Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: Carey Price’s Name Getting Connected to the Oilers Again

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

It’s easy to blame Mikko Koskinen, but he isn’t Oilers’ biggest summer mistake or even their most pressing problem

Edmonton’s current goalie mess thus goes back to two decisions:
- Nicholson approving the Koskinen contract and Holland signing Smith this summer.
Bringing in a competent starter would make a huge difference for the Oilers, something in the order of 12 points of save percentage. If, with the stroke of a pen, we could retroactively give them a .920 five-on-five save percentage all season, it would instantly erase 10 goals against.
That brings us to the second thing that’s being overlooked: an Edmonton team with 10 fewer five-on-five goals against would still be below break-even at five-on-five.
- For five seasons, scoring more goals than the opposition at five-on-five has been an aspirational goal for the Oilers, one they have not yet managed to reach.
Edmonton can outwait Koskinen, find a place for Smith or even spend big assets on a name-brand goaltender, but none of that will bring the Oilers playoff success if they can’t find a way to outplay their opponents at even strength.

BLH’s Thoughts: The flavor of the day is Carey Price. Georges Laraque waxed poetically about him during his spot on Oilers Now this week and Bob Stauffer chatted with Elliotte Friedman about the man from Anaheim Lake yesterday on the radio show.

I’ve had my sources contact me and say that Price has no interest in rebuilding with the Habs and would like to move out west too.

So, here’s the thing, if Stauffer is bringing it up as a topic of conversation with the guests on his show, there’s probably some smoke to that fire considering his personal (and professional?) relationship with Carey Price’s agent, the Edmonton-based Gerry Johansson.

Big Georges mentioned that if the Oilers don’t get Price, the Avalanche will do it, and that got me thinking…

Colorado can flat out beat any offer Edmonton can throw out with the one caveat being they don’t have a first round pick this year and the draft is supposed to be held in Montreal, so they’ll be trying to add as many first rounders as possible. I don’t think that the draft pick should be a deal-breaker, but it could be.

So what about 3-way deal where the main features of the deal would see Darcy Kuemper go to Edmonton, Mikko Koskinen and Edmonton’s first rounder head to Montreal, and Carey Price to Colorado.

That’s just one idea off the top of my head. It’d probably make more sense for COL to keep Kuemper and Price and move Pavel Francouz instead since Kuemper’s on an expiring contract, but I’m just spitballin’ here.

I know Price has control of where he can be traded to, but to me, that shouldn’t matter much, in my opinion, it would be daft of Jeff Gorton not to make the best deal he can. Carey’s not playing so much these days and he’s got four more years left on that contract of his. If Price wanted to stay home, Gorton could let him because it’s Price who’s under pressure to win a Cup before he retires and it’s no skin off Gorton’s back.

Look, as good as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are, the Oilers team isn’t as good as Colorado’s… Yet. So, if Price’s motivation for leaving Montreal is to win a Stanley Cup, Denver is the better city (in nearly every facet) for him to head to. Just imagine the headline if he could repeat the Patrick Roy story…

Lastly, the COVID restrictions are far less imposing in the US than in Canada and that’s going to be a real big hurdle for Ken Holland to leap over.

Oil on Whyte

Oilers Have Plenty of Coaching Candidates to Replace Tippett

Mike Babcock – “While he may not be the right fit for this team, there is no denying Babcock’s success in his career. Not only has he missed the playoffs just twice in 15 seasons, but he is just one of eight coaches to have 700+ career wins. If Tippett is to be relieved of his duties, you can guarantee Holland will at the very least consider bringing in Babcock as the replacement.”
Rick Tocchet – “Though his coaching background isn’t as lengthy as some others available, he commands a ton of respect from the fearless style he played with. While his time with the Coyotes didn’t work out as anyone had hoped, he was put in a tough spot with a roster that lacked top-end talent. Joining a team with elite players in McDavid and Draisaitl would be a thrill for the 57-year-old, and many in the Oilers locker room would feel the same way about having him as their coach.
Claude Julien – While some think that Julien is outdated for today’s game, underlying numbers show that he actually ran a well-balanced offensive structure while in Montreal. The issue there was that he was without a true number one center, often having to rely on players like Max Domi and Phillip Danault to try and live up to that role. It goes without saying that wouldn’t be an issue with the Oilers given the star power of McDavid and Draisaitl down the middle.

BLH’s Thoughts: Add Paul Maurice, Joel Quenneville, Lane Lambert, David Quinn, Travis Green, Dan Bylsma, Marc Crawford, Alain Vigneault and whoever comes available in the offseason to the potential list of bench bosses for the Oilers…

There hasn’t been more high-end coaches available for this team than now.

However, IF there’s a coaching change, I expect Tippett’s replacement to come from within in the short term and the long term. Meaning Glen Gulutzan to ride out the year and Jay Woodcroft to take over in 2022/23.

NHLRumors.com

NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on The Jeff Marek Show: “I’ve heard Chiarot rumoured with Florida, I have heard a little bit of St. Louis.”
Lisa Dillman of The Athletic: (mailbag) Trading a goaltender like Jonathan Quick at the trade deadline doesn’t happen often. An injury could change that – see Edmonton Oilers and Mike Smith.
TSN: Will players with trade protection be willing to accept a trade to a Canadian team while there are more restrictions than in the U.S.