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 Athletic
Can Jake DeBrusk’s relationship with Bruce Cassidy be fixed? What it could mean for the Bruins
Both parties want a mending of the fences. The Bruins need DeBrusk to be a consistent goal scorer, forechecking presence, reliable defender and occasional penalty killer. DeBrusk is entering the second season of a two-year, $7.35 million bridge deal. Better performance is required if he wants the big payday he once expected.
The wrinkle is whether DeBrusk fits in the Bruins’ plans. The first checkpoint is the July 21 expansion draft. One NHL source questioned whether the Bruins would use one of their seven forward slots to protect DeBrusk.
Even if the Bruins protect DeBrusk, he is not guaranteed a roster spot. Much of that depends on how the Bruins proceed with Hall. The ex-Oiler was one of DeBrusk’s favorite players when he was growing up in Edmonton.
BLH’s Thoughts: Man, what an opportunity to buy low on a local lad. Bruce Cassidy says he wants to get to the root of things with DeBrusk but then nothing changes afterwards. It sounds like lip service to me and the two parties deserve a separation.
I’ve said it a million times already, I’d love to see DeBrusk on the Oilers, but even if Jake wasn’t moved to Edmonton, all he needs is a coach to believe in him, similar to what happened with Jesse Puljujarvi and the Oilers.
LeBrun: The Jack Eichel Sweepstakes Have Begun
Nobody said the Stanley Cup playoffs had to be over before Jack Eichel potentially gets moved.
And while I’m not saying the star center will get traded before the end of the playoffs, what I’m hearing is that conversations between the Buffalo Sabres and other interested teams are getting more intense and serious.
Teams I believe make sense: Los Angeles, Minnesota, Anaheim, Columbus, Philadelphia and the Rangers, among others.
The Kings want to make a splashy move for a top-6 forward, the Wild could use another top center, and the Jackets (who have three first-round picks this year) of course really, really need a No. 1 center.
BLH’s Thoughts: Does anybody else want some team out of left field to come in and win the Jack Eichel sweepstakes? Real random, like Philadelphia, San Jose, or Vegas. Just to make it somewhat interesting at least. It just gets tiring hearing the same teams over and over.
At the end of the day, if he lands outside of the Pacific division, I’d probably be a bit happier. The last thing I want to hear about from the grumps within the Oilers fanbase is that the other teams are making big moves, why can’t Edmonton?
From Spector’s Hockey
OTTAWA SUN: Don Brennan believes the Ottawa Senators should also be among the Eichel suitors. He points out they desperately need a big, talented center.
The price for Eichel, who’s coming off a down season and a neck injury, will never be better. With one of the lowest payrolls in the league, the Senators can afford his $10 million annual salary-cap hit for the remaining five seasons of his contract.
BLH’s Thoughts: Now THIS is what I’m talking about. Although, it does remind me a bit of the Alexei Yashin deal from all those years ago. Hopefully, the Sens would let the next Jason Spezza and Zdeno Chara go in this one.
That said, I’m all for watching Eichel, Tkachuk, and Stutzle run wild on the Maple Leafs for the foreseeable future.
From NHL Trade Talk
The Tampa Bay Lighting are going to be losing some faces this offseason. While the team makes a run in the Stanley Cup playoffs, summer moves aren’t far away and there will be turnover as the team can’t afford to keep everyone with so much money already committed to the 2021-22 season. Among the players the team is expected to lose is forward Blake Coleman.
He’s not likely to stay in Tampa and there will be questions about where he winds up. The early favorite is Dallas as reports are out there he’d like to return home. Coleman has never played for the Stars but he is from Plano, Texas and Andy Strickland is reporting, “Many believe Coleman wants to go home to Dallas.” Other reports are that he’s building a home in that area.
BLH’s Thoughts: Well strike one of the better UFAs off the list for Ken Holland.
To be honest, Coleman signing with the Edmonton Oilers seemed like a pipe dream because he fills a hole in Edmonton’s lineup perfectly and perfect additions to the team rarely happen or so it feels like.
Now, the Stars are going to have an interesting offseason. They’ve got to get Miro Heiskanen sorted, there’s some speculation that Seth Jones would like to play in Dallas, and John Klingberg’s rumored to be heading out of town.
Add to that the fact that Jim Nill’s got $16M in cap room with only 14 players signed for his NHL club next season… If Coleman is going home, he might be doing it on a bargain deal.
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