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 Athletic
Oilers depth chart: Where did they improve and where can they make more moves?
- …they’re also an unfinished product by the GM’s own admission, something that becomes apparent when viewing the depth chart. Holland isn’t done tinkering in his attempt to enhance the roster.
- He and his staff might need to get creative if they want to do so. Ryan McLeod, Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi are restricted free agents and need contracts or must be moved.
- There are concerns about Kane off the ice and because he went on a shooting-percentage heater in four-plus months after signing with the Oilers in January.
- Dylan Holloway isn’t a lock to play in the season opener, but his name is written in pencil. That he’s Edmonton’s top forward prospect makes him an option for a scoring line.
- In a perfect world, another top-nine forward would be added to provide cover for Holloway or Foegele… It’s not absolutely essential. Another fourth-liner making less than $1 million is all but a necessity.
- Barrie could still be dealt for cap reasons.
- The Oilers are counting on Philip Broberg to make the team and be a key contributor. Look for that to happen.
- Vincent Desharnais, Slater Koekkoek, Markus Niemelainen and Dmitri Samorukov should vie for one of the last spots on the blue line.
- Puljujarvi and the Oilers are in a dispute over where he figures into the lineup. Puljujarvi wants a top-six role. The Oilers want him to earn it.
- The Oilers see value in Puljujarvi, and Holland has said he’s not looking to give the winger away. It appears as though it’ll be tricky to avoid trading him for futures or taking on a cheaper, and perhaps less effective, player.
- It’s worth noting that the Oilers have no prominent pending unrestricted free agents for next summer and only Bouchard and Skinner are RFAs. They’ll also gain $2.25 million in space because Sekera’s buyout comes off the books and Lucic’s contract ends.
BLH’s Thoughts: IF Holland’s going to add more bodies that means somebody will be leaving. Be that Puljujarvi, Foegele, Barrie or Yamamoto, somebody will be sacrificed to improve the team’s bottom six…
Tell, how that makes any sense by the way. The onus on the team should be to keep all four IF the intended goal is to create or maintain organizational depth. I get Foegele makes too much to be a 4th liner, but his contract really isn’t crippling the team. Besides, I’d be willing to bet that there will be better bottom six options available at the trade deadline.
All Holland has to do is get Yamo and Pulju to find it in their hearts to sign team-friendly deals for another year or two. And they should want to embrace the challenge of a show-me contract because there are question marks fully attached to both players…
Oilersnation
Random Thoughts: Oilers RFAs, Jack Campbell’s kingdom, and Johnny Gaudreau
- If the general rule is $100K per point in arbitration, that makes him a $3.6 million player, which happens to be what Puljujarvi’s deal might look like if the two sides can’t come to an agreement.
- Personally, I want to see if Jesse can build upon the strong start he had in 2021-22 before looking like a different person at points post-injury and COVID. I want to know what he can give in a full season.
- If you believe in a guy like Ryan McLeod and believe he’ll get better with time, would you try to give him something longer than the usual two-year bridge?
- Yamo is coming off a one-year deal that didn’t come together until mid-September. After the heater he put down in 2019-20, the bubble year wasn’t the best for young Yams (52GP: 8G, 13A) and that’s why I actually respected the move of signing a one-year contract and betting on himself…
- … when he [Gaudreau] said, “It didn’t matter where I was signing, we just decided it was best not to go back to Calgary” my jaw damned near hit the floor. I mean, if you’ve made the unfortunate life choice to become a Flames fan, how do you not see that quote and feel like your heart has been ripped out of your chest?
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think McLeod will get a Klefbom-like deal. The money’s just not there right now. It would be nice to have that kind of security down the middle though.
According to that 100k/pt arbitration thing BM was talking about, Yamamoto’s about to be a more difficult case than Jesse and that’s why I wonder if it wouldn’t make more sense to sacrifice him while his value is high.
Johnny Hockey left Calgary because he simply wanted out of that market and closer to home. He’s just signed maybe his last contract and in a city where he can walk down the street and probably have very few people recognizing him. This is a guy who just loves to play the game, winning and money obviously don’t motivate him more than his and his family’s overall happiness. I can respect that.
