Edmonton Oilers Trade Talk: “LeBrun wondered if the Oilers might take a chance on…”

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 Have 3 Good Options if They Want to Move Koskinen

The Arizona Coyotes are a team that is brought up a lot when it comes to teams that could be interested in trading. This is due to the ton of cap space they have, almost no chance in competing this season, and trade assets they hold and are willing to move by the deadline.
With all the COVID and injury-related problems that the Montreal Canadiens have had, they need to look towards a rebuild. That means selling off assets and getting picks and prospects that they can hopefully build around.
The San Jose Sharks are an interesting option. They may not be a team you’d think of when looking at a team to take on a contract at first glance. They have stuck around just out of the playoff race to this point but are an old team that has been known to get their fair share of injuries. They don’t have a real starting goalie despite James Reimer playing very well this season.

BLH’s Thoughts: I know he’s a polarizing figure but Evander Kane would check a couple of boxes for the Oilers but I bet, knowing Ken Holland, he’d probably trade for Marc-Edouard Vlasic. I mean, if you can make the money work, “Pickles” also checks a few boxes for Dave Tippett’s club.

Bob Stauffer brought up the Buffalo Sabres with regards to Mikko Koskinen yesterday on his radio show… But they’ve been connected to the team for two years now as it pertains to a club that might be able to take a bad contract off of Edmonton’s hands. But I’ll say this, as soon as Mikko is dealt, he’s going to start playing well and then what?

https://twitter.com/mikedirsa/status/1478915193837027328

Oilersnation

Monday Mailbag – Is it time for a coaching change?

A new year means a new round of New Year’s Resolutions and I’m wondering what everyone would like to see the Oilers improve upon in 2022?

“Score first.” – Brownlee
“Scoring first.” – Gregor
“Start games on time!” – Yaremchuk

Ken Holland remaining steady at the wheel as Tippett Coaches the Oilers to his 11th straight loss. pic.twitter.com/KOVedts6kh

— Ryan Robinson (@BlogManRy) January 6, 2022

Should Dave Tippett try playing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as the third line centre?

“I’ve always wanted to see what the lineup would be like with McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nuge at centre but I don’t think there are enough quality winger options to make it work.” – Baggedmilk

Is Dave Tippett the right voice for this team?

“I am starting to become more and more convinced that this team needs to make a coaching change. They have the pieces to be better than they currently are and this is far from a small cold streak. There are serious concerns with the way this team is playing and some of the decisions that Dave Tippett continues to make are very puzzling.” – Yaremchuk

BLH’s Thoughts: That’s the big thing here. Ken Holland did upgrade the roster over the summer and the quality of depth player hasn’t been higher in some time. Why is this team continuing to struggle with inconsistency and allowing the first goal of the game? Two problems that have been around since Kevin Lowe decided to plunge the team into the Decade of Darkness…

My theory about the same struggles comes down to the fact that the guys running the team/bench are always trying to recreate the 80s Oilers and that’s simply not going to work. Plus the overemphasis on building around scoring and elite forwards instead of elite defense/goaltending has made them WAY too easy to play against.

Spector’s Hockey

TSN: Darren Dreger reports Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland is looking at his goaltending as the club has stumbled through a 2-8-2 record in their last dozen games. Available trade options are being considered plus the club is also still searching for a third-line center. Dreger also cited a source claiming head coach Dave Tippett isn’t in immediate danger of losing his job.
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports Holland has already dismissed rumors linking the Oilers to former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock. He wondered if Holland might pursue a rental player like Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury or Montreal Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot.
THE ATHLETIC: LeBrun wondered if the Oilers might take a chance on Khudobin even though he has another year remaining on his contract and they have zero salary-cap space.
Terry Jones believes goaltending is the Oilers’ Achilles heel right now and feels they have to be finished with struggling Mikko Koskinen while starter Mike Smith remains sidelined. He thinks Holland’s first move of the New Year is to find a new starting netminder.
Robert Tychkowski doesn’t put all the blame for the Oilers’ slump on Koskinen’s shoulders but acknowledges they need help between the pipes. He also cites a lack of goal production beyond superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

BLH’s Thoughts: A couple of things, the talks that Friedman was referring to between Holland and Babcock, they were way in November when the team was flying. Why in the world would the topic of coaching Edmonton come up at that point? I want to know if there’ve been any conversations with prospective coaches in the last 3 weeks and Friedman isn’t reporting on that.

The other thing, any trade Edmonton makes, they’re going to be behind the 8-ball and that means premium prices or acquiring “hope” players. Meaning, “I hope this guy can make a positive impact in our system.” My feeling is that even a team like Arizona will be hard to get a good deal out of and best forget about Phil Kessel, he’s awaiting his trade to Vegas.

Anytime a team is featured heavily in one of Lyle Richardson’s columns means that club is in trouble and the chance that they’ll be winning a trade soon is very low.