Connor McDavid is one of the wonders of the world. Last night, he brought home all of the hardware available in his categories and this fall will set sail on another journey to Stanley. Oilers fans are lucky to watch this great hockey player, who shocks the mind and delights the eye, play in their home rink 50+ times a year. Enjoy it, ladies and men. He is, after all the words and awards, a once in a lifetime talent.
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: Why Connor Brown is a fit for the Edmonton Oilers in free agency
- DNB: Connor McDavid’s top-5 moments from another awards-laden season
- Lowetide: Oilers’ Jayden Grubbe and his organizational importance
- Lowetide: 4 impact QMJHL centres for Oilers to target late in 2023 NHL Draft
- DNB: 10 questions with director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright
- Lowetide: Why Oilers’ Dylan Holloway is in prime position for a major role
- DNB: Five burning Edmonton Oilers questions ahead of the NHL Draft and free agency
- Lowetide: 5 quality Edmonton Oilers trade targets for low-budget offseason
- Lowetide: The Oilers and Russian draft picks haven’t worked — yet
- DNB: How Emily Cave found that ‘joy and grief can coexist’ in writing her book about Colby
- Lowetide: Ken Holland’s Oilers roster construction missing one final piece
- DNB: What I’m hearing about the Oilers 2.0: Evan Bouchard offer sheet? Klim Kostin to KHL?
- DNB: Oilers GM Ken Holland on salary cap space, Steve Staios, 2023 NHL Draft
- Lowetide: What are Oilers’ best NHL Draft bets for 2023 second-round pick?
- DNB: Oilers’ offseason options: Comparing conservative and aggressive approaches
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers targets early and late in NHL free agency.
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers position-by-position depth chart entering offseason
- Lowetide: Why Edmonton Oilers’ right wing overhaul is about to hit overdrive
- DNB: Why the Oilers are preparing to hold on to Cody Ceci this offseason
- DNB: What I’m hearing about Oilers’ offseason plans: Trade candidates, Erik Karlsson interest, more
- Lowetide: Identifying a 2023 NHL Draft sleeper prospect for the Oilers
- Lowetide: Stock up or down for every Oilers prospect in the system
THE MCDAVID CLUSTER
Connor McDavid won four awards last night, that’s a rare thing. The Hart, Lindsay, Art Ross and Rocket Richard trophies are a fantastic set, the final one reflecting another skill the young man added to his arsenal this past season.
The captain is the leader of a cluster that includes Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse, along with a long list of hopefuls who couldn’t deliver enough to stay. His first “cluster” included Draisaitl, Nurse and several hopefuls like Anton Slepyshev, Drake Caggiula and Nail Yakupov. The current clusters have promise above and below McDavid, but the group around him remains a trio:
- Age 20-22 (value deals): Evan Bouchard, Ryan McLeod, Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg
- Age 23-24 (building to payday): Kailer Yamamoto, Klim Kostin, Stuart Skinner, Jesse Puljujarvi
- Age 25-27 (prime): Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, Warren Foegele, Vincent Desharnais
- Age 28-30 (just past prime): Zach Hyman, RNH, Cody Ceci, Jack Campbell, Brett Kulak, Mattias Janmark, Nick Bjugstad
- Age 31-33 (off ramp soon): Evander Kane, Mattias Ekholm, Tyson Barrie
- Age 34-36 (the coach who plays): Derek Ryan
The prime group is ridiculous, and Warren Foegele did pretty well compared to many of the players who have been part of the McDavid group in the past. The just past prime group had some strong seasons and one difficult one, the 31-33 trio were solid although one was traded for the other. Derek Ryan is all world.
The key for Edmonton, as I see it, is that 20-24 group. We’ll see some regression from Nuge and the elders, but if Bouchard, McLeod, Holloway and Broberg land closer to Skinner and Kostin than the others, this team is going to go a long way. Word yesterday the Oilers are not close on Kostin, but that Janmark and Bjugstad and in the conversation.
POSSIBLE OILERS ROSTER (22 players, $107,500 in cap room available)
I like this roster, don’t know if it’s doable but there are 22 names here and it comes in under the cap. Ken Holland likes to run with about $1 million to spare, that’s a casualty of this most cruel summer.
- Traded Cody Ceci, Warren Foegele and the 2024 first-round selection to the Carolina Hurricanes for Brett Pesce, Ronan Seely and the Hurricanes second-round pick in 2023.
- Traded Kailer Yamamoto to the Washington Capitals for 2023 third-round pick.
- Signed RFA’s Evan Bouchard, Ryan McLeod and Raphael Lavoie. Not signing Klim Kostin is disappointing, and Noah Philp’s not returning is a blow to the organization.
- Signed UFA’s Garnet Hathaway, Nick Bjugstad, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown.
I quite like this group, there’s better depth across the roster and some roomm for developing players like Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg and (the only rookie) Raphael Lavoie. I’m a fan of young Ronan Seely, he would provide more depth on defense and (I think) go right to the top of the recall list.
WHY NOT KOSTIN?
It’s money of course, but Nick Bjugstad is a center and that has some extra value. The return of Mattias Janmark should help the penalty kill. Looking at the five-on-five numbers a year ago, bringing back Bjugstad and Janmark makes sense, but you’d like the upside of Kostin on the roster. The three men had good seasons (all numbers five-on-five) but Kostin is more likely to grow over the next several.
- Klim Kostin: 2.02 pts-60; 61 pct goal share; 47 pct expected goal share
- Nick Bjugstad: 1.67 pts-60; 63 pct goal share; 51 pct expected goal share
- Mattias Janmark: 1.34 pts-60; 50 pct goal share; 49 pct expected goal share
If Kostin is looking for anything above $1.5 million, I don’t think Holland can go there. The same applies to Bjugstad and Janmark. Edmonton is going to have to trade Kailer Yamamoto and someone else as it is, nothing too massive and I’d be willing to bet the club brings in some good PTO options. Land sakes, someone might even check the waiver wire once or twice in the next six months.
JUSTIN BAILEY
The Oilers are phorked as it pertains to depth at several positions. Right wing currently is Zach Hyman, Kailer Yamamoto, Warren Foegele and Derek Ryan but that will change. I imagine we’ll see two out and two in, but it would behoove the club to sign some substantial players to NHL contracts with an eye to them playing with the Bakersfield Condors until such time they are needed in Edmonton. Justin Bailey had a good season in Bakersfield last year, here are his numbers compared to other RW’s on the team. All numbers even strength, sorted by points-per-game.
