For the Edmonton Oilers, PTO’s (professional tryout offer) should be filed under ‘fun curios’ but it’s a once in a very blue moon enterprise. Kris Versteeg was a strong PTO a few years back, he ended up signing in Calgary and playing well. The Oilers forced Jesse Puljujarvi up the depth chart, and ran Jordan Eberle, Zack Kassian, Tyler Pitlick and Iiro Pakarinen at the position (Nail Yapukov got himself traded before opening night).
Oilers general manager Ken Holland has used the PTO route several times since arriving in Edmonton. Devin Shore, Jason Demers, Jake Virtanen all received a shot. They do work sometimes. Alex Chiasson was signed to a PTO in the summer of 2018, then proceeded to score 22 goals on a $650,000 contract for the Oilers in 2018-19. What is available this year?
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: Oilers’ 2023-24 season has potential for loud noises
- Lowetide: Jay Woodcroft is (still) the right man to coach the Edmonton Oilers
- Lowetide: Should the Oilers sign Filip Zadina?
- Lowetide: Oilers’ roster utility for 2023-24 could use a final tweak
- Lowetide: Ideal roster positions for young Oilers in 2023-24
- Lowetide: Making sense of Oilers’ free-agent haul after initial flurry
- Lowetide: The Edmonton Oilers still have work to do this summer
- DNB: The Oilers roster is improved but evolution must continue into next season
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers top 20 prospects, summer 2023
- DNB: Assessing Edmonton Oilers’ remaining roster needs ahead of NHL free agency
- Lowetide: Realistic draft options for an Edmonton Oilers team low on picks
- DNB: What I’m hearing about the Oilers 3.0
- 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
- Lowetide: 5 quality Edmonton Oilers trade targets for low-budget offseason
PTO’S (blue)
We’re counting down (thank you Casey Kasem) to a fun period of the late summer for NHL fans. There are approximately four million hockey players looking for work at this time (estimate) and the 32 clubs will sign a few, invite others and tell the rest to wait by their phones. It has to be a ghastly time for players but for fans it’s pretty cool. It’s a little too soon for announcements but those phonecalls are happening. Here are a few I like for Edmonton.
- The best RHD available at an inexpensive price is Ethan Bear. His injury and his experience with some Oilers fans in the past probably excludes him from ever playing here again, but the numbers justify bringing him in if the player is agreeable. You’d have to wait for his injury to heal, and someone will offer him a more substantial contract than Edmonton (it would be $775,000). Bear could help in the playoffs next spring. That’s what matters.
- RHD Cal Foote is still out there, his underlying numbers aren’t fab and I think the Oilers are committed to Vincent Desharnais in the 6-7 role. He would be a great PTO, I don’t think he’s better than the Oilers top 7. Foote and Niemelainen on the farm waiting for recall would be a solid option in my opinion. His rel numbers in Nashville five-on-five were a little above the water line, a little below in Tampa Bay.
- LD Alex Edler is old as the hills and twice as dusty. His rel numbers were a little underwater last season on the coast, but his five-on-five expected goals were above 50 percent. He’ll sign for real money but I’d love to see him play for the Oilers one season. I don’t know if he has much left, but Holland considers veterans age 37 to be mid-career. I didn’t list Nick Holden because one suspects he gets an NHL deal over $1 million.
- LD’s Dmitri Samorukov and Caleb Jones are former Oilers farmhands I would look at for a PTO. Both are far more substantial and Jones specifically will get an NHL deal (Samorukov could always sign in the KHL). I don’t know where they would play in Edmonton’s system is all. You want as many bona fide blue as possible when the train leaves the station each NHL season.
- Finally, Max Gildon. He’s a free agent now and I saw him so good in 2020-21 he’s worth a shot in my opinion. Through two seasons with the Bakersfield Condors, Gilden scored 4-27-31 in 73 games. His even-strength goal differential was 60-43. I’d sign him.
- Zack Kassian is out there and is known to the Oilers management and players. I’m not recommending the signing of a PTO, but could see it go down. Holland’s players have magnets attached on the soles of their shoes and often land a return trip. I don’t think it happens but will list it here.
- Jesse Puljujarvi is a player I would sign. After returning from Finland, he had two good seasons and then a season of struggle that (we now know) involved some hip issues. I know this will probably be the chief point of conversation in the comments section, but I stand firm on this idea. Since returning from Liiga, his five-on-five expected goal shares by season have been 56 percent (2020-21), 60 percent (2021-22), and this season 54 percent (Edmonton) and 62 percent (Carolina).
