Edmonton Oilers Talk: “What we don’t know is the value Holland places on this player.”

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Lowetide.ca

A BIG RED BEACON, A FLAG AND A MAN ON THE RAIL

KAILER YAMAMOTO

It was an earth shattering pick for the organization, Oilers history to that point in time showed extreme bias about taking smaller forwards in the first round, this was a watershed selection. What we don’t know is the value Holland places on this player.
I had looked forward to seeing him play for several years in Edmonton, but as mentioned on this blog all summer, players drafted before the Holland-Wright group arrived may be less secure than the group chosen after their arrival.

Tyler Benson

What is the cost of drafting Tyler Benson, developing him, then using a two-week audition as a pass/fail? Is that efficient?

BLH’s Thoughts: Smaller players who aren’t picks of Holland are, as LT says, more likely to be moved. It’s a thing with GMs as they try to put their own stamp on the club and when Holland is gone, if the Oilers reach outside the organization to find a new GM, that guy will do the same…

I don’t want the team to move Yamamoto because I think he’s going to be a fantastic middle-six winger. However, the NHL is a business and sometimes dollars can get in the way of building a hockey team. GMs have a tough job and that’s why they get paid the big bucks to do it, not you or me.

As for Benson, if you truly believe in a hockey player, then you’re committed to seeing his development through. Even if that means it stalls out before he gets to the NHL.

I think specific to Benson’s case, a lot of roadblocks have been thrown in his path all throughout his career from injuries in junior to Covid at the pro level. It’d be nice to see something go his way in 2021-22, wouldn’t it?

The Hockey Writers (Couch)

Oilers Get Blue Line Experience with Keith Addition

Last season Keith showed some visible signs of regression, but that was on a Blackhawks team that didn’t qualify for the playoffs. He finished 2020-21 with 15 points in 54 games. His decrease in offensive production could be attributed to a secondary role on the power play with Adam Boqvist getting time last season.
In his 16 year career, he has made the playoffs in 10 of them. Of those 10 postseason appearances, he won the Stanley Cup three times and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2015.
Over his career, Keith has averaged 28:00 ATOI in the playoffs.
Even into his 30s, he has played over 25 minutes on average per night.
He has exceeded 30 minutes of ATOI in three of those seasons.
His postseason numbers are also very impressive, recording 18 goals and 86 points in 135 games.
Keith will be someone the Oilers depend on when on the penalty kill, along with his projected new defense partner Cody Ceci. Keith should get penalty kill time every game…
With multiple defencemen in the pipeline that are set to breakthrough very soon, Keith will be an important role model and mentor for the next group, even if it’s just a limited exposure in training camp.

BLH’s Thoughts: You don’t have to sell me on this player. I’m a huge proponent of veterans on young clubs, especially ones who’ve had the kind of team and individual success that Duncan Keith has had in his career.

The Oilers have a massive swath of high-potential defensemen marinating in their system and getting their careers started in 2021-22 and the men that Ken Holland brought in will all be tasked with passing down their knowledge to these bluechippers. Training camp this year is going to be a very important window of opportunity for these young defensemen to gain as much knowledge from the Barries, Cecis, Keiths, Russells, and Nurses.

If your plan is to build a deep defense like Nashville had for years, having these hey vets in place will go a long way to seeing that plan out successfully.

The Daily Goal Horn

Capitals Evgeny Kuznetsov

…if the Caps struggle out of the gate they may be more inclined to make a deal involving their second line center. Washington would love to gain some younger assets and cap space in a deal.
Teams that were rumored interested at one time or another were the Rangers, Kraken, and Blue Jackets.
Tarik El-Bashir who covers the team for The Athletic added this;

“My gut feeling on the Kuznetsov trade speculation is this: if he were going to be dealt, it probably would have happened by now.”

Tomas Hertl on the move?

Tomas Hertl will be a UFA at the end of this season. At this point and time, the Sharks have not seriously engaged with Hertl’s camp about an extension.
In a recent Czech interview with iDNES.cz, Hertl gave an update.

“I wonder if San Jose will want to re-sign me and if I’ll want to stay there, I don’t want to think about it so it doesn’t negatively affect me. I’ll start the season and see how it turns out.”