- Seth Griffith .47 points-per-game; 46 pct goal share
- Justin Bailey .34 points-per-game; 46 pct goal share
- Ty Tullio .33 points-per-game; 54 pct goal share
- Xavier Bourgault .32 points-per-game; 60 pct goal share
- Dino Kambeitz .17 points-per-game; 61 pct goal share
Looking at these totals, getting Xavier Bourgault and Tyler Tullio more even-strength minutes in Bakersfield this coming season makes sense. Seth Griffith is signed for another year, Matvey Petrov is graduating to pro and may play on right-wing. Bailey’s goal share, like Griffith’s, isn’t screaming NHL recall, and yet visually Bailey was by far the more dynamic player. I’d sign Bailey, and honestly he would be my first recall from Bakersfield from this group. Maybe not all season, but until Bourgault or Tullio start to dominate and impact the offense, that would be the play here. Watch those RFA’s who don’t get qualified, perhaps there’s someone in that group of free agents who can help.
TODAY
I would not be shocked to see Kailer Yamamoto traded. We might also see one of the pending UFA’s signed to a deal and one hopes for more encouraging news on Kostin but you may want to slam your fist against the dashboard as you make your way through the day, just to prepare.
TOMORROW
I’ve always done a draft show on TSN1260, so tomorrow is going to feel weird. I’m going to spend my afternoon (I have an 11am meeting) posting here on the blog and live tweeting during the leadup and through the draft. Nothing massive, but I want to communicate and this is the best way I know under the current circumstances. Hope you drop by!
I like your latest lineup LT – might swap Kostin for Hathaway if possible – but that looks close to me. I’m hoping that Holland is negotiating directly with the player through the press. Sounds like the agent is threatening options (KHL) and Holland is talking over top of him to the player about the reality of the situation. Would there be a market for Kostin? Maybe for Nic Dowd so Ovechkin has another buddy – but I’d prefer that size, aggression and shot in our lineup.
I can see Bjugstad coming back and trading some salary for term. That’s fine with me. Oilers are the best chance for him to win, and if money is more important, well then we are better off going in another direction. Would like a 3rd line of Fog-McLeod-Bjugstad.
Waiting for the sail on Yamo post…….
Usually Oilers hint who they like at the draft, no idea if it is a goalie, forward or a defenceman
I suspect if the player/players aren’t at #56 they trade down if they can. Or they will use it on a trade for an existing player.
Hard to telegraph your pick when it’s well outside the first round.
Who was the last pick that was hinted at by management, Holloway? Top 15, one could do that.
I don’t think anyone expected The Bourg or Schaefer, given where they were picked.
Klim be careful going back to play in the KHL. You may get drafted by pukin
Perhaps OP you can answer this – as you watch a lot of the Condors. Seth Griffith appears to perform pretty well by some of the “stats” above, so why is he not a potential call up? And yes I know there are nuances, just a question about players on the farm.
Foot speed would be my guess.
Thanks.
He isn’t slow, closer to average but his utility is limited. He is a bit better than Perlini, for example, but he just doesn’t provide much at the NHL level and doesn’t have the size, speed or shot (and pedigree) that Perlini has, so he never got very much opportunity.
Griffith is a pure skill player, so his role in the NHL is occupied by Zach Hyman and (last year) Kailer Yamamoto. He isn’t going to be a checker, and there are better options in the NHL for his role.
He has good skill, and would probably put up some points in the NHL, but he is a meh skater (not terrible but meh), I don’t think he’s throwing more than 5 hits or won more than 10 board battles in his Condors’ career and is a “meh” 2-way player at best, in my opinion.
Thanks everyone for input. I appreciate being able to gather information on players from all you out there who are knowledgeable. It is interesting to see these characteristics and how that affects those players value for the team.
I think the NHL has some pretty serious issues incoming. The parity that was supposed to have been created by the salary cap further makes competition harder for the smaller especially Canadian teams that can’t throw money at free agents to come play as the players prefer the warmer climates. Even players in some of the warm places will stick it out for prolonged rebuilds.
You think Gibson would have stuck it out in Winnipeg
The nhl is gonna have to figure out who the least 5-10 desirable franchise are and prop them up with cap cushions
Why would the NHL change anything?
Canadian fans will fill their buildings and watch on TV no matter what.
The salary cap already provides a level playing field although Canadian team management groups have to work smarter to be competitive.
Will they? I think at some point they will get fed up. Minnesota is the state of hockey but the Wild were ignored for years.
And I already gave you examples of why the playing field is actually not level
Are you expecting the NHL to enact a warm weather tax?
No, but how about a “no tax” tax? On top of the climate, players will, and have, sign with teams like Florida and Tampa for 15-20% less, and still take home the same or more salary. So those teams essentially have 15-20% more cap to work with. Not a level playing field at all.
While that is true it’s very complex since tax rates vary from state to state and province to province.
For example, tax rates in Alberta are significantly lower than in Quebec.
If you want to equalize that, you would need an army of actuaries who are tasked with assessing, income tax rates, consumption taxes, housing costs, utility rates, vehicle prices, gas prices and on and on and on.
I agree, I suppose I just take exception to the level playing field comment. You’re right, it is probably as level as it could reasonably be, but that does not make level.
The next step would be an ‘incompetent GM’ or ‘underfunded ownership group’ adjustment.
And the playing field would still not be level because equity is not a metric that can be accomplished.
Exactly so.
Some teams have benefited greatly from “equity” measures like the draft lottery and are still a couple of bubbles off plumb.
Or one AI.
A Canadian team from perhaps the coldest of all cities would have won the Cup this year if the cap was actually enforced.
An officiating and DOPS handicap is what is required to level the field.
Calgary is entering their decade of darkness. If they think that’s a good trade I can’t imagine what the bad trades will look like
Sharangovich is a good player
Is he better than a healthy Yamamoto?
I also really like the player, he is a 2nd liner in Edm and would push Nuge to 3C, IMO.
He is essentially what we hope Holloway becomes.
And Sharangovich has not reached his ceiling yet. I see 35-40 goals and 80 point potential. And he has so much Utility.
What do you see in him that shows he’s going to almost double his career season in both points and goals as a 25 year old? From where I sit, and given who he spent most of his playing time with in Jersey, I’m not sure I see it. His linemates are likely to be worse on the Flames, but he will get more ice time at 5×5 and PP. I could see him getting 25 goals and 50-55 points but not sure I see much more than that from here. Still a downgrade for the Flames in the short term, however you slice it.
I think it’s a good trade for Calgary; Sharangovich is good and younger by 6 years.
Not to mention cap space.
As we’ve seen in the past week, cap space is more valuable than players.
Toffoli can score he still has a couple of 30 Goal seasons in him for a relatively cheap contract. I would take this player anytime.
I was so focused on whether the Oilers killed the Flames, I didn’t notice Rob Blake ripping up pictures of Draisaitl and McDavid, pacing around his office and muttering how PLD would be the one to push LA over the top.
Mark Spector. @SportsnetSpec·15m
Caleb Jones will not be qualified, becomes UFA.
