The boys are back in town. Ken Hitchcock said this about Oscar Klefbom: “We liked what we saw, we’ve got another practice to go through tomorrow. We’ll see how he feels in the morning, this is the first time he’s gotten knocked around a little bit” and that’s your lead story right there.
THE ATHLETIC!
The Athletic Edmonton brought it yesterday, there’s a fabulous cluster of stories (some linked below, some on the site). Great perspective from a ridiculous group of writers and analysts. Proud to be part of the group. Outstanding offer is here.
- New Lowetide: If fast is the new big, how do the Edmonton Oilers get there in a hurry?
- New Jonathan Willis: Analyzing how well Peter Chiarelli and Keith Gretzky restocked the Oilers with their draft work
- New Lowetide: Finding a path to the playoffs may involve reckless use of future assets by the Oilers
- New Jonathan Willis: An Oilers blueprint for the 2019 NHL free agency period
- Tyler Dellow: A deeper look at Connor McDavid and the Oilers’ 5-on-5 offensive changes under Ken Hitchcock
- Corey Pronman: 2019 NHL Draft midseason rankings
- Jonathan Willis: An Oilers blueprint for the 2019 NHL trade deadline.
- Lowetide: Edmonton’s 2019 entry draft plans may change with new GM but needs are clear
- Lowetide: Caleb Jones has impressive first showing in the NHL with Oilers.
- Tyler Dellow: Four questions that the Oilers should be asking candidates for the GM job
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: New Oilers caretaker Keith Gretzky caught between earning playoff berth and keeping future assets
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Goalless Tobias Rieder hopes to follow Zack Kassian and Milan Lucic and end his offensive funk.
- Lowetide: Complete Oilers top 20 prospects, Winter 2018
OILERS AFTER 51
- Oilers in 2015: 20-26-5, 45 points; goal differential -22
- Oilers in 2016: 28-15-8, 64 points; goal differential +17
- Oilers in 2017: 23-24-4, 50 points; goal differential -26
- Oilers in 2018: 23-24-3, 49 points; goal differential -13
Oilers are a little unlucky to have this record based on goal differential, but it’s also true the team has been so streaky it’s impossible to build a reasonable defense of this group. Edmonton is 14-14-2 under Hitchcock.
OILERS IN FEBRUARY
- Oilers in February 2016: 1-0-0, two points; goal differential +1
- Oilers in February 2017: 0-1-0, 0 points; goal differential -2
- Oilers in February 2018: 0-1-1, one point; goal differential -1
- Oilers in February 2019: 0-0-0, 0 points; goal differential —
WHAT TO EXPECT IN FEBRUARY
- On the road to: Philadelphia, Montreal (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: Chicago (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: Minnesota (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: San Jose (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: Pittsburgh, Carolina, NY Islanders (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: Arizona, NY Islanders, Anaheim (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: Nashville, Toronto, Ottawa (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 7-6-1, 15 points in 14 games
- Current results: 0-0-0, 0 points in 14 games
I have the Oilers ending February 64, 30-30-4, 64 points. They’re going to finish with 84-87 points by my estimate.
Flyers and Boston is an interesting game to scout, although it’s really just a pre-scout for the Saturday game. Among the players Edmonton might have noticed if available:
- RD Radko Gudas, $3.35 million for one more season. I know few of you value Corsi anymore but this guy shines like a diamond. I think he’s terrific.
- R Wayne Simmonds, $3.975 million and he’s UFA. Simmonds last three seasons 5-on-5 scoring per 60 (1.14, 1.29, 1.18) is in the same range as Milan Lucic in the same seasons (1.21, 1.30, 0.84). Not a wise investment.
- LD Ivan Provorov, $894,167 and an RFA this summer. Although he’s a fantastic young player, Provorov has struggled this season (info here). I would take the bet.
- L Jake DeBrusk, $863,333 and an RFA next summer. He isn’t going anywhere but I included him because DeBrusk would be a great get for Edmonton right now. He’s struggling mightily.
As impressive as it was live, the printed version might be more powerful. I think Oilers fans are at a point where everything (Penner’s recent comments, MacT’s scouting) becomes the hill to die on, which has the overall impact of making all things white noise. Woodguy’s verbal is stunning clarity, and in that moment he uncovers the truth. The call is coming from inside the house.
I offer this list not as a guide to Oilers offer sheets, but as a ‘before’ photo about the changing financial landscape of cap room for several Canadian teams. The McDavid-Draisaitl $21 million is going to get some competition as an outer marker in the coming days. I’ll be interested to see how much south of $21 million Kyle Dubas can bring Matthews-Marner contracts.
Matthews is the key. McDavid’s deal was 16 percent of the cap when he signed, Matthews will be less but the cap greater. Let’s say he signs shorter term (that has been discussed) at 12 percent of $83 million ($9.96 million). Let’s say Marner signs at 10 percent ($8.3 million), which would bring the two men in at $18.26 million. Even though it’s almost $3 million less than the Oilers duo, it’s shorter term and still a helluva total. It gets weird early when these second contracts go supernova.
This is the Talbot trade timeline, unless there’s no market. I think Matt Benning, Zack Kassian and Tobias Rieder might also be vulnerable, and do wonder about Kris Russell’s willingness to move.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
It’s a busy morning as we set up Super Bowl weekend and the return of the Edmonton Oilers. Starting at 10, TSN1260:
- Steve Lansky, BigMouthSports. Super Bowl parties, Oilers at the deadline, pitchers and catchers.
- Andy McNamara, TSN4Downs. Super Bowl preview.
- Matt Iwanyk, TSN1260. Super Bowl, Oilers, CFL free agency.
10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Friday, people!
204 comments
After their 9th straight win, the Condors in second place and 7 points up on 5th (top 4 make the playoffs) giving up a game in hand.
The are in Ontario tonight – trap game as the Reign are in last place and my guess is they give Stuart Skinner the start tonight.
A second game in a row that doesn’t conflict with the Oilers game and it starts an hour early at 7 so I should be able to watch in full.
Go Oilers!
Go Condors!
I believe its an absolute no-brainer to give Spooner a long stretch of games in the top 6. Its something he has not had since the acquisition and he has not been put in a position to succeed.
Prior to this year, Sooner has essentially provided complementary secondary scoring for his entire NHL career – top 6 scoring rates. He has a history of providing exactly what the Oilers need but, yet, the current interim coach has not given the player a real chance to produce.
The Oilers very well could have an internal option for a big hole next year and it would make sense to give it a real shot this year to see if its a realistic option going in to next year.
Didn’t see the 3rd period but nice to wake up and see the Condors hold on for a 4-2 win.
Slight shot advantage in the 3rd period and, after the Wild pull to within one with four minutes left – Gust puts one in the empty net from Lagesson.
Starret stops 24 of 26.
Rematch tonight!
Glovjuice,
Woodguys’ post was great.
So great that someone should fire up the Bat Signal.
Hopefully he doesn’t move us to Seatt…too late sucka!
#atlantaoilers
If Spooner plays five games in the ahl and gets 8-10 points I wonder if the oilers recall him and give him a chance with mcdavid
Wouldn’t it be funny if he played with mcdavid and rattie and they clicked on a heater showing how Mcsavior can resurrect players careers
I think Caleb Jones will be the Oilers version of TJ Brodie
Late draft pick turns out to be legit #2 Dman
Skates as well with similar offensive ability
LOL
Three regular strength points, but only plus 1, all with Kane and Toews on the ice. New Drake, same as the old Drake. High event “parasite” feasting on elite players.
