I believe Caleb Jones will win the No. 6 spot opening night for the Edmonton Oilers. He’ll have competition, including a “perfect fit” outlet passer in Evan Bouchard. I think Jones gets the first shot to win an NHL job and settle in, with the second recall possibly occurring around Game No. 40. Make no mistake: We’re going to see an invasion of defensemen in Edmonton over the next two seasons. It’s unavoidable.
THE ATHLETIC!
The Athletic Edmonton features 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, here’s an incredible Offer!
- New Daniel Nugent-Bowman: A missing mom, aching feet and looking for Kevin Lowe: A week in the life of Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie
- New Lowetide: What to do when Connor McDavid rests: The Oilers’ ideal No. 2 line for 2019-20
- Lowetide: Adding a scorer will be Ken Holland’s first big move as Oilers GM
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: What the Oilers’ depth chart looks like now and where they go from here
- Jonathan Willis: How often do goalies like the Oilers’ Mike Smith rebound?
- Lowetide: Ken Holland’s roster moves clear the way for Oilers top prospects Tyler Benson and Kailer Yamamoto.
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers GM Ken Holland promises long-term rewards for an approach light on short-term improvements
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Trade market now most likely place for Oilers to find scoring winger
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: ‘He comes as advertised’: Philip Broberg’s skating makes him development camp standout for Oilers
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Oilers plan to skew younger on defence could open the door for Evan Bouchard, Dmitri Samorukov
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects summer 2019.
- Lowetide: Are these Jesse Puljujarvi’s final days with the Edmonton Oilers?
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Ranking the Oilers’ trade assets from the high-priced diamonds to those needing fresh starts
- Lowetide: Oilers GM Ken Holland is shopping for 20-goal scorers on a budget. What will he find?
In 1979-80, the Oilers used rookies Kevin Lowe and Risto Siltanen heavily. I observed the team closely that year, and both men spent time in Glen Sather’s doghouse.
In late December 1979, Lowe was struggling and there were rumors about him getting sent out (Mike Forbes). Sather at the time: “If a guy is making the same mistakes over and over again, you’ve got to be concerned. But if he’s learning then you’ve got to be patient.”
This is going to happen in 2019-20, 40 years later. It won’t be pretty, it never is with young blue. In 1980-81, Paul Coffey had chaos moments so bad Slats turned instantly grey, and the hockey Gods would send him Charlie Huddy by the end of the season.
By 1981-82, those four men (with veterans Lee Fogolin, Doug Hicks and Gary Lariviere) formed Edmonton’s blue. Names left behind over those years included Pat Price, Colin Campbell, Al Hamilton, Mike Forbes.
We have the laundry list. Jones, Evan Bouchard, Ethan Bear, William Lagesson, Joel Persson, Dmitri Samorukov, Logan Day. We don’t know the Lowe, Coffey and we sure as hell don’t know the Huddy. If there is a Lowe, Coffey or Huddy. I think the best bets are Jones, Bouchard and Samorukov. Don’t be surprised if they are recalled in that order.
Jones has the best goal differential among Condors and received the NHL recall. He has good boots and learns on the job. I think he’s going to be a legit NHL defenseman. History teaches us just one name will make it to (say) 500 games, and we should acknowledge the possibility that none of these blue make it that far. Injuries are absolutely a major factor in longevity for NHL defensemen.
Offloading veterans
During the two year period that begins this fall, the orderly exit of vet Oilers rearguards might look like this:
Matt Benning: Dealt once Evan Bouchard, Ethan Bear or Joel Persson establish themselves as a bona fide NHL player who can remain healthy and play solid third pairing minutes. Estimate: Deadline 2020.
Brandon Manning: Contract expires at the end of the 2019-20 season.
Kris Russell: Buyout or trade possible summer 2020, he’ll be blocking several blue by this time next season, lord willing and the creek don’t rise.
Darnell Nurse: I’m writing about this today for The Athletic, should be up tomorrow some time. Fascinating situation.
Adam Larsson: He’ll be one year from free agency summer 2020, Edmonton will be thinking about expansion draft and playoffs. Much would have to go right in order for the Oilers to consider trading him.
