Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with 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!
From Sportsnet
Mike Johnston recently penned an article entitled, “Seven Contenders to Land Seth Jones”, and I would like to share those seven teams with you along with my thoughts because one of those teams includes the Edmonton Oilers
- Los Angeles Kings
Blue Jackets beat reporter Aaron Portzline of The Athletic wrote earlier this week the Kings are the early favourites — and it is still quite early — to land Jones. - Chicago Blackhawks
Portzline reported the Blackhawks could become “major players” in Jones trade talks, but how much Stan Bowman or any GM is willing to give up would largely depend on whether Jones signs an extension with the team that trades for him. - Edmonton Oilers
With Adam Larsson and Tyson Barrie both set to hit the open market, the Oilers’ back end might require a great deal of work in the summer. Oscar Klefbom with his surgically-repaired shoulder is expected to be ready for the start of next season but if Larsson and/or Barrie, who led all defencemen in points in the regular season, leave in free agency then Edmonton would feel the pressure to add a quality right-shot defender. The Oilers don’t have extra picks to send to the Blue Jackets, so Ken Holland may have to consider parting ways with a young defenceman of his own. - Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers aren’t going to lose anyone of consequence in free agency, which means GM Chuck Fletcher could look to move a few bodies to clear up cap space. A hypothetical top pair of Jones and Ivan Provorov would be a stiff challenge for any forward line in the league. Jones’s father, former NBA forward Popeye Jones, is currently on the Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff so there’s a connection to the city as well. - Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens were also mentioned by Portzline in his article. Montreal has extra second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2021 as Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault, Joel Armia, Eric Staal, Corey Perry and Erik Gustafsson are all slated to come off the books at the end of the season. - Detroit Red Wings
It wouldn’t be all too surprising if Steve Yzerman decided to make a splash this summer. He certainly has the draft capital to do it. Detroit currently has 12 picks in the 2021 draft, seven of which are in the first three rounds (two firsts, three seconds, two thirds). - Toronto Maple Leafs
If trade speculation involving a star player occurs and the Maple Leafs aren’t included in the rumours, did it really even happen? The Maple Leafs are light on picks and prospects but if GM Kyle Dubas decides a major shakeup is indeed needed then he could potentially dangle an asset like Mitch Marner.
(LINK)
BLH’s Thoughts: Why do these pundits keep throwing Edmonton into these lists?… Like I’ve said before, I don’t see the Oilers getting on the Seth Jones sweepstakes because they aren’t in a position to be trading their bluechippers yet. Edmonton is right on the cusp of being able to be one of those teams that Holland used to have in Detroit that could afford to deal away a good prospect every year to stay competitive, but they’re not there yet.
If I had to rank the teams from realistic to unrealistic trade destinations from Johnston’s list, this is how it’d go,
LA-CHI-DET-MON-TOR-PHI-EDM
Simply put, if a team has to make a plethora of moves in order to even get in a position to make the trade like Philly, Toronto, and Edmonton, then they’re not really ideal options, are they?
Chris Johnston says the Toronto Maple Leafs could summon their inner Musai Ujiri to improve the club this summer and the three ways to do that are as follows,
- Everything starts with the Core Four – “What the Leafs need to determine is if they can reasonably build a contender each year while allocating nearly half of their available cap space to those four forwards. He (William Nylander) was the team’s first draft selection after Shanahan became president and while parting with him wouldn’t be easy, it can’t be ruled out entirely because it would allow them to build out a bigger middle class among their forward group.
- Zach Hyman and Morgan Rielly – “While it’s not a foregone conclusion he’s (Hyman) leaving Toronto, it’ll probably take an adjoining move to keep him on a hometown discount.”
- “The decision on Rielly isn’t quite so pressing since he’s under contract for another year. if they’re not comfortable giving him a significant raise on his current $5-million deal there’s a case for maximizing his value with a trade.”
- Revisit the coaching staff – “it’s difficult to imagine his staff remaining intact after finding no answers for the struggling power play under first-year assistant Manny Malhotra. The Leafs were vastly improved defensively, which fell under the purview of assistant Dave Hakstol, but he’s a holdover from the Babcock era and could move on.”
(LINK)
BLH’s Thoughts: I reckon they should let Hyman walk. Not because I’m an Oilers fan and would like to see him in Edmonton, but because they’re going to have to trade a really good hockey player like Nylander and/or Rielly in order to keep him and those two are much better than Hyman is. Plus, have you see the market for wingers becoming UFAs this summer? It’s pretty good.
As for their coaching staff, if they’re not happy with Malhotra, then they’ll turf him and bring someone in who’s better for their squad.
From Spector’s Hockey
THE TENNESSEAN: Paul Skrbina made several bold predictions regarding possible offseason moves by the Nashville Predators. He thinks aging goalie Pekka Rinne could be brought back for one more season, Matt Duchene and/or Ryan Johansen could be left exposed in the expansion draft. Juuse Saros and Mikael Granlund will be re-signed while Viktor Arvidsson could be traded to make room for a young winger.
THE ATHLETIC: Adam Vingan believes it’s time for the Predators to shake up their core. He also suggests they consider trading the oft-injured Arvidsson. While Arvidsson’s contract isn’t prohibitive, the $8 million annually being earned by Duchene and Johansen could leave the Predators eating part of their salary or adding a draft pick in the deal.
THE PROVINCE: Patrick Johnston recently examined possible free-agent forward targets for the Vancouver Canucks. They have holes to fill at center and right wing but a tight budget could hamper efforts to address those needs.
Florida Panthers forward Alexander Wennberg would be an interesting option but he’s not going to be cheap coming off a 17-goal season. The same goes for Tampa Bay’s Blake Coleman, who tallied 14 goals. More affordable options could include Vegas’ Tomas Nosek, Chicago’s Vinnie Hinostroza or Carolina’s Steven Lorentz.
(LINK)
BLH’s Thoughts: If Viktor Arvidsson is on the block, sign me up as somebody who thinks the Edmonton Oilers should be in on him.
During his career, he’s scored at nearly half-a-point per game (27pts in 61gp) and that’s a really good selling point for me. I also like the fact that the 28yr old is very assertive on the ice and he’s a shooter. At $4.25M for three more years, his contract doesn’t scare me either. It’s actually kind of perfect.
Arvidsson has had two of his last three seasons cut short by injury/health but this year he only missed six regular season games. I’d probably be more concerned with his production level dropping from 48pts in 58 games in 2019 to 28pts the following season and then 25pts this past year. Why is his scoring trending south?
Speaking of Swedes in the South, I’ve said this on numerous occasions already, Florida’s Alex Wennberg would be a really nice addition to the Oilers this summer. The 26yr old made a shade over $2M this past season and scored 17 goals while adding 12 assists in 56 games. I could be wrong but he did that playing in the Panthers’ middle six and that says to me, depth scorer. Just what Ken Holland is looking for!
Just briefly while we’re in Florida, do you think a player like Alex Killorn would be the kind of veteran that would thrive in Edmonton? Maybe Holland could get him on a retained salary trade for only pennies on the dollar since Tampa is right against the cap ceiling.
I really dig his size on the wing, his playoff experience, and that he’s a winner. He produces in both the regular season (virtually a lock for 40pts in an 82-game season) AND the playoffs (over 60pts in 101gp) as well!
He has two more years left on his deal worth $4.45M/yr.
Maybe instead of signing Zach Hyman long-term for $6M+, why not acquire a similar styled player who’s actually won, could be an excellent asset to the locker room as well as a mentor for others on the roster too?
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