Edmonton Oilers Talk: “The Oilers could really use a forward like this…”

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 Hockey Writers

Oilers Should Target These 4 Free Agents

Nikita Gusev – The Oilers could really use a forward like this to create better matchups down the lineup. They would be able to sign Gusev for cheap, as clearly teams haven’t been making a hard push for him since he’s still a free agent this close to the opening of training camp.
Alex Galchenyuk – Galchenyuk is a talented player that needs to find a home and stick to be able to get confidence in his game back. We started to see that when he was playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. With spots up for grabs on the bottom two lines, he may be able to make an impact and fill in where needed, even if it is as an extra at times.
Sami Vatanen – In 473 career games, Vatanen has blocked 727 shots, 115 of them coming while on the penalty kill. He also plays a physical game, with 540 hits. After the loss of Adam Larsson to the Seattle Kraken, Cody Ceci won’t be able to make up for what the Oilers lost all by himself. The Oilers may want another option besides Ceci and Kris Russell to be a force in the defensive zone, while also being a threat offensively.
Erik Gustafsson – Gustafsson has seen a reduced role since leaving the Blackhawks, as he has barely cracked the 18:00 ATOI mark. In his career year, he played 22:35 ATOI and was an all-star. He would be a great player to fill in if one of the Oilers’ offensive contributors on the back end were to miss games.

BLH’s Thoughts: Bob Stauffer and Mark Spector did talk about the club possibly bringing in a forward and a defenseman on a PTO but they wondered why when they’ve got Benson and Marody, both who need to clear waivers to be sent down. All of those players above would be looking for one-way deals and guarantees that the Oilers probably wouldn’t be able to hand out.

The Cult of Hockey

By not doing something that is wrong, Edmonton Oilers get it right on defence

…the Edmonton Oilers organization is going to do the right thing by not bringing in another strong veteran d-man to compete for ice time with top defensive prospects in Bakersfield of the American Hockey League.

“We have a lot of D (for the Condors). And when you go to the American League, it’s not good if the kids are sitting in the stands. You might take a little bit of beatings once in awhile, but that’s why you have good goaltending. We really believe our forward depth will help the young guys, and I think (asst. coach) Dave Manson has done an unbelievable job with all our young D, and this is a great chance for them to grow. I’d rather they are playing, personally, just so they can further their career and get better and get to the NHL quicker.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I like having at least one veteran at each position if the team is actively developing key prospects on their minor league team. Mind you, there are some older defenders coming over from Europe to play, it’s still good to have a peer in the locker room that you can lean on as there are certain times when you don’t want to bother the coach about something.

That said, I can’t wait to watch Bakerfield this year with all of the new faces that’ll be playing.

NHLRumors.com

Matt Porter of the Boston Globe: San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl wonders if they are interested in re-signing him. He is in the last year of his deal at $5.625 million and has a three-year trade list.

Nashville Predators Filip Forsberg is entering the final year of his contract at $6 million. Would think the GM David Poile may explore the idea of moving the 27-year old for some younger players. This past offseason they moved out veterans Ryan Ellis and Viktor Arvidsson.

Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star: Morgan Rielly is entering the final season of his contract and is eligible for a contract extension. This past offseason has seen offensive defenseman that can eat minutes earn big contracts. Will this create a scenario where the Toronto Maple Leafs can’t afford to re-sign Rielly?

GM Kyle Dubas has already said that if the Maple Leafs don’t have a successful playoff run that changes could be coming.
GM Kyle Dubas on Bob McCown’s podcast about teams letting UFAs go as the salary cap won’t be increasing much over the next couple of years.