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 Lowetide
The legend, Allan Mitchell, posted a projected 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers roster over at his blog yesterday that included five UFA signings,
- “The problem here is that you can’t sign five UFA in one summer because the other teams will have a say. Specifically, the Seattle Kraken are going to take a big bite out of the free-agent pool.”
- “How can Holland improve his team, while using the free-agent market realistically? Well, I do think he signs Nuge, Larsson and Smith. That takes care of three issues.”
- “Then, he’ll be looking at trades, likely for overpriced talent that remains useful. The sweetener for trading teams will be cap room. Tampa Bay might be a good place to start.” (LINK)
BLH’s Thoughts: Signing five UFAs isn’t the unrealistic part about Mr. Mitchell’s projection for me. I don’t see any upgrades made to Edmonton’s goaltending or defense and if this team is going to maintain their current trend, they backup goaltender needs to be addressed as well as at least one defenseman.
Now, if they could add Hyman, Danault, Coleman, and re-sign Nuge, I’d give management a pass because those would be dreamy additions. Even if they could only manage to bring in Coleman and Danault, I would be doing somersaults in my living room.
What I’m thinking is that the Oilers should be able address the depth scoring at even strength this summer and add those “playoff types” and maybe a goalie at the trade deadline IF they keep some powder dry.
From The Daily Goal Horn
The fallout from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ epic first round collapse at the hands of their no.1 rivals is still coming in. Anthony Scultore took a look at their roster going forward and came to these conclusions,
- When you look at the Maple Leafs roster, you see a lot of high priced players and very little playoff production. John Tavares makes $11 million and has a NMC, so he’s going nowhere. Matthews is the highest paid Leaf at $11.6 and is one of the best players in the NHL, which takes him out of the equation.
- That leaves you with Mitch Marner at $10.9 million and Willam Nylander at $6.9 million. In fairness to Nylander, he was far and away Toronto’s best player with 8 points. If I’m Dubas, or the next GM of the Leafs, I may be looking to move Marner’s huge contract immediately. One team to call is the Blue Jackets. An exchange for a package starring Seth Jones would help fill a lot a huge hole in that lineup.
- The bottom line is that Toronto needs to switch this up. Jake Muzzin isn’t getting any younger on defense at 32. Same for TJ Brodie who is 30. They need to reshape that blue-line and bring in some fresh blood to change their one dimensional dynamic.
- And another reason to shed Marner’s salary – retain Zach Hyman. He’s more of what they need, Marner may be just too much of what they already have. (LINK)
BLH’s Thoughts: Marner for Jones? I could see it but Columbus needs a center not another winger, no?
An interesting thing was said on Oilers Now yesterday by The Athletic’s James Mirtle. He said that before the playoffs started he was under the impression that there was no doubt that Hyman would be getting re-signed, but since Toronto’s loss to the Habs, things might’ve shifted on that front a little due to age and concerns over potential future health problems.
If Toronto’s analytics department has their way, I can’t see them recommending that Hyman gets re-signed for big money and long term. He’s 29 years old and is reaching that point in a power forward’s career where his style of play begins to catch up to him…
In that same episode of Oilers Now, host Bob Stauffer reported that it was his belief that Hyman is going to get offers of $6M for six years. Now, I can’t say that the Oilers themselves will be offering that kind of skrilla if Ryan Nugent-Hopkins walks, but it seems a tad long to me and very reminiscent of the contract Milan Lucic received all those years ago…
If the Maple Leafs hockey men have theirs, it’ll be one of William Nylander or Mitch Marner playing elsewhere next season.
Now, I don’t often agree with the computer boys, but they might be right on this one. Marner and Nylander are elite top-six forwards and somebody has to score the goals. If they want to pay big dollars to a high-end power forward, they should try to convince Gabriel Landeskog to leave Colorado.
On the other hand, the more they can bolster their defense, the better in my books. Skilled wingers can be acquired a lot easier than top-pair defenders they say and a top-four of Reilly, Jones, Muzzin, and Brodie would be one of the best in the league.
From NHLTradeRumors.me
Keeping with the Maple Leafs theme, Stan Sweeney wrote about three players from Toronto who could be dealt this offseason,
- Alexander Kerfoot: The third-line center showed off his versatility these playoffs as he moved up the lineup once John Tavares got injured. The 26-year-old is one of the Leafs best trade assets, as he’s still young and signed for two more seasons at $3.5 million. Kerfoot scored 23 points in 56 games this season and added six points in seven playoff games. The Leafs could use Kerfoot in a trade to free up enough money to sign Zach Hyman long-term.
- Morgan Rielly: The long-time Maple Leaf may be the piece that moves this offseason as Dubas will look to improve his defense. With Jake Muzzin, TJ Brodie and Rasmus Sandin capable of playing the left-side, this could leave Rielly expendable. He’s a free-agent after next season and will be looking for a raise on his $5 million and the Leafs likely can’t afford it. Moving the 27-year-old would give the Leafs an option to either acquire a power forward to play with Tavares and Nylander next season or some goaltending depth to pair with freshly minted #1 Jack Campbell.
- Justin Holl: The 29-year-old defenseman was a huge bright spot for the Leafs this season and has blossomed into a solid second-pair option for the right side. With Jake Muzzin signed for the next three seasons, why not try and keep the duo paired together as long as you can. Holl is signed for the next two seasons at $2 million, which is great value, however, with the Seattle Kraken expansion draft looming, someone is going to be left off the list. It’s likely Holl played his way to protection.
BLH’s Thoughts: From all I’ve read throughout the season, it’s my understanding that Toronto hopes that the Seattle Kraken will take Kerfoot at the expansion draft. If that doesn’t happen, then by all means could he be traded to open up some cap room in order to re-sign Zach Hyman.
As for Reilly and Holl, there’s no way in Hell they should be moving those players. If there’s one spot that the Leafs need to bolster, it’s their defense. With Muzzin and Holl in tow, Toronto has two VERY good shutdown defenders and going forward, they’ll be extremely valuable on the squad as opposed to off of it.
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