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
Tyson Barrie’s contract and skill set make his Oilers future uncertain
- The possible issues for him as an Oilers player are twofold:
- A less expensive player (Evan Bouchard) duplicates his skill set
- Barrie’s cap hit ($4.5 million) may be needed elsewhere on the roster beginning next year.
- Bouchard is already playing more at even strength and it would seem it’s only a matter of time before he takes over the power play role from Barrie if the current results hold.
- …it’s likely Bouchard will take over as the full-time right-handed defenceman on the top pairing before the playoffs.
- Barrie is expensive but also good at what he does and a player with trade value. That makes him vulnerable.
- The play here is Barrie out, Puljujarvi signed and Bouchard manning the power play, penalty kill and on the top pair with Nurse in 2022-23.
BLH’s Thoughts: Considering who the GM and coach (for now) are, I don’t think Bouchard will be a top-pairing defender on this Oilers team full-time until next year regardless of what publicly available metrics say. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the Oilers probably have some private statistics on Bouchard telling them to slow play that stud. I mean, how many 22 year old defensemen are true top-pairing blueliners in their first real NHL season and of that number, how many actually end up staying there?
Here’s the thing, elite NHL forwards aren’t going to let him get past first base. He’s got to be given some time to get to know the league before he tries to lay down some track. National Hockey League snipers aren’t going to make it easy for him, they’re going to want some nice dinners first and they’ll want him to meet the family before the good stuff begins. Luckily for him, he can speak fluid Francais, and that’ll soften up any suitor.
I think it makes a ton of sense to keep the depth on that side of the defense and take advantage of it until Bouchard’s current deal expires at the end of next season.
So in a way, I agree with LT and notice how I said depth and not any specific player…
The Hockey Writers
Oilers’ Trade Targets on the New York Islanders
- …the Oilers could use an experienced goaltender with playoff experience and past success that is signed through until the end of next season. Semyon Varlamov fits that bill, and with Ilya Sorokin guarding the crease full-time for the Islanders, they wouldn’t be too opposed to trading Varlamov.
- If the Oilers look into acquiring someone like Zach Parise, it would be for his experience and what he could bring to the bottom-six, most likely the bottom line.
- Andy Greene could be seen as an upgrade or a sideways move from Kris Russell, except larger and more experience, during the regular season and playoffs.
- (Zdeno) Chara is a cheap option, the only problem would be his lack of speed. He is efficient on the penalty kill, and wouldn’t take too much ice time away from the other defencemen. Neither would cost too much, most likely a late draft pick.
BLH’s Thoughts: Phase two of Project Greybeard, engage!
My feeling is that the Oilers will try to find a defenseman that can force Duncan Keith down the ladder a tad and Greene is not that guy. But Big Z isn’t that guy either anymore. I wouldn’t be opposed to adding either defender for the playoffs, but I’m also not sure that they don’t have some unspoken agreements with Lou Lamoriello about where they’d like to be traded to.
Would Parise beat out Yamamoto at this point? He hasn’t scored all year and actually only has 4pts, all assists… I’m thinking he might be past his best before date and Edmonton already has a handful of those.
Varlamov is an interesting case though. He’s not having a good season, but he’s definitely got a great track record when it comes to post-season play. He holds a career playoff SV% of .919 and a GAA of 2.42 in 60 games.
NHLRumors.com
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: Adam Foote has been linked to the Philadelphia Flyers as a defenseman coach.
- Claude Julien may have wanted a three-year contract from the Canucks, who went with Bruce Boudreau for two years.
- Mike Stephens of The Hockey News: There may not be a lot of teams interested in Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk at $3.675 million. Five teams that could have an interest in DeBrusk are the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, Montreal Canadiens, and the Philadelphia Flyers.
- Owen Krepps of Vegas Hockey Now: When Jack Eichel is ready to come off the LTIR, the Vegas Golden Knights are going to have to make a trade(s) to clear some salary cap space.
- Would the Ottawa Senators be interested in Dadonov? What about the Chicago Blackhawks, New Jersey Devils or Seattle Kraken?
- Even if the Golden Knights move Dadonov, they’ll need to move salary. Mattias Janmark, Nolan Patrick, or William Carrier may end up in the rumor mill.
