Miss the Captain’s Skates and Face the Consequences! Yamamoto on Thin Ice in Edmonton?

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Edmonton Sun

OILERS NOTES: Yamamoto has no leverage in negotiations

While Philadelphia and Ottawa went all-in and gave young forwards Joel Farabee and Drake Batherson six-year deals for in the $30 million range with comparable NHL stats to Yamamoto because they obviously felt both were solid top six players, the Oilers clearly want to see more before committing long-term.
The comparables range from Anaheim winger Max Comtois’s two-year deal for $2.03 million AAV to Columbus’ forward Alexander Texier, who signed a two-year contract for $1.5 million to Brandon Hagel’s three years at $1.5 mil AAV in Chicago.
Maybe Yamamoto only signs a one-year deal, not a two-year.
It took all summer, but restricted free-agent forward Cooper Marody signed his one-year contract for the NHL minimum $750,000 if he makes the Oilers… He’ll get $150,000 for 2021-22 in the minors.
Holland wants his 13th or 14th forwards making in the $800,000 to $850,000 range but he has 14 signed already, along with top farmhand Tyler Benson.

BLH’s Thoughts: I hope Yamo’s agent isn’t using Batherson and Farabee as comps for his client. Both of those young men made huge leaps statistically over the last two years and Killer regressed HARD last year all the while playing 80% of his TOI with the Hart Foundation (McDavid/Draisaitl).

$2M sounds a little high considering what the pundits around town are saying, but eventually, I think this player’s ceiling financially will be around $4M-$5M. What the club has to ask themselves is, do they want their own Tyler Johnson scenario on their hands? Surely, Yamamoto would love to get the same deal as the fella he grew up training with in the off-season.

The Cult of Hockey

Forecasting how opening night may look for the Edmonton Oilers and their fans: 9 Things

The Oilers may well have offered pending UFA Adam Larsson a 5^th year on their contract offer to him, yet Larsson still opted for the change in scenery in Seattle.

BLH’s Thoughts: Why do I get the feeling that Leavins is surprised that the Oilers couldn’t just throw more money at Larsson in an attempt to get him to forget about the traumatizing experience he had with his father a couple of years back?

5. One player on the roster who I think will start in the Bottom-6 but could easily end up in the Top-6 it’s winger Warren Foegele. If he catches fire early then Dave Tippett could then have the option of running Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at Center, at least for stretches.

BLH’s Thoughts: If Foegele is running hot early on, wouldn’t it make sense to see if the top-six is also playing well before changing things up? Plus you’d think if Foegele is playing well that his linemates are also in good form, why change that up? Keep players in the positions that are bringing them success, right? Why try to fix something that isn’t broken?

Given his history with both players, it’s logical to assume that Oilers scout Brad Holland played a significant role in bringing both Foegele and Zack Hyman to Edmonton. If so, that factor surely wouldn’t hurt Foegele’s cause.

BLH’s Thoughts: Does Brad Holland have a history with these players? I see on his staff profile over at Elite Prospects that he was a “team manager” for two years in Toronto (I also read he was the Maple Leafs’ travel secretary…), so the Hyman connection(?) I can get, but where’s the Foegele one that would make it logical to assume that Holland played a big role in bringing him to Edmonton and this help his case to make the Oilers’ top-six?

I think Marody will be hard-pressed to crack the NHL roster out of camp this year. Marody is no longer waiver exempt. So, can I see him being claimed by a lower echelon team that lacks depth scoring at forward? Yes. But I’d say its less than a 50/50 chance.

BLH’s Thoughts: I reckon Marody’s back in Bakersfield to play the year out unless one of the more analytically leaning GMs wants to take a crack at Marody.

If “Coop” does end up back with the Condors and Dylan Holloway is his center, the former AJHL MVP is going to rack up some points.

2. With Marody now officially back in the fold, Kailer Yamamoto is now the lone player left unsigned. With every day that goes by Yamamoto falls a little bit further behind the rest of pack. The other 3 right wingers he will be competing with for spots are already back in Edmonton and skating together. You don’t think that is significant? Well, remember the difficult start Ethan Bear had to last year after missing out on the Captain’s Skates. Bear never really did catch up. Partly because of that (and later, a concussion) he never did turn in a consistent level of play. That same situation wouldn’t help the club or Yamamoto’s next negotiation. Time to get it done.

BLH’s Thoughts: The Captain’s Skates… I wonder if years down the road we start hearing about the importance of these pre-training camp get togethers and how much they meant to the Oilers captain.

Leavins is absolutely right though, Yamamoto’s competition is in town and prepared to do what it takes to win their spot in the lineup, where’s Killer? Do you think that his absence is going to leave a positive impression on Oilers management and its leadership core?

I’ll say it now, I think that Yamo’s time in Edmonton could be on thin ice. I’m not saying he’ll get moved this year or next, but I’ll go on record and say he doesn’t finish his third contract with the Oilers.

Spector’s Hockey

SPORTSNET: Luke Fox recently examined where things stand with the NHL’s notable restricted free agents.

Term could be a sticking point between the Vancouver Canucks and defenseman Quinn Hughes.
Talks between the Minnesota Wild and winger Kirill Kaprizov continue. The Wild hoped to sign Kaprizov to a seven or eight-year deal but the winger’s camp wanted a three-year contract to bring him up to his eligibility age for unrestricted free agent status.
The Buffalo Sabres and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin began contract talks on July 21. A three-year bridge deal is possible but Fox wonders if they’ll work toward a long-term agreement.
Nolan Patrick could get a bridge deal with the Vegas Golden Knights…
St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas seeks more than the $2.8 million AAV signed by teammate Jordan Kyrou. He could miss the start of training camp if he’s not offered a suitable deal.