March 27, 2022 /

Edmonton Oilers Talk: “Stauffer also floated out the idea that perhaps the Oilers looking at…”

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 Cult of Hockey

Player grades: Edmonton Oilers lit up by Flames for 9 goals in putrid defensive effort

  • #25 Darnell Nurse, 2. Another awful game from Edmonton’s top defender, the second this week and a very worrisome sign indeed. He was one of the main culprits on 3 or was it 4 Calgary goals (one is still under discussion)… Had nothing going on offensively either (0 shots) and seemed out of his depth at times, his usual commanding presence nowhere in evidence… Played a season low 19:33 and still got lit up for a season worst -4.
  • #27 Brett Kulak, 3. On the ice for 3 goals against and among the defensive culprits on 2 of them.
  • #22 Tyson Barrie, 3. Played 23:52 to lead the defence corps by a wide margin, and to his credit battled hard. But he was nonetheless beaten on a pair of goals in which he couldn’t suppress an important pass.
  • #5 Cody Ceci, 2. Not a lot went right for Ceci, who posted an ugly -5… The only thing salvaging his night was some decent work on the penalty kill, on which he played a team-high 3:49.
  • #19 Mikko Koskinen, 3. Started the game and found himself on the bench after just 25 minutes having allowed 5 goals on just 12 shots (.583 save percentage)… All 5 goals he allowed came on 5-alarm chances, and the Flames snipers were making their shots.
  • #41 Mike Smith, 3. Came on midway through to clean up but was not very successful in that effort… caused a few problems of his own with 3 official giveaways to lead the entire team.
  • #93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. The best Oiler on the night by some margin. Hard to argue with a boxcar line of 1-3-4, +1.
  • #13 Jesse Puljujarvi, 5. Overall was involved in 4 Grade A shots by the Oil and an impressive 0 against, no mean feat on this night.

BLH’s Thoughts: That was a statement game from the Flames, in my opinion. They put the rest of the league on notice that they’re not to be trifled with this year because the Oilers aren’t that bad of a team but they sure looked like a lottery club last night.  

What’s weird is that Edmonton can hang around with the likes of Tampa, Florida, Carolina, and Colorado, but then absolutely shit the bed against the Flames on national television. 

Personally, I think that game was a one-off for Edmonton. How often to teams lose after scoring five goals and outright winning the special teams battle? Smith and Koskinen simply had their worst nights of the year in the same game and that rarely happens. Then you’ve got Teflon Johnny having himself a career highlight game as well, so you have to tip your hat to the Flames too.

Speaking of Gaudreau, during the game Kevin Bieksa was saying that the Oilers have to get physical with him but to me, he’s a lot like Gretzky was in that he’s really hard to hit considering how good he is on his edges. He can turn on a dime and be gone before you know it. So while I agree that the Oilers needed to play him a bit harder, it’s also important to realize that he’s not easy to catch. #Youngblood

With that said, Woodcroft sat Josh Archibald and Kris Russell so that he could play the new guys and that’s understandable, but am I the only one who thought Archie and Rusty might’ve been more impactful than Kulak and say, Devin Shore?

Now, if I’m Oilers management, I’m watching Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci down the stretch here and I’m getting very concerned. Not only for the rest of this season but next when their combined cap hit is going to be $14M+. Neither dman has been even average this past week or so and the Oilers are now one result from sitting on the outside looking in playoff-wise.

Lastly, I see Jesse Puljujarvi played the fewest minutes out of all of Edmonton’s skaters and this is a troublesome trend. To an extend, I understand that because of all the penalties called during the game and the fact that Jesse doesn’t feature on any of the special teams units, that limits his chances to hit the ice, but we have to start asking ourselves where the organization sees this player going forward if one out of the last four coaches has given him consistent time on special teams. JP was one of the rare bright spots on this team Saturday night, why he got less time than Warren Foegele or Devin Shore is mind-boggling. If you’re a fan of Pulju and you’d like to see him play a few more years in Edmonton, this has to be a worrying development. 

If the Oilers lose to Arizona on Monday, I wonder if we might see a call-up from Bakersfield. Will it be Dylan Holloway or Stu Skinner, I’m not sure. Holland might choose to bring up somebody with more of a physically assertive nature to give that 4th line more of an identity. 