- Anders Bjork is a two-way winger who did some reasonable things in Boston, struggled in Buffalo and then had a nice run with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2022-23. He probably gets a PTO, Edmonton might be able to use him.
- I’m assuming Tyler Motte, Colin White, Derek Grant, Danton Heinen, Noah Gregor, Zach Acton-Reese, Mason Shaw, Alex Chiasson, Eric Staal, Sam Gagner, Denis Malgin, Pius Suter and the Ritchie brothers all sign, have signed, are heading to Europe or retired. I doubt these men accept a PTO.
- Devin Shore had a solid year for Edmonton, but he was also running luck. I think he’ll get a PTO or contract. As is the case with Kassian, Shore is known to Holland and he may have his page earmarked in the guide and record book.
- Josh Leivo keeps churning out great numbers and no one pays any attention. For his career at five-on-five, his goal differential is 125-107, 54 percent. His five-on-five pts-60 for his career? 1.64. Available for free, every summer.
OILERS ROSTER WITH $7,500 TO SPARE
Been here in NL about 10 yrs, holler if you have any questions. Hope you’re enjoying your time here!
We are! We realized after booking our flights we didn’t have nearly enough time for all we wanted to do. We’re going to have to come back!
This is the way!
On vacation in NL and was regretting having to wait until noon for the newest post. Despite the “Steve Smith” comment to the contrary, I found all of the overnight comments quite edifying and entertaining. Much appreciated!
With Galchenyuk apparently about to become a free agent, the Oilers have the rare opportunity to sign him and have the first four picks from the 2012 draft all be Oilers alumni (and all be not particularly good Oilers).
Actually, looking at the 2012 draft as a whole, it seems to have produced an unusually large number of Oilers (NB I have not tested this by actually comparing it to other drafts). By my count, it produced eleven in total, only two of whom were Oilers picks:
Nail Yakupov (1)
Ryan Murray (1)
Griffin Reinhart (1)
Slater Koekkoek (1)
Cody Ceci (1)
Pontus Aberg (2)
Devin Shore (2)
Jujhar Khaira (3)
Brett Kulak (4)
Andreas Athanasiou (4)
Matt Benning (6)
Could’ve been 12 if Erik Gustafsson had played a game here before going on to make a decent career elsewhere.
(Of course the draft that produced all these Oilers would be the weakest in recent memory, at least as far as high-end talent is concerned.)
Okay, so I decided to look at the two drafts on each side of 2012 to see whether 2012 was in fact atypical. It turns out…sort of. I did 2014 and 2013, and concluded that 2012 was indeed nuts. And then I did 2011, which actually produced more Oilers (13) than 2012, and 2010, which produced almost as many (10). 2012 still looks atypical for what a small proportion of them were Oilers picks, though.
Anyway, here are the results, which I won’t warrant are entirely complete (Oiler picks in bold, because why not?):
2014
Leon Draisaitl (1)
Brendan Perlini (1)
Warren Foegele (3)
William Lagesson (4)
2013
Darnell Nurse (1)
Bogdan Yakimov (3)
Anton Slepyshev (3)
2012
Nail Yakupov (1)
Ryan Murray (1)
Griffin Reinhart (1)
Slater Koekkoek (1)
Cody Ceci (1)
Pontus Aberg (2)
Devin Shore (2)
Jujhar Khaira (3)
Brett Kulak (4)
Andreas Athanasiou (4)
Matt Benning (6)
2011
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1)
Adam Larsson (1)
Ryan Strome (1)
Oscar Klefbom (1)
David Musil (2)
Ty Rattie (2)
Adam Clendening (2)
Keegan Lowe (3)
Dillon Simpson (4)
Tobias Rieder (4)
Lauren Brossoit (6)
Josh Archibald (6)
Iiro Pakarinen (7)
2010
Taylor Hall (1)
Jack Campbell (1)
Nick Bjugstad (1)
Tyler Pitlick (2)
Martin Marincin (2)
Curtis Hamilton (2)
Ryan Spooner (2)
Tyler Bunz (5)
Zach Hyman (5)
Brandon Davidson (6)
(Also, until I got to 2010, I was wondering what the Oilers had against 5th round picks.)
In conclusion, we can draw no conclusions.
Okay, I went five more years back, which allows me to say with certainty that my initial hypothesis, that eleven players from one draft was a lot fo have played for the Oilers, was abject nonsense. This has all been most unedifying.