All those folks who blasted us over the Keith trade, apologies accepted.
So much vindication
Fair enough, go ahead and take your victory lap. My issues with the trade were cap related though, and I don’t think my opinion would change if I went back in time. It was a risky move which turned out okay since Keith retired, but we couldn’t have known that at the time.
Spector is gloating far more than I would. Definitely no need for any victory laps, and I agree with you that even in hindsight you can argue the trade for either side.
It did end up going far better than many/most thought at the time though. For me the analysis of Keith that prevailed (‘3rd pairing, at best’ and the like) was what polarized things so much.
Back to Jones (and Bear) though, this does give more credence, and a certain degree of vindication, that the teams assessment of the player was generally correct.
In that theme – wonder what will happen with Jesse P? Has anything come out of Carolina as yet?
I haven’t seen anything, or gone looking for what folks who follow Carolina think. I can’t imagine he’d be qualified at $3M though.
Seravelli – I think it was him – reported that he would not be qualified. I’ll see if I can find it.
EDIT: My mistake, this was just him speculating.
2. Jesse Puljujarvi
Right Wing, Carolina Hurricanes
Qualifying Offer Due: $3 million
Scoop: It was a worthy gamble for the Hurricanes, acquiring Puljujarvi for next to nothing, to see if he could find magic with some fellow Finns. It didn’t work out. He didn’t score a single goal in 24 total games and was a healthy scratch for eight of Carolina’s 15 playoff contests.
Yeah I remember seeing that from Seravalli as well. We’ll know soon enough officially, but as I said I can’t fathom them committing $3M after 24 0-3-3 with healthy scratches.
Be interesting to see if he can find his game, wherever he ends up signing. He’s a lot better player than Edmonton or Carolina got last year.
eventually the proof is in the pudding and we are several servings in now.
Some of the servings were pretty good, no?
I know there are numbers that make him look good in a top 6 role with the right linemates against the right opposition for a segmented period of his career, feel free to quote them for me. But the overall body of work is decidedly underwhelming. Some of us agreed that he had potential but were worried his body and skill sets weren’t lining up to be a productive, everyday, player in the NHL. Whatever the reason – not enough time in Finland, not enough time in North America. The organization eventually agreed, so he landed the absolute best possible outcome for himself and he scored 0 goals.
I do not pile on players. But his fans have an attachment syndrome that boggles my mind sometimes.
Yes, Puljujarvi did/does have a lot of ardent fans who (IMO) went a bit over the top in terms of what he was and what he could be.
I wasn’t one of those, though I also believe his true quality is ‘productive, everyday, player in the NHL’.
He did not show it this past season, though IMO he was exactly that for large chunks of this NHL career to this point. Seems that you disagree even with that, which is also fine.
Same for me. We see good players way more in prime go for way less cap dumps. No retention no assets. LT has said it many times, if you’re not willing to walk away from a deal you aren’t getting the best deal
Which is where stats come in. IF there was a group doing deep analysis perhaps other options would be in the mindset, so the ability to walk away
I didn’t mind Keith, and he did help, more in mindset than performance. But
Constantly overpaying in a capped league adds up. We see that now, Athanasiou come to mind, Nurse, and now Ken still feels he’s cap constrained and now has few non NHL assets
I look at the Knights Capfriendly, it’s different. And they are champions. It’s all in the mindset
The Keith trade was interesting. I think even in hindsight, there’s no question that there should have been cap retention by the Hawks.
I had a somewhat charitable view of what Keith might bring when chatter first emerged though my opinion on the trade and Keith changed when it was at full cap hit. Still he played a lot better than I and many others expected. Still that gap control was almost tragic to watch.
Projecting a Keith who’s getting killed at 1d on a bad team or a Gavrikov on Columbus is challenging.
JP stuck to his rels on Gavrikov. I think JP liked Gavrikov more than most here and it seems like LA agrees with him. I like many of the pundits probably underrated Gavrikov by quite a margin.
Rob Vollman is not an idiot.
Yup. As usual Spec doesn’t get it.
Many competent bottom half of the roster players in the league will not be qualified because arbitration will give them too high a salary, and they can be replaced with sub $2 million dollar players.
Chicago will probably sign him back. They just didn’t want to risk arbitration.
You know you overpaid for a Quebec born player when Montreal bows out of the bidding war.
Tyler Toffoli has been traded to NJ for Yegor Sharangovich and a third
This is one of the greatest misfires in the last ten years.
At a generous suggestions PLD is worth $3.5/season. That’s generous cause this Powerplay already sucks. He is NOT a first line driver. Amazingly bad read of the player. He’ll get eaten alive against top comp.
As predicted this contract carries at least $40 million in negative value.
Four roster players gone in a week from a team that gave us fits. This is amazing, such a generous act of self-sabotage by Blake.
LOL incredible series of posts on PLD. Did he kill your dog?
How is PLD worth 3.5 mil?
8.5 per is too generous but 6 would be a discount. 3.5 would be highway robbery
This is exactly the modus operandi pursued by Tampa, Colorado, Vegas and Florida.
Amass a bunch of prospects and rather that engage in wishing and hoping they all develop, assess their worth early and move them for difference makers.
LA has obviously switched to “all in” mode and are moving the suspects and replacing them with actual high impact players.
Your assessment of the PLD contract is ridiculous.
And, thing is, LA still possesses one of the best prospect pools in the league.
You need to pick a lane with LA.
You were hyping them up because they drafted and developed a bunch of talented young players who helped get them to the playoffs based on said young, cheap talent. And then you warned that they would only get better as they enter their primes! And they had so much depth! Watch out, Oilers!
And thennn.. LA gave Durzi away for almost nothing, and then gave up Iafallo, Villardi and Kupari for a non franchise center in Dubois + a whole lot of cap space.
You’re right in that LA is following Tampa’s MO, except not for the peak Tampa trades, but more the “give up a bunch of assets for Tanner Jeannot” Tampa kind of trades.
Really?
Can you list me off a few trades by TB, COL, VGK or FLA that fit the ‘2 quality NHLers plus plus for a 25 year old 2C who *might* develop into a 1C‘ mold?
I’ll spot you the Huberdeau/Weegar for Tkachuk trade, though all the pieces involved were on a different level.
Got any others?
Per NHL Sid:
This past season, Vilardi had just one less 5v5 point than Dubois in nearly 250 minutes less. Both Vilardi & Iafallo had a higher 5v5 points per 60 than Dubois, alongside very good defensive results.
Fun Fact: Speaking of production rates, the Oilers had 5 centers with a higher 5v5 goals per 60 than Dubois this past season (McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, McLeod, and D.Ryan).
———-
I’m not sure who are the supsects and who are the high end assets….
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20222023&thruseason=20222023&stype=2&sit=ev&stdoi=oi&rate=n&v=p&playerid=8479400
This is a summary of even strength total production, not 5 v 5 and not 5 v 5 rates.
