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!
From the Edmonton Sun
Should Edmonton be looking at Nolan Patrick? by Jim Matheson
Every centre they have is a lefty—Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins if resigned, Jujhar Khaira, Ryan McLeod, Devin Shore. For face-offs alone, they need a right-shot in their bottom six
- “If you are Ken Holland, you’re all-in on Montreal’s left-shot, shutdown centre supreme Phil Danault, and you don’t care about the right-shot hole because Danault, if the price is right, is high-character and outstanding at his job?”
- “Or, you’re going another route. Maybe he’s made a call to Philadelphia to see about a trade for Nolan Patrick, the second overall pick in 2017 ahead of Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar and Elias Pettersson. Is he worth the gamble or do they need a sure thing like Bozak, if the free-agent price makes sense?”
- “He’s got big-time skill but he’s been a bit player in Philly. Partly because of migraine problems which KO’d him for an entire season, also because he was rushed to the NHL as an 18-year-old.”
- “There are red flags here, though. While he showed obvious talent in junior in Brandon, some scouts question his passion for hockey, whether he has the drive to be hard to play against.”
- “Like many first-rounders, Patrick needs a change of scenery. It’s a matter of what you would have to give up to get him.”
- “The Oilers aren’t trading their 2021 first-round pick for him. While Philly needs right-shot D, Ethan Bear is a non-starter. The Oilers need Bear, who factors as a top 4 defenceman next season. Zack Kassian? Maybe. He’s Philly’s type of player.”
Matheson also hinted at a player the Oilers could be looking at taking in the 2021 NHL entry draft next month. A player I personally like, Oskar Olausson.
- “Another first-round draft possibility for the Oilers; Swedish winger Oskar Olausson, who played in the SHL (HV 71) and lower Allvenskan (Sodertalje) this past season at 18. He’ll be on the Swedish world junior team this upcoming Christmas. “Excellent puck skills, very agile, he’s got flair to his game,” said Button. He could stay in Sweden for another couple of seasons”
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t mind betting on Nolan Patrick at all. He’s a big bodied right-shot center that wins faceoffs. Isn’t that just the kind of player Edmonton is looking for?
I’m curious if the Oilers are going to go all-in on a couple of players like a LW and a LD and then bargain hunt for the other positions or fill them internally.
They could use maybe $10M-$15M on a few players like Tatar, Hyman, and Oleksiak and then fill the rest of the openings with internal options or bargain hunt for the Nolan Patricks of the world. Although, specifically to Patrick, surely they’d be better off packaging him with other assets to upgrade their roster elsewhere instead for someone like Kassian.
If Philly did take Kassian for Patrick or something close to that, it would open up a spot for Joel Armia to come in and it sounds like the club fancies the big Finnish winger a bit.
Regarding the possible internal options, Dylan Holloway, Tyler Benson, Markus Niemelainen, and Dmitri Samorukov are all getting consideration for a spot on the roster next season if you listen closely to what’s being said on Oilers talk radio.
I don’t say Philip Broberg because the feeling I get with him is that he’s going to spend some time in Bakersfield. How much? Tough to say I think. He could do a Leon Draisaitl stint for a week or he could be down for the year or more like Evan Bouchard. My bet is that he’ll be there for the year or until a spot opens up.
Expect the unexpected though. I’m sure Holland will want to stick with his plan but he may very well have an ace up his sleeve.
Now, touching on Oskar Olausson. I like the size of this player, I love his speed/agility and his shot is high-end. Not too sure about the work along the boards and in the muck though. The video above has a lot of goals from him on the PP and that’s fine but how much of the game is played like that? Not a lot, right?
What I do think though is that this upcoming season Olausson’s going to be a feature player for Sweden’s u20 team and he’ll get more TOI on his club team or he’ll be loaned out to get more TOI and then we’ll start to see that potential of his really come out. He’ll be even bigger and stronger to boot. Either way, if Edmonton does take him, he’ll need to stay in Sweden until he’s 20 or 21 and then come over right when he’s matured.
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