Trade Rumors

  • Spector’s Hockey – Marco D’Amico cited Kent Hughes’ intermission appearance on TSN on Thursday during which the Canadiens general manager admitted a club was very interested in acquiring Jeff Petry before the trade deadline. However, a deal couldn’t be reached that would benefit both teams.
    • Shayna Goldman recently examined potential offseason options for the New Jersey Devils to bolster their goaltending depth… Goaltenders who could be available via this summer’s free-agent market include the St. Louis Blues Ville Husso, the Colorado Avalanche’s Darcy Kuemper, and the New York Rangers’ Alexandar Georgiev.
    • Eric Stephens expects Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek will be busy in the coming offseason as he embarks on a rebuild of his roster. With a number of draft picks acquired in recent trades, Verbeek indicated it’ll provide him with options to perhaps acquire players “that might be moved down the line in their development”… Stephens speculated the Ducks GM could also look to the trade market with his draft capital to perhaps acquire a player like the Arizona Coyotes’ Jakob Chychrun.
  • The Hockey Writers – Friedman was a guest on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer Friday and noted that he expects this offseason to be busy. With some teams looking to make serious changes — Winnipeg Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens among a few — there could be some big-name players on the move and a lot of action at the NHL Entry Draft.
    • “I think this summer’s going to be wild,” Friedman said. He added, “I think there’s going to be a lot of really good players out there.” He believes the Anaheim Ducks will have a conversation about goaltender John Gibson.
    • Stauffer also floated out the idea that perhaps the Oilers looking at offering an extension to Evander Kane at four years times $4 million. Considering how well he’s played since joining the team, and his instant chemistry with Connor McDavid, it’s logical to assume that the Oilers would want to consider an extension. At the same time, there are a lot of moving pieces.

BLH’s Thoughts: If Stauffer is suggesting a $4Mx4 deal to Friedman, there’s a good chance he’s heard from one of his mega-agent buddies that this is something that could be on the table for Kane.

Can I float an idea out here? The Flyers are going to re-tool their roster this summer and I’m wondering, would you trade Darnell Nurse and Jesse Puljujarvi to Philly for a package that included Travis Sanheim along with one of Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, or Joel Farabee? 

(Probably not Farabee since he’s recently re-signed long-term with Philly)

I suggest Sanheim because he’s been in the rumor mill lately and his fancies are very comparable to Darnell’s if not better in quite a few cases. 

If you stretch out the time frame thing start to lean Darnell’s way but that is because last year he was scoring like crazy and I would consider that an outlier. 

I think it’s pretty impressive of Sanheim to be throwing up those kind of metrics on a struggling Flyers team. How would he do on a better team in the West?

Travis Sanheim is 25 years old and has another year left on his deal worth a shade over $4M/yr. I don’t think he’ll be asking for $9M/yr on his next contract either…

Laughton and Konecny would each bring something that I think Edmonton lacks. A level of physicality, defensive conscious, or a shoot-first mentality. Pick your poison. Plus they’re signed for a few years yet and have yet to turn 29 years old. 

I want to see Jesse play out his career in Edmonton but I simply don’t trust the organization to do what’s right for him and his game is really reminiscent of Keith Primeau’s, a player that was drafted high (3rd overall, 1990) while Ken Holland was in Detroit and moved when he was 24 with Paul Coffey and a first rounder to Hartford for Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn. 

I just really think that with this team, it’s going to need a group on the backend that isn’t top-heavy and one that will succeed as a collective, not by relying on one or two guys for 25 minutes a night. They’ve got Broberg coming, they’ve got Niemelainen and Samorukov and Desharnais as well. 

Soon, their defense could look quite similar to that of Calgary’s if they play it right. 

Conversely, the team could try to find another LHD who is on par (Sanheim?) with Darnell so that Nurse can go out and be that mean mother fucker we know he can be and not worry about how the team will be with him in the box. How would you manage it under the cap though?

This team needs more of a physical presence and I won’t be swayed on that. Ken Holland missed some opportunities not grabbing Nic Deslauriers, Zach Sanford, Josh Brown, etc. at the deadline. 

With all of that in mind, if you were going to trade Nurse and Pulju in a package, where would you send them and for what? Let me know in the comments below!

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CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

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Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!