LA punted a ton of value and brought in a 3rd line centre to be their franchise.
It’s horrible asset management.
Ryan McLeod draws tougher comp and scores more at 5v5 than PLD…
Ryan McLeod isn’t yet a $3.5 million player but he’s already worth more than PLD.
Now for something completely different,
Manoah gives up 11 runs in 2.2 innings of work in the Florida development league today. 😖
I feel bad for the kid. Apparently he was one of the slowest pitchers last season so maybe he just needs time to adjust to the pitch clock?
Holy crap: Vilardi and Iafallo for PLD is an overpay. Add in Kupari and a 2nd and that might be one of the worst trades I can think of in a long long time.
Throw in a $2MM per season overpayment for 8 years and this one of the worst transactions in the cap era.
I love it!
what i love is they no longer have the cap to take a run at drat when he becomes a UFA which was a real worry of mine
Vilardi had 1 less 5v5 point last year than Dubois in 250 min less played.
Think about it for a minute
But – you have CLEARLY forgotten! PLD has SO MUCH POTENTIAL! His potential/60 is astounding!! And of course – what are the phrases again? “Weaponized cap”, “another move coming”, “about to really pop”, different top 9 structure”……and so on and so on.
Let’s review: over the last couple days or so, LA has traded 4 decent players (Villardi, Durzi, Iafallo, Kupari), 3 of which are under 25 and 2 of which are first round picks in exchange for the ability to overpay PLD for 8 years.
I’m ok with that.
The best thing about this deal, is that they no longer have enough cap space to make a material improvement in goal. Korpisalo will revert back to being terrible once he signs an extension/retirement contract with the Kings
Korpisalo? They’ve got no money for Korpisalo.
With PLD in the fold, assuming the 3 rookies fill out their to D corps (Clarke, Spence, Bjornfoot), they only have $2.1M in Cap left.
That $2.1M for a starting goalie and 2 more forwards (to get them to 22 man roster). I think I’ve got that math right.
I believe Blake will still need to shed Arvidsson or similar even to re-sign Korpisalo (then we get to the revert back thing you said).
And, more specifically, that they don’t have the room for Hellbuyck in net. What a relief!
This is a really good summary. LA stripped down it’s depth to acquire PLD. They do have a good top 9 but are going to need to strip it down further to get to a full roster. And if they have any injuries during the year (and every team does), it becomes more challenging.
I guarantee you there will be those who think this will push them to the top of the Pacific, but I don’t buy it. Kopitar and Doughty ran out of gas in the playoffs – and that was a 6 game series.
”La made the playoffs“
“oh good it must be because their collections of can’t miss prospects panned out”
”well actually”
@fagstein
Nationally broadcast NHL games next season, per team:
Toronto: 42
Montreal: 32
Ottawa: 27
Vancouver: 24
Edmonton: 22
Calgary: 22
Winnipeg: 22
The NHL sure knows how to market their best assets!
Chris Johnston@reporterchris·4m
Hearing the eight-year extension for Pierre-Luc Dubois will carry an $8.5M AAV in the sign-and-trade with Los Angeles.
@NorthStarBet
That would mean PLD is only 92% as valuable as Darnell Nurse.
Value actually works the other way.
And the cap has gone up twice since Nurse signed.
So you’re saying you like the contract?
It’s fine….average value.
You have to remember LA structures it’s top 9 differently since they had Kevin Fiala playing on their 2B line.
Also important to remember, the cap will take a big jump next offseason and if course Kopitar’s $10 million comes off the books although I expect he will return likely on cheap one year deals.
Ahh, the Nurse contract is a boat anchor but PLDs is average value because of the structure of LAs top 9.
Thank you for that. 👌
Dubois new contract makes him tied for 14-19th place among centres in the NHL.
But bear if mind that this a new signing and others will soon surpass it as the cap rises.
Nurse is 7th highest paid defenseman in the NHL and as we saw last night he didn’t garner even ONE vote for the Norris Trophy while 19 others did.
We will have to see how the LA centre lineup shakes out but PLD is for sure a top 6C and this contract is paying him for his prime years.
@domluszczyszyn
Kings get Pierre-Luc Dubois in a sign and trade. He’s not a franchise player, but he’s still very strong offensively. The contract is a touch on the high side, but looks within reason with the rising cap.
https://twitter.com/domluszczyszyn/status/1673777099444723714?s=20
Right because a near 37 year old Kopitar after next season at $10m, on a “cheap one year deal” will wash away the loss of 4 quality 20 somethings and one underperforming perpetually unhappy PLD.
He is the same cost over the next two seasons as Draisatl. Comparing the two players, I am very happy.
That is such a great contract, from an Oilers’ fan standpoint. Love it.
Is this a case of a GM finding “his guy” and paying whatever it takes? Seems crazy…between the players traded and that cap number.
As far as we know …and there could be other players involved…it’s $5 million in cap out and $8.5 in so a net increase of only $3.5 million.
Thats not bad for a 25 year old (birthday last week) 6’3 220 potential #1C at the player expense of two bottom 6 players.
AND a 2nd rounder going to Winnipeg, according to Friedman.
It’s $4 million and two RFAs for PLD, so a next increase of $4.5 million. That leaves LA with $4.5 million in cap space, only 16 players signed, and no starting goalie. They’ll need to move Arvidsson and likely more salary. So they will have moved out at least 2 D and 4 F this off season at that point, to bring in PLD and Gavrikov. As an Oilers fan I love this.
Those RFA’s had to be qualified and Vilardi has arbitration rights.
Potential??
you may want to post those ageing curves for forwards for your own reference again
Everyone, it’s important to remember that HH was also a big fan of the Tanner Jeannot trade. It’s going to be hard to point out how LA was completely robbed on this one to someone who loved the Jeannot trade.
Yes, that sounds about fair.
$8.5 million for eight years for a 3rd line centre at even strength…. This is a fireable offense.
As an Oiler fan. This is giggly awesome.
After a quick peek over at the insiders blog ……. We got robbed! Was the average kings fan take on this deal.
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
Colorado trades Alex Newhook to Montreal for a first and a second round pick
@FriedgeHNIC
The picks are 31st and 37th overall. Defenceman Gianni Fairbrother also goes to the Avalanche
WOW!
Think the Avalanche are up to something bigger.
Now have two first round picks.
Has his stock plummeted in a year
Murat Ates
@WPGMurat
I’m hearing Los Angeles and Winnipeg are closing in on thr Pierre-Luc Dubois deal. Looks imminent, with Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, and Rasmus Kupari as key pieces from LA. Still a couple of details to sort.
I just saw this and came to post about it.
For those three pieces, it has to be more than just PLD, right?