2009
Evander Kane (1)
Magnus Paajarvi (1)
Zack Kassian (1)
Mikko Koskinen (2)
Alex Chiasson (2)
Anton Lander (2)
Anders Nilsson (3)
Tyson Barrie (3)
Mattias Ekholm (4)
2008
Colten Teubert (1)
Jordan Eberle (1)
Tyler Ennis (1)
Justin Schultz (2)
Johan Motin (4)
Philippe Cornet (5)
Philip Larsen (5)
Teemu Hartikainen (6)
Jason Demers (7)
2007
Sam Gagner (1)
Alex Plante (1)
David Perron (1)
Linus Omark (4)
Brad Malone (4)
Colton Sceviour (4)
Milan Kytnar (5)
Patrick Maroon (6)
Luke Gazdic (6)
2006
Jeff Petry (2)
Milan Lucic (2)
Jesse Joensuu (2)
Eric Gryba (3)
Theo Peckham (3)
2005
Benoit Pouliot (1)
Gilbert Brule (1)
Ryan O’Marra (1)
Andrew Cogliano (1)
James Neal (2)
Taylor Chorney (2)
Kris Russell (3)
Danny Syvret (3)
Chris VandeVelde (4)
Mark Fayne (5)
Sharks lose 87:
Meier 31
Gregor 10
Bonino 10
Lorentz 10
Svechnikov 8
Nieto 8
Gadovich 3
Eyssimot 3
Criscuolo 1
Megna 1
Harrington 1
Agozzino 1
add
Duclair 2
Zetterlund (nj) 6
Zadina 3
Smith 1
Burroughs 2
= 14
net
-73
Ducks lose 37:
Comtois 9
Klingberg 8
Grant 5
Shattenkirk 4
Benoit 3
Harrington 3
Kulikov 3
Megna 2
Add:
Killorn 27
McGinn (pitt) 10
Gudas 2
Hagg 2
= 41
net
+4
Canucks lose 46:
Horvat 31
Bear 3
Schenn 3
Lazar 3
OEL 2
Burroughs 2
Pederson 1
Dermott 1
Add:
Beauvillier (nyi) 9
Blueger 4
Kravstov (nyr) 3
Hronek (det) 9
Soucy 3
Cole 3
Irwin 2
= 33
net
-13
Calgary – spits – loses 71:
Toffoli 34 (!)
Lewis 9
Lucic 7
Ritchie 6
Stone 6
Ritchie 4
Stecher 3
Mackey 2
That’s really gonna hurt. And they had a mostly healthy roster too.
Adds:
Sharangovich 13
Oesterle 2
= 15
net
-56
Seattle loses 48 off their roster:
Sprong 21
Donato 14
Geekie 9
Soucy 3
Kuhlman 1
Adds:
Yamamoto 10
Bellemare 4
Dumoulin 1
Megna SJ goal 1
= 16
net
-32
The Kings lose 54:
Vilardi 23
Iafallo 14
Durzi 9
Kupari 3
Walker 3
Edler 2
Additions:
Dubois 27
Lewis 9
Gavrikov (cbj goals) 3
= 39
net
-15
obviously this is a simplistic exercise
will Vilardi outscore Dubois next season?
EV goals lost:
Vilardi 18
Iafallo 7
Kupari 3
Durzi 8
Walker 3
Edler 2
total 41
added
Dubois 16
Lewis 7
Gavrikov 3
total 25
net -16
obviously they are hoping that Byfield, Kaliev or another replace or enhance Iafallo’s spot and Spence or Clarke do the same with Durzi’s offence from the backend.
Will be interesting to watch
Brandt Clarke will make that difference all by himself.
Vegas loses 42 goals. One more than the Oil:
Smith 26
Kessel 14
Blueger 2
Additions:
Barbashev St.Louis goals 10
Net
-32
The Elks are a bleeping joke. Cornelius is not a pro quarterback. He can not think. It’s almost slapstick how bad they are.
The QB scarcity in the league is alarming.
Not exactly true. It ain’t what is used to be, but the Bombers have 3 QB’s on their roster who are better than Cornelius. The problem with the Elks is Chris Jones wearing too many hats (GM, HC, and DC). Who agreed to sign him to that contact!?
Oh my.
And the comedy continues,a once proud franchise reduced to this….sad
It is.
And I’m not not even an Eskimos fan
The league was so much better when they were strong.
