“The latest rumors from Pierre LeBrun have the Edmonton Oilers in on him…”

Happy 2022 NHL Draft Day!!! 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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Puljujarvi Trade Winds Are Blowing

Jesse Puljujarvi’s name is still out there and I’ve heard more rumblings. He will not be traded only for draft picks. Multiple sources have told me that and Ken Holland said it on record.
Holland is looking for a player of similar ability. Not the same type of player, but one who still has room to grow. Three teams I’ve heard expressing interest are Carolina, Detroit, and Nashville. I’ve heard there are more, but haven’t been able to confirm so I won’t guess.
Detroit is an organization Holland knows well. Would Michael Rasmussen make sense for Edmonton? He was the ninth pick in 2017 and has taken some time to find his game. He did score 15 goals and 27 points last season.
- The Oilers need some skilled size. Rasmussen’s basic analytics aren’t great but part of that is due to his zone starts and whom he played against.
Yakov Trenin scored 17 goals and 24 points on Nashville’s third line. Maybe he can become a low-end second line player, but he’s a solid third line player who also averaged 1:40/game on the PK… he has more of a physical element to his game.
…the only other player I see would be Luke Kunin.
- To date he has similar career numbers as Puljujarvi. Kunin has 46-47-93 in 251 games, while Puljujarvi has 46-52-98 in 259 games.
- Kunin didn’t have a good year possession-wise, so that is a bit of a concern.
There is risk in trading him, as he just turned 24 and has shown signs he could be a solid top-six complementary winger. There are some concerns about his puck skills and his balance/edge work, but most players have pros and cons to their games.
Holland needs to get a solid player in return. Pulujarvi has had more of a positive than negative impact in games. Holland is aware of this, which is why he won’t give him away.

BLH’s Thoughts: Is Rasmussen the next coming of Nick Bjugstad? Could he be another Brian Boyle? And would the plan be for him to suit up on LW? Which line? What kind of ceiling would that put on Dylan Holloway or would Ken Holland actually trade Puljujarvi for a 4th liner? Would he trade him for a 4th liner and a one of DET’s 2nd round picks? Also, why isn’t Filip Zadina an option here? He plays both wings, was a noted goal scorer in junior and in the AHL, he’s an RFA, and 22 years old.

I dunno. I don’t like the Red Wings option for Jesse here. Holland has already been taken to the toolshed by Yzerman on one deal. There’s really no need to revisit that experience.

That said, I know the word out there is that Holland wants a player coming back in any Pulju trade, but Detroit has a couple of really nice Swedish prospects percolating in their system. One being Jonatan Berggren and the other is Elmer Soderblom. Berggren had 64pts in his first season in the AHL and they say Soderblom is 6’8″ but aside from his size, he’s highly skilled for a big man. I’ve heard him referred to as Tomas Holmstrom with more skill.

Soderblom is highly HIGHLY regarded in the Red Wings organization. So I’m betting Yzerman is taking calls on Rasmussen because Elmer’s coming to replace him.

It’s obvious that the Oilers are looking for the right player not the best player in this Puljujarvi trade, right? And the reason I say that is because I think they know they’re not going to get the better player unless they package Jesse up with other futures.

Now, yesterday morning, Bob Stauffer brought up the fact that the Blues are going to move their Russian players and Tarasenko isn’t the only one who might get traded.

How many other teams feel the same about their Russian players? Could there be an opportunity there for the Oilers to shop cheap on good NHLers?

I think there could be two options out of St. Louis,

With Holland saying that nothing is close with Evander Kane and the Oilers, could they pivot to another elite scoring winger in Vlad Tarasenko? He’s got one year left at a shade over $7M before he turns UFA and he’s a year younger than Kane. He does have a NTC, but would he waive it to play with Connor McDavid or fellow Octagon client Leon Draisaitl?

Or what about C/LW Ivan Barbashev? He had the quietest 60pt season I’ve ever seen and he’s a year away from UFA status. If Ken Holland wants an elite middle-six forward, could that be Barbashev?

I don’t see the Blues as a team on the downtrend. So you’d have to think that they’ll be looking for players who can statistically replace the ones they’re moving out, no? However, they’re apparently looking to move Krug’s contract too. Maybe ownership there is feeling the squeeze a bit and want to cut costs a bit and if that’s the case, it could be game on for other GMs who are buyers this summer like the Oilers.