I hope that extension is $8MM plus. I’ve read about $9MM but that’s out of the realm of reasonableness for this player – heck, $8MM is unreasonable.
This is a catastrophic mistake by Blake.
I love it so much hahahaha
Traded Cody Ceci, Warren Foegele and the 2024 first-round selection to the Carolina Hurricanes for Brett Pesce, Ronan Seely and the Hurricanes second-round pick in 2023.
No thank you. Cody Ceci was very solid in 2021-22 at a bargain rate. Sure, he struggled a bit this year (I think maybe injuries were a factor?). Defensemen are inconsistent from year to year. I’d bet on him outperforming his contract next year.
I also think Foegele has plenty of value, even if he’s a little overpaid.
I don’t think we need to be so concerned about 2RW. Every year, you can get 30yo scoring wingers for $1M in free agency. Set Yamamoto free and that gives us the room.
I’d also like to keep our 2024 first-rounder for deadline help next year. What if Campbell continues to be terrible and Skinner hits the sophomore slump? We need the first-rounder as a trade chip for the 2024 equivalent of Joonas Korpisalo…..or Dwayne Roloson.
2RW is important, we need decent wingers for both McDavid and Draisaitl or we end up with them on the same line.
do you really believe Bjugstad at 1.2??
LT, thank you for adding ‘phorked’ to my vocabulary.
Holland:
1) Bouchard: Lots of talk. Can’t give a time line. Had had a number of conversations, 3-4 over the last few weeks and a few here in Nashville.
2) Would we like to get him signed before offer sheet potential? Yes, but it has to work for both teams.
3) McLeod: QO has been filed. Not sure what we are doing with Kostin. He’s had conversations with KHL teams and I need to decide over the next 3-4 days what I’m going to do.
DNB asked why Kostin may not get a QO “Its about negotiations”
4) “Getting in to top 10” – not going to happen.
5) Rishaug asks plan with Broberg: Again, Holland brings up Bouchard not playing a ton at 21 and then popping later. Acknowledged they are different players. We are in “win now mode”. References veterans acquired (Kulak and Ekholm) and it makes it tougher for kids to play. Gotta figure out how to get him to be an every day player.
6) Asked about bonus type contracts. Holland references the bonuses would hit the cap next year so its not that easy.
7) Agrees reality is trying to return most of the team as opposed to additions. References core is locked up but Bouch and McLeod are getting there. McLeod is 3C and that’s an important part of team.
8) References how good the bottom six was last year but that some of those players won’t be as cheap: McLeod, Bjugstad.
9) “We are going to lose some players”
10) Its an opportunity for Holloway to take a bigger row.
11) Have not spoken to Kailer yet. Still working the phones and will see how things transpire.
12) References July 2, 3, 4 – not July 1. Focusing on the bottom 6.
13) Gotta get Bouch and McLeod signed and then finish off the rest.
14) Go for best player available as opposed to need. Usually a 2nd rounder isn’t just a year or two away, its 3-5 years usually and the team could look very different. Look for highest upside and biggest potential down the road.
15) Voice raised when asked about Lavoie and “yes” he could fill a role. Talked about his great season. Says he’s working out hard this off-season. Will get lots of pre-season games. He’s a waiver player this season.
16) Is there a process started for future GM? “That’s not really me”. Focused on the now. Let the rumors fly. I’m trying to win and do my job on a day to day basis.
17) Are you open to hanging around in the future: “I’m open to anything”
Finding it difficult to comprehend a downvote on a transcription…. what does that mean? You dislike the typing?
There were two downvotes on the post advising the media avail was coming up, moments after I posted it.
As I’ve said multiple times, I put zero stock in any up or down vote: absolutely meaningless.
LOL – I agree it just seems so bizarre! FWIW I appreciate your transcriptions!
Pierre LeBrun
@PierreVLeBrun
·
7m
Flyers have traded Kevin Hayes to ST Louis for a sixth round pick. Flyers retain 50 percent on Hayes.
Cap space is getting ridiculously expensive.
I’m astounded that high end players are being practically given away.
Good deal for St.Louie new G.M in Philly cleaning house.
A very good #2C at $3.6 million for pocket lint.
Holland having his pre-draft media avail starting shortly.
I think the Oilers need to replace 20% of the roster ever year, to force improvement. From the final 20 last year, I would try to improve on;
Campbell
Seaweed
Kulak
Janmark
I’m not sure replacing 4-5 players every year is a need but there will always be turnover. Its trending that the Oilers will replace Yamamoto, Kostin and Bjugstad but we’ll see.
To your list:
1) I think Jack Campbell 2023/24 will be an upgrade on Jack Campbell 2022/23. Externally, there are lots of goalies available this off-season, some of which very well could be an upgrade – of course, the cost of moving the contract is simply untenable and not a realistic option.
2) Broberg is a Deharnais upgrade.
3) I’m not sure its reasonable upgrade on what Kulak provides at 3LD – he was 2LD and they upgraded at the deadline.
4) Janmark – sure.
Is Seaweed an official nickname for Desharnais? If so, that’s an awesome nickname.
Ya, it started in Bako (from what I understand).
Nickname from Manson
Pretty cool to see how good McDavid has become in front of the microphone.
Whatever your own thoughts on some of the issues are, McDavid has a way of concisely, firmly stating his point, and has mastered sprinkling in some humour here and there.
A gem!
David Roth is one of the best writers on Defector and lord I wish he had a national audience. Baseballl fans will enjoy this, but much of what he discusses here is exactly what LT has been preaching for years. I’m not going to copy and paste the entire article, but there’s much good content here for fans of any sport.
https://defector.com/good-teams-make-their-players-better
It’s easier to describe than it is to pull off, but the Be The Dodgers model looks more or less like this: Spend big and decisively on big-league talent right away, while also doing everything possible to make every player-development element of the organization state of the art. In the near term, the roster may be top-heavy and expensive, but it will be competitive; in the longer term, all that forward-thinking player development and coaching will both produce younger talent and rehabilitate under-the-radar contributors to balance out the roster, and those new contributors can either replace expensive stars as they age out or be swapped for more top-of-the-market talent.
In the longer-than-that term, if done right, that cycle looks like a perpetual motion device: The winning practices maintain themselves and become a shared institutional habit, to the point where the manager or players really and truly might not sweat a losing streak because they know that they are good, and that they are surrounded by people who will help them fix whatever is wrong and improve whatever is lagging. Do it for a decade, and it sells itself.
For industry-leading teams like the Dodgers and the Giants, the difference-making breakthrough is not some abstruse proprietary technology or algorithm-aided methodology brought to bear by a cadre of MBA types. That technological stuff runs through it all, but the best teams integrate it through smart, adaptive, detailed coaching that works with players to make it all comprehensible, and then practicable, and finally just habit.