Nobody under 50 that I know cares about the CFL. The league will be lucky if it’s a going concern in 10 years.
People have been saying that for 20 years.
The BC Lions have a progressive new owner who has been working on engaging younger fans and it’s working.
I was flabbergasted that the Elks gave Cornelius a 3 year extension last year.
Paul Almeida
@AzorcanGlobal
·
1h
The #Elks tie the record for most consecutive home losses in NA major sport history.
20- #CFL #Elks 2023
20 – #MLB #StLouis #Browns 1953
(Now the #Orioles)
19 – #NBA #Mavs 1993-94
14 – #NHL #Penguins 2003-04
14 – #NFL #Cowboys 1998-99
14 – #NFL #STL #Rams 2008-2010
@BruceMcCurdy
Not like it’s a bad omen or anything, but the 1953 St. Louis Browns were so bad they ceased to exist after that season, moving to Baltimore in 1954 & rebranding themselves the Orioles
What if they staged a football game at Commonwealth Stadium and no one showed up?
Appears to be fewer than 10 thousand in attendance.
Katie Strang@KatieJStrang·4m
NEWS: Scottsdale Police Department has confirmed to The Athletic that Alex Galchenyuk was arrested on July 9 on a number of charges including private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest, Threatening or Intimidating
Stas Dupiosh, he/him@DRWFan92360244·4m
Replying to@KatieJStrang
Dude got more points on his license than he did all last season.
Hah! Well played sir
Poor guy. I hope he can get better
Players from last year no longer on the team scored 41 goals:
Kostin 11
Barrie 10
Yamamoto 10
JP 5
Bjugstad 4
Shore 1
You’re hoping that Bouchard can cover the 10 Barrie goals there. That’s reasonable.
Yamo’s goals you’re looking for Brown to replace + a bit more. Again, reasonable.
Kostin – this we don’t know what we don’t know, that’s a hole Holloway and/or Lavoie need to fill.
JP/Bjugstad – that’s 4th line chaff, it can come from whoever.
Shore’s 1 – eh sure. Pedersen?
I don’t think this is an unsurmountable loss of goals or all that difficult to replace. It’s not like we’re in Calgary forecasting that they’d have 1000000 extra goals last year based on Kadri/Huberdeau/Weegar’s years with previous teams.
Ekholm will chip in to replace the Barrie goals as well.
Your projections have Bouchard scoring 18 goals next season?
Ekholm will repress goals that would have been let in otherwise as well.
He did score 9 in the 33 games after Barrie was traded (regular season + playoffs).
That’s 22 per 82 games, so 18 doesn’t seem overly unreasonable.
His shooting percentage in the playoffs was 13.8%
His career shooting percentage is 5.6% including the above heater and 5.1% in the regular season.
It’s a pretty good bet that some major regression is due.
Then place a bet, and let us know how it goes.
13.8% is too high. 5.6% is probably too low given his skill set.
Once he got used to OHL speeds he went from a 5% shooter to around 8%. At age 24, no reason to think he can’t push that 5.6% up a little has he rounds out his game. He’s not fully formed yet, gotta have a bit of patience.
More time on the PP with the most creative forwards in the NHL probably helps that shooting percentage by a point or two.
This is basically the Kings strategy with PLD so not sure you can hate it too much.
PLD is not a sniper.
But he should pile up assists if playing with Fiala and Kaliyev.
I think 15-20 is doable.
Ekholm had 5 goals in 57 games with Nashville and 4 in 21 games with Edmonton. He could replace Barrie’s goals all by himself
The key is outscoring. I don’t care if each line scored 20 and the team finished plus 40 and wins a cup
also, Kane only played half the season, so there should be more goals coming from him.
on the flip side, 9 players played 79 or more games this year including McDavid, Draisaitl, Nuge, Hyman. Will that happen again? Who knows.
it would be fantastic if Lavoie could replace Kostin’s 11 goals
Give or take a goal, I can personally cover Shore’s contributions in far fewer minutes.
If the Oilers scored 41 less goals last year, they’d still be sixth in goals for. Jack Campbell last year at .915 saves perecentage would have meant 28 less goals….
AHL rookies (on nhl deals) this year from:
3 WHL
1 OHL
1 NCAA
4 forwards and 1 defenceman for Chaulk to healthy scratch
Yup – the likes of Tulio and Philp were healthy scratched last season. They also showed massive development under Chaulk last season.
