I wonder if the current NHL teams, at least the smaller market clubs, would be better off returning to the old ways. Back in the before times, NHL clubs had hundreds of players under control. Today, a player can be drafted from junior hockey, college hockey, European hockey (pro and U-20) and any number of sources across the globe. Players are not eligible until after their 17-year old seasons and then remain eligible for drafting at 18, 19 and 20.
In the original 6 era–which ended with the great expansion–each of the 6 NHL teams had “sponsorship” clubs under their procurement umbrella, there was no amateur draft (although in 1963 a limited one was made available for longshots) and there was no Europe. There was barely a USA, in NHL terms. So, lets take the Montreal Canadiens as an example. Above, we see their sponsorship team umbrella, with 18 protected players for each team. That’s an army of men.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Oilers prospect Xavier Bourgault’s season and what it means for his future
- Lowetide: What’s changed for Oilers’ Evan Bouchard in his impact season?
- DNB: Quizzing Oilers All-Star Leon Draisaitl on the top 10 NHL goalies he’s scored against
- Lowetide: Everything that went right for the Oilers in their perfect January
- DNB: Ranking the Oilers’ top 5 trade assets: Which ones could be in play?
- Lowetide: Will the Edmonton Oilers go all-in at the 2024 trade deadline?
- Lowetide: Which Edmonton Oilers prospects spiked in January?
- DNB: Jeff Jackson Q&A
- Lowetide: Why Oilers defenceman Vincent Desharnais’ next contract could be bigger than expected
- DNB: Oilers winning streak lives, but improvement is needed: ‘We got a lot more in our group’
- Lowetide: Why Oilers forward Sam Gagner is having success in his role
- DNB: Stuart Skinner’s superb play should give Oilers more trade deadline flexibility
- DNB: Why Oilers signing Corey Perry isn’t a surprise — even in these circumstances
- Lowetide: How the Oilers winning the Stanley Cup in 2024 could impact future
- Lowetide: Ranking Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland’s 10 biggest moves
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers top 20 prospects ranking, winter 2023
BLOODY WELL WRIGHT
This entire post leads up to me telling you the Edmonton Oilers must sign Cameron Wright to an NHL deal and right soon. Please read on, but that’s the point of today’s lesson.
Montreal had control of (or could control) 360 (20 times 18) amateurs aged 14-19 at any given time.
Total players including pro: 468 hockey players with contracts and no hope of free agency. If you were the 19th ranked centerman in the system and turning pro, then one of the three jobs on the Houston roster was your goal. Good luck with your NHL career, young man!
This was the case for all six teams, although Montreal usually had a team or two more than Toronto and Detroit, and Chicago, the Rangers and Boston were well behind at least up until the period where the Bruins got serious in the early 1960s. The league kept track of all this in Montreal at the league offices. The Central Registry Bureau of Information. Central Registry kept records of signings, releases, transfers, loans, drafts, retirements, waiver claims.
So, when someone tells you (like anyone would, all the people who knew this system are long dead, likely happily free from the tangled mystery of the sponsorship era) that Bobby Clarke would have been a Detroit Red Wing under the sponsorship system–they’re right. That makes the story of the 1969 draft (a Red Wing scout was so angry at the stupidity at his own table he wandered over to the Flyers–whose own Gerry Melnyk was practically in tears begging Philadelphia to take Clarke–and told them to take him and enjoy the best player in the draft because his outfit was too stupid to know a hockey player when they saw one) a stark example of what stupid does to people and organizations.
There was no “territory” or area that one team or another could dominate, but a team sponsorship by an NHL team meant a young Regina Pat Midget (like Terry Harper) was Montreal property. From his mid-teens, Terry Harper had two choices for his hockey career: make it with the Montreal Canadiens, or not make it with the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal could sell him, loan him, trade him, bury him, condemn him to Springfield and Eddie Shore–whatever the hell they wanted to do, and at any time.
THE OILERS
Edmonton has pulled a MacGyver in recent seasons by signing a pile of college and junior players to AHL-only pro contracts. Recent examples that turned out extremely well include Vincent Desharnais and James Hamblin. More distant examples include Mark Arcobello and Josh Currie.