One of the goals against he screened the goaltender and bailed on blocking the shot.
On the 2nd goal against, he was nowhere in the picture, floating somewhere in centre of the ice, like many seconds after Buffalo had possession in the Chicago end down low.
Good for him and his team. Who cares?
That was a hell of a period for the Condors – they came in waves – full credit for the 3-1 lead.
17 shots in the 2nd.
Spooner is too good for the AHL – he’s a top 6 NHL player
Yamamoto with a real plus 2nd period – started to create shift after shift.
Spooner with a wonderful pass off a rush – great vision – to set up Patty Russell and the Condors almost had another – nice save.
Gust given the 2nd assist – I guess after Jones and Spooner played give and go for a bit it went over to Gust prior to Jones.\
Either way, Spooner looked very good on the half boards running the PP.
Oh, yes, that’s right, Spooner made a quick touch cross-ice pass to Gust before it going back to Jones for the shot. Nice play.
Joe G. tips a Jones PP shot and its 3-1 Condors.
Play set up off the half boards by Spooner who has been, by far, the best player on the ice.
Spooner not given an assist right away but he should definitely get one for his third point of the night.
Please, captain OP. Make it so.
Hebig drives the net hard on a 2 on 1 with Esposito and draws a PP.
Condors are dominating the 2nd period.
Yamamoto starting to create scoring chances for himself, shift after shift now.
Brodie is a fine d-man, definitely a legit top 4 and he’d be right at or near the top of the Oilers depth chart. At the same time, I don’t think the Gio factor can be over-stated.
Yamamoto with a quick break chance and the Condors almost score 3 in a minute – nice save.
Condors score another second later – Joe G. on a rebound (his 20th) – Logan Day and Ryan Spooner with the assists.
I retract my previous post. THIS post here is even more scathing than Woodguys rant.
Russell with a real nice pass off the rush pass to Spooner in front who scores his second in two games.
Drake with a breakout evening 1G & 2A. Happy for him
Penner interview wa hard to listen to (Do hockey players realize how stupid they sound?), but definitely worth a listen. Basically confirmed Lowe was still active when he was there, and has same thoughts on the OBC we do.
My bad. Yes, I was thinking of that famous quote.
Good catch. No quite as good of catch as the OP conditioning stint, but good nevertheless.
TJ Brodie tonight 2 points. 27 min played
It’s too bad he’s not even a second pairing defenseman
If it’s #1 looks like one of the worst trades of all time.
Sekera would’ve had that guy
Down 1-0 after one – Iowa kind of took over a bit in the last 7-8 minutes or so.
Iowa open the scoring late in the first – a quick break off the boards and a guy left open in front.
Dallas beat Minny in regulation – a fine result.
Yamamoto killing penalties and showing a nice stick (as we’ve seen – mostly in exhibition mind you).
Another one. Beautiful.
This is very funny. Every bit as good as Woodguys rant. More of a microcosmic view, of course, but just as scathing.
Yamamoto playing with Vesel and Gust – a quick line from what I can see.
Tight checking first 10 minutes.
Condors up 5-1 in shots.
Best chance on the PP was a nice Spooner set up of Yamamoto for a deflection that just went wide.
Russell and Spooner also in on a 2 on 1 at evens and Russell was stopped off the shot.
No Bear tonight – I now remember that he did leave last game with an ankle issue and didn’t return.
Hopefully its not the vaunted “high ankle sprain”.
Spooner, Yamamoto, Joe G., Jones, Stanton on the second unit and they had better chances than the first unit.
Benson with a couple of unforced offensive zone turnovers on that PP – not a great start for Benson – maybe a bit rusty.
Easy kill for the Condors – now on the PP (too many men):
Marody, Day, Callahan, Currie, Benson (left point).
Spooner takes a reaching in penalty on the forecheck16 seconds in…
I wonder what the Condors might do with the lines with Malone not available.
I wonder if they put someone like Vesel or Esposito between Russell and Joe G. and leave Hebig between Spooner and Yamamoto?
Starret gets the start tonight.
I love your optimism and love the prospect updates. Thanks
McLeod held off the scoresheet – he did take a misconduct after a slashing penalty.
Maksimov with a goal – I think he did with his head from the highlight I was able to find.
Samorukov held off the sheet but registered 6 shots on net.
Hayden Hawkey give stops 12 of 15 in a 3-1 loss – a rare off night it seems.
Dudek with an assist and Rasanen with a goal as B. College wins 5-3.
Hopefully it works.
And as maligned as Lucic-McDavid have been they’ve actually had good results together (GF% of 58.5 over last 3 years). Ugly results in 40 min this year, but it worked before that.
Does talent circumvention count?
Kapanen seems like a great addition if they could manage it reasonably.
2.5 years in the AHL.
Maybe they have a RW Finn like that.
That’s 2 years younger.
And a centre ?
It was a pretty tame comment, and was entirely accurate. Words we along the lines of “We seem to keep learning the same lessons which is frustrating.” Contrast that to Drouin or Patrick Kane. Not complaining though, because they traded him for Barzal.
silasbengtsson,
Oh. Yeah. God no. Burn The Mall before that.
Just pointing out one teeny little thing, and not attaching value to it even (I’d say the gamble broke even, cept that I want to award entertainment points).
I am in no way saying the Oilers are good. I have been pretty express for a month now that they are right in a giant tier of suck along with 6 or so other teams.
At the same time, I was responding to those posts because they were simply cherry picking stats to make the Oilers look as poor as possible. Yes, they are poor, quite poor it seems – there is no need to cherry pick stats to try and make them worse than they are.
Acquisition costs are reputedly going to be lower this deadline season. The number of wingers available will leave buyers with options.
Flames, I’d guess, are more interested in Ferland than Simmonds, who has a 12 team NTL also.
Buddy,
Except for the fact that Craig MacTavish has in all likelihood been key to things being so miserable all along.
The idea that they only pick players who can’t handle an NHL city or get along is laughable…it’s the leadership. They are the common thread. Goes all the way back to Lowe and MacTavish completely screwing up the Comrie situation. Since then, and yes, even in 2006, it’s been utterly nuts.
OriginalPouzar,
That is still in the bottom third of the league… so the Oilers have the 3rd worst home record and a bottom 1/3 road record. Both are quite poor and not nearly good enough for a playoff team. The spin is still: the Oilers are clearly not a playoff team barring some McJesus miracle in the last 30 games.
Buddy,
The Perron trade out of Edmonton was 100% necessary.
Right before the trade, Perron publicly called out his teammates to the media regarding effort, etc.
The very next game he absolutely gave up on back-check and the winning goal against was scored.
Right after calling out his mates for laziness – that was it, he needed to go after that.
On the other hand, the Oilers have better road records than 9 teams.
Spin….
Nah – Sekera won’t be back until the 15th against Carolina.
I’ve done so about 4 times – do I have to do so in every post about the subject?
That’s regulation losses – not true if OTL/SOL are added in.
I personally don’t think of shoot out losses as real losses but there are teams within a few regulation losses that have many many more extra time losses and I would hypothesize that most of those are OTLs (as opposed to SOLs).
——————–
How about we state: there are 11 teams with less wins than the Oilers.