I also don’t think that Chaulk’s work with Lavoie can be under-stated in his pop after the first third of last season.
Max Wanner
evgf%rel 17.29!
64% ev gf%
Source?
I’m also curious where you got this data from.
I thought a bit an remembered that you or someone else had posted this site some time ago, and it appears to indeed be the source: https://pick224.com/
you got it!
The only two words I hate more than Zack Kassian are The Dementor.
I liked Kassian. His time did not end well but he had his moments early in his Oilers time. Oilers were literally getting run out of buildings. They beefed up with Kass, Maroon, Lucic. Hendricks etc…
The pendulum went to heavy on the beef, but it did allow McDavid and others some space to grow.
And then the Kassian / Tkachuk battles. Those were some kind of fun.
Hating any player seems like a complete waste of time but also, being an Edmonton Oilers fan I don’t know how you don’t find time for the guy who rag-dolled Tkachuk.
This is an era where Edmonton dismantled Calgary. A golden age for Team North in the BOA. I (only sort of) get it when people in Toronto or Connecticut or somewhere don’t think Edmonton’s done “anything” with McDavid but short of a Cup I can’t think of anything more important and satisfying to the Oilers (fans) than ripping the hearts out of the Flames repeatedly, leaving them a hollow husk of their former selves.The Cup remains elusive but this Oilers team beat their biggest rivals –probably the most intense rivalry in Hockey — in humiliating fashion. I wish this was celebrated more.
Anyway Kassian had a huge role in that and because of this he will always be in my good books as an Oiler fan.
True.
Kassian didn’t turn fans against him.
The contract Holland gave did.
Yup, he rag-dolled Tkachuk in process of taking penalties that put the Oilers shorthanded and led directly to a loss.
Oh, and Kass did that AGAIN, a SECOND TIME, took penalties trying to get even with Tkachuk and led to his team losing to the flames.
Kass had some good stretches with the Oilers but the Tkachuk stuff – well Tkachuk won those battles, that’s for sure.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if Kass was protecting a teammate but he wasn’t, he was getting back for acts on him.
In breaking news, the Oilers announce that Ken Holland has just signed Zac Kassian to a PTO. It’s a surprising reunion that accompanies the announcement of the addition of Dallas Eakins to the Oilers coaching staff. Ken Holland says that he was looking to make a shakeup. He feels that Eakins, as an assistant coach, will implement the swarm defense system to help bolster the Oilers flagging penalty kill.
🙂
Remember also that Kass was on his last flyer when he joined the Oil. From what I remember, the talk was sour about the trade, but man did that guy turn his life around. His game followed suit until wear and tear took they’re toll.
Hockey player or not, tackling a drinking problem is near legendary in my books.
Where does Flat Top fall in your hate rankings?
#ThoroughlyMediocreCoach
The defensive pairs listed above have to be the most interesting part of the roster posted this morning. I see them as the best case scenario for the coming season with Ceci finding himself in the Barrie role of most likely to be traded at some point during the season if Bouchard and Broberg cover the bet.
Other than PTO’s I don’t expect to see much of anything more happening this off season. When I look at the roster today I don’t see a single player placed above their ability level. Broberg will need some patience but that is inexperience, not ability. This team is good enough to allow him his learning curve.
Wondering if Khaira would be worth another look. The Vollman chart suggests he had a decent year last year playing tougher minutes. Even if his 5×5 doesn’t turn out as well, the 4th line doesn’t play much anyways and the Oilers could use the PK help.
Sadly, his career has also been impacted by injuries and his bell got rang too many times.
Oilers store just tweeted out a picture with new jersey numbers, including #8 for Caggiula and #19 for Pederson.
I wonder if that’s a tell? You don’t just hand out Zdeno Ciger and Marty Reasoner numbers willy-nilly.
They’re just numbers. Caggiula & Pederson still have to make the team. They might end up wearing those numbers in Bakersfield.
I got the joke, it was funny.
Janmark stealing Shjon Podein’s #26 has never felt right to me.
@AZCoyotesPR
The Arizona Coyotes have placed forward Alex Galchenyuk on unconditional waivers for purposes of terminating his contract. The Club will have no further comment at this time.
Craig Morgan
@CraigSMorgan
I am told that NHLPA “is reviewing this matter.”
That’s strange. He’s on a 1-year, 2-way deal ($775k / $225k) that was signed just 2 weeks ago. What could have happened that led them to change their mind so drastically so quickly?