I would give credit to Ken Holland for the innovation, but Peter Chiarelli also did it. I am also reluctant to give Mr. Holland credit due to the fact the organization doesn’t run close to 50 contracts and so isn’t optimizing all available slots. A true innovation would be running 48 contracts, including a Stonehouse on every corner. Edmonton’s 50-man list is not full. There are, however, well more than 50 names in the system:
- Oilers (22): Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan McLeod, Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard, Vincent Desharnais, Stuart Skinner, Dylan Holloway (about to be recalled). Zach Hyman, Evander Kane, Mattias Janmark, Derek Ryan, Connor Brown, Adam Erne, Sam Gagner, Cody Ceci, Corey Perry, Calvin Pickard, Warren Foegele, Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak.
- Condors (26): Raphael Lavoie, Xavier Bourgault, Carter Savoie, Tyler Tullio, Matvey Petrov, Jake Chiasson, Philip Broberg, Markus Niemelainen, Max Wanner, Phil Kemp, Olivier Rodrigue, Beau Akey (he is a slide but under control). Lane Pederson, Drake Caggiula, Seth Griffith, Brad Malone, James Hamblin, Ben Gleason, Greg McKegg, Noel Hoefenmeyer, Jack Campbell, Brady Stonehouse (he is a slide, but under control). Jayden Grubbe, Cam Dineen, Ryan Fanti, Carl Berglund.
- AHL contracts (6): Cameron Wright, Dino Kambeitz, Ethan de Jong, Alex Peters, Connor Corcoran, Xaver Bernard
- Ft Wayne (8): Jack Dugan, Matthew Wedman, Ture Linden, Darien Kielb, Jake Johnson, Noah Ganske, Tyler Parks, Brett Brochu.
I count 62, but might have double named someone. I can’t give Holland credit because the 50-man is at 46, there is more room there to sign prospects and my goodness the Oilers should be doing that kind of thing on the double. Still, I like the ploy, while also understanding other teams are doing it.
Folks, it’s time to sign Cameron Wright. I know he was healthy scratched for a long time recently, but he played so well last night. I know he’s 25, but who gives a rat’s ass if he can play? I don’t know if he has an NHL career ahead of him, I just know he can make a difference in the AHL and he is better than some of the drafted kids as we speak. Sign the man. Sign Cameron Wright. It’s the bloody well right thing to do!
PROCUREMENT
Brad Holland has been watching the Golden Bears (via Kurt Leavins) with Erik Florchuk and Jakin Smallwood the apparent targets. I endorse this kind of activity, and would go further and suggest it’s time for the Oilers to hire someone to scout the 20+ undrafted world with specific instructions to find signable talent with a chance for NHL games.
Noah Philp was signed out of the Golden Bears program. That’s endorsement enough for me.
I want to say this as well. An organization has to use the assets available in the right measure. Brad Holland is a very smart guy, and I wonder if he might consider hiring Bob Stauffer in the role mentioned above. Bob knows his stuff, he was rambling on about Philp and Derek Ryan before they signed and moved into pro hockey.
It isn’t a crazy idea. Stauffer is connected, qualified and driven. I’ve never spoken to him about it, in fact my contact with anyone in the Oilers organization is close to zero and that’s my choice. It doesn’t benefit me, it doesn’t help what I do. Independence from the Oilers allows me to suggest Stauffer in this role without hesitation. This isn’t helping a friend, but it is endorsing a colleague in what would be an unusual and extremely rare career change. Hell, they could run Dave Jamieson as the host of Oilers Now and have Bob do hits daily. I know radio well, folks. That would work.
If the Oilers are looking at Florchuk, it’s fair to assume Stauffer has been hammering the brass about him. I know you’ll initially see it as a strange endorsement by me, but it’s a most logical conclusion. Stauffer can find talent. The Oilers should weaponize the asset.
New for The Athletic: Oilers prospect Xavier Bourgault’s season and what it means for his future
https://theathletic.com/5248806/2024/02/04/oilers-prospect-xavier-bourgault-texas/
Per Stauff:
The @EdmontonOilers practice today:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
McLeod-Draisaitl-Foegele
Perry-Holloway-Brown
Janmark-Ryan-Gagner
Nurse-Ceci
Ekholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Desharnais
Skinner
Pickard
Kane not on ice (illness)
————————
Interesting to see they shift McLeod up and have Holloway at 3C with Kane missing.
