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 The Cult of Hockey
The Edmonton Oilers will go longer in order to pay less for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
- Gaetan Haas has signed a multi-year contract back home in Switzerland. Haas is a smart player who skates well and has a sound defensive conscience. But he lost too many board battles, too many faceoffs, and didn’t have enough finish.
- The Jack Adams nominees for Coach of the Year are out. No Dave Tippett.
- Leon Draisaitl was 2nd in league scoring by a 15-point margin and was 2nd in the NHL in +/- by 1 point (+29), yet he isn’t nominated for either the Hart or the Selke. Those are some high standards.
- I suspect that Ken Holland’s goaltending decisions this Summer will be somewhat dependent on Stuart Skinner… Skinner is probably a year or less away from challenging for a slot in the Oilers nets.
- I was a little surprised with the push-back over the contract extension for Devin Shore. My sense was that the disagreement primarily came from those in the analytics camp.
- What I see in Shore is a smart 26-year old veteran with above-average wheels who has both the size, grit and frame of mind to be effective in the playoffs. Shore’s also able to play all 3 forward positions and the PK. Some make him out to be an offensive plug.
- If the Leafs can’t get Zack Hyman done, I expect the Oilers will be in pitching for him.
- One to watch could be Alex Killorn. He’s a legit Top-6 guy at $4.45. That would be right in Edmonton’s price range.
- If Boston can sign Taylor Hall, then hometown RFA Jake DeBrusk becomes expendable. The Bruins won’t get what is DeBrusk is worth, they’ve been too busy devaluing their own asset.
- Oh, and if Hall doesn’t sign in Boston then do not dismiss Edmonton’s interest in Taylor, either. Just sayin’.
- Contract negotiations have resumed between G.M. Ken Holland and Rick Valette, the player agent for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Logic would dictate Holland being open to some additional term in exchange for an AAV that the G.M.’s budget can more easily manage.
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BLH’s Thoughts: I was also a bit surprised that Leon Draisaitl and Dave Tippett didn’t get any love from those who were in charge of deciding who gets nominated for the coach of the year and the best defensive forward of the year. But it is what it is. Edmonton Oilers have been getting snubbed for decades for awards they should’ve either won or in the running to win.
Anything that happened in Bakersfield I’m taking with a grain of salt. The Condor’s season was shortened and they played the same teams. I’m glad the players had success down there but for me, there’s an asterisk on those stats because I don’t believe they’d have been able to replicate that pace in a regular year. So, in my opinion, Stuart Skinner is going to have to show for at least another full year as Bakersfield’s starter that he is a dominant goaltender at that level and next season will be a challenge with the amount of young players coming in, especially on defense.
As for Shore, folks are still going back and forth over the signing of a 13th forward? F*ck me… There’s got to be better things to do with one’s time than to sit on social media and hammer on about why Ken Holland should be fired for re-signing Devin f*cking Shore…
Where have I heard that we should expect the Oilers to be in on Zach Hyman, Alex Killorn, Jake DeBrusk, and Taylor Hall in the last two weeks or so?
Expect the unexpected, right?
And Nuge staying for extended term? Say a deal that lands his yearly salary under $6M but more than $5M for around 7-8yrs? I am not one that reckons Nuge’s form is going to fall off of a cliff as he hits his early 30s. To me, he’s going to be a 40pt/yr player at least until this next deal is up and if I were Holland, I wouldn’t be planning seven or eight years down the road anyhow. Besides, by the time a contract of that size expires, the salary cap will be blowing up again and the Oilers could probably afford to trade RNH and retain a bit of salary if needed.
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