Spin…..
And that’s if Kapanen is the guy they decide to trade. I’m not convinced that will be the case. He’s probably more highly-valued than Nylander right now. By the League and by the Leafs.
I want the Oil to acquire Kapanen as much as the next–non-deciduous–peraon, but the line is gonna be lo-o-o-ng.
That’s great.
At the same time, I’m still going to look forward to what I posted about: the 2nd half bounce-back by some of the players that have had very disappointing seasons so far.
Go Oilers
Go Lucic
Go Rieder
Go Spooner
One game of magnitude tonight: DAL/MIN – I’m just going to hope for a “regulation finish”.
Oiler seg on TH2N:
Priority 1: Skilled winger like Nyquist or Silfverberg
Priority 2: Top pairing defenseman like Colton Parayko
Courtesy Button.
Seravelli coda:
Cap space also critical and look for Talbot to go to make some.
Is it possible that the answer to the question “what is wrong with the Edmonton Oilers” is “Edmonton”?
thanks!
You could retain half his salary at 50%. Yes, the team receiving him could buyout his contract and each team would split the buyout cap hit at 50%
Now for the team trading for him and buying him out, they’re stuck with half his cap hit and paying half of his buyout. I don’t think any team would consider that financial and cap burden worth only a 2nd round pick. Remember, they’d be on the hook for something like $8m in real dollars.
At which point the Red Wine Summits will slink off to become the Red Wine Underground.
Further to the Oilers’ culture of focusing on the locker room…
A fellow I used to know through Buddy Jr.’s hockey team knows Dallas Eakins, through some sort of extreme fitness thing, cycling if I remember correctly. He told me before Eakins was fired that Eakins had told him he was expecting the ax any day, and sure enough it happened not long after that. Anyway, Eakins told him after he was fired that David Perron was a real problem in the room. And then Perron was traded to Pittsburgh just after (two and a half weeks after Eakins was fired — I had to look it up).
Eakins was brought explicitly in to change the losing culture in the room. MacTavish went behind the bench with Todd Nelson for two weeks explicitly because he wanted to know what was going on in the room.
All that said, and whatever the rationale behind the Perron trade, that move was probably a highlight of MacTavish’s tenure as GM, and could have been life-changing for the franchise if not for, sigh, the rest of the story.
Re Katz’s OBC: Woodguy’s ripped the ball past the bleachers and his message is now taking on the equivalence of an ICBM missile headed straight to Katz.
That’s right. You know what that means? We’ve gotta re-hire MacT as GM 😉
[/sarcasm]
silasbengtsson,
That crazy, multiple draft floor swap involving Shleppy.
Gotta recognize.
A guy can hope at least. It’d solve a world of problems.
jtblack,
Yeah, the Oilers are a lot closer to being contenders in the Hughes lottery than making the playoffs.
We do have McJesus, so there is that.
¡TSN article up:
ARE the Oilers a team in the National Hockey League?
The Edmonton Oilers place Ty Rattie on waivers.
Ty Rattie on the top line tomorrow.
Reminds me of some relationships I’ve had.
The toxic ones.
WORST HOME RECORDS IN THE NHL:
29th – EDM 12-13-2
30th – DET 10-12-4
31st – ARI 9-12-3
The Leafs are hoping for Pesce for Kapanen, a legit top 4 RD locked up for the medium term at an affordable salary.
They would laugh at the offer of an AHL’er.
silasbengtsson,
My grand idea is trying to convince Boston that they need Lucic back to be tough again and to give us Backes. And if Backes doesn’t want to play here we can buy him out and he’s free to sign wherever.
His buyout cap hit is very manageable after 2020:
19/20: 5.67 MM
20/21: 3.67 MM
21/22: 667 K
22/23: 667 K
OP did the leg work for this, told us all about it. I only reminded OP about what he had told us about the CBA a month ago before he went on Sri Lankan beach vacation, and forgot all about it.
It is not a sin to forgot about Sec 13.9 after two weeks on a beach in the Indian Ocean.
I wonder if Toronto might value Bear more due to their derth of RHD.
jtblack,
That’s sobering.
I know Klefbom is traveling with the team, but I don’t think we see him play this weekend.
I fear Sekera could be back before Klefbom ?
silasbengtsson,
I know Chia has been canned, but when’s the last time you ever saw the Oilers do anything “innovative”? Three-way trades, salary circumvention-lite, etc.
No thanks to GODOT mention on this info? Thank you GODOT!
Edmonton has 24 Losses so far this season.
Only 3 teams have more than that:
DET – 25
L.A.- 26
OTT- 26
Leadership does not start from the bottom. Leadership has to start from the top! As far as I can see there has been little or no leadership from the top! One of the main attributes of a leader is accountability. There has been very little of this from where it should start which is at the top. It should start with Mr Nicholson who if he had any class would offer his resignation! His coach and his GM have been sacraficed with no real change and continuation of the status quo even with his forensic audit! You can change seats on the Titanic but unless you change course hitting the iceberg is inevitable!
Does anyone have any insight on the feasibility of a retained salary buyout of Lucic’s contract? In theory, it seems like the most effective method of dealing with the Lucic issue. Retain half his salary and trade him to another team with another asset and they buy him out hypothetically leading to each team having a final cap hit of.
1.8125mil
2.8125mil
2.0625mil
2.8125mil
312.5K
312.5K
312.5K
312.5K
I can’t imagine the cost for that kind of cap hit would be much more than a 2020 2nd or something and frees a whole world of cap space for us. Tough to say whether it’s possible under the rules of the CBA.
To hit 87 Points, which might be enough to get in; the Oilers would have to go
18-12-2 in their remaining 32 games. Possible? sure Probable? not so much.
But hey, in 2016 / 17 they finished on a Heater. So let’s hope they can mimic that year
Alright, the unofficial second half of the season starts tomorrow.
Looking forward to the players that had disappointing first halfs finding their games a bit in the second half and producing more on the scoresheet – Puljujarvi, Rieder, Spooner (when recalled), Buraksovsky (when acquired (along with Kopely) for Talbot and Lagesson). Add that to Lucic continuing his “stronger” play from earlier in 2019.
Lets go Oilers!
I know Treliving doesn’t generally like rentals but here is hoping he goes to the flames as the team that acquires Simmonds is unlikely to get value for the acquisition cost.
WIN, NSH, COL, etc. – they can all give up futures for him too if CGY doesn’t bite.
Generally, if a player has 7 accrued seasons or is 27 when their contract expires on June 30.
An accrued season is being on the Active Roster for 40 games (not playing in 40 games).
There are other ways (i.e Group IV UFA – Pitlick, Osterle) but that’s the general means.
Good point. Dorion will be able to recoup some assets. But he won’t be able to recoup Jack Hughes! or any of the Top 3 picks. probably will get a late 1st rounder for Duchene
I’m sure its been mentioned in the comments after but, because he’s on bona fide LTIR, Sekera can go on a conditioning stint (to assessment his fitness to play) without being activated (will not take up a roster spot and the team will not lose the LTIR cushion).
Its a max 3 games and 6 days so, to me, as I stated yesterday, it makes sense to send him to the Bake next Friday so he can play Friday, Saturday and Wednesday.
I anticipate he’s activated officially for the game against Carolina on the 15th.
If he won’t sign over the next couple of weeks he will get traded for something at the deadline.