Maybe a bit of an insight into their potential plans if a top 6 player can’t play on any given night.
LT it was nice of you to let Cameron Wright’s mom write todays post (I joke).
Something has to give in Philly with their goaltending. They are in a playoff spot and the situation in net is desperate. Nobody wants Petersen…….except maybe….the EDM Oilers for Campbell. It’s money in and money out except for term. If Philly sees Campbell as recovering (I know a big if) then this kind of deal might work.
To Philly: Campbell ($2 million retained for 3 years)
To Edmonton: Petersen ($2 million retained for 1 year).
For EDM it’s cap neutral this year with the option to buy out Petersen for a low cost and short term this summer. I’m not sure but the EDM cap hit for Petersen buy-out might be very little in 24-25 with the Philly retention. Not sure how buy-outs work with retained salary. In 25/26 the overall EDM cap hit might be $4 million ($2 million Pedersen buy-out plus $2 million Campbell retention. In 26/27 all that is left is the $2 million Campbell retention.
For Philly it’s cap neutral this year and next with Campbell costing $3 million and Petersen retention (again not sure how this works if he’s bought out by EDM). After that they get Campbell for $3 million for another 2 seasons. That’s a decent deal for Campbell if he is playing well. It all depends on whether Philly sees Campbell good. He’s playing well now, Philly has got to be desperate, and this could address a crisis for nothing but a distressed asset (Petersen) out the door. This kind of deal looks like Neal-Lucic. Pozar do you know how buy-outs work with retained salary?
All retained salary transactions are based on a perctange agreed to ( us fans usually discuss this in terms of dollars)
If a retained salary contract is subsequently bought out, the same percentage(s) apply to each respective team for the duration of the buyout
I found this little nugget that discusses a Campbell trade/buyout (although it applies to all players of course) – this is from June of ’23 so the author is calculating 4 years remaining on Campbells contract
https://thehockeywriters.com/buyout-rule-salary-retention-rule-hurts-oilers-jack-campbell-trade/
If the Oilers trade Campbell and he is subsequently bought out, the Oilers are on the hook for (whatever) percentage they retained, AND, they lose one of their retained salary slots for the duration (6 years)
Yesterday, I had proposed trading Campbell for a slightly distressed asset like Reilly Smith. Smith can still play and would fill our need at 2RW.
Petersen is a fully distressed asset.
Acquiring him, lessens the duration of a Campbell buyout, but doesn’t help bolster the team for these playoffs.
Over the next two seasons, it actually would worsen our cap situation over just buying out Campbell.
It wouldn’t make sense to me.
You proposed but ignored responses that provided some practical issues such as needing to move two players off the NHL roster to fit Smith on, for example.
I’ll leave that for you and Bill Scott to figure out. 🙂
Wouldn’t we have enough accrued cap space if the trade were to occur near the deadline to only have to send down one player?
I think it improves both team’s situation. Philly gets a starter for the same money they are locked into giving Petersen next year (assuming Campbell rebounds). Campbell would then subsequently only count for $3 million against the cap in the final two years of his contract. That is pretty good for a starter. Depends if Philly sees Campbell good right now.
The Oilers would be on the hook for $2 million of Campbell’s salary for the next 3 years plus whatever is left of Petersen’s buyout – or – we could bring in a 3rd team willing to take Petersen’s contract off our hands for our a pick. Then we pick up another $2 million of cap space this spring and are left with Campbell’s $2 million retained salary for 3 years (way better than 6 years).
Lavoie goes 95mph and then 99.7mph in the hardest shot.
Dyllan McGrath currently leader at 100.8.
Oilers on the ice for a 5pm practice as the bye week and then All-Star Break are officially over!
Time to get back to work.
Reliant on the PP? No longer – 10th in the NHL for percentage of goals scored at 5 on 5:
https://theoilrig.ca/2024/02/04/comparing-the-edmonton-oilers-power-play-performance-versus-their-5v5-play/
Also 6th in the league in GF% at 5v5.
Slow and steady improvement over the last number of years.