Rich people, especially finance creatures like Cohen, tend to be enamored of big data, both because they like things that are big and because they are attracted to cold stainless surfaces. But at this point in baseball’s information age, that information is available to every team that cares to know it. The real difference is between the teams that know what to do with it and those that don’t.
This is not just about understanding all that information in an integrated and coherent way. If the last revolution in baseball was about refining organizational processes, the current one appears to hinge on the comparatively unsexy realm of operations—making all that complicated stuff simple enough to work from one level and one player and one moment to the next, and then applying it over and over again. Some of that progress can be bought, but the last and hardest and seemingly most important bit happens at a more human scale.
All that big data has to be made small enough to benefit individual players. This, as much as anything else, is how teams get and stay good—they make their players better. A team that can’t do that would not only have to shop at the top of the market until they can figure it out—this is about the Mets again, by the way—but it would also be very vulnerable when it encounters even the level of turbulence that could be described as “normal baseball shit.” Picture a closet full of elegant and expensive suits, made to measure for a man who is terrible at tying his shoes.
**************
This was always the more challenging part of the team’s Be The Dodgers plan, and one that would necessarily take longer to implement even if the organization had been more committed to getting rid of the previous administration’s barnacles than it has been. While Cohen has unquestionably delivered by spending on free agents, there’s no real evidence that the other, harder work has begun. The farm system remains atomized and entropic: If there are coaches capable of, say, teaching a stymied relief prospect a new slider, that work is not yet paying any evident dividends in terms of exciting pop-up prospects, or even contemporary pitch design.
The new ways to lose that the team seems to discover weekly are, upon closer examination, just familiar unfixed problems assuming strange new configurations under pressure. What is either a lack of capacity or a simple lack of interest compounds and compounds.
From there, it goes how it always goes. Management blames the players when things go wrong; players blame themselves; the mood curdles, little by little and then all at once, as it becomes clear that no one cares to fix what’s breaking or broken. This is not just a baseball thing. The idea that the inconvenient and expensive labor-intensive aspects of production could somehow be refined and refined until they simply produce a clean and optimized product on their own is both pure capitalist alchemy and one of the enduring delusions of our age.
Baseball always returns to the executive fantasy that the game can be perfected by people other than baseball players, or somehow be made to exist by other-than-baseball means. This persists even as it becomes increasingly obvious that those highly refined processes are meaningless if they cannot be understood and reproduced by the people tasked with making it all real on the field, and whose labor is the league’s product.
There is no way to make any of this work without people—people teaching, people learning, people doing. So much more is understood about baseball now than has ever been understood in the past, but somehow the fact that the game is work arrives as a surprise every time.
I get the general idea – why be the Dodgers though?
They have one title in 35 years.
I think it just shows how difficult it is to win even once, and then even more so to win repeatedly. The point is to set up the organization itself successfully, not just get the best players. I like the discussion on how to use data, because this blog generally likes math and we are unsure how much the Oilers like math
Baseball is subject to ridiculous randomness in the playoffs. It’s an utter joke.
The Florida Marlins finished under .500 in 7 of their first 9 seasons. The other two seasons, they won the World Series.
Baseball playoffs only made sense when the two leagues were distinct and had no intra-league playoffs (i.e. only the World Series). The pennant went to the regular season champ over 162 games. The World Series was like a European Champions League; the loser was still a champion in their own league.
Fantastic, thanks
This hits on so many things across the board. The first one for me is ‘window’. Someone says something once, it catches on, and then it becomes an unproven ‘fact’. Sure you probably can’t be a champion often these days, but becoming uncompetitive is a self inflicted malady
Some teams stay in the hunt for years. Decades. An organization that continually tries to get better and is creative or innovative, and pushes to focus on the things that matter to winning can do that I think
Processed data should be a lynch pin of that. But as you said it’s a tool, not the answer. I think it’s biggest use should be in looking for value in players. Then in guiding a continued refining of systems of play. Hockey doesn’t really change if the rules don’t, but there is constant adaptation and you have to stay up with it and battle against it
I don’t think coaches should need in game data. It interesting to fans to see, but to me if a coach needs that they shouldn’t be a coach at the NHL level. If they can’t see what is going on tactically or whatever after being in hockey there whole lives, ya no
I’d felt that as of 2015 the Oilers were positioned to manage assets in a manner that invited this kind perpetual motion machine cycle of achievement. Alas it was not to be, but the echo of what could have been still has me wanting, instinctually, for instance, to lock in Bouch long for as cheap as he’ll ever be, deal later with whatever comes of that, rinse wash repeat whenever you have a piece of that caliber (Bouch’s caliber debated I know).
Of course the cap bottleneck represented by the renewal of the McDrai contracts is real and spectacular, and those two are more than ‘blue chip.’ They’re generational slash once in a blue moon players. So I guess it’s shoot the moon.
But suppose – imagine – the Oil don’t go all-in and win anyway. Doesn’t that set the team up for even more bright tomorrows? A final, sustained, post-prime push by a retained McDrai?
The window feels real and it is what it is. Hate to imagine going all-in, not seeing Oil claim Stanley, watching one or both of Drai / McD toil in mediocrity through their sunset seasons as per P. Kane and J. Toews.
Anyways in this response I realize I’ve confused basic asset management / longitudinal thinking and the broader Be The Dodgers model as outlined – personalized applications of big data, coordinated operational support in determining such applications, etc.
Sorry. This is me rambling through a post-lunch food coma. Take no heed. Maybe downvote.
I think on it. Part of my getting after Holland is the Oilers were in that pork. But he is pls school and not creative. He’s good for sure, not doing weird and stupid things that happened before
But he’s like the other good GMs, that have windows, and are constrained by their own thinking, which I’m sure is set in stone, based on his constantly comparing now to a decade plus ago when he had previous success
I hope he stays and moves further upstairs. He’s a sage and I think respected in the league
But for being a sage and a good man in a rough over competitive industry as pro sports are. His days on the tools days are past him as I see it
This team is positioned to absolutely crush the next 10 years at historic levels, but he doesn’t see it based on his chats and I don’t think has the trading and stats chops to do it
The cap bottleneck is being tackled, as i see it, by the timing of the contract expiries. Only one major contract per season to renew whenever possible. That is why I see Bouchard on a one year this time and renewing next year long term (when escrow brake is gone). Them the major piece the year after his long term deal is Drai and the year after that is McD. Don’t want to be caught having to do Bouchard’s long term deal ion the same offseason as you have to negotiate extensions for Drai or McD.
Cool post. thx.
LT, sorry if I’m stepping on your toes, just wanted to plug another great sports blog. Please delete if I’m overstepping.
Defector.com is the blog the former Deadspin crew started themselves after they were fired by Peter Thiel in the Gawker/Deadspin takeover.
