Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: “He suggested a package of Mikko Koskinen, Jesse Puljujarvi, prospect Dylan Holloway…”

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Oilersnation

Monday Mailbag – What will it take for change?

…if this disastrous run isn’t enough to see some kind of change within the organization then what is?

“Change is needed. But what change and how do you make it happen right now? That’s the important part. The mitigating factor now is the re-emergence of COVID. It’s impacting all teams. How do you properly assess your line-up with three or four or five regulars out?” – Brownlee

BLH’s Thoughts: The GM will be looking to see what he’s got when everybody can play for an extended period of time. Simple as that. Brownlee’s right, how can you assess the team when you’re missing a handful of players each week.

That said, there’s always room for improvement. So, now that the majority of the team can’t be tested for 90 days, they’re set, right? Nothing else can go wrong.

Today, would you rather have Ryan or Khaira?

“Based on play this season, yes Khaira would be a better option than Ryan, but I’d argue Devin Shore is an upgrade on Ryan right now as well. Khaira’s repeated concussions are an issue on whether he can play a physical style regularly. I’d look elsewhere for an upgrade on Ryan.” – Gregor

BLH’s Thoughts: I’d actually prefer Ryan. He’s got speed, he’s smart, and he doesn’t get hurt every time he puts his head down or fights.

Honestly though, I would’ve preferred Luke Glendening over both of them. He’s a bigger guy, better on faceoffs, gritty as all Hell, but just a tad long in the tooth.

How realistic is it to get a starting goalie in season? Are we forced to shoring up 2/3LD, 2/3RW and/or 3C and hoping the fancy stats boost leads to better results?

“Skinner up, Kostco down. That’s my guess. On Friday, I had Frank Seravalli on my podcast and he said that there is a trade market for Koskinen if the Oilers want to get rid of him that way but that they’d have to pay in picks or prospects to make it happen, so I wonder if he’ll just be sent to Bakersfield instead. We shall see.” – Baggedmilk

BLH’s Thoughts: Well, they almost had Georgiev in December, but maybe you don’t consider him a no.1 goalie, so it’s still a realistic notion.

If the Oilers can somehow find a way to construct their defense to look something like the Blues’ group when they won the Cup, maybe there’s a chance Skinner can come in and pull a Jordan Binnington.

Signing Evander Kane is high on my list as it would allow the team to move Nuge down a line and provide some depth there thus negating the need to trade for a 3C. Trading for energy guys for the bottom six is a helluva lot cheaper than that third line center, a 2nd pairing defenseman, or a top-six winger.

I’d like to ask everyone what ideas you have to fix the problem. Is this all a personnel issue? Deployments? What would you like to see the Oilers do to get more scoring at even strength?

“Forwards 7-12 not close to good enough. If the personnel isn’t right, how do you deploy people properly? It’s also tough to get depth scoring when you constantly shorten your bench because you’re giving up 1-0 and 2-0 leads and chasing games.” – Brownlee

BLH’s Thoughts: The key sentence there is “It’s also tough to get depth scoring when you constantly shorten your bench…”. The players that most often start a game for the Oilers are Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, are they not? So what does that say to you if the team is constantly giving up goals early in games? It says to me that maybe they need to try a different tactic from the drop of the puck because it takes multiple players to make mistakes in order for a goal to be scored, it’s not just on the goalie.

The Cult of Hockey

Edmonton Oilers have made calls on Evander Kane, TSN insider reports. But is there a fit?

I think there’s only a small chance that Kane would subject himself to the scrutiny of playing in a Canadian market… There is a chance he ends up here and I’m OK with that possibility.
Ken Holland would not be doing his job if he didn’t check into the possible price, term and interest level of Kane.
My abiding focus for NHL players on the Oilers is that they help Edmonton win, and if Kane can do that, and get along well enough with his teammates, I’m OK with him being an Oiler. I don’t need the players to be some combo of Mother Theresa and Mahatma Gandhi. I’ll settle for them being strong two-way players and decent teammates.

BLH’s Thoughts: I imagine by the time this is posted we’ll have heard from Ken Holland and maybe everything I say here will be null and void, so I’ll try not to repeat myself from this morning’s post.

A major factor in any team bringing Kane in is if they feel like their leadership core is strong enough to handle a personality like his. Can Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, RNH, Mike Smith, and Duncan Keith rein him in if he gets obtuse? If so, then surely they’ll see his value as a hockey player and green light the team signing him and then it’s on Holland to open up some cap room.

Spector’s Hockey

SPORTSNET: In a mailbag segment earlier this week, Eric Engels was asked about the possibility of the Montreal Canadiens moving Carey Price by the March 21 trade deadline. He doesn’t see that happening unless the 34-year-old goaltender returns to action and plays well before deadline day.
Traikos mused over what it might take for the Edmonton Oilers to acquire Price to address their porous goaltending. He suggested a package of Mikko Koskinen, Jesse Puljujarvi, prospect Dylan Holloway and/or the Oilers 2022 first-round pick with the Canadiens picking up half of Price’s cap hit.
TORONTO STAR: In his latest mailbag segment, Kevin McGran was asked if Chychrun would be worth the Maple Leafs giving up top prospects, a first-round pick and a solid roster player. McGran isn’t sure they would be in the market for a player like him during the season because of their limited cap space. He thinks they’ll look at low-cost rental players.

BLH’s Thoughts: I like Carey Price but I feel like that trade would be setting the Oilers back a bit as they don’t really have anybody who could readily replace Puljujarvi in the lineup. I mean, they could throw Kassian up there as that’s been a plan B for years.

Ya know, I just think that Holland is going to ride the year out and supplement when necessary IF necessary. He’s seeing things from a long-term perspective and if that means this year is a failure for next year to be a success, so be it. He’ll survive the hellfire thanks to the 5yr/$5M deal he got from Bob Nicholson, but others won’t…