18-19 45.1% (29th)
19-20 47.3% (25th)
20-21 49.8% (18th)
21-22 51.1% (16th)
22-23 53.2% (12th)
23-24 54.1% (6th)
Since Nov 12 (koaching change) the Oilers are 4th in the league with 2.99 GF/60 at 5v5, while also being 1st in xGF/60, SCF/60 and HDCF/60. In that last metric they are a full 10% better than the #2 team!
If anything, they’re underperforming as far as GF at 5v5.
Summarizing!
It’s an early one because Stonehouse remains out for the Barber Poles (as they are apparently known). 3rd straight game on the shelf. Does not appear to be suspended.
Usually Oilers prospects wait until they hit Bakersfield to disappoint.
(I’m kidding).
I’ve long held the thought that everytime league expands there should be an increase in max contracts for every team. Dilute talent pool increase prospect pool each team can directly procure and invest resources to help develop talent from.
Should be around max 55 contracts at this point.
Holloway recalled.
No surprise there.
if there were no more roster moves between now and the deadline they will be able to fit in an apx $2MM AAV on deadline day but they can’t just keep 6D on the roster indefinitely.
If they called a Kemp/Gleason up today and ran that 22 player roster they would be able to fit in a $1MM AAV on deadline day.
I think they’ll generally have 7D on the roster but will have days a stretches where there will be 6.
Of course with the more hectic schedule coming up there will likely be more bumps and bruises. Hopefully not “injuries” but who knows.
East coast tours will have to carry reinforcements. West coast, not so much.
Jesse Puljujarvi signs a 2 x $800k contract with the Penguins.
Guentzel replacement?😏
Hardly.
I really like Stauffer as radio analyst. The Oilers should aim higher for its executives.
To an outsider, Stauffer appears to have all this inside information. He hangs around NHL rinks for a living, this is where gossips and rumours live and very few outsiders get to go where he goes for his job.
However everyone in the hockey world hangs around the same hockey rinks and hears the same rumours and gossip. Not sure if Stauffer’s knowledge is going to bring a bunch new to an NHL staff.
He is a very good story teller, adds terrific colour to the games, he has a successful radio show, a hockey executive has a very short shelf life.
Following up on OP and JP’s comments on our AHL goaltending with some additional colour.
From late December onwards, Campbell has a record of 6-1 with a .935 save percentage. During this period, Rodrigue has gone 4-2-2 and .896.
However, in the first 4 weeks of December, Campbell went 2-2 with a lowly .877 save percentage while Rodrigue was hot during this period posting a 3-1-2 record and .936.
For the season, Campbell has rebounded to .909 while Rodrigue’s cooling off has brought him down to .920.
Goalies really are voodoo.
Maybe the Oilers told them to swap jerseys, in a last ditch effort to pump Campbell’s value before the trade deadline
@JonathanWillis
A little update on one-time Oilers coach Todd Nelson. He won his second AHL title as a head coach last year. This year his Hershey Bears are 36-8-2, which puts them on pace to be the best AHL team ever (eclipsing the 92-93 Binghamton Rangers).
Knock, knock LAK.
Maybe it’s just me, but 92-93 doesn’t seem like that great of a record. Unless maybe it’s for games played.
92-93 was the year…not the record.
Sarcasm. It’s a skill.
The lowest form of humour.
Rob Blake probably feels his newly signed 8 x 8.5m 20 point center needs some discipline in his game and needs to be whipped into shape.
Knock, knock, Darryl Sutter.
LT, you are bloody well right about both Bob’s.I have a great deal of respect for both of them.
I am pretty sure the diabetes affected Clarke’s draft spot. He was a heck of Junior player and those Bombers were great. Too bad they did not get to be part of the Memorial Cup. The Flyers were fortunate.
Stauffer has an incredible memory and data bank in his brain. I suspect as an employee of the Oilers, they already get some benefit from his knowledge. He knows and talks to a lot of people in the hockey world.
If they got Dowd with 300k retention:
Nuge Conner Hyman
Kane Drai Tarasenko
Holloway McLeod Perry
Brown Dowd Ryan
Gagner
Ekholm Bouch
Nurse Zub
Kulak Des
8K in cap space, 2 RS C that can PK and take PK and D zone faceoffs. A stronger partner for Nurse which should be a noticeable difference for him (hopefully getting the pairs stats closer to the other pairs that are crushing it), and better supporting the forwards they play with
For me that is a stronger roster, and better built for playoffs
I tried posting something like this yesterday and this morning, but was interrupted mid-posts and lost everything both times.
