The Edmonton Oilers made a trade with the Buffalo Sabres yesterday, and won it from me to you. This isn’t Miro Satan for Barrie Moore and Craig Millar, but there’s zero doubt about the best player in the deal.
On the other hand, Edmonton shipped an NHL player away for a prospect, running counter to the current state of affairs. Ryan McLeod could slide in at No. 3 center or No. 2 left wing and deliver capably and that has value.
You have to give to get. I value what McLeod brings, but value Savoie’s future far more. Scoring goals is hard to do. These Edmonton Oilers, under Jeff Jackson’s leadership, are shopping in all the right places.
TOP PROSPECTS NHLE
The top-20 hadn’t been out for a day at The Athletic before this trade was made, but I think it’s pretty clear that Matthew Savoie is the top prospect. Including all skaters, the NHL equivalency (far from a perfect metric, but a measure that does inform us about potential offense) puts the question to rest.
- Matthew Savoie 44
- Dalyn Wakely 42
- James Stefan 40
- Matt Copponi 34
- Maxim Berezkin 32
- Raphael Lavoie 30
- Sam O’Reilly 22
- Shane Lachance 22
- Noah Philp 21 (*2022-23 season)
- Ben Gleason 21
- Beau Akey 17
- Tyler Tullio 15 (traded)
- Xavier Bourgault 14
- Matvey Petrov 11
- Max Wanner 10
- Nikita Yevseyev 10
- Phil Kemp 9
- Jayden Grubbe 8
I use 30 NHLE points as a kind of line in the sand for projectable NHL offense, meaning there are six names worthy of an NHL look. Not all will make it, but six in an era where the Oilers haven’t drafted high (or much, really) is impressive. Credit to the (Jeff) Jackson 5, two of those five arrived recently and a third (James Stefan) was signed not long ago.
I think Savoie will play NHL games this coming season, but he enters the organization during a time when there is no urgency to force him into the NHL lineup. That’s a fantastic situation for the young forward.
NHLE has value, but I would also suggest to you that the “players to watch” in the AHL this season (aside from Lavoie) are Max Wanner, Noah Philp and Jayden Grubbe. Remember when we do the ‘Farm Workers’ post? I talk about Fernando Pisani and Vincent Desharnais being the real stars of the AHL and the development process.
The AHL doesn’t house men like Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Smyth or even Shawn Horcoff for long. I suspect Savoie is in that group, honestly. I doubt he plays 100 AHL games.
Finally, a quick note on where Edmonton is shopping. Starting with the Zach Hyman signing, and continuing through the Ekholm trade, it was fairly clear the procurement process has improved. Jeff Jackson took that improved engine and tweaked it, effectively turning the Edmonton Oilers into a brand new franchise in the process.
I don’t see any other way to frame the issue. These moves, the draft, free agency and now the Savoie trade, are skyscraper outliers compared to this team’s own recent past. The only comparable I can recall is the best of Glen Sather, and those who remember will agree (I believe) Slats had the Midas touch (and some addled GM’s as foil).
Hurry October.
Some twitter pundit has Savoie as 2nd on the Sabres prospect list. Who the heck does he have at #1? Ostlund? He’s doesn’t have Savoie ceiling IMO. Better floor, perhaps.
Trades always offer perceived value to both parties. Factors like desperation, can affect perceived value, but we’re SC Finalsts, we’re the second least desperate team in the league w.r.t. present roster talent, and we’re selling SC Finalist quality players to get compliant. JJ couldn’t ask for a better set-up. Nice trade, but he’s sailing the best tailwind since Sather. I imagine he had some options getting talent (but futures) back.
Savoie is one of the most under-rated prospects of the two prior drafts. If he had the size, he would have went top 3 his year. Sabres also have Benson and Ostlund of the same stature and it’s looking like they’re all going to hit. It’s no surprise they had a great trade chip to throw our way and the Oil would have been N–U–T–S, nuts not to take the offer.
Sabres get a guy who will be affordable for years, very coachable, defensively responsible, great speed, learning the grit game who can help them get over the hump right now. They had currency to spend to get help and they used it. Another data point supporting the argument for best player available too–you can get for-sure NHL quality if your prospects have the same attribute.
There’s a lot of criticism of Highlander running around the interwebs. Too soft etc. He is by no means a perfect player, or a finished product. I think the Oilers liked him an awful lot, but for cap reasons someone has to go and there’s others who can do his job till the next deadline. How much did the Oilers like McLeod? Matt Savoie much. Big time return. the kid bleeds talent.
The Oilers finally have the hammer in trades these past couple of years and even moreso this summer. JJ shows no signs of buggering up what he has been handed. Well done.
Whatever options JJ had, I’m over the moon he chose this one. Smells like an analytics informed move too.
The procurement process has definitely improved. We watched Eberle turn into Strome turn into Spooner.
So what would we think of trading Kulak for another prospect or a 4C, and then signing LHD Travis Dermott for a $1M contract?
I think I want to know what is happening with Kane before making that decision. Is this a career or season ending injury or will he be back at some point in the season.
Once they know the cap implications of his injury they will know which aisle to be shopping in.
I still would like us to be under cap and not in LTIR so we can buy at trade deadline
Agreed. Always prudent to have cash available in case of emergencies or opportunities.
The Oilers have 5 competent D (Nurse, Ekholm, Bouchard, Kulak and Broberg). And need one more. They are a legit contender who is close. And you want them to go from 5 competent D to 4 competent D.
Pretty much the only thing that can crater the Oilers season are injuries to the defense.
Definitely have zero desire to do that.
Not sure a 4C would get enough ice in Edmonton to justify a Kulak trade (or to justify the downgrade a replacement level 3LD) and I’d prefer to have Derek Ryan tread water until Noah Philp is back up and running (or give Pederson some reps).
Kulak was the third best D as measured by Puck IQ performance against elites, this season, for both for GF% and DFF%.
Can you increase his TOI and maintain that performance?
In terms of playoffs 5v5 deployment: Kulak 386 minutes to Nurse’s 392. In the playoffs on the PK Kulak received 23 minutes to Nurse’s 40. Nurse was more important to the PK than Kulak. But 5v5 there’s parity in minutes, with Kulak -3 and Nurse -11 in 5v5 goals.
We all know who needs to be traded, it’s a difficult trade and seems unlikely, and that player