Playoffs
Yesterday I posted my initial RE, with the Oilers coming in at 230-252. Several of you dm’d and said something along the lines that it still wasn’t a playoff team. I didn’t predict playoffs and doubt that’s possible at this time. A team that is -22 isn’t a playoff bunch. Here are the goal differentials for last season’s western conference playoff teams:
Calgary +62
Winnipeg +28
San Jose +28
Nashville +26
St. Louis +24
Vegas +19
Colorado +14
Dallas +8
Not close to the playoffs. I do believe they’ll be tighter defensively under Tippett and also believe the secondary scoring will improve. Long way from being a playoff club.
They never valued him, didn’t know what they had in Taylor Hall. Incredible. The fans earned the No. 1 overall pick in 2010, not one manager gave that fact a moment’s thought. That’s why I’ll never believe anything said about Jesse Puljujarvi. Why would anyone?
+1 Thank you for taking the time to help set the record straight.
There are many ways of understanding the nature of philosophical questions. One may consider their morphology, semantics, relevance, or scope. A different approach, based on the kind of informational resources required to answer them, is a definition of philosophical questions as questions whose answers are in principle open to informed, rational, and honest disagreement, ultimate but not absolute, closed under further questioning, possibly constrained by empirical and logico-mathematical resources, but requiring noetic resources to be answered.
Nice. Truth.
None of the prospects make Nurse redundant. They don’t have the same skill set he does.
Apparently thats an Oilers thing…playing through pain……I think guys like Souray and Ryan Whitney have stated as much.
Given Russia’s economy, a case of vodka and a stack of Beatles albums should do it.
Correct you are Sir ! Thank You! May McDavid win at least as many Stanley Cups!
lol
Yes Yes…I was referring to Conner MacDavid !
You are brave.
And from what Ive read recently, accurate as well.
+1
I like your logic. A sort of Columbus rebuild.
of course multi player deals are pretty rare in the cap era
and I dont think I would do this deal if I were Kekäläinen.
Too much risk / unproven players going to Columbus in return for proven players coming to the Oilers.
Is there a “good” scenario where Nurse gets traded? I mean by that, is it even possible that our young D develop so quickly that by the start of the 2020 season
Klefbom Larsson
Jones Bouchard
Lagesson Benning
Samorukov Persson
Or some such combination could actually make Nurse at least somewhat redundant?
Mikko Koskinen, Jesse Puljujarvi, Caleb Jones, Ryan McLeod, Joel Persson
for
Josh Anderson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Elvis Merzlikins, David Savard
I see this very much as a hockey trade that makes some good sense for both sides. CBJ blew its load for this spring’s playoff attempt. They are now in need of a starting goalie (and there is no sure thing out there in free agency). Panarin was a major part of their core; I think Seth Jones and Dubois are now. Puljujarvi is a gamble they may want to take with Dubois going forward. The Finnish GM may be the ideal person to unlock Jesse’s potential. Caleb Jones has the potential to be 3rd pair this season on their team behind Werenski and Murray and it may go a long way to making his brother Seth very happy. McLeod’s speed and Persson’s production may be enough to entice him to pull the trigger.
From an Oiler’s perspective, Anderson is an ideal fit. Bjkorkstrand is solid, too. Savard can step right into the 2RD spot and Elvis can compete for #2 goalie spot although I think Edmonton should be shopping Europe for a goalie to push him down. This is a rebuild year where competing for a playoff spot was going to be difficult anyhow. Maybe they gamble on Scott Darling’s return to form. He just got engaged and maybe he is mentally ready to come back. Maybe one of the top KHL goalies has an NHL contract out clause like Emil Garipov, Magnus Hellberg, Vasili Demchenko, or Lars Johansson. I’d be willing to gamble on any one of them for 1 year just as much as Koskinen.
Ouch!
This one is tougher than the one I asked.
I’d like to think of myself as the “type” of person that would choose the “McDavid wins elsewhere” option (because he deserves it….and the Oilers dont), but if Im being honest, unfortunately, (and its a hard thing to admit), selfish me would choose a Stanley Cup for the Oilers.
The qualifier is, if the Oiles traded McDavid, and then continued to do really stupid things with the roster and the cap, then I would cheer for McDavid to win the cup with another team.
New for The Athletic: Projecting Darnell Nurse’s next contract and possible trades
https://theathletic.com/1067616/2019/07/10/lowetide-projecting-darnell-nurses-next-contract-and-possible-trades/
Everything went wrong last year I’m hoping this will be opposite George year.
Two months but not much cap space. Godspeed, Ken.
