Edmonton Oilers Talk: Projecting the 24/25 Roster, Lavoie Slumping Hard, 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 Athletic

Projecting the Oilers roster through 2025

• Returning: forwards Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi, Dylan Holloway, Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan McLeod, Xavier Bourgault and Raphael Lavoie; defencemen Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg, Cody Ceci, Dmitri Samorukov and Philip Kemp; goalie Stuart Skinner.
• Restricted free agents: forward Dylan Holloway; defenceman Philip Broberg
• Unrestricted free agents: forwards Warren Foegele, Zack Kassian and (possibly) Jesse Puljujarvi; defenceman Tyson Barrie

• Twelve players currently on the Oilers roster are still slated to be under team control come 2024-25. Seven of those have contracts stretching over the next three-and-a-half years. The other five are restricted free agents who won’t qualify for the open market during this span.
• …a lot of long-term pieces are locked in place for the Oilers, and although the prospect depth chart isn’t overly rich it should steadily develop a player or two every year for the foreseeable future. Even beyond the superstar duo at centre, Edmonton has a lot of valuable players to work with as it seeks its first title of the McDavid era.
• When we look at Nurse, Puljujarvi, Bouchard, Yamamoto and McLeod, all will be playing through their mid-20s during this three-season span. Even the greybeards aren’t especially grey, with players like Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins just entering their 30s.

BLH’s Thoughts: Tell ya what, I don’t see any young Russians coming over to play 4th line center for the Edmonton Oilers nor do I see a snipe show like Carter Savoie on any clubs 4th line. Either they’ll get moved, not sign with Edmonton, or somebody else up the lineup will be playing elsewhere. 

On a Cup challenging team, there are going to be some serious greybeards taking up the “character” spots on the team aka the 4th line and bottom-pairing on defense. You could argue the backup job belongs to an older vet too. 

I will say this though, I do like the idea of Samorukov and Kemp running that 3rd pair. They’re a couple of tough defense-first SOBs who can break up the cycle and clear the front of the net, two jobs that hold a significant amount of importance in the playoffs. 

The one thing I’m not worried about is the forward group. That top-nine looks fantastic, doesn’t it. As long as Bourgault and Holloway turn out as we’re all expecting, we talk about this year’s team having the most depth since the early 90s teams, these 12 forwards would provide the kind of depth the 80s Oilers showed us and we all know what happened then… 

Edmonton Sun

OILER NOTES: Draisaitl and McDavid a sight for sore eyes in Arizona

• Oilers coach Dave Tippett didn’t like how McDavid got worked over by Coyotes defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin on his first-period goal in the crease. The blue-liner sent him flying into the cross-bar.
• Draisaitl has 14 game-winning goals in 75 Oilers games over the COVID-19 season and the first five weeks of this campaign.
• The Oilers will see winger Max Pacioretty in the Vegas line-up Saturday. He was back Wednesday, playing 17 minutes, with a goal and an assist in their 5-2 win over Nashville.
• Oilers farmhand winger Raphael Lavoie has had a disappointing start in Bakersfield… Lavoie has no goals and only three assists in 13 games and is minus-5. He has 20 shots on goal. That’s no way to win over the NHL team.

BLH’s Thoughts: The Oilers are going to have to wait until March 28th to get revenge for that hit on McDavid and by then, unless somebody is called up to do the dirty deed, they probably will have their concerns set on something more important. 

Know this about Rafa Lavoie, he runs hot and cold, he did it through junior and he did it when he played in Sweden too. Once he starts putting in a few, they’ll come in bunches. That said, Matheson is right, the Oilers aren’t going to have time for a temperamental winger with the likes of Xavier Bourgault and Matty Petrov coming up right behind Lavoie. 

The Oilers have the NHL depth to allow the Quebec-native the time he needs to work out the kinks and patience is part of Holland’s modus operandi… 

However, considering how Ken Holland has set his sights on the Stanley Cup, one has to wonder if Lavoie is slowly moving himself into the “Trade Assets” pile on the Oilers GM’s desk. 

NHLRumors.com

• Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: There is growing concern about the NHL’s Olympic participation.
  • Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin isn’t going to trade Kevin Fiala just because he’s in a slump.
  • The Buffalo Sabres are looking for a goaltender.
• Mark Lazerus of The Athletic: Which direction do the Chicago Blackhawks go in?… Two potential trade assets in Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome have low trade value at the moment. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is another trade candidate and he may not want to be moved.
  • Next year will be the final season of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane eight-year contracts. They are eligible to sign extensions on July 13th. Will they finish their careers in Chicago?
• Dan Rosen of NHL.com: (mailbag) The New York Islanders when healthy still don’t have enough speed on their blue line and their lack of mobility is hurting them.
  • Believe the New York Rangers will look to add a forward on an expiring contract at some point.
  • Pending UFAs that might interest the Rangers include Calle Jarnkrok (Seattle), Andreas Athanasiou (Los Angeles) and Zach Sanford (Ottawa).
• Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic: (mailbag) St. Louis Blues defenseman Marco Scandella has two years left on his four-year, $13.1 million deal. His play should be a concern for the Blues.
  • Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic: (mailbag) Things are quiet on the Vladimir Tarasenko trade front… The Philadelphia Flyers are a team that is on Tarasenko’s trade list. The Flyers head of pro scouting was at the Blues-Sharks game and Blues GM Doug Armstrong and VP of hockey ops Peter Chiarelli were at a Flyers-Lightning game last week.