But having Panarin also possibly available would again possibly decrease the return.
Peter made some BAD trades. Some real bad ones. But with Ottawa sitting dead last in the NHL, let’s revisit this Beauty.
Matt Duchene trade:
COL:
Samuel Girard – NHL
Vladislav Kamenev – NHL (23 games)
Andrew Hammond –
Shane Bowers – NCAA
NSH second-rounder (2018) – A good prospect
,OTT first-rounder (2019) – Could be Top 3 Franchise type
OTT third-rounder (2019) – wildcard
OTT: Matt Duchene – Duchene has been good but might not re sign, meaning all the assets out were for nothing (sound familiar Pete?)
NSH: Kyle Turris – Turris has 6 Goals and will turn 30 this summer.
HATS OFF TO SUPER JOE ON THIS DEAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OilersFuture,
I think Florida and Carolina are most likely destinations.
Actually Panarin and Bob probably go to Florida in offseason so probably not Talbot there.
So Carolina it is. Maybe Avs
This warms my heart during these cold winter days
Well I am all for that! It can only happen f more than one team wants his services, but that might be the case. However, there seems to be a plethora of warm bodies available this deadline which tends to drive down prices and the number of suitors.
Cassandra,
It should also be noted that all three of those players signed in states with no state tax, helps keep the cap hit down. I’m pretty sure that mcdavid only make 1.5 million more the kucherov not the 3 million cap hit.
LT said…
Last of the Steam Powered Trains
From “The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society”, an album Ray Davies once described as “the most successful flop of all time.”
Hopefully we will be saying the same about this season come summer.
I still wonder about a deal with CAR where maybe you can get TvR out of there if you include enough in addition to Talbot. The Oilers are interested in Ferland and maybe if you clear cap for next year they could extend him.
To EDM:
Ferland, Mrazek, Van Riemsdyk
To CAR:
Talbot, Kassian, 2nd round pick (19 or 20), Safin
CAR slightly upgrades their goalie, they get a gritty forward of the type they supposedly covet, who’s signed another year for cheaper than what Ferland would sign for (I know Kass isn’t on the same level). They get slightly less than their rumoured ask for Ferland (which was a 1st plus prospect). This initial proposal has them only adding ~200K in cap.
Oilers get short term scoring help, RHD help, and a warm body goalie. They clear Kassians contract and can move Benning for cap relief or even include him in this deal if CAR thinks they’re not getting enough. Canes would get cost controlled Benning as a replacement for UFA in 2020 TvR. The latter can keep the seat warm for Bouchard and whoever else for a season.
Including TvR doesn’t give as much room to extend Ferland or sign someone else so maybe you leave him out.
Should the Oilers be trading forwards for more defencemen? An off-season trade of KY or JP for Kapanen makes a ton more sense IMHO.
ArmchairGM,
This might get me to FINALLY get a mobile phone (my own ‘cell’)!
I don’t get the craze for Simmonds. Philly analysts admit his career is in decline. He will be 31 this summer. Philly has made the playoffs twice in the last 4 years and has lost in 6 games in the 1st round each time. In those 12 games Simmonds has scored an Eberle-esque zero goals.
If a buyer wants a bruiser that doesn’t score they should be able to find it at a cheaper price than Philly wants for Simmonds. How about Kassian for a 2ND?
Dubnyk, Broissoit. It is the Oilers, not the goaltender.
Cam Talbot 0.894 Sv %.
Who would want him, let alone willing to give up anything for him?
Lucic with McDavid. The pump-and-hopefully-dump to the trade deadline. Connor looks left. A boat anchor. He looks right. An AHL winger. What a way to go to war.
Draisaitl with Rieder and Chiasson is going to have to push the river. Drai has to channel the Drai-vs-Getzlaf of the Anaheim series. Time for Toby to get it going again.
Nugent-Hopkins looks to be starting in the D zone all the time (considering Connor’s wingers).
I don’t see why you’re making this seem as if it’s unheard of or amateur.
Thinking back on some of the greatest players in professional sports, they all seem to provide input on how they feel things should be done or could be done better.
Hasn’t Crosby done some mild coaching from the bench as a player?
Trying to think of who it was a few months ago where a player on the ice was the one drawing out the play for the PP/OT/whatever it was.
godot10,
I agree with you, but realistically, it doesn’t expand the pool of teams all that much.
Maybe SJ or NJ (who are out of it for sure) as Oilersfuture says but other than that?
There just isn’t a strong market.
Eastern Conference Playoff Standings using Points Percentage shown as points over/under fake Bettman .500
Atlantic
TBY 26
TOR 13
BOS 10
Metropolitan
NYI 14
PIT 10
WSH 10
Wildcard
MTL 10
CBJ 9
Out of playoffs
BUF 6
CAR 4
NYR 1
FLA 0
PHI -1
NJD -5
DET -6
OTT -7
Talbot is probably willing to go to a lot more than 10 teams at this point, considering it is just for a few months.
He needs to get away from this Oilers defense and re-establish his value for July 1. Any team that is not awful would probably be acceptable.
Profit,
There are two others that could be put on the list.
1. San Jose – Jones has had a tough year, same with Dell. Acquiring Talbot could give them an option. (It would likely need a salary retain from the Oilers)
2. New Jersey – Their goalie situation is a mess. If there’s an East Coast try and buy team. If I’m Talbot I would want this one.
3. Carolina – Again goalie situation a mess, although McElhinney has played well. But the team in front of the goalie is good.
Now just because they are on his 10 team list doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t want to go there too. I wonder if the team that attempted to trade for him earlier this year was Ottawa. In which case I would not want to be traded to that team. It’s the only team that has worse management than Edmonton and their defense is brutal.
For trading within the division. I have no problems trading with Vegas or SJ. The Oilers are not competing with those teams to make the playoffs. If the Oilers are able to get good assets to make their team better in the future you make the trade.
If we are relying on the players to make changes to systems etc……we no longer need assistant coaches do we???
Maybe this is common…I don’t know, I have never heard another team divulge this type of information…but at a minimum if the players are making the changes…they are not happy with the systems that are in place…which indicates the coaching staff is deficient as far as the 2 star players are concerned
That much I can be sure of
Wasn’t he the guy that fought Ben Eager (in a pre season scrimmage) and gave him a concussion that he never fully recovered from?
EDIT… it was from a hard check into the boards during the Joey Moss cup.
Wait, are the assistant coaches supposed to create these new innovations in hockey and coaching? Or are they supposed to research them?
What if someone internally, who is not an assistant coach, comes up with an innovation in hockey and coaching? Are the assistant coaches bad for not coming up with it themselves? Or are the assistant coaches bad for implementing it, when they didn’t research it elsewhere?
Just trying to be clear what we are blaming the assistant coaches for, here.
Had some time over lunch so did a quick thought experiment on Talbot.
If we’re looking for a home for Talbot (27 gp, 3.27, 0.894), there are only so many places to go. First off he has a modified NTC (source: capfriendly) where he can list 10 teams he can be traded to. Assumptions are going to have to be made in this thought exercise, but lets assume it is mainly “contender” and “east coast”.
So let’s assume:
NYI
PIT
WAS
TBL (not east coast, but contender)
TOR
BOS
PHI (really stretching contender)
NYR
VGK (Matty tossed Vegas out there as a name)
NSH (because of contender)
You may agree/disagree with this list of 10, but it seems relatively reasonable that Talbot would have picked some combination of these 10. Out of those 10, how many could use him?