I totally understand the hesitation to trade for a player with an expiring deal. But it’s pointless to use Anderson’s contract as a comparison when he isn’t available without an overpay.
Anyhow, I would make the Kreider trade if the price was reasonable for several reasons: i think the acquisition cost will be reasonable given the Rangers cap situation; I don’t think he’ll be super expensive to re-sign; I think he’d be a perfect fit on the team; if he doesn’t want to re-sign he can be traded at the deadline to recoup the assets spent; he likely won’t be expecting a max term deal like Hall will be.
I’d re-up him for 5 years sooner than I would Hall and I don’t think it’s risky because
– he’s big and durable
– he’s fast
– the contract covers age 29-33, i.e. not a retirement deal
We need a top 6 winger to start the year Holland has 2 plus months for something to shake loose.
I wouldn’t give up a future pick either, but would consider JP + a 3rd. Pretty sure we could get more back at the deadline. Gorton seems like a pretty sharp trader so we won’t be getting him too cheap, but they do have a cap problem on their hands and need to spend the money elsewhere.
Also, Anderson has only been eligible to sign an extension for 10 days now, I wouldn’t read too much into the fact that it hasn’t happened yet.
Sure anything can happen. Are you willing to give up Nuge + Samorukov to get him though? The Jackets have no interest in trading Anderson therefore the price will be very, very steep.
Not worth discussing, IMO.
jp,
That’s a fair assessment… halting yet engaged responses.
What doesn’t jive is his making rookie mistakes as a 3rd year player. Makes me wonder if he’s misunderstanding something crucial about his assignments/role. Or if it’s bees.
I would think Kreider’s looming UFA status would also drive down the acquisition cost. Don’t think I would spend a first rounder to get him. Maybe in 2021. Certainly not 2020. And if things don’t work out and you can’t resign him, you can always trade him again at the deadline.
You made me go look up some of his interviews on the Oilers site. I do agree that if he isn’t able to communicate with coaches and teammates (after three years!) it would be a big issue. On multiple levels.
I watched 4 or 5 interviews with him from the last year (most were from November around when he was healthy scratched, sent down, then recalled) and then a short one during the skills competition.
His english speaking is still quite halted and he comes off as having a pretty limited vocabulary. But at no point in any of the interviews did he appear to have trouble understanding the questions he was asked. He seemed to take everything in quickly, easily and correctly (and he didn’t misunderstand any of the questions), including in locker room scrums with multiple reporters asking questions.
My take is that his comprehension and ability to communicate are completely fine. He just comes off as not having good command of the language because of his accent and the way he speaks.
I suspect communication is not an issue for him and any improvements are unlikely unlock his potential.
To context Laine is not a great player. He’s a player with the world’s second best shot.
He’s also struggling relatively after the league figured him out. He isn’t good at much else. Jesse should read the draft analysis from his year where it was commonly thought he’d be the better player in the long run.
Bad agents or those that can’t reign in wrong headed clients are not helpful to anyone except perhaps themselves.
Too bad JP isn’t better able to communicate with the coaches and his teammates.
I bet he could unlock a lot of his innate talent if he could comprehend more, and be better understood.
When was the last time anyone saw an English interview with the young man where he demonstrated better than a novice’s command on the language? Actually asking.
Too bad McJesus couldn’t have recognized JPs importance to the organization and taken him under his wing. The talk of now turning that 4th overall pick, which was earned through another awful season of misery, into a Zach Smith or a Brandon Sutter, makes me want to hurl.
“Freedom of speech” doesn’t mean that Stauffer wasn’t acting in an unprofessional manner. The line “I’m not saying he’s a flake…” sounds awfully similar to “I’m not saying… I’m just saying.” He’s the mouthpiece of the Oilers. If Jesse needs some tough truth, it would have been preferable if it was coming from someone with direct authority (e.g., the GM or coach or captain) and preferably behind closed doors.
If I have a coworker who could use a nudge in the right direction, public shaming wouldn’t enter the picture.
*EDIT* I found a little comic that I hope better explains my viewpoint on freedom of speech in general (https://xkcd.com/1357/). Bob’s free to say what he wants, but I don’t have to support him, and I’m certainly free to lose a little respect for Bob and the Oilers for managing to make a damaged relationship more personal and hostile.
I’m probably in the lower percentile but I’m excited about next season. With Players coach Tippett at the helm and the Goaltending tandem of Smith and Kosh who will shock the haters to the playoffs.