I can see Kulak getting moved out, with Broberg moving up and Seeler or Lyubushkin as #7 and MAF as G insurance.
This is pretty close to my ideal post deadline roster.
Not sure it’s realistic, but I sure would like to see how much damage they could do.
It is an interesting roster—lots of turnover midseason.
I would prefer adding a RHD without giving up Ceci. An injury to one of the top two RHDs would be a disaster.
They could pick up an inexpensive depth D
Barrie looked fine on paper, but when Ek replaced him it was massive. Nurse’s pair is well behind the other pairs in key defensive metrics, and it’s not Nurse
They are ‘above 50%’ but should be a fair bit better. They are playing much less against top comp than before, they aren’t playing with poor forwards, and it’s been a few seasons of data for people like SID that look at it in depth. It’s also a risk to go again in playoffs as they were not good against a strong team that was organized when it counted most
I don’t think replacing non core players is a huge change, especially when the new guys are as good or better. I just want a Cup, the players want one more, they will get over it if it makes their chances better
Here’s a thought for going for it. I doubt it would happen, but who knows, the idea being along the Ekholm deal and a player not on the radar. Zub has been mentioned in a few things I’ve read including Curlock’s piece I mentioned yesterday
We don’t what Staois likes, I am basing the assets on them wanting to get NHL ready prospects and more picks to retool, and that it seems the Sens want to change things up as they are worse than their roster looks like
To Oilers
Zub 250K retained
Tarasenko 2.5M retained
2025 2nd
To Sens
Ceci
Foegele
Lavoie
2025 1st
2025 5th
2026 4th
I’ve tried to balance where each team could use picks as they are usually swapped in deals, and added an extra to entice getting their 2025 2nd back as we don’t have one and are giving up the 1st that year. I sent the 2025 1st as they already have 2 this summer
Why for the Oilers. Zub is a Ceci upgrade and a manageable cap hit under term. Tarasenko and Foegele are on expiring contracts, and retaining Foegele seems unlikely. Tarasenko has a much better playoff scoring history and is a more talented bigger player, and a shooter which they lack enough of
For the Sens. They are getting 2 useful roster players and a quality prospect, a 1st and gaining a pick. Foegele is younger and faster than Tank and points are close taking out PP, and is probably easy to re-sign. If Staios likes Ceci he’s reducing cap spend on D (which is high for them) and keeps a defensive D. Lavoie is a big shooting NHL ready prospect (I like Lavoie and would prefer to move Bourg, but the Oilers and he seem to have a rift and Lavoie has more current cache)
Tarasenko and Zub aren’t high value players, Tarasenko because he’s declining, Zub because he’s a defensive D with lower points for a top 4. Not creating any holes to fill and getting a 1st and Lavoie is a good return for Staois for what he’s giving, and the long term cap retention is minimal
I think it makes the Oilers better now and later. Perfect would be getting another C and a backup, but nobody seems to see that goalie who’s better than what we have. Maybe you can get Dowd with 300K retention for Janmark and a lesser asset, or something like that. Like the Condors the Oilers have a lot of wingers, and are short a bottom 6 full time centre, and Dowd plays tough comp and PKs
I’ve been on about Zub for years, since I was trying to find a younger Radko Gudas. Scott Mayfield was the other guy I came up with. They’ve both signed reasonable extensions since then, so unlikely their teams will divest of them without receiving a hefty haul of assets.
I like Zub.
There is no way Ottawa makes this trade. Zub is relatively young and cheap. The only way this trade happens is if Broberg is going the other way, imo.
I think I might rather keep Foegele over Tarasenko – they have the same amount of goals at 5 on 5 and Foegele has 2 more assists. Foegele is also part of the Oilers top, now top of the league, PK.
We KNOW Foegele plays well with Drai and we also KNOW he can play well on a 3rd line with McLeod
The assumption is that they can’t keep WF because of his coming raise, and that Tank’s playoff production is massively higher. He’s also a strong shooter, as aspect lacking in the top 6
As for PP since Jan 1 he’s the 6th forward. He’s not a main PP or PK player really
I understand the premise and the likelihood that Foegele can’t be brought back next season – nor would they be able to bring back Tarasenko.