BOS – Rask/Halak, both signed 19/20. Maybe… perhaps a Halak/Talbot swap? BOS has the cap space.
TBL – Vasilevsky/Domingue, both signed 19/20. TBL doesn’t have much cap space, but potentially do need an upgrade in net over Domingue (20gp, 2.99, .905). Questionable if Talbot is an upgrade. Unlikely as they’d need to push salary back.
TOR – Andresen/Sparks – unlikely due to cap hit and long term Andersen signed and RFA Sparks.
NYI – Greiss/Lehner – unlikely as NYI is already rocking a 1a 1b type of tandem. No real need as both are playing better than Talbot.
NYR – Lundqvist/Georgiev – NYR probably aren’t buyers, but probably would have been on Talbot’s list. So not likely a fit here.
PHI – Stolarz/Hart – probably not buyers, but man PHI’s goaltending is a gong show. There is a fit here, as maybe PHI wants to test drive Talbot before signing, but not being in the race makes it less likely. I’d call them but wouldn’t expect a warm response.
PIT – Murray/DeSmith – Murray has had an uneven year and PIT just signed DeSmith through 22. I can’t see a Murray/Talbot swap making any sense, or PIT flipping DeSmith so soon after signing him. Highly unlikely.
WAS – Holtby/Copley – Holtby has struggled and WAS may be looking at insurance. Copley (born North Pole, Alaska!) has 19 gp, 2.98, .903 and very limited NHL experience. That’s a weak point for WAS going into the playoffs for sure. They are tight against the cap, so there would have to be salary coming back (Burakovsky makes sense at $3M). Potential here – likely on Talbot’s list, cap would need to work.
NAS – Rinne/Saros – nope. I only included NAS because I think they were likely on Talbot’s list (or at least a potential)
VGK – Fleury/Lagace – As Matty pointed out, running with this tandem into the playoffs doesn’t make a lot of sense. VGK has the cap space, but they’re in the Pacific. Would Edmonton trade Talbot within the division? Do they have anyone the Oilers would want? Unclear. I think this a pretty low probability.
Based on this – I’d say WAS by far makes the most sense, BOS potential if there is an appetite to roll the dice on Halak for a year and mayyyybe TBL/PHI/VGK.
I took a run through the other teams and the only ones which jumped out BUF (would make sense, but probably not on Talbot’s list) and CAR (goalies are struggling, probably not a fit but maybe). And that’s about it.
My main takeaway from this? We should limit our expectations of what Talbot brings in a potential rental. The market for goalies is thin, Oilers are hamstrung by the modified NTC and there are others potentially selling goalies (DET, COL). I’m not expecting much if anything.
Because I want to rip on them….
they get paid to think of everything and cover every detail of the game…to read and research every new innovation in hockey and coaching…and now the players take a turn at the wheel????? ok
Success has 1 thousand fathers…failure is an orphan…and ya I get hat this team isn’t good enough…I have been saying this since day 1 of this year
carry on
FIFY
https://youtu.be/j4J3Jf3aJHM
How about, instead of dumping it in and hoping to get it back, we keep the puck from our end and use the possession to score goals……nice goals?
I have opined that Hitch may not be as open to new thinking as we’d like to believe.
Connor has friends throughout the league, thus a finger on the pulse of what other teams are doing.
Why are you ripping on the assistant coaches when Hitch said “we never thought of”. Hitch has been coaching for how long and this is something he apparently has not thought of before?
That reads to me more like Connor had some technical ideas which may be unorthodox or uncommon.
That doesn’t mean that it’s “desperate” or “bad”, the game is always evolving.
Marody named AHL rookie of the month for January.
This kind of collaboration could work out great. If it works, theres buy in. If it doestn work, they have to admit that and try something different.
Gives me great confidence in our Assistant coaches….seriously….if this is common why did we just think of it…if it is not common….we are very desperate
Hitch mentioned that Connor had a bunch of input with respect to things that could help during the game – two of McDavid’s “technical ideas” that, as per Hitch “we never thought of” were put in to practice and will be implemented. He also mentioned that Drai and various others were involved in technical system conversations with input.
Interesting.
I thought about making this clip into a ringtone, but then I would never answer the phone.
Would Russell waive his NMC to go to a contender at the deadline? He might. If he has a chance to go to a contender like CGY (hometown and former team), SJS (his twin brother is a scout with SJ), WPG (another Canadian prairie contender), NSH (not bad habitat for a rodeo family), or VGK he may take it. 2 more seasons after this year’s playoffs in a town that might suit him. I think he’d have a solid spot as 3LD on all these teams and play with a decent RD partner while making a run for a cup.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolschram/2018/07/12/former-nhl-player-paul-bissonnette-makes-his-media-mark-in-post-hockey-life/#2405b5464878
Biznasty is 33 years old….gives this a quick read, highly ambitious and sneaky clever guy that has about 5 jobs….
Books and covers….not for everyone but this podcast has a massive following
Whitney seems semi-intelligent but I mostly agree. BizNasty is one of those guys who thinks he’s quite a bit smarter than he actually is. I liked hearing some of the stories Penner had to share but man if I could barely make out what he was saying half the time.
Can’t kmagine what the episodes are like when the guests are mostly younger dudes still in the league who are still in their “coached speech” phase.
Actually, they’re all in their 30s and only out of the game for a few years, but yeah the hockey/bawstan accents don’t make for an intellectual podcast. Not that they’re going for that.
Geez, it’s hard to listen to the Spittin Chicklets podcast. A bunch of washed up pro athletes reliving their glory days. Those guys must be over 40 and it sounds like they’re still living the same life they did in their 20s. I suffered through the Taylor Hall podcast, but I just couldn’t do it for Penner.
Simmonds will go to a contender.
Players talk and know each other. It’s hard to imagine Edmonton’s reputation for crapping on its own players doesn’t have an impact on trying to bring new players in. They end up taking the abuse for the sins of management. Not a reputation to be proud of.
Per the Philly scouting…
Love (in a combination of order/likelihood of availability) Gudas, Sanheim, McDonald, Gostisbehere, Provorov – Hextall put together a nice defense there, lots to like.
We are probably targeting Simmonds, not sure we have assets for that w/out spending big.
Talbot is our name that pops imo. But why the pro-scouts then?
Wonder how smart we are. Talbot for a Raffl and a 3rd is probable but I will hope for some imagination to this. Maybe Talbot and Spooner for (one of) Elliot/Nuevirth, Weise and a 2nd? (would be a nice incremental trade)
It’s going to be 10X worse in an actual game, you can bet opponents will be targetting that finger. If he can’t take a little love tap in practice he isn’t ready to come back yet.
Penner talking about how lame Kevin Lowe is was pretty good. (Screwing up the JFK speech to the team, and telling Penner he was a young Bob Probert)
Get rid of the OBC its embarrassing.
You’re probably right.
But I’m going to keep lighting candles. Maybe the GM they hire does get to perform an organizational exorcism and remove the demons of the past that continue to haunt the present and future.
If Toronto can figure it out, surely the Oilers can too…
Agreed. If that 3rd contract runs until ~34-35 YO, it also gives a change to trade them with some term and rep intact often, restock the cupboards. Teams should retire very few players if they want to stay competitive without being massively lucky in the draft.