Ir must be something flagrant given it’s the offseason.
Then why not terminate the contract?
Will be interesting as more details emerge.
That or an undisclosed injury are the only things I can think of.
Rumoured to be an off ice incident that the Coyotes just became aware of.
Agreed that seems most likely. These days that list seems to range from an off hand remark to criminal activity so who knows.
https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/1679536661460578304?s=61&t=WWzo5XOO0SDsOISFpfGKMg
Regarding Alex Galchenyuk, who is going to have his contract terminated by the @ArizonaCoyotes just 12 days after they signed him.
An NHL source tells ESPN that the Coyotes had discovered an “off-ice situation” impacting Galchenyuk that was previously unknown to the team.
Wine, woman and song.
Katie Strang
NEWS: Scottsdale Police Department has confirmed to The Athletic that Alex Galchenyuk was arrested on July 9 on a number of charges, including private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest, threatening or intimidating.
So much for signing (at one time or another) all the top 4 picks from one of the NHL’s all-time horrible drafts.
Sounds like Last Chance Texaco.
I also wonder why they don’t try Kulak on the right side, if they want a different partner for Nurse. I’d be ok with (Ekholm-Bouchard) (Nurse-Kulak) & (Broberg-Ceci) with Desharnais as the 7th & Neimelainen the 8th. I actually think the Oiler defense will be surprisingly good along with the goaltending.
Kulak wasn’t good enough this year on the 2nd pair on his natural side – hence the Ekholm trade – why would they try him on the 1st pair on his off-side?
It’s just another option that is available. Plus, I see Ekholm & Bouchard as the top pair.
So why not try Kulak on his offside with Nurse on the second pair? He might be better than Ceci. Then they could play Broberg with Ceci on the 3rd pair. Seems perfectly logical to me anyway.
Kulak is a super competent #5D. Trying to force him into the top 4 as a regular is Peter’s Principle.
Broberg was drafted and developed and has the toolkit to be a top 4D and is ready.
To me Kulak is like Foegele. Foegele is 27 and Kulak turning 30. They both skate well and have enough size. They both played well or well enough in the playoffs. But they both are lacking top end of the roster overall ability, or they’d be there by now
It is far more likely Bouch would succeed at 1RD and Bro 2nd pair than Kulak become a different player than established
The only question mark on this roster is Lane Pederson, who I don’t really know a whole lot about. And to a lesser degree the youngsters, Holloway & Lavoie, who might be better than Pederson already. But who knows? I guess we’ll find out. However, they most likely bring in a PTO to compete with Pederson for that 4c spot on the roster. Afterall there may be some interesting names looking for work on a PTO.
I could see Holland going with a 21 man roster and only 12 forwards to save as much cap space as possible. In this scenario you likely have Pederson in the AHL and Ryan as 4C when you play 12 F. If they do this, I don’t see them picking up any other C until the trade deadline.
If you do pick up another C right now, they then either replace Lavoie or Ryan on the roster. I don’t think it’s wise to run Lavoie through waivers without a decent look here to know what he can do. You could send down Ryan, but I’m not sure there are that many players you could pick up for his $ that will be more effective.
He’s the British guy from Mad Men
Imagine …
Connor Brown, Holloway, and Broberg all hit their bonuses. That’s $4.7M in performance bonuses possibly counting against the cap next season. Yikes!
It’s probably more preferable to aggressively accrue cap space throughout the season to temper the impact of those bonuses than to pursue a 4th line Center.
While this is true, it would also be a very good problem in terms of players developing if Broberg and Holloway manage to hit all of their bonuses.
Also, if those guys are all hitting their bonuses this team is poised for a Stanley run. Next years cap be damned!
But what does their performance bring???
Not really an issue of whether to sign JP. That train has left the station for the player. The org tried to extend him before the flight to Carolina. Maybe he ends up in Anaheim and carves out a Cogliano-esque role.
Edler is in the Giordano aisle of dirty, it would feel similar to that other nonce who Chiarelli traded for to desperately save his job. The captain would likely not care, but I don’t believe the player you’re getting moves the needle anymore.
I agree, I don’t think Puljujarvi is coming back, at least not this soon. I would make the phone call to confirm, however.
With his current agent I can’t see how Jesse winds up back in Edmonton.
On that roster, with $7,500 to space, would it make sense to waive and send Pederson down and reduce the daily cap hit of the team by the daily portion of $775K to start with?