Mostly about sports, but also cooking, music, books, politics. Kinda reminds me of the comment section here, which is why I’m plugging it. Subscription based like The Athletic.
Not at all. It’s a worthwhile site for sure.
I wish Drew Magary would do a ‘Why Your Team Sucks’ series on NHL teams.
Connor McDavid just stood in front of the hockey world last night and said three important things heading into free agency:
1) Edmonton is a heritage hockey organization.
2) He has made it a destination for players in the NHL.
3) He has unfinished business.
These thoughts are directly linked. To me this screams: If you are an American, or from anywhere, and you put “weather” ahead of winning the cup with the best player in the world on an organization that bleeds hockey, you aren’t welcome anyway.
This also did not sound like a player who had intentions to resign elsewhere. Connor understands history and legacy better than almost every commentator or fan who thinks he is being “wasted” in Edmonton.
I would think the Yamamoto trade goes down today/tomorrow.
The would need to have him on waivers Thursday (day 2 of the draft but before its over) in order to buy him out by the Friday deadline – I don’t think we get there but we will see.
Ya, sounds like they are close on Janmark but, for me, I think that Holland should be focussing on the RFAs.
That goes against his normal process. Holland is a big process guy which is essentially: UFAs first, RFAs with arb rights second, RFAs coming off ELCs last.
I don’t think that’s the right path this week as the most important contracts are (1) Bouch, who would normally get done last and (2) McLeod, who would normally get done mid summer.
For me, it would be terrible to sign a couple UFAs (internal and/or external) and then realize there isn’t enough left to give these guys what they need and deserve and limit things with the important players.
I’m not so sure it happens but I think the focus should be on Bouch and McLeod (and even Kostin if that could get in close to $1.5MM).
It’s ok OP, Holland can multitask.
As usual, I’m going to pay a disproportionate amount of attention to the unqualified RFAs lists as they release. So far, I already see a name I’d like EDM to look at in Brady Lyle. Would be a good boost to the offense at RD in Bako and could emerge as an NHL option. Gauthier also appears to not have been qualified.
Otherwise, going into the draft hoping for one of Lardis, Price, or Gibson @ 56 or a maybe a trade down scenario to recoup an extra pick (ARI has more than they can handle).
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
There is word that it is unlikely ANA will give a qualifying offer to Max Comtois this week. The forward is expected to become a UFA, available to everyone
The prime group is ridiculous, and Warren Foegele did pretty well compared to many of the players who have been part of the McDavid group in the past.
In the last 30 games of the season, Warren Foegele has a P/60 of 2.92, TWO POINT NINE TWO!!!! That was second on the team to McDavid during that period.
That was also during the time that Foegele was dealing with an impactful hand injury making his production even more impressive.
Also, in 154 minutes with Leon, the Oilers scored 5.06 G/60 FIVE POINT ZERO SIX!!! The Oilers scored at 3.28 G/60 with Leon on when Foegele was off.
Oh, and the GA/60 when Leon was on the ice was way down with Foegele on the ice.
Also, in the playoffs, Foegele/McLeod/Ryan were straight fire. Sure, they were only 3-3 goals but they were 75% across the board, Corsi, Fenwick, High Danger, Expected goals, etc.
————————
I guess what I’m saying here is that Warren Foegele was sneaky good.
As of right now, and this goes against my opinion on Foegele since the day he was acquired, Foegele is the best option for 6F/2RW/Leon’s winger and, in addition, he can be a hell of piece on a 3rd line.
I’ve been clear that moving Yamamoto alone is not enough to make any additional external acquisition over $1MM – it might not even be enough to bring back the RFAs and fill out the roster with cheap players.
In order to make any external acquisition of note, another player needs to go and, of course, Foegele is a likely option.
It might “need” to happen but I would love to see Warren Foegele in a UFA contract year – he could be a big middle of the roster piece this coming season.
If they could get Brown on the cheap base for one year (like $1MM), they could run something like this:
Nuge/McDavid/Hyman
Kane/Drai/Foegele
Holloway/McLeod/Brown
Kostin/XXX/Ryan
If Kostin doesn’t come back, that 4LW could be Lavoie.
XXX is a vet center addition along the lines of Kampf
Brown and Foegele could, of course, swap.
Holloway could, of course, force his way up as the season goes on.
This team, with the current defence, and the chance of Broberg popping and forcing his way up is something I’m comfortable starting the season with.
Accrue some cap space, bank it, asses in February.
Of the 4 ‘middling salaries’ (Foegele, Ceci, Kulak, & Yamo), Foegele is the last one I trade. I think he’s an important piece to maintaining the quality of bottom-6 we had last year- and perhaps even building on it!
I for one would hate to see Warren Foegele traded. I’d love to see a third line of
Foegele-MacLeod-Brown. Woodie could play that trio against anyone in any situation.
But I suppose Brown will play somewhere in the top six, so they will have to settle for
Holloway-MacLeod-Foegele. That would be nice too as long as Holloway can stand up and be counted.
He had a great run for sure. To me there is a reason a guy with his size and speed became a third liner. I think he struggles with confidence, anywho he hasn’t to this point in his career been consistent. The hardest thing to do for. I also don’t think he has top 6 puck skills. He loses the biscuit a lot. Definitely can spot in though
Really he’s at risk because an emerging player can do what he ‘usually’ does for much less , not that he isn’t helpful
I don’t necessarily disagree with any of that, however, we are where we are and, as of right now, I don’t see a “better option” at 2RW even if I’d prefer Foegele at 3LW.
I also don’t see a more established 6F option coming in except a cheap Brown (or similar).
I would be fine with Brown, Foegele and Holloway competing for 6F.
Three contract years too (presumably on Brown).
Agreed
Broberg popping and forcing his way up. WTF
who does he replace? Ceci then is 7D? Bouchard? Or on the left side.
if Broberg can’t grab a top4 spot this year then trade him now.
For now, he “replaces” Vincent Deharnais and we take it from there.
I’d be quite surprised if each of Nurse, Ekholm, Buchard and Ceci played 82 games this season.
I’m not sure I can get on board with the premise of trading Broberg now if he can’t do something in the future. I have an idea of what I think could happen and what I think might happen in the future but I certainly don’t know what will happen in the future to make trades off that.
Asses, it seems, are almost daily.
My post is exhibit 1, for example 😀
Bob Stauffer@Bob_Stauffer·13m
As per @EdmontonOilers GM Ken Holland on @OilersNow
EDM will be qualifying Noah Philp who finished 5th in AHL in EVS Goals by Rookies.
Philp, a 6’3” right-shot Center informed the organization he would be retiring in late April.
Oilers are leaving the door open for him.
——————-
Sounded from the DNB interview like they’d qualify him but good to see confirmation.
All the best young man.
I still have hope that Kostin re-signs. He has some warts in his game, but it seems he was a great fit for the team since the trade, both as a player and a person.