OriginalPouzar,
Saw nuge and klefbom at the airport on the 23rd and he wasn’t wearing anything on his hand then so he has to be close
OriginalPouzar,
slash he took from Jesse
Oh Jesse.
Shades of Tulupov
I guess this would quell the talk about Hall coming back here….
Not saying to trade Pullijarvi but if we did that’s the ‘fair market value’ player type to trade for. Helps both players and both teams.
No. It helps us. Doesnt help them at all
Penner on Spittin Chicklets………MacT lighting him up in the room …….250 pounds of Chicken Shit you dont have a mean bone in your boddy
Penner says….”I have one”…….MacT cant keep a straight face…we are fucked
Not saying to trade Pulljujarva, but if we did that’s the ‘fair market value’ player type to trade for. Helps both players and both teams.
Always good to hear how hard Craig McTavish is working for this organization.
Looking for the next Brandon Manning or Alex Petrovic..
Keep scouting Craig.
+1
Also, same with SwedishPoster and Bruce… wonderful updates and insights. Thank you to the 4 of you, and obviously, also to Lowetide.
https://www.tsn.ca/penguins-ship-brassard-sheahan-and-picks-to-panthers-for-bjugstad-mccann-1.1250562
“The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired centres Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann from the Florida Panthers for pending free agents Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan, along with a 2019 second-round pick and two fourth-round picks in June, according to TSN Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger.”
Hats off to Woodguy. You have been on fire since Chia was fired, and yesterday was absolutely wonderful.
I hope this grabs traction in Edmonton and with the MSM so as to eventually cause “pause-for-thought” inside the organization. Sadly, I don’t have much hope of this happening.
Favorite part of the Penner segment on Spittin Chicklets
Penner talking about K Lowe trying to quote the JFK inauguration speech and fucking it up repeatedly……..Krugger jumping in and finishing it for K Lowe and his $2 haircut…..
Gold Jerry….Pure Gold
NARRATIVE: The late season charge for Edmonton is being laid at the feet of
1) a Defenseman with a damaged finger (hand) who hasn’t played in 6 weeks
2) a Defenseman coming off 2 major surgeries who hasn’t played in 10 months
3) a Goalie who has 27 career NHL games and is rocking a sub .900 SV% in his last 10 starts.
How do the Oilers do in Afternoon games historically?
I don’t see what could go wrong here ….
Sounds like Brassard + from Pittsburgh to Florida for Nick Bjugstad +
https://theathletic.com/783508/2019/01/24/execs-unplugged-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-the-real-nba-trade-deadline/
It’s NBA not NHL, but I assume the same issues apply to both leagues.
A fascinating look at the NBA trade deadline, how teams operate, how they discuss trades, and how much goes into the trades, even little housekeeping matters like paying premiums on insurance policies for the players, are they getting compensated for that when the player goes to the new team.
Can we get the phone numbers for the new players so we can talk to them directly, etc.
Teams are talking all the time, about every player, even if it’s just to get a quick “no”. This is exactly how I pictured Thornton being traded from Boston. Doug Wilson calls O’Connell or whoever was GM at the time, they’re shooting the shit, Wilson says “what about Big Joe?”, and just happens to get O’Connell at the right time.
“Well, actually, we might be interested in moving him”. (Wilson makes the Jonah Hill fist pump silently)
One of the GMs in the NBA article says you get comfortable with certain people, where you can really discuss some hard scenarios knowing that it won’t get any further than just the 2 GMs talking, and then you get to learn there’s some people you have to be extremely en garde about giving any info whatsoever.
when can a player become a UFA after their ELC? I do agree, shorter is better for all. But wonder when the player can exercise their Johnny T flight risk ..
Hearing that Chiarelli/Mismanagement previously wanted to trade for Manning but that was kiboshed by McLellan and staff, you really wonder who these guys are identifying as hard targets and how much communication was actually going on between the coaching staff and the mismanagement staff.
My Favourite quote from the Penner interview:
“I remember getting a call from Dean Lombardi… But it was nice to get out early on good behaviour from up there and head down to LA”
Its a painful quote because Penner, Horcoff and Hemsky were some of my faviourite players from that era, but damn… it’s pretty funny to hear a player joke about playing in Edmonton being like a prison sentence.
Also not surprising to hear Penner talking about heading out to Whyte Ave with Mike Greene while Green is injured and having some goons trying to incite them into a fight while they’re trying to leave the bar and go home. Penners take: Playing in Edmonton will toughen up any player.
Western Conference Playoff Standings using Points Percentage shown as games over/under fake Bettman .500
Pacific
CGY 20
SJS 13
VGK 10
Central
WPG 17
NSH 12
MIN 5
Wildcard
DAL 4
COL 2
Out of playoffs
VAN 1
STL 0
ANA 0
ARI 0
EDM -1
CHI -6
LAK -6
Relevant games tonight:
MIN at DAL (DAL -135)
Cutting down the “relevant games” to only teams contending for the wildcard spots as 3rd place in PAC is a long gone dream.
In a prior thread I differed from WG regarding bringing in leadership for the room. I am fine with bringing in hard-working, team-sacrifice, good-in-the-room, play-the-right-way types (like Hendricks) – for leadership purposes – if they are 3rd/4th line winger types. I view them as supplemental leadership types and I think that is valuable.
Great write-up in The Athletic today, Sara Civian is a Staff Writer for The Athletic Carolina, re: Jordan Martinook and what he brings to the room as both leader-type and mentor:
https://theathletic.com/791365/2019/01/30/the-hurricanes-extended-two-very-different-hockey-players-who-happen-to-share-the-same-vision/
This is especially topical given what is going on with Pulju and what eatcoastoilerfan said yesterday (per the WG rant):
“it’s Oilers culture to bring kids in from Europe and Russia and give them next to no off-ice support (English classes, chaperone, maybe room with an actual teammate..).”
Wish Pulju could say this about someone in the Oilers dressing room, from the Martinook piece:
“There’s basically an unexpected buddy cop movie in the making between Svechnikov and Martinook that has only flourished since Brind’Amour brought it up back in November.
• “You guys don’t get to see that stuff behind the scenes but when a young kid comes over, especially from a different culture, it takes some time,” Brind’Amour said Nov. 25. “Marty’s really taken (Svechnikov) under his wing. We’re fortunate to have that kind of person surrounding him.”
• “He’s a great guy,” Svechnikov lit up about Martinook after their 5-2 win over the Leafs. “He’s important to me. I like playing with him. He supports me every game.””
[Edited to add Sara’s name to the post – good writer imo and may add Carolina to my stable of regular follows on The Athletic]
Talbot starts in Philly and Koskinen in Montreal
Klef will be on the plane to Philly – he’s getting his fingers looked at after practice.
For me too please if anyone knows.
I kinda hope it references pancakes.
Edit: got the refresh after posting, it’s all covered above, thanks!
MacT wasn’t with the Oilers organization when they drafted Klefbom. If you are thinking about the famous Klefbom comments, it was after the first time he ever saw him play after he became GM.
So that the text can be grabbed if needed, Woodguy’s rant as transcribed by Barrett. Also added is the piece Woodguy liked from eastcoastoilersfan(?) and are a couple of formatted/paraphrased for effect Lowetide comments from the second half of the show. Putting them all in one place because I think, without any further addition, it says all that really needs to be said. Well done all.
