Edmonton Oilers Talk: Ristolainen, Voracek, and Five 2021 Mock Draft Selections

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!

From NHLRumors.com

Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking to add some size and toughness this offseason on the blue line.

Buffalo Sabres right-handed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is one defenseman the Penguins could look at. Will the Penguins want to pay the acquiring cost for Ristolainen, as well as being able to fit in his salary? The 26-year old has one year left at $5.4 million.

BLH’s Thoughts: Rumor has it the Pens are looking at Zack Kassian too. All they need to do is find a way to get Nazem Kadri and their goal of becoming bigger and meaner would be accomplished…

There’s definitely a part of me that’d love to see the Oilers grab Ristolainen and Kadri though. I still think that even though Edmonton’s roster was as deep as it’s been in years, it was still too easy to play against as we were witness during the regular season against Montreal early on and Toronto not to mention the 4-game sweep at the hands of Winnipeg in the playoffs.

From NHL Trade Talk

Flyers Potentially Looking to Clear Out Voracek’s Salary via Trade

The Philadelphia Flyers are planning big changes and that might mean moving out big salary. Could Jakub Voracek be traded?

“This is going to be an enormous offseason for GM Chuck Fletcher and the Flyers, who are eager to improve. Voracek has been a big part of Philly’s core for a decade, but clearing out his contract also represents the cleanest path to cap flexibility. Could Seattle be enticed with a pick to take him? It wouldn’t shock anyone to see Voracek, who is owed a few million fewer in real dollars on the backend of his deal, be back in the 60-point range again next season.”

BLH’s Thoughts: If there was one player I could see being used as trade fodder in Philly, it’s Voracek. I wonder if maybe Philly tries to use him to acquire Johnny Gaudreau from the Flames.

Voracek’s whole ticket is too expensive for Edmonton to acquire in its entirety I reckon and besides, they’ve got their eyes on some younger skaters for their wings.

From The Athletic

19. Edmonton Oilers: Brennan Othmann, LW, Flint-OHL

Othmann’s stock rose after the U18 worlds, and some scouts think he could go much higher than this slot but others expect right around 20 is where he will land due to a lack of speed. Othmann would bring a high level of skill, goal-scoring ability and physicality to the Oilers and someone to finish plays set up by their star centers.

The Draft Analyst

Edmonton Oilers: Carson Lambos, LHD (Winnipeg, WHL) — Yes, the Oilers already own quality defense prospects and yes, the Oilers this season were one of the league’s stingiest clubs in goals allowed. But neither situation is guaranteed to continue into the next decade, which is why drafting a Western Canadian gem like Lambos is a prudent attempt to sustain both. He’s a powerful skater with the strength to separate forwards of any size off the puck but Lambos also has the skills required to quarterback a power play.

From Future Considerations

EDMONTON OILERS: BRENNAN OTHMANN, LW, FLINT FIREBIRDS (OHL)

Brennan Othmann has shown that he has one of the best shots in this entire class. He also plays with an edge to his game and is fearless. It’s not hard to imagine him playing up with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, adding a high-end finisher to the Oilers’ top-six. With two of the best players in the world manning the center positions, why not fill out the top-six with even more offense.

From McKeen’s Hockey

19. Edmonton Oilers – D Aidan Hreschuk – USN U18 (USDP) – In this very solid defenseman, the Oilers add a piece their system is in great need of. After going strictly with forwards last fall and having taken four in six picks the year before that, the team now adds an all-round, all-situations defenseman who has proven to be able to pair up supremely well with a “star”. After several years in a row of terribly disappointing, and downright unexplainable, first round playoff exits despite the league’s two most effective offensive generators and a host of notable contributors, soul-searching questions abound in Edmonton. Hreschuk will be one of the answers.

From TSN

19. Oskar Olausson Right Wing | HV71 (SWE J20) | 6’1 1/4 | 180 lbs. | Nov. 10, 2002

“Oskar Olausson, comparable to Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen, goes 19th overall to the Edmonton Oilers. He’s a talented winger with the size, the touch and the intelligence to work alongside very skilled players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and can impact the game in multiple ways.”

BLH’s Thoughts: If Edmonton can’t get their hands on goaltenders Sebastian Cossa or Jesper Wallstedt and a notable prospect doesn’t drop to them at 19, I would think they’ll look to trade down in the first round and try to get themselves an additional 2nd and 3rd round pick in the process.

I don’t really get why McKeen’s Hockey seems to think it’s time for the Oilers to grab a defenseman though. Aside from Dylan Holloway, the Oilers do not have any offensive playmaking centers in their system and I don’t consider Holloway to be someone who’ll be a full-time center in the NHL anyhow. My feeling is that he’ll be a winger once he makes the show.

The players that Edmonton is looking at will slowly leak as we get closer to the draft and so far the names that I’ve come across in the Edmonton media are Cossa’s and Oskar Olausson’s.

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