Its not ideal to have Ryan at center but, to start the season, I think Ryan, Janmark and Lavoie can handle the 4th line.
It gets Lavoie in the game and maybe some PP2 time, if there is such a thing.
PP2; when they switch out the net front guy and the other 4 stay the same. 😛
I missed this, but same as my thinking above. I don’t see them running that close to the cap. If they are running a 21 man roster, the extra player will be a D man.
I think you nailed it there with the d-men – are any of those guys “better than” any of the incumbent 7? Maybe Vinny as we still don’t know how “real” he is – although his size and accent are both real and we love those attributes.
Caleb Jones, perhaps, but we know who he is and is he playing over Broberg? Not in any sane world, right?
Bear, sure, I’d take him over Vinny (although I do like the option of having “the presence” but, of course, shoulder.
I’d be all over a healthy Bear homecoming. Whether Ethan thinks the same way is a question.
I have all kinds of time for Sambo on a 2-way contract too.
Sure, I’d sign Samorukov – of course, he’s 5LD at best (maybe 6LD behind Niemo but I don’t know, didn’t see how he played last season).
Couldn’t care if it was one-way or two-way – makes no difference except for two people, the owner and the player.
Not entirely true. The Oilers, like every company, have budgets. If they’re paying several players US$800k to play in the minors vs (say) $150k, that’s nearly a million dollars Canadian (per instance) that could be used to improve the NHL team’s professional staff and facilities.
This is why Ryan O’Reilly was so enthusiastic when talking about his time in Toronto – they have the best of everything because they have the discretionary budget to do so. Doctors, nutritionists, training staff and facilities, etc. Signing marginal players to 1-way contracts absolutely affects more than just the player and owner.
I’m quite sure the OEG has the funds to cover all these things.
They’ve been cutting their budget for several years.
It’s the only feasible explanation for that Gord awful brass band, probably a way to save money on licensing for music.
They’ve been cutting they’re budget? Source?
Speaking as someone who makes a living in this towns local music industry. Do you actually think that paying a full on brass and drum band 42 times a year(excluding playoffs) is cheaper than paying some petty royalties to Bryan Adams for 20-40 seconds of air play?
Now I know that the band isn’t making a fortune on this(I’m friends and colleagues with the group) but they’re paying and feeding 8 to 10 people per every home game. I’d assume that that’s a little more pricey than having a DJ spin the top 40, even if the royalty pricing is different for sports entertainment complex’s.
The OEG is providing employment and funneling money into a local economy that often gets overlooked by the big corporations. I myself was able to play a pregame gig this season at the Molson Hockey House with one of my groups and it was a great experience with good pay!
Furthermore, that ‘Gord awful’ brass band is playing the OEG pre approved mandated tunes at the games. This gig, although significant for the group, is just one part of a much bigger working band in this city: check out The Brasstactics for more info.
Pretty sure part of the pitch to Holland when he was offered the job was that he would have authority to run the operation as he thought fit.
I don’t believe that funding and/or budget is limiting factor on the Oilers owner spending in any particular off-ice area.
Since he’s been owner, the Oilers have spent a ton of money on high priced AHL contract, high AHL minimums of 2-way contracts, one-way contracts playing in the AHL, etc., etc.
I don’t think that is limiting the budget for other areas you mention.
Is there any chance Dumba would take a 1-year deal in the $3 million range here this year to try and rehab his value and hit a home run when the cap goes up next summer? I doubt he’s getting a significant long term deal at this point, but could see him getting more than $3 million for 1-2 years from a team like Arizona. Depends if he wants to be on a good team or just make a few bucks. You could trade Ceci and fit him in at that point. Would he be enough of an upgrade to make that move?
I’ve been wondering about Dumba on the cheap too, since he still doesn’t have a deal.
I’m not at all sure he’s an upgrade, his numbers have really slipped the past number of years.
Becaus of that I personally wouldn’t make a Dumba/Ceci swap even if it was available at the same price, though there is definitely an argument for it.
Foegele or Kulak could also be sources of Cap though.
Nurse-Ceci/Dumba
Ekholm-Bouchard
Broberg-Dumba/Ceci
Desharnais
Would be more balanced than what they have currently, and Dumba could be a legitimate top pair option if he were to recover to what he was a few years ago.
