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 NHL Rumors (dot) com
Hailey Salvian of The Athletic: A look at few big trade possibilities.
Johnny Gaudreau $6.75 million cap hit through 2022. Moving him just to make changes to your core makes little sense. His current trade value may not bring back a huge return. They don’t want to lose him for nothing in a year though. 60 percent chance he stays.
Matthew Tkachuk RFA after next season – Had a down season but not enough to say they need to move on. Tkachuk is their most valuable trade piece. If you trade him, you must get a big piece back – like a Jack Eichel. 98 percent chance he stays.
Sean Monahan $6.375 million cap hit through 2023. His hip issues could partially explain his down season. Played better under Sutter. He has a 10-team no-trade list. 50 percent chance he stays.
If the Flames are going to change their core players, it must only be done to make them a better team.
BLH’s Thoughts: The player they’ll get the most for is Tkachuk. Gaudreau and Monahan will bring back a nice basket of picks and prospects, but not the kind of return that would set them up for future success. Maybe see if Columbus would deal Laine plus or Seth Jones for Tkachuk. The Rangers would most likely be able to offer the Flames a good set of excellent players for the pesky winger.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion will be looking for a center and a defenseman this offseason. They have some depth down the middle, but they are lacking experience.
They have Josh Norris, Colin White and Shane Pinto. The future of Chris Tierney is uncertain. There has been some organizational frustration with Logan Brown.
The Colorado Avalanche may look at moving Nazem Kadri this offseason, though not everyone thinks they will. He has one year left on his deal that carries a $2 million salary and $2 own in a signing bonus.
Claude Giroux’s name has come up but it seems doubtful the Philadelphia Flyers will move him. He has a full no-movement clause and doesn’t appear to be looking to get out of Philadelphia.
Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel doesn’t make sense for the Senators.
Free agent center options could include Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Phillip Danault, Paul Stastny and Alexander Wennberg.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames will likely also be looking for help down the middle.
BLH’s Thoughts: Tell ya what, Nazem Kadri for $2M real cash in Edmonton sounds good to me…
I am skeptical that Logan Brown is going to bring them much in a trade. They might have to do a “you take my headache, I’ll take yours” kind of trade with him.
But for the Sens, they made a bit of a splash with Dadonov last year and I wouldn’t say they got great ROI on that one.
If I were Dorion, I’d really invest in three good vets. A dman, a forward, and a goalie.
Now, they’ve got Jake Sanderson, Lassi Thomson, Erik Brannstrom, and Jacob Bernard-Docker coming soon but let me tell you, as an Oilers fan, you don’t want to sending your blue chip defenders to the lions every night. Thomson and JBD should be playing in the AHL for another season or two as it is.
Connor Brown is the oldest forward in their top-six at 27yrs old unless they throw Dadonov in there and he’s 32. So why not go out and grab some older players for the middle-six and let the young skillers focus on scoring the goals? Nick Foligno, Mathieu Perreault, Nick Bonino, Brandon Sutter, Corey Perry, these would all be great mentors for the Sens young forwards plus the team is kinda soft minus the obvious players like Tkachuk, Watson, and Brown.
I think if they went any younger, they’d have a tough time convincing those players to go to Ottawa without overpaying for them. If they wanted more skill, Tyler Ennis, Sam Gagner, and Josh Leivo would be options too.
The goalie might be more simple as it’ll be a buyer’s market this offseason. I get that they just paid quite the premium for Matt Murray and he didn’t exactly have an inspiring season, but aside from a few good games from Joey Daccord, their backups weren’t good. So, what’s the problem with going out and signing a James Reimer, Devan Dubnyk, or Mike Smith to help out as the team transitions from bottom dweller to playoff contender?
Lou Korac: Blues GM Armstrong on pending UFA Mike Hoffman returning next season: “I could. I certainly want to sit down & talk to our entire staff. Mike is a goal scorer. I think he was certainly in the top portion of our team in points. When we needed goals, when our season was on the brink, I thought he stepped up & played.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Hoffman is a bit of a mercenary and a one-trick pony but damn, that trick is a good one. There aren’t many in the league with the kind of release he has.
Do you think NHL GMs around the league will let him sit until the season is about to start again or after it has commenced so that his asking price might drop even further this year. It’s not like he’s getting any younger.
I’d like to think Edmonton could be in on him. I know in the past I’ve said that they will inquire, I mean, it only makes sense for them to at least see what he wants, right? But could his window with the Oilers have passed as the team appears to be searching for more “well-rounded” wingers as the move into the next phase of the club’s development?
Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Oilers: Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland may have some salary cap space to work with this offseason to bring in some free agent offensive help for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog is a pipe-dream.
BLH’s Thoughts: Would it ever. Call me a dreamer but if Holland got Landy to sign long-term in Edmonton, I’d call it his “Shanahan Moment”. What a fantastic winger he’d be for Connor McDavid, eh? He brings everything that the Oilers could use in a top-six LWer.
They currently have $28 million in salary cap space. The Oilers will look for top-nine help, ideally a left winger.
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Blake Coleman would be a nice fit.
BLH’s Thoughts: Count on Coleman’s name to be a frequent part of Oilers rumors going forward until he signs with the club or elsewhere. They really wanted him before Tampa traded for him.
The Oilers will have free agent decisions on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Larsson and Tyson Barrie. Bringing back any would eat into the $28 million. Barrie could sign elsewhere as he’s looking for a long-term deal.
Darnell Nurse will be a free agent after next season, so they’ll need to keep that in mind. Holland will likely be looking for a seven- or eight-year deal. Could they get him in the $7 to $7.5 million range when he’s eligible for an extension?
BLH’s Thoughts: I would be shocked if they get Nurse for under $8M per season AAV. He’s part of an exclusive club now and those defensemen are paid extremely well.
Holland said he’d like to re-sign pending UFA goaltender Mike Smith. They could look to trade Mikko Koskinen. Could they add a prospect and pick, retain salary and get one of Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzlikins from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Holland when asked about buying someone out this offseason.
“Not 100 per cent sure, but very possible.”
James Neal is a buyout candidate. He has two years left at $5.75 million per year. He would be a $1.917 million cap hit for the next four years if bought out.
BLH’s Thoughts: It’s starting to emerge that a buyout of Mikko Koskinen over James Neal would be better financially for the club and that in turn might see Edmonton attempt to trade Neal in a retained salary deal. Don’t ask me who’s going to take that offer…
Of course, it could always go the other way where Edmonton buys out Neal instead and, to Matheson’s point, moves Koskinen in a salary retained trade. They’d definitely get more for Koski than Neal at this point. In fact, this is what I expect to happen. Matty’s trade idea makes a lot of sense.
There is one more option for Neal and that’s good ‘ol Ference Island. Although it’d kind of handcuff them money-wise until the season opened up.
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