July 2, 2021 /

Ferraro on Oilers Offseason Priorities and Duncan Keith

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

The Jason Gregor Show

Ray Ferraro on the Oilers Offseason Priorities
  • “The goalie is critical because it seems a stretch to think that Mike Smith can do this again but you also have to consider even if he could do it again, it’s not 56 games next year, it’s 82 games. So you’re going to need an older guy to play the same for longer. That doesn’t make much sense. It doesn’t seem like Koskinen’s the answer, do you buy him out? Can you figure a way to move him off your roster and bring someone else in? If that’s the case, who are you bringing in? How are you doing that? How are you making it fit? Goaltending might not be priority one but it’s priority 1b. You don’t have a chance without it.”
  • “I think it’s pretty obvious that they’ve got to address that left side. You’ve gotta have higher end to the left side but I also think you’ll get a better Nugent-Hopkins next year. I think Nugent-Hopkins is a good player, it seemed to be that he was distracted, like he was rattled and when it started poorly, he wasn’t able to shut that down. I think you’ll get a benefit from Nugent-Hopkins being signed back towards the production that you’re probably more used to seeing.”
  • “The forwards aren’t skilled enough around the big boys and that has to be a shopping priority for Ken Holland.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I reckon a lot of what Mike Smith did last season had a lot to do with Edmonton having defensemen who were slotted in the right roles. The Oilers had three proper top-four defensemen all year long more or less. If they could have four of them next season, why can’t Smith do it again?

Ferraro’s concern is valid though and to what he said above, if the Oilers can move Koskinen and bring in somebody younger who can handle 40 starts, they should absolutely do that. It would minimize their risk exposure at the very least and if Skinner isn’t claimed in the expansion draft, they’ve got him as cover in the event something goes wrong. 

I am intrigued by this idea that Nuge will be back to form next season. You can be damned sure he’ll be working his ass off this summer to sort out whatever as ailing him this past season. It’d be nice to see him hit or get close to some career highs in 2021-22. 

It also makes me wonder how Jesse Puljujarvi will take the next step and if Kailer Yamamoto will return to the mean because not everything can go to plan. There’s always one thing that will fail to materialize. If they can add Tatar to that top-six, I think he’d be a fantastic skill-based player to put up with Leon and Connor. Why wouldn’t ever say no to a 60pt player who’s willing to sign for $4M or less?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWC4RyjvHQg

On Duncan Keith
  • “I do think it’s really hard sometimes to look at numbers and make them make sense and the reason I say that is maybe the system the team is playing doesn’t give them a number that looks good unless you’re watching them as well.”
  • “You can’t just look at the player and not consider the analytic and you can’t look at the analytic and not watch the game because they’re hand in hand, you have to understand both.”

BLH’s Comments: Man, we’ve all had one of those tweets that makes so much sense in your head and then you find some analytics to support it but anybody who knows the game of hockey just looks at it and wonders what the hell you were thinking when you hit the ‘Tweet’ button… Now, if Mr. Zach truly believes that Kris Russell is as good of a player as Duncan Keith, all the power to him. That’s his opinion and he’s allowed to be wrong. 

  • “When Ben Chiarot signed in Montreal, his numbers about denying the rush and zone entry denials were terrible and the reason I know that is because I was in Montreal on the radio and that was a big talking point initially and I said, ‘You guys are going to love Chiarot because he’s hard-nosed, he is a good player, he’s better than you think. As for the numbers, the way the Jets play probably doesn’t allow him to have really great numbers.’ and the Jets were more of an accept the rush or then they changed and they were more aggressive on the ice trying to pinch up in the zone. Well, if you’re up in the neutral zone, you’re not denying the entry into the zone because you’re not there.”
  • “The reason I bring that up is because I believe Duncan Keith has stuff left. I think has effective play left, but if you’re trying to compare it to Duncan Keith of 27-minute Duncan Keith, ya know, fly all over the ice and give you 40pts, he’s not that anymore. He can’t do that.”
  • “I’d be interested. I’d want Chicago to take a little bit of money back, but I would be interested in Duncan Keith. He’s in great shape, so you don’t have to worry about him showing up to camp like he can’t move anymore. That’s not going to happen, but you have to acknowledge the age and the miles that he’s had.”

BLH’s Thoughts: There’s going to be significant pushback from a lot of computer boys if the Oilers find a way to make this trade. Especially if it comes at the expense of a Caleb Jones or Ethan Bear and the only support they’ll have will come from analytics unless somebody’s side team is the Hawks.

If somebody is out there that loves the Oilers and Chicago and watched a ton of Blackhawks games, you’d be able to take their word more so because they’d have an idea of the kind of hockey Keith’s team was playing, the systems, their shortcomings and where the team thrived.

The Oilers fan in Sherwood Park or St. Alberta who’s spending some time gathering publicly available metrics at Natural Stat Trick or PuckIQ and basing their opinion off of what they find there, that’s only one side of the decahedron that is player evaluation. 

Now, if you can find me three former NHL players, GMs, scouts, coaches, or pundits who would put Kris Russell on Edmonton’s 2nd pair with Adam Larsson over Duncan Keith, then I’ll admit I’m wrong.

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CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

TagsEdmonton Oilers Edmonton Oilers Rumors NHL NHL Rumors

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!