Exactly. Hopefully the people’s evidence is enough to quash this new narrative. The Oilers medical staff is top notch; they would never ignore a player when he’s reporting pain.
‘He should shut his fucking mouth’ is a very aggressive statement. Where I’m from, it implies ‘or else’. Free speech also protects people from retribution. Bob’s statement about Jesse could have been crafted in a more political tone (it definitely was not slander); however, I do believe that there is some truth to his words and the player needs to take an introspective ‘hard look’ at his own performance in context with reality.
?
I saw what you did there…
Thank you!
pts2pndr,
Just wanted to say thank you for your solid posts.
And I may be being a dick here, but thank you for using fewer of those damn exclamation marks. You were bettter than your punctuation, right from the start.
Has Anderson signed a extension if not anything can happen with the Jackets and the direction they choose to go.
Being a good listener is the first step to being a good manager. We all for the most part believe we are good communicators when in reality this is not so. Your ideas are excellent, the true skill is in being able to communicate them to others.
Walked with many ethnic groups. Went to war with same. If you are real you will be accepted. Be true to your roots and to yourself. Trust that this matters. Never try to be someone your not. What may seem cool to you can shout phoney to those who know. Be you.
No need to be condescending.
Just because the player is available doesn’t mean that he’s a good acquisition target.
I didn’t miss anything about the player “being available”.
I don’t think he’s a good acquisition target because, as I stated:
“Do not trade for players approaching UFA status and then re-sign them for term for their decline year.”
This team i not yet in a position to be acquiring players that are one-year from UFA status and will be in line for raises that pay them for term through their decline.
In my opinion.
A boost of self confidence would do wonders for the guy, and he has the potential to be a beast if he matures enough to realize what it takes to play at the top level.
I guess you missed the comment about him being available. IMO it’s fruitless to speculate about acquiring Anderson because the Jackets have no interest in trading him. So the comparison isn’t between Anderson and Kreider, it’s between Kreider and whomever else is available in trade. I guess Zucker is the most prominent name.
Ristolainen plus what? Ehlers is worth 2x or 3x Risto.
IMO
The thing that gets me is that they possibly didn’t know he had a significant health issue at the draft.
It wasn’t a recent development. Capt Kirk I think knew it, had a bigger need at C, and possibly knew Jesse was a bit outside of the box.
All we can hope is the team doesn’t continue to get blindsided anymore.
It is a falso choice.
There is no choice that guarantees a cup. It is a mirage being waived at a fork in the road to distract and fool you.
The optimal road ahead with the highest probability of success is with McDavid.
I absolutely respect and appreciate McDavid and understand exactly what I have.
I trade him for any return that guarantees a Stanley Cup (not that such a concept exists in reality) and I drive him to the airport as quick as I can.
Every Oilers game is worth watching to me.
He’s also tripple the cap hit for this year and one year to UFA.
Do not trade for players approaching UFA status and then re-sign them for term for their decline year.
Once the org has solid cap room and close to a contending level roster, then such a move makes more sense.
Straight out of the OBC playbook.
“Wussie! Back when I played I was in the lineup for 3 months and 18 playoff games with 2 broken backs and missing a leg. Just the other day my hand fell off from all of my rings and I still signed the tab with the stumpy end!”
The second I posted this I considered editing it to add “if ever” because I knew you’d catch it. I didnt – I figured I’d leave the low hanging fruit for you!
You know, strictly to facilitate conversation.
““after careful consideration with Jesse, his agent and our medical staff, the best decision was to have the surgery and miss the remainder of the season.”
“After receiving some bad news from the Edmonton Oilers medical staff, young forward Jesse Puljujarvi had visited a specialist for a second opinion. Unfortunately that opinion seems to have agreed with the first, as Jason Gregor of TSN is reporting that Puljujarvi will undergo hip surgery next week. Puljujarvi will not play again this season.”
“First, reports stated that Puljujarvi had a consultation with a doctor who informed him the injury would require surgery. Later, the forward opted to seek a second opinion. The thought is he was hoping to avoid the season-ending outcome that an operation would bring. After obtaining the second opinion, Puljujarvi has found the surgical path unavoidable.”
How does the above bring you to your narrative, though?
Your narrative makes it seem as if Jesse has been asking for medical help but no one bothered to help him. But public knowledge is telling me Jesse explored multiple opinions over an issue his agent knew about and didn’t seem to balk at.