

SEATTLE KRAKEN

I fully expect the Kraken to be right in the middle of the playoff race.
Preventing goals will not be a problem. Scoring them might be though.

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Their biggest priority this offseason should have been to get an impact top-six centreman and they didn’t really do that.
Their blueline is still very good, but there is also no denying that their goaltending tandem is not as strong as it was last season.
I still think Vegas wins the division, but I don’t think they’ll necessarily run away with it.

CALGARY FLAMES

The big move that the Flames made was going out and signing two-time Stanley Cup Champion Blake Coleman
They lost Captain Mark Giordano in the expansion draft, which left a massive hole in their organization both on and off the ice. They did bring in young, tough, left-shot defenseman Nikita Zadorov to help round out their blueline and honestly, I still like the group they have even without Giordano.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

The Canucks made a big splash in July, bringing in Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Connor Garland in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes.
Thatcher Demko is a 25-year-old with Vezina potential and if he takes another big step this season, the Canucks should have a good enough roster in front of him to be a playoff team.

EDMONTON OILERS

The Oilers have a very good chance to make the playoffs in this division.
If the Oilers’ goaltending really falters and a majority of these teams with strong upside (LA, Seattle, Calgary, and Vancouver) all perform above expectations, then things in Edmonton could get ugly, but I wouldn’t bet on that happening.
The expectation for the Oilers should not only be to make the playoffs but to have home-ice advantage in the first round.

BLH’s Thoughts: It’s going to be an interesting battle in 2021-22, isn’t it? Could Edmonton overtake Vegas for Pacific Division champion? We should probably wait to see if Vegas trades for a top-six center before making any pre-season predictions on that front, eh?

I feel like Vancouver and Calgary could be surprise contenders for the playoffs. I like what they’ve done in the offseason. The Flames will be a very annoying team after adding Coleman and Zadorov and the Canucks are poised for a bounce back, having OEL and Garland definitely won’t hurt that cause.

The SoCal teams and Seattle don’t concern me at all.

Cult of Hockey

“Stay at home” defenceman? Oilers #20 prospect Philip Kemp was anything but in a peripatetic pro debut

The Oilers had selected Kemp with a lowly seventh-round pick in the 2017 draft, and had tracked his slow but steady progress during his three seasons at Yale. They had seen enough to make a contract offer, and Kemp saw fit to sign it.
He dressed for 12 of the 19 regular season games that remained (for Bakersfield), then the final 2 playoff games after Theodor Lennstrom got banged up in Game 1 of the final.
Offence isn’t Kemp’s first order of business, mind. He scored 3 goals every year in Yale, and another 3 for Vasby, chipping in 5-8 assists each year in 30-odd games. If nothing else, he is consistent.
But it is steadfast defensive play that has been Kemp’s calling card over his career, as well as leadership ability that earned him letters on his sweaters with USNTDP, Team USA, and Yale. He’s got some nice intangibles for folks who appreciate that sort of thing (and I’m one of them).
“skating an issue”
His contract has two more years to run, and it seems probable he will spend most or all of that time with Bakersfield. He remains a long shot to make the NHL, befitting his status as a seventh round pick, or as the current #20 prospect for that matter.

BLH’s Thoughts: The skating “thing” rears its ugly head once again… If Kemp can solve that challenge and improve it year-to-year, I feel like this is a player that could overcome the fact that he was a 7th round pick and become an NHL player. He seems like a kind of Ken Daneyko-type.

Spector’s Hockey

THE ATHLETIC’s Rick Carpiniello tweeted on Monday we shouldn’t be surprised if Mika Zibanejad “is in the deal that ultimately brings Jack Eichel” to the New York Rangers.
- That prompted a reply from THE BUFFALO NEWS’ Lance Lysowski. While that might make the money work, he wondered if Zibanejad would waive his no-movement clause to join the Sabres.
- Lysowski believes such a move would require a third team getting involved “because it’s hard to imagine MZ waiving to come to Buffalo.” He pointed out Zibanejad has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $5.35 million.

BLH’s Thoughts: Is this the kind of deal where a club like Anaheim could come in as the third club? They’ve got a $6M center in Adam Henrique they’d like to move and a plethora of sweeteners to make it worth the while of Buffalo or New York.

I’m just thinking with regards to where Zibanejad “could” be willing to waive his NMC for and Henrique may just be looking for a fresh start somewhere else… Buffalo is a tough place to go for that, mind you…