SwedishPoster:
Chiasson must absolutely love his hockey life atm, first he wins a Stanley in a minor role, ends up in Edmonton as a pto, gets signed and suddenly finds himself with two of the best offensive players in the league. Talk about a nice couple of months to think back on after retirement.

I thought he would have slowed down by now but he makes do with that shot and ability to find good ice. His lack of hands and vision kills quite a few plays but as long he keeps producing, while working hard and retrieving pucks he’s more than fine as a place holder on that top line.

You aren’t wrong about his lack of hands and vision but we should note he showed some pretty good vision on the pass to McDavid for the winning goal against the flames.

who: Now does Matt Bennings GF% make him a top 4 dman in your eyes?
Or were you just looking to start a discussion?

Neither really – was really just pointing out a positive stat on a player that is fairly often maligned.

Less on this platform than various others but there is a wide section of Oiler fans that believe he’s “terrible” or non an NHL player, etc. He has proven to be a very good 3rd pairing d-man throughout his young career.

No, I can’t say he’s a legit 2nd pairing guy, he’s struggled there in the past. At the same time, I do feel like that position isn’t out of his skillset and he can become a 2nd pairing guy (yes, I realize his age).

Bos8:
Actually I like this team just fine.With Pulju improving, the top three lines are set.Rieder with Brodziak and Kassian is a revelation.

With Bouchard and McLeod coming next year, the pipeline is primed.I can’t see either one spending more than half a season in the AHL.

Neither are a lock to make the team next year – although we know they will probably have Bouchard penciled in.

McLeod could need a year plus of development time in the AHL and that should be expected for a second round pick. Expecting a second round pick to start in the NHL in his draft plus 2 year is a bit unrealistic in my mind.

Benson and Marody will be battling with McLeod for prospect graduation roster spots – both having played a year of pro.

Bouchard will have a swath of d-men that all are on the cusp of NHL readiness – Jones, Bear, Persson, Lagesson, Berglund.

Starting next year we should have MANY NHL-ready or close to NHL-ready prospects in the AHL – there should be fantastic depth of talent for injury cover.

Alpine:
One thing I’ll caution with Koskinen is his how many games he’s played per season. The high water mark for him is 49 GP in the SM-Liiga a few years ago. He’s played 40ish games two more times, and played under 30 games in a few more separate seasons.

So he might not be a 60 or 50 game guy because he’s never been one at the pro level. However he might not be burnt out from playing too much in his 20s, so maybe he can adjust to a higher workload over time.

I have been concerned about the same thing although, to be fair, his international games should be included in his overall games played.

This is a main reason why I am generally against a growing segment of the fan base that wants to trade Talbot. Shit, Koskinen has already showed signs of fatigue, during the Avs game (and no I won’t just chalk it up to the thin air).

I believe that what Hitch has said about the two goalies is correct and very important for this team’s success.

Of course, Koskinen is the man right now but I’m thinking a 65/35 or 70/30 type split. We do have the benefit of having an elite back-up in Talbot that can win or steal a game on any given night. If Talbot is traded we are looking at starting Koskinen for 85% of the games – I can’t imagine that would be a good thing.

We may even need both in the playoffs, if we are there, its such a grind.

We aren’t going to get a plus player straight up for the UFA goalie – to me, the plus of a Talbot trade would be cap space to acquire a rental – we will have limited space at the deadline this year.

Its likely much too risky.

frjohnk: I thought it was 14 days.

I stand corrected, thank you.

13.8 Conditioning Loan. Unless a Player consents, he shall not be Loaned on a Conditioning
Loan to a minor league club. Such Conditioning Loan shall not extend for more than fourteen
(14) consecutive days. The Commissioner may take whatever steps he deems necessary to
investigate the circumstances under which a Player is Loaned on a Conditioning Loan. If the
Commissioner has reason to believe or determines that the Club has used the Conditioning Loan
to evade Waivers, or otherwise Circumvent any provision of this Agreement, he may take such
disciplinary action against the Club, as he deems appropriate. The Player shall continue, during
the period of such Conditioning Loan, to receive the same Paragraph 1 NHL Salary, and be
entitled to the same benefits, that he would have received had he continued to play with the Club.

————————————-

Lets not forget, when on a conditioning stint the player still counts to towards the active NHL roster so its also effectively reducing our roster size to 22 while he’s on loan.

frjohnk:
Some good news.

Bouchard made WJ team.

The only real question for Bouchad is if he’ll be wearing a C or an A…

kgo: With this much D depth, we will almost certainly be offloading Russel or Sekera this coming summer…Those 2 contracts will look a lot sweeter after July 1st 2019, both become trade-able, Russel’s back dives hard…..Thank Christ Seattle couldn’t get their arena renovations together in time for 20-21….

We’ll see with Sekera – lets not forget how darn good he is when healthy – sure, we don’t know the level of health and performance we’ll see but we very well could be getting a very good 2nd pairing d-man.

While all those prospects I listed are on the cusp of NHL readiness (at least I think they are), I would say that only Bouchard is one that could be projected with some level of certainty higher than the third pair at evens and, of course, that won’t be for a few years.

While, lets just, Jones and Bouchard may prove truly ready for the NHL next year, I doubt either would be truly ready to play in the top 4 and we still have a hole there.

Andrej Sekera is a top 4 dman.

McNuge93: OP, we are hoping he will be recovered and be a top 4 again. Last year when he came back head to very good.

And why wouldn’t you sign Chiasson at $2m.I know he may regress/revert but if he’s still playing well by late Jan I think we should sign him. Then in the summer try and trade Kass.

Yes, he came back and wasn’t very good but that was 100% expected and I remain somewhat boggled that many were surprised by it. It is widely accepted that, while NHL players can often get back in to games 6-8 months after the major ligament and meniscus surgery, they won’t get back to close to full healthy and ability for a good 12-18 months. For one, the brace is highly mobility limiting but, also, given the nature of the game, its a trust thing with the knee (mental) and strengthening it in hockey situations – skating and hockey is all about quick movements.

Prior to hurting the achilllies, Sekera was essentially past that 18 months, had a full summer to train on a healthy knee and was ready to go.

While an achillies tear (not rupture) is a major injury, generally NHL players are able to come back from it and regain form quickly. Its simply a different type of injury than the knee.

While, of course, I have concern about the back to back nature of the two injuries, I do not anticipate we’ll see his game at the low level it was last year.

I could be wrong but the knee shouldn’t be a big issue at this point.

Oh, and with re-signing Chiasson, he has gone on goal scoring heaters before – sure, they haven’t lasted this long but I think we need to “calm our tits” on re-signing the player to anything starting with a “2” or any term longer than 1 year.

He’s been a god-send but this isn’t a 23 year old prospect finding his game – this is a late 20s player that is shooting 30% – he’s been extremely valuable but in no way do I give him term.

I COULD justify $2M for 1 year if he continues to produce at reduced but solid levels for another good stretch.

Maksimov with an assist on an empty net goal.

Sounds like its only one finger that is broken for Klef – the left pink – broken bones though, plural.

Dylan Wells with a 27 save shutout in his 2nd ever AHL game for his first win.

Condors win 1-0.