Woodguy:
“Two things concerned me… First off, he was talking about character and leadership to help Connor. this organization has been trying to import character and leadeership since Tambellini was the G.M. and it never ends well. Y’know, the current V.P. of Hockey Operations brought in Ference for leadership. The current V.P. of Hockey operations offered David Clarkson #37 million dollars over seven years to bring in character and leadership. The worst boat anchor contract on the Oilers was brought in for character and leadership. The Oilers spent far too much time, far too m uch cap chasing character and leadership and next to none of it chasing talent. They need to stop that.
Second thing that concerned me about the Nicholson presser is that Nicholson mentioned the new G.M. has to fit into the Oilers culture. To me, it’s the Oilers’ culture that’s the problem… it’s Oilers culture to push players to return too early from injury; it’s Oilers culture to fast track prospects and put them in the NHL too soon; it’s Oilers culture to give away actual NHL players to make room for their shiny new players which results in half the team playing above their established NHL ability; it’s Oilers culture to blame the best players for the failures of management, to scapegoat anyone but themselves; it’s Oilers culture that leads to the conclusion that they have added below-average NHL players with long-term NHL contracts to this organization; it’s Oilers culture for 13 years that when their best player leaves the ice they don’t even get 45 percent of the goals; it’s Oilers culture that has lead them to to missing the playoffs 12 of the last 13 years. They don’t need a G.M. to fit into Oilers culture. They need a G.M. and a Hockey President – and I think they should go with two different people – to turn the Oilers into a professional hockey organization dedicated to drafting and developing quality hockey players and making all decisions about players based on how they can help the team on the ice and flush their notions of character and leadership and their own culture down the toilet because it’s that focus that has lad them to be the 23rd place team in the NHL in the fourth year of Connor McDavid’s contract.”
eastcoastoilersfan: it’s Oilers culture to bring kids in from Europe and Russia and give them next to no off-ice support (English classes, chaperone, maybe room with an actual teammate..).
lowetide: its Oilers culture that values things other than winning more than winning (challenging Petry reference) and it’s Oilers culture that values prospects/players on other teams more than their own prospects/players (Hartikainen/Rajala/Chimera/Brodziak/Petry references).
Penner also shares the background of the pancake story. The original article he refers to in the podcast is here: https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2012/01/09/la_kings_forward_dustin_penner_hurt_while_eating_pancakes.html, written by Daniel Girard.
OilSafety,
I definitely think Kapanen is a perfect target.
I think that seems like a lot for him. Part of me wonders if all the giant point totals this year means that scoring this year is going to be discounted. Seems like a buyers market with so many offensive teams looking for cap space.
I think that seems a little steep to me. Maybe Kassian and Yamo together makes sense.
This is a trade where I think our 1st (assuming it’s outside the top 10) makes sense as a chip to me.
The Wine Summits podcast….that is what I am waiting for.
He scouted Klefbomb well, but I’d be concerned about him scouting anyone at the Pro level based on his free agent signings as a GM.
Also, I mentioned the paucity of Oilers scouts recently. The lack of Pro Scouts was also brought up at the round table.
2 Pro Scouts, maybe… Only 13 total scouts.
No analytics department…
Looking for a GM who will fit in with the OBC…
Dustin Penner is a class act.
Dustin Penner
Verified account @Dustinpenner25
12h12 hours ago
To all the Oiler fans in my mentions who have apologized, I appreciate it. It wasn’t necessary. The stories I shared were to make anyone who listened, laugh. I understand the frustration of fans, before I was in the NHL I was one. I loved my time in EDM &, the people I met. 143
Following up on that, this is very painful. Read the caption under the city of Edmonton sign.
https://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/taylor-hall-has-reached-legendary-status-for-signing-the-one-for-one-tweet
Ryan,
Penner tells story after story; including: Oiler fans, MacT, Lowe, playing for Sutter in LA, and other. Tells about this unique path to the NHL. Also, gives an update on where he’s at now (his health and couple lawsuits).
It’s a very relaxed conversation, and funny, with 3 former hockey guys who all crossed paths at various points of their careers.
For those that fancy a bit of train spotting the National Railway Museum in York if well worth your time. It has on display the last steam train to work commericaly in the UK, in 1968. The next display over is a Shinkansen bullet train from Japan, that started work in1964.
British Rail, a management school for the Oilers senior staff.
All,
The response to my rant is a bit overwhelming on twitter and here as well.
I guess it struck a nerve.
I appreciate all the support.
Thanks to LT for giving me the opportunity to access his audience both here and on his show.
Cheers.
As you said, MacTavish gets the Oilers culture. Culture Culture Culture.CULTURE!
I can’t play this right now.
What’s the gist of what Penner said?
Why is MacTavish being allowed to scout anything? (Oilers culture of course…but you know what I mean)
He has never…EVER been good at talent evaluation.
Confirmed that Nurse is practicing on PP1.
LT,
The Whiskey round table was awesome as always! Thank you to the boys for sharing their thoughts and to you for making it happen.
Woodguy’s speech was bang on. I hope it, or at least the elements within it, receive some attention from local media. Change is in the wind.
Good morning Folks,
I’m guessing this is the “recent comments” LT is referring to:
https://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/spittin-chiclets-episode-146-featuring-kendall-coyne-schofield-dustin-penner
It starts at 47:09.
It’s a funny and revealing interview / conversation Penner has with Biz Nasty (and another guy – I think its’ Whitney) on the Spittin’ Chiclets Podcast.
Look at the teams Edm is behind. That is a tell on it’s own.
A bit late but two things:
1. OP keep posting.
2. WG – a giant walks among us. Disguised as a wood salesman. Who wooda’ thought.
🙂
Any team in the east should be looking at a deterrent for Wilson. He was a game changer last year. Lucic would definitely be the answer, but again, nobody is touching that contract. If EDM retained 3M and got a decent pick back, it might work though.
I agree. I could never figure out the “pay more for term” thing. If anything, that infers the player is banking (literally and figuratively) on not being good enough for that contract. I’d even rather pay more money for less term.
OriginalPouzar,
Tom Gazzola
Verified account
@TomGazzola
1m1 minute ago
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Looks as though Oscar Klefbom is hanging back in drills. Andrej Sekera has been taking his spot on line rushes with Adam Larsson. #TSNHockey
Cassandra,
I agree with you on the Draisaitl contract being way too steep but also need to keep in mind TB is a way different situation for players. Less taxes and nicer location to play in matter. Not exactly apples and apples.
Woodguy, you’re a beauty!! Just listened to the radio rant, and you articulated the situation perfectly. You’re right too about there being a separate Pres and GM. Bring in the Pres first, and let him help pick the GM. If the Old Boys Club is not getting removed, a headstrong president would definitely be able to shield the GM from their influence.
I think they’ve replaced everybody else: coaches, GM’s, head scouts, trainers… everybody. Yet the Boys on the Bus are still here. I love nostalgia as much as the next guy, but wake up!! I’ve seen people saying that they weren’t responsible for the bad trades Chia made, and that’s all well and good. But what are they actually doing to improve the situation? They are the only thing that has been constant this whole time!! This wouldn’t be allowed to happen in any other organization in ANY INDUSTRY, let alone any sports team.
If Nicholson can’t figure out that the OBC is what’s in the water, he’s part of the problem too.
Klef is on the ice for practice this morning – Spector is already tweeting out “phew”.