The decline of Matt Dumba.
https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/travis-yost-declining-performance-leaves-matt-dumba-feeling-contract-squeeze-1.1983877
Yeah I read that and it’s what got me to thinking about it. He’s certainly no longer a $6 million D at this juncture, but can he be more effective than Ceci at the same price tag? There will certainly be plenty of incentive for him. I think it may be a worthwhile gamble but does not come without risks.
I always wanted to see a Nurse-Dumba pairing. But I agree with JP – I wouldn’t trade Ceci to make it happen, I would move Kulak instead. Not that I don’t value Kulak, but (1) we know he can’t move up the lineup and maintain his effectiveness, and (2) Broberg is ready to play the 3LD role.
Yeah that makes sense.
Broberg is more than capable of playing top 4 right D with Nurse (or Ekholm). Aim high. Neither Dumba, nor Ceci are good enough. Play the guy who has a high probability of a higher ceiling (and past the threshold necessary for making the Oilers better), and if he fails, go look for somebody at the trade deadline.
“(or Ekhlom)”…. the light has been seen!
Nah…I just concede that they may do the wrong thing before they do the right thing.
For the record, the wrong thing is not playing Broberg with Ekholm. The wrong thing is playing Bouchard with Nurse. Broberg will be fine with any of Nurse, Ekholm, or Kulak, but playing him with Nurse is the bolder move with the highest team ceiling given the current personel.
Bouchard and Nurse have a history of playing well together.
I think we can all agree that Bouchard should see lots of McDavid minutes and we know that Nurse has done well with McDavid.
Nurse being one of the better zone entry defenders on the team should jive well with Nurse also.
Is he? A quick look at puckiq.com isn’t reassuring.
I would make a substantial bet that Dumba’s next contract is under $3 million.
Do you think? He hasn’t been great, but he still played more than 21 minutes a night last season in the top 4. He’s been between 21 and 24 minutes a game for the last 6 years, he’s not chopped liver.
The Athletic: Oilers’ 2023-24 season has potential for loud noises
https://theathletic.com/4680893/2023/07/12/oilers-leon-draisaitl-philip-broberg/
Oilers need a 4th line center more than a bottom D-man. Bear has slow boots. Toews, Suter, or Nosek
That’s the beauty of PTOs – great competition with no financial risk.
The lineup is close to set so any PTOs are essentially jockeying with high end AHLers and low end bottom NHLers.
Obviously, but if they make the team they have to pay the player. Limited resources .
No, if they make the team they cost the same as the player they beat out for a spot.
The loser gets sent to the minors with no effect on the cap, or released from the PTO with no effect on the cap.
but, if they make the team, they are at league min and replacing another player on the team. Net zero (if not a net help) to the cap and only a contract on the 50 (and they will be at 43 once Bouch and McLeod sign – tons of room).
The only “issue” there is its likely Lavoie that “gets the boot” and there is waiver risk (although he’d most likely clear). I don’t have Pederson on the team, even if there is a hole at 4C.
Might want to call Jim Nill.
Was just perusing the Dallas lineup and noticed that these players can and have played centre:
Hintz
Pavelski
Benn
Seguin
Duchene
Faksa
Johnston
Steel
Dellandrea
Stankhoven
Bourque
All of the above are expected to either make the season opening lineup or challenge for a spot.
“Hi, Jim? It’s Ken Holland. So rumour is you have hockey players who play centre.”
“Hi Ken, why yes, in fact we do have professional hockey players who play at the position of centre on our forward lines.”
“Oh, that is so good to hear. I am so glad I called. I’ve been meaning to ask, do you like living in Dallas. I hear it can get humid in the summer.”
“Thanks Ken, yes it can do that, for sure! I do hope you are well.”
“Oh thank you Jim! Yes I am well so good to chat. You take care now!”
That kind of call you mean?
McDavid
Drai
Nuge
McLeod
Ryan
Janmark
Holloway
Pederson
Malone
Oilers have lots of player that “can play center” to – doesn’t mean its a great idea.
All of the above (except Malone) are expected to make the team or challenge for a spot.
Even the likes of Hamblin and McKegg – at least they have played NHL games.
Exactly what I was thinking. How many NHL forwards played C all the way through minor hockey. They can “play” C too as well.
5 of those players are employed in the Dallas top 6.
I think the point here is “yeah, whatever”.
And as a corollary, “we don’t care”.
I’m not disputing that those players were C at one point in their junior/AHL or early NHL days. But how effective are they really at playing C if they’ve been moved to the wing. If they were that effective I’m sure the player/agent would be looking to play elsewhere where there is more opportunity at that position.