Building a great team is more than simply acquiring the most talent. Kostin seems like one of those guys that helps bind a team.
You can’t overpay, but I hope Holland finds a way to get this done.
If his ask is too high and there’s no hope of bridging the gap, I hope Holland opts for a trade and moves him for a player of similar age (perhaps with a lower-ceiling) that’s under contract for another year. Names in the range of guys like Wade Allison, Mackenzie Entwistle, or Max Jones come to mind.
NOTE: I haven’t vetted these players by the numbers or anything and, as such, they’re not official suggestions
Kostin was a nice find. But he has a skill set that’s easily replaceable. If he was turn to his word that he loves playing for the Edmonton Oilers, he will get his head out of the clouds and sign a reasonable contract that works for both sides. If not he it won’t be the end of the world.
Exactly. Kostin did fine, but he played 10 minutes a night. And his entire resume is essentially one 11 goal year (with a 19% shooting average). If he doesn’t bet on himself on a one-year deal for say $1.2 at the very max, then the market will be flooded with guys who will play for that amount and deliver the same impact.
I’m not sure his skill set is that easily replaceable at the price point we are looking at though.
This is a player that has first round skill. No, it doesn’t look like it will translate in a legit top 6 forward, however, he is a big and fast player that is aggressive on d-men, clearly enjoys protecting his teammates (and is good at it) and looks to be able to score 12-15 plus from a bottom six role. He has the ability to hold on to pucks (due to the offensive pedigree) that we don’t often see from the bottom six.
No, of course, don’t overpay, in particular materially, but his skill-set would be a loss and not something that I think they’d be able to replace – definitely no-one coming up internally plays near that way.
I would assume that Holland mentioning that Kostin could be a difficult signing was as much a message to the player as it was informational for the fanbase.
Yes, a bluff is being called.
Dmitri Samorukov not qualified by St. Louis. He is FA.
Yeah a little surprising. He and Lagesson (also a UFA, who I think you mentioned a while back) would both be welcome additions for defensive depth IMO.
Hmmmm, I wouldn’t be adverse to signing him to a league min (likely 2-way but I don’t care) deal.
I would presume he’d clear waivers and could be some depth.
If they do move on from Kulak, which I don’t see happening, they really get thin.
I’m not sure he’d want to come back but who knows how many NHL options he’ll have? I presume he wants to continue to work towards the NHL as opposed to heading back to Russia, I mean he’s been in North America for a long time (full junior career on the OHL) so he clearly wants the NHL.
Yeah no idea whether he’d want to come back or what other options he’d have.
That’s wild, wonder if we can get him back.
Sign him back and, if Klim does leave, well, at least we got a good year of his services for free – he provided entertainment, that’s for sure.
Hawks sign Foligno $4M x 1 year.
They are trying to surround Bedard with a real team.
terrible deal and gross overpay for a player who provides little to no offense.
he is a solid 4th line defense only guy and a lovely human by all accounts but that seems like a lot to pay.
Pretty much meaningless since it’s only a one year deal while Chicago is still $6 million under the cap floor.
Interesting to note that Chicago has a total of 4 players signed for 2024/25.
Yeah, cap efficiency isn’t really of any consequence to the Hawks for the next couple of years.
Several teams are effectively weaponizing their cap space these days – Carolina, St. Louis, Chicago with Hall. So why wouldn’t Chicago need to be cap efficient? They were smart with Hall and then dumb with Foligno.
Chicago is significantly below the cap floor.
Well that’s rather unkind. He scored 1.98 P/60 this season while playing with Tomas Nosek and facing 80% Dzone starts.
But yes, I expect veteran leadership was as important to the Blackhawks as on ice ability here.
I think he’s there for reasons other than scoring . Gotta protect the little fella
Clearly scoring isn’t the main reason. I expect it’s all of protection, truculence, leadership, defensive play, plus he can probably still chip in some offense.
From accounts, he is one of the “best guys” around – just a genuinely great human.
I wonder if part of this is trying to repair organizational reputation, plus, of course, surrounding a guy like Bedard with a great person and great pro?
My personal concern is their likely increasing lack of interest in Yamamoto.
Hey LT, I had a thought for a deeper-dive look at something, and I think you are just the author to tackle it:
There seem to be two conventional ways to build an NHL team – through the draft, or through off season trade and free agency. With Kane, Ekholm and Kulak mainstays on the roster, and possibly adding Bjugstad and Kostin to that list, can we say that Ken Holland is building a team through in-season acquisitions? Has any other GM ever operated under that model?
I’ll hang up and listen.
I would add that Holland has stated a desire to keep cap space to spend in season, and that had Covid not happened, the Athanasiou trade deadline acquisition was intended to be an audition for a longer contract rather than a rental.
Interesting and I will have a look!
The Oilers of the mid 90s to early 2000s unintentionally did this as they were bad at drafting. The 94 Rangers cup win and that team in the same time span was mostly built through trade/FA
I don’t think Pesce comes West. I have this sense that Pesce could be dealt to Boston, because of his spouse’s career in NH.
I think Klim gets dealt, possibly on Thursday and that it is a good possibly that Bouchard is a trade piece for EK65 with Anaheim also part of this deal for retention purposes.
Or possibly nothing happens….
Please… no!
As a player, I think Pesce is a damn near perfect addition to the defence as Nurse’s partner. A right-handed Ekholm.
On the flip side, there seems to be a growing list of US players that have no interest in playing in Canada – especially the colder climates. Can you make a trade for Pesce knowing that he may be unhappy in Edmonton?
No – see Eric Cole.
1) Agreed – I’ve posited that he seems to be an “Eastern seaboard guy” – he likely wouldn’t be thrilled with his one year in Edmonton. I’m sure he’d play his best, as a pending UFA, but he’d be done ASAP.
2) Ya, Klim could be dealt – return would be like a late pick next year probably – can’t have much value if the reason is he’s leveraging KHL offers to try and max contract terms.
3) I don’t think acquiring Kalrsson is in the remote realm of reasonableness – I didn’t think it was six months ago and its even less now – just me though.
Seems like the Oilers could jettison not one but two #56’s (Yamamoto and the 2nd-rounder).
I’ve looked through many mocks so far, and several have the Oilers picking a goalie at #56. (I’ve seen Fowler, Gajan and Bjarnason there so far.) Assuming they stay at that spot, what are the odds the Oilers pick a goalie despite the screaming need for D?
I have an article coming out tomorrow at The Athletic that addresses this situation at No. 56. I think you’d want them to take the goalie if he’s BPA, and the new goalie scout (Jeff Salajko) would surely be pushing for one.
On the other hand, once goalies go there’s usually a run on them and that may increase the value of No. 56 overall.
Realistic goalie at #56 Trey Augustine