If STL is looking to move their Russians, would it be far-fetched to think that other teams might want to do the same and with that, do we know any GMs that might have strong ties to Russia and agents representing players from that region? #opportunityknocking #LetsGoOilers

— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) July 7, 2022

The Athletic

Oilers GM Ken Holland has more than the NHL Draft on his mind

“We’re not going to trade up. I don’t think anybody will want to move up to (No.) 29. But if somebody’s calling and the phone rings, we’ll explore it at the time. Right now, I’m expecting that we’re going to end up making the pick at 29.”
On if goaltending is the No. 1 priority in free agency: “In the next seven to 10 days, I’d like to have something done in net.”
On if a Puljujärvi trade is draft-dependent or if the GM could stretch into free agency: “It could stretch all summer if we wanted it to.”
On if he’s considering using a buyout on Zack Kassian: “I’m considering, but I’m hoping I’m not going to have to do that.”
On how he’d characterize conversations with Kane and his camp: “We’re tight on the cap. Sometimes you’re going to have to get to a certain place, maybe the 13th of July, and figure out what’s going on.”
- “I’m not here telling you we’re close to any kind of a deal. You can wake up tomorrow and things change. Is there a possibility he’s on the market July 13? Absolutely.”
“Samorukov is back in Edmonton. I’m not sure where Petrov is.”
On if Samorukov has plans to go back to Russia this summer: “I don’t think he’s going back. He understands this is a very, very big season in his career.”
- “My understanding is he’s staying in Edmonton all summer, so he’s ready to rock and roll when training camp starts in September.”

BLH’s Thoughts: As far as I’ve read/heard, two teams will be looking to get into the first round, Boston and Montreal. Although, the difference between taking a guy at 29th and 40th probably won’t be a lot this year, you never know how large a team’s appetite is to get into a certain spot in the draft.

The Bruins have the 54th and 91st picks and if they used both to jump up that would be the difference between getting a player like Jagger Firkus vs drafting a couple of players like Mattias Havelid and Jace Weir.

Montreal has the 33rd, 62nd, 66th, 75th, and 92nd. I think it would have to be a very specific player for the Habs to jump up three spots, but like I said, it’s not out of the realm of possibility and the Oilers probably wouldn’t mind picking up another selection just to move down four spots.

For what it’s worth, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman had Brad Lambert falling to 29th in his seven round mock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfso-i75vfM

Trade Rumors

The Daily Goal Horn

Two teams recently connected to [JT] Miller are the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals… The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta is reporting late that Vancouver has a six-year offer on the table.
- There’s also been noise regarding the Rangers being the team closest to acquire him if that’s the case. The package is unclear, but at the trade deadline it was reported to be at least three pieces.
The Rangers have also been attached to Jets centers Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois in recent days. Calgary’s Sean Monahan and possibly Detroit’s Dylan Larkin are reportedly in their radar.
Ron Hextall addressed the media on Wednesday and made it seem that a deal with defenseman Kris Letang was very close.
As for Evgeni Malkin, there’s still some doubt that it will get done. It’s been reported a two-year offer at $6M AAV is on the table, but he’d be willing to accept that money if the term was for 4 years.
Dallas Stars defenseman is going to become a UFA on July 13 as there’s been no progress made on a new deal to stay in Texas.
The latest rumors from Pierre LeBrun have the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes in on him [Claude Giroux]. It’s also possible that the Ottawa Senators give him the biggest contract to sign with them.
According to a report from Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch, the Blue Jackets are ready to trade the #12 pick of the draft for a young player. That player appears to be Jakob Chychrun…
Since the news broke, over a dozen teams are rumored to have expressed interest in signing the pending UFA [Colin White].
Multiple reports suggest that the Montreal Canadiens are still undecided on who they may select. Apparently, they are not sure if they should select Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky or Logan Cooley.
[NJ Devils] General Manager Tom Fitzgerald is considering making a big move by trading his first round pick.
Currently the Blackhawks have no first round pick after the Seth Jones trade last season. They could make the biggest noise if Alex DeBrincat is indeed going to be traded.
GM Pierre Dorion is ready for his young team filled with stars like Brady Tkachuck, Thomas Chabot, and Tim Stutzle to compete. He currently holds the 7th overall pick in the draft and is looking to trade it for a player that can help now.

BLH’s Thoughts: I expect the Oilers to make some moves at the draft too. Either to pick up some more selections or to augment the current roster as it stands. Bob Stauffer mentioned that he thinks there could be up to SEVEN roster changes from the team that was iced in Edmonton’s last game of the playoffs…