Yes, I understand Foegele is on the 3rd PK and, if it wasn’t him playing that minute per game on the PK (with the best GA/60 on the team), then Drai is playing more or they are using Kane or Hyman – blah. Not to mention the chance that on, any given night, maybe Ryan gets the night off, etc.
One guy is playing at career best levels.
The other is in a slump on a bad team.
The sample sizes of both extremes are small.
Yet, their production is nearly the same.
I understand the chemistry argument, but Tank is the superior player.
This is true except one is in his prime and the other has regressed since his prime and maybe that slump is partially due to being past the age where goal scorers generally regress.
We know have 3 years of data that shows Leon does better with Foegele on his wing.
One would think Tarasenko would thrive but that’s far from known – a total different type of offensive zone player than Foegele.
Plus asset cost to acquire, plus asset cost to get them to retain.
Agreed. All that is the fun in the speculation.
If Tank could be had for a reasonable cost, I’d pull the trigger. His dominant skill set is too much to ignore.
Keeping Foegele would be preferred, even if they can’t re-sign him. I think it might be doable if you brought in a 3rd team to retain an additional $1.25M on Tarasenko. Shouldn’t cost a lot, maybe a 5th, as it’s like $250k cash.
I don’t mind this trade suggestion.
I haven’t watched Zub enough to know if he’s worth the assets and extra salary (he’d still cost $1.1M more than Ceci even with the retention). He might be, but I just don’t know.
The biggest concern I have with this one is the Oilers would be taking on $850k in Cap with that transaction, so it would force a player off the roster.
Maybe Zub is a bigger deal than I realize though.
There’s a helluva player there.
This year, on a poor team in OTT, he’s seeing 40% TOI vs elites, nicely positive rels, breaking dead even against all tiers of competition in GF%, and he’s a nasty bit of business.
https://puckiq.com/players/8482245
Yes, going back to the old approach which is much closer to the MLB model (easily the best development and support system in professional sports) would be a positive.
Stay away at all costs from the NFL model.
I’ve always appreciated Stauffer’s eye for talent. Balanced approach. Has time for math and understands its value but doesn’t sacrifice any goats to it. He can talk old boy hockey with all the old heads and still appreciates a lot of the old nuance of the game that a lot of modern folks have forgotten. He would have my vote as well Lowetide.
I agree on Stauff generally and it still boggles my mind that we was fully willing and hoping to give up a first round pick for Josh Anderson last summer.
YES, sign overhead Cam Wright, right.
Darren Kielb is no longer in Fort Wayne, he may have been traded to ECHL Maine, where he played in 7 games, but has since moved on to Europe. He is currently playing the Slovak League, where he is at 3 GP.
Matthew Wedman has also moved on, after putting up good numbers in Fort Wayne. The Edmontonian (a 7th round Panthers pick) has good size, and put up 40 goals in his 19 Y.O. Jr season, but has bounced around a bit. He was with AHL Cleveland for a handful of games, but now is with Henderson.
I’ve mentioned the name Gavin McKenna in this space before. You will hear his name a lot the next couple of years.
For those who haven’t heard of him yet, he’s a LW originally from Whitehorse and plays for the Medicine Hat Tigers. He only just turned 16 right before Christmas, so won’t be draft-eligible until 2026.
Well, since the calendar flipped to 2024, he’s rung up 31 points (10+21) in 14 games. With 65 points on the season, he’s inside the top 15 in WHL scoring. And he was just named WHL Player of the Month for January.
The family ties make it an even more intriguing story:
https://youtu.be/otQ7UcqxtKI?si=N5rdZ651A4-Zl4Kt
Appreciate the update Tarkus. I’ve been following McKenna since he got 4 points in his first game as a 14 year old.
McKenna is averaging 1.51 points per game this year.For comparison, Bedard had 1.87 points/game in his Draft-2 season (although it was only 15 games) and 1.61 ppg in his Draft-1 season.
McDavid had 1.05 ppg in D-2 and 1.77 ppg in D-1.
Prospectarious!
