Nugent-Hopkins to the Blue Jackets and Hyman to the Red Wings?

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 Journal

OILERS NOTES: The long dance with Nugent-Hopkins and Ken Holland continues

The Oilers are very weak on the left side with Nugent-Hopkins and a lot of prayers behind him. If they let Nugent-Hopkins (478 points in 656 games), go to market, then they lose him for nothing and have to find a replacement in the $5-million to $6-million range to take his spot and another player.

If the work-horse Nugent-Hopkins, who has played over 4,000 minutes the past three Oilers seasons, just outside the top 12 for NHL forwards, wants to stay an Oiler, it’s up to him.

The dance is term vs dollars, as always. He is probably looking at Gallagher’s six years at $6.5 million, signed before a flat-cap. The Oilers are not.

Maybe he can get term and dollars somewhere else as a free-agent, but as someone in NHL management said; “Yes he could, but that would be a team with cap room and not as good as the Oilers. Does he want to play on a bad team?”

BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve said in the past, if RNH moves on and the Oilers are “forced” to go with a couple of $4M wingers as replacement, I’d be okay with that. Scoring depth is one of the things that Ken Holland is trying to address this summer and players like Tomas Tatar, Mike Hoffman, Alexander Wennberg, and Brandon Saad have a history of contributing to just that.

So as nice as it would be to keep Nuge, the question that has to be asked is, which avenue or addressing the roster is going to get Edmonton closer to the Stanley Cup?

From Oilersnation

What Will RNH Contract Look Like?

What is a realistic contract for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins? When we look at recent signings, we can come up with a plausible salary range, but the term and AAV are not obvious.

(Brendan) Gallagher just turned 29 and his new deal begins this season. I’m sure Nugent-Hopkins’ camp will look at the $6.5m AAV

Jordan Eberle signed for $5.5m two years ago while Anders Lee got $7m for seven years. Brayden Schenn and Chris Kreider’s new deals began in the 56-game shortened season and both got long-term deals. Both were 29 when their contracts began this season.

(Tyler) Toffoli was clearly the best bang-for-your-buck salary among these players, but his 1.73 P/60 at 5×5 is very similar to RNH’s 1.75. Only Blake Coleman (1.69 P/60) had a lower P/60 among these 14 forwards the past three seasons.

I believe RNH will get at least $5.5m and some team might be willing to pay him $6.5m and I sense the term will be five to seven years depending on the cap hit.

BLH’s Thoughts: If Ken Holland can get RNH to re-sign with the Oilers for $5.5M AAV, I could accept that, even if it means the term is for seven or eight years. By the time his contract becomes somewhat obtuse, the cap will be higher making it more affordable for Edmonton to keep him or for another team to acquire him.

All that being said, on TSN1260 yesterday, Jason Strudwick said he thinks the Columbus Blue Jackets are a really good fit for RNH because they don’t have anything close to him on their team and Patrik Laine needs someone to give him the puck.

From NHL Trade Talk

Maple Leafs Have a Plan for Trying to Replace Zach Hyman

If the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to find a suitable replacement for forward Zach Hyman — should he leave via free agency this summer — it doesn’t sound like the team is going to fill his shoes with one player. Instead, GM Kyle Dubas might have a strategy in place to shuffle around the roster a bit and replace Hyman by committee.

(Chris) Johnston notes, “I don’t think it’s a matter of trying to sign one player that does all the things Zach Hyman did.” In other words, if you can’t replace Hyman with a player that gives you exactly what Hyman did for the same amount of money, find two players who add up to giving you the same set of tools. In other words, the sum totals of the parts is greater than the individual.

Some of the names in that age group — and this is not to suggest the Leafs will reach out to these players specifically — include Andreas Athanasiou, Mark Jankowski, Alexander Wennberg, Dominik Kahun, and Anthony Duclair. All of these players were making $2.25 million per season or less. You could actually likely sign two of them and spend half the money it would have cost to retain Hyman, even if he took a team-friendly discount.

BLH’s Thoughts: Jesus… How did Mark Jankowski get on that list? Talk about one thing not being like the others…

It’s interesting how things are shaping to play out between the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both clubs look like they’re going to be targeting similar areas of concern and therefor the same group of free agents and trade targets. It really feels like whoever gets the big-name ticket will force the other one to go with the “scoring by committee” plan.

For what it’s worth, Detroit looks like a very tasty destination for Hyman. They won’t be poor for much longer with the talent they’ve got coming and they’ll be able to pay him. Add to that the fact that he’s got ties to the area and there’s a lot to suggest he could be a Red Wing for the rest of his career.

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