There is no need for “phew” – Both Hitch and Klef stated after practice yesterday that he “passed the test”, there was no set-back from the slash he took from Jesse and that he’d practice this morning.
Anyway, all that to say that the reports of the impending doom for the Leafs are exaggerated. There isn’t a chance that Marner and Mathews sign the type of contracts that people are throwing around unless they get specifically targeted. And as the screenshot above demonstrates there is a flood of RFAs coming on the market this year. There is no reason for that to happen.
Just because the Sabres and the Oilers don’t know what they are doing (Eichel and Draisatl contracts) doesn’t mean other teams have to follow suit. The teams that understand that and play by their own rules (TB, Nashville) are the ones that are going to be successful.
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine.
And the question, of course, is whether a team would even take him on at $3M per, without moving another boat anchor of similar value.
The result for the Oilers would likely be the same: $6M per year of dead cap space.
The Oilers need to leapfrog these teams to make the playoffs:
Pacific:
Coyotes
Ducks
Canucks
Central:
Blues
Avalanche
Stars (or could be the Wild if Dallas overtakes them)
This is not happening. Do not rush Klefbom back. Do not rush Sekera back. Use the rest of the season to figure out who works on what lines and give prospects a taste of the tango. Unload cap space. Make smart transactions that benefit the team next year or shortly thereafter.
After a 100 point season Kucherov signed an 8 x 9.5 M contract with one year to go before UFA.
Johansen and Kuznetsov both signed around 8 M with one year to go before UFA.
Stamkos signed for 8.5 M with days to go before UFA.
Given this I don’t see the incentive to go long on the first contract after ELC if that requires both more term and more money.
Shorter term and less money is win-win for teams. They have less risk (shorter term) and they pay less money which allows them to have a better team. And when that contract comes up again there is no evidence they get significantly more later than what is required to go long in the first place. Plus, when you sign them for that third contract you get more of their prime years, whereas if you sign a player to 8 years coming out of their ELC you should walk away when that deal is done.
Take Draisatl as an example. He signed an 8 year contract that expires when he is 29. If he lives up to the contract he’s going to get another big contract that is going to be a terrible idea for anyone to sign. So if they are smart the Oilers get him until he is 29 but only by paying him full market value (or more) for most of that time.
However, if they sign him to a 5 year contract for less money it is win-win. They get him for less money, which means they have cap space, and his contract expires when he is 26 when it might make sense to give him another 8 years. And when he signs that contract it isn’t going to be for much more than what they gave him anyway. Is Draisatl better than Kucherov, Kuznetsov, Stamkos, or Johansen?
Short term and less money is the right play for the first deal out an ELC.
If you recieve a telegram by autogiro today inviting you to Roger’s, don’t go, it’s a trap.
Cape Breton OIlers 4EVR has me thinking about Kapanen now. Some questions for the group…
What will his next contractor look like?
Coming off a little less than 900000 and due for a big raise probably with term. Toronto probably has to bridge him if they keep him at all.
What will it take to acquire him?
They need grit. Would Kassian fill that need, or do they need it higher in the line up. Maybe Lucic with significant money retained? Would he go there?
Maybe Kassian, Yammamoto (I know, it hurts me too) and a 2020 2nd? (Im not good at this, be gentle)
The tweet about the Friedman tweet is misleading – they can send Reggie on a conditioning stint to see if he’s fit, for a max of 3 games and/or 6 days, without losing the LTIR relief.
Section 13.9
Do you think there is any serious contending team out there that would be interested in Lucic and his physicality,due to the fact that it is a totally different game come playoff time? His style of play is the norm in the post season, maybe there is a chance to get out of cap hell yet.
Just read the Friedman quote – boom – the timing lines up perfectly with what I thought.
+1. Not a chance Provorov moves ….
With respect to Sekera’s return – sounds like he practiced fully and passed that test and will be ready to test in AHL games soon.
As per the CBA (and thank you to Godot for correcting the inaccurate advise I had been posting – so embarrassing), while on bona fide LTIR, Sekera can head to the AHL with consent (which he’ll provide) to see if he’s fit to play for a max of 3 games and 6 days. He will not be activated from LTIR for this so he will not count on the roster and the team will not lose the LTIR cushion.
Condors play next Fri, Sat and then Wed so it makes sense to send him next Friday so he can get the full 3 games.
I think we are looking at February 15 against Carolina for Reggie’s return if everything goes smoothly.
A bit disconcerting that MacTavish and Howson are still scouting pros for us.
And someone needs to use WG’s rant as a voice over for this:
https://youtu.be/WMxGVfk09lU
On the road to: Pittsburgh, Carolina, NY Islanders (Expected 2-1-0)
I think you’re a bit optimistic there sir.
I’d guess 0-2-1
NYI is leading the Metropolitan division, PIT is PIT and CAR is 6-3-1 in their last 10 and is settling into Brindamour’s system.
Its clear that Oscar won’t be 100% when he returns this weekend (if he does indeed return this weekend).
He’s clearly got fingers taped together, he had to see the trainer after taking a whack in practice, etc.
With that said, he made it through without a set-back (notwithstanding Spector) and, even if he’s not 100%, he wiil still be able to log minutes on the top pairing with Adam Larsson, moving others down the depth chart and being a valuable minute muncher.
I would posit that Nurse stays on PP1 as I think shooting is likely the biggest part of Klef’s game that will suffer right now – that maybe a good thing. I haven’t checked for a few weeks, however, Nurse’s scoring rates on the PP were much higher than Klef’s this year last time I checked.
WOW. And this is why I love the LT blog. GOLD!
Great intro. Well said. Well played. Well done.
WG, wow. You are that person that can articulate what others are thinking. Great piece.
Edmonton is 1 game under .500 in the Fake Bettman era. All the McDavid bravado, and Klefbom returns and the team is going to play quicker ……. It’s all hot air to me ..
Wood Guys’ piece highlights the #1 problem with this team.: THEY ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
Can they get into the playoffs? sure. If Connor goes supernova and Koski goes on a .950 SV% heater …..
Not happening. Oilers will miss.
This needs to happen with Woodguy’s rant.
https://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.219981.1367958403!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_804/image.jpg
Klefbom on the ice for practice
0 % chance Provorov would be made available. Even though he struggled this year he just turned 22 and is eating huge minutes.
You could probably pry Ghost or Sanheim.
I would go for Sanheim but he’s probably too expensive to acquire
Could be another one of those torch and pitchfork type of days. I’ll go get a drum of kerosene.
Woodguy…
Fantastic state of the union type of speech.
This should not only be nailed to the Lexus but also plastered to billboards, sandwich boards & floorboards of the Katz dome. Have it scroll on screens like the Star Wars intro. Maybe, just maybe there will be an appropriate response. Free CONNOR
My thoughts regarding the Oilers. It may be too simple, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Who recommended or was in favour of the Reinhart deal?
Who recommended or was in favour of the Hall deal?
Who recommended or was in favour of the (insert bad deal/contract).
Make the extensive and ugly list, put names beside those that were in favour of those deals, recognize the pattern, FIRE ALL the recurring names into the sun.
Sounds like Klefbom may have suffered a setback at practice yesterday, may not be activated.
Does that potentially mean they’ll be able to activate Sekera and send him down without having to make a corresponding move. Anyone?
Oh, and a group of us are going down to nail that WG rant to the door of Katz’s Lexus.
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