The only NA amateur in action has experienced inaction recently, that being Brady Stonehouse. His last game was last Sunday: he has missed the two games since. (From what little I can glean, it doesn’t appear serious.)
Should he lace ’em up today, he will do so when the puck drops @ 3:30 p.m. Rolly View time.
Wright following a path of depth prospects converting AHL deals to NHL deals
Jack Campbell was brilliant last night. There is no current path for him on to thr NHL roster in-season (they’d need to send Picks and a skater out) but a confident Campbell on the playoff roster is wildcard in a break glass emergency situation
It’s about time we use the playoff cap circumvention rule to our advantage.
Campbell in the minors is NOT playoff cap circumvention. Most of his salary is still on the cap, less a million or so.
The Oilers cannot trust Campbell in an important game unless all available hands are unavailable. Just can’t. Sorry. I like him. Hope he has a wonderful career. No.
Do you think that if he plays out the ‘A’ season well and is with the team in the playoffs, ‘whomever’ might find a deal for him that isn’t just a contract dump?
So many teams need a goalie. There must be some GM that likes him still, and his contract isn’t outrageous
Jack Campbell’s value has been low before, without a $5 mil/year contract yet mind you. High draft pick, kept playing in minors, not good enough to make the jump. Move to LA, change of scenery to right situation. Rebuilt his value, mostly through play in the minors and the odd NHL start. Campbell has had to rebuild his game and value before. Maybe he can do it again.
So… who among the likely playoff teams is vulnerable in their #2 goalie? That is, unreliable performance or injury history in the #2 spot? Is that who you envision as a target?
Were going for the cup, and absolutely cannot put him in a playoff game so we must get rid of him.
A smart team like the Canadians may come around and pick him up for a first round pick+ and trade him for another good pick in a year or two. But the Oilers cannot play him but a team like the Blue Jackets can
Fair but I think that management team may have a different mind-set in May.
Of course, we are talking about a situation where:
1) Skinner is hurt or struggling as much as last playoffs;
2) Campbell has had a long stretch of success in the AHL through the end of the season and is confidant
3) The end of season 2G (be it Pickard or other) doesn’t seem likely to be able to take over back-stop the team to a series win over multiple games.
Jack Campbell has had real success in the NHL playoffs in the past.
He could be a wildcard in the break-glass situation.
Campbell in the playoffs is the stuff of nightmares.
Campbell on the PLAYOFF rooster IS NOT cap circumvention and is playoff insurance in case one of our two goalies get injured.
I wonder if he’s played well enough to be tradable with 50% retention without much of a sweetener? Buying him out this summer means a $1.5M cap hit for 6 years. Trading him with 50% retained before the deadline means a $2.5M cap hit for 3 years, plus $1.35M more cap space this year.
The play has to be to ship him out with no retention, while getting something useful in return (cap space, or a roster player) or buy him out in the summer.
Retention or giving him the car keys are simply not options with this player.
To ship him out with no retention will cost serious assets, from a team that doesn’t have a ton, plus further assets to make use of the cap space created by moving Campbell. Buying him out in the summer doesn’t cost any assets, but means that the team is severely limited in what it can bring in at the deadline. Trading Campbell with retention potentially offers a middle way.
There are routes that can be taken to move Campbell. Let’s just hope they don’t cost what many think it might cost.
There are actually non-playoff teams out there who may value Campbell because they don’t necessarily need him to win most of the games he plays. They may value his intangibles more than anything, as they make a play to be better positioned to pick Celebrini..
I think he still costs a first round pick at 50% retained (as opposed to at least two 1st round pick equivalents right now – at least).
I think its cost prohibitive.
The 32nd pick in this year’s draft probably has less value than the cap space generated by moving even 1/2 of Campbell’s deal.
If there was a way to guarantee the trade leads to the 32nd overall pick.
Does it help matters for all teams concerned if we ship him out with salary retained to someone who intends to buy him out? We basically are then trading part of his buyout hit for lesser asset cost in the summer than it would cost to send him out with no salary retention?Other team gets some sugar to accommodate their share of the Cap penalty. Does such a manoeuvre make sense?
Who needs help hitting the Cap floor next year and does not plan on spending to the Cap for a couple of years or so?