Oilers Insider Says to Expect 2-3 More Signings After Janmark

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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The Cult of Hockey

Their Stanley Cup window open, the Edmonton Oilers roster enters a new era: 9 Things

Jack Campbell may eventually become an elite #1 with the Edmonton Oilers. But looking at him with a more critical eye, I think I see a 1A.
Ken Holland has a few more roster spaces to firm up, between now and training camp. I expect the Ryan McLeod contract to be done ASAP, as he has no arbitration rights. The other 3 RFA’s, Kailer Yamamoto, Jesse Puljujarvi and Tyler Benson all need to be dealt with.
I would look for 2-3 other signings.
- RSC Evan Rodrigues had 43 points in Pittsburgh last year and is budget friendly (made $1m in ’21-22).
- Winger Sonny Milano scored 14 in Anaheim last season (at just $1.7m).
- LSC Mattias Janmark made $2m in Vegas (9-16-25 in 67 games). He would be a good fit but would need to take a bit of a haircut to fit under the cap.
The very presence of McDavid and Draisaitl means the Stanley window is wide open for this franchise, both on the ice in terms of performance and off it in terms of roster building.

BLH’s Thoughts: There are very few “starting” goalies in the NHL let alone “elite” ones. Jack Campbell, as good as he is, will never be an “elite” goalie in my eyes. He could be a real good one, but Oilers fans know the difference between a good one and a great one having watched both Grant Fuhr and Curtis Joseph spend a few years saving this team’s ass and carrying it through a playoff round or two. And here’s the kicker, this team doesn’t need a Vasilevskiy or a Shesterkin, they just need a goalie who won’t let them down when they need him most. An Osgood, if you will.

Rodrigues and Milano are fantastic offensive options, there’s no denying that, but how does the rest of their game parse out? Maybe there’s a chance the Oilers revisit these two options down the road depending on what happens with Yamamoto and Puljujarvi though. How does Rodrigues sign for anything less than double, if not triple, what he made last year? 43pts is pretty damned good for a guy that only cost $1M last year.

So, you may have noticed that the Oilers signed Mattias Janmark (a former Ken Holland draft pick from his Detroit days) to a 1yr deal with $1.25M. I must urge you to lower the expectations as much as possible for a 25pt player. You will hear that he can play center and contribute to the penalty kill and that he’s gritty and all of that, but if we look at the numbers, he’s more apt to remind you of Artie Lehkonen than Esa Tikkanen.

Career winning % on the dot: 37.8%

420 games played, 114 hits, 619 shots, SH% of 10.7, 185 blocked shots

He’s not scored more than 11 goals since 2017/18

(Stats courtesy of hockey-reference.com)

And if you wanna go down the publicly available analytics aisle, well, brace yourself. These are his numbers from 2015/16 to 2021/22 in the relative format:

GF%: 6.41, -17.21. -5.48, -8.40, -15.12, -3.47, -8.12
xG%: 2.68, -6.45, 0.52, 2.77, -5.25, -2.62, -3.09
HDCF%: 1.92, -3.79, -0.01, 4.19, 0.19, -7.71, -1.43
HDGF%: 8.73, -23.10, -16.12, -5.68, -18.97, 0.74, -7.94

Lots of minuses where there should be pluses.

(Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick)

Now, even though he’s averaging a hit every four games and just over a shot per game and it doesn’t look like he blocks shots all that much (good luck on the PK in Edmonton because that’s the kinda stuff that gets you sent out East), I feel like his style of play might come in handy in the post-season. That said, I can see why he was considered a “bargain bin” signing by Jason Gregor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUdde3dj65c

The Athletic

Four Oilers defence prospects applying for one job. Who wins?

Philip Broberg: He is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and an exceptional skater. Broberg has good offensive instincts and is improving as a defensive player. If he’s the plug-and-play rookie for Edmonton opening night, expect mistakes of enthusiasm and inexperience, along with skill plays with the puck that none of the other candidates can accomplish.
Vincent Desharnais: In Bakersfield, Desharnais played heavy even-strength minutes (68-35 goal differential in 66 games suggests top-four usage) and on the penalty kill (31 goals against, the highest total on the team). If he makes the grade in the NHL, third-pairing minutes at even strength and heavy PK minutes are his likely role.
Dmitri Samorukov: Samorukov’s scouting report fits Edmonton’s needs on defence well. He is mobile, can move the puck, but the big part of his game involves strong defending and good coverage. He’s also a big hitter and rugged along the wall and in front of the net.
Markus Niemelainen: At 6-foot-5, 203 pounds, Niemelainen is a fierce hitter who took very little time in establishing himself as a crowd favourite in Edmonton. He was exposed in defensive coverage early, but had a different experience when recalled later in the year after the Woodcroft-Manson coaching tandem arrived in Edmonton.
Samorukov is the wild card. If he shows well in training camp, he could force the issue, meaning Broberg starts with the Condors.

BLH’s Thoughts: Samorukov is the only one of this group on a one-way deal if I’m not mistaken and with that means there’s a chance he starts the year in Edmonton if there needs to be some paper transactions. That aside, I still feel like this guy deserves a real chance. Dave Tippett and Jim Playfair really did him dirty last year and Dima has been grinding all these years to get to the NHL. It’s about time the club gave him a proper shot while they still have the flexibility to do so.

Samorukov isn’t a Holland pick and that might work against him and for Philip Broberg. Maybe it will all depend on the makeup of the defense when traingin cmap arrives. If they need more puck movers because they traded Tyson Barrie, perhaps Broberg gets the call and if they need some more muscle and shutdown abilities, Samorukov sticks around.

What happens to Niemelainen and Desharnais? They’re at the mercy of their contracts for another year and so it’ll be up to them and the hockey gods to make it up to Edmonton.

With the Oilers probably looking to sign another veteran dman (Calvin De Haan comes to mind), these four young defenders have their work cut out for them, there’s no doubt in my mind about that.

Trade Rumors

Spector’s Hockey

Seravalli believes the Flyers were attempting to make some room to take a run at signing Johnny Gaudreau… He felt there were five or six teams (including the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings) asking for a significant piece to be included with van Riemsdyk, such as a first-round pick.
Sammi Silber reported the Capitals’ addition of Dylan Strome could create a potential logjam at center, particularly if Nicklas Backstrom returns from hip surgery at some point in the coming season… Silber speculated it could make Lars Eller the odd man out.

NHLRumors.com

Michael Traikos of The Toronto Sun: Will Calgary Flames Matthew Tkachuk want to play for St. Louis in front of family and friends?… In 2024, could Toronto Maple Leafs forward Austin Matthews want to return home to Arizona?
Patrick Lortie: Martin Leclerc reported on the ‘Tellement Hockey Podcast’ that Pierre-Luc Dubois was at the draft in Monday with his family and was convinced the Winnipeg Jets trade would him to the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens offered three players to the Jets.
Peter Baugh: A source is saying that multiple teams are looking to clear salary cap space to be able to sign free agent Nazem Kadri.

BLH’s Thoughts: And it starts… I told ya. Tkachuk and Matthews to Arizona… They’d be much smarter to try and hook-up in a bigger market though, don’t you think? Imagine those two in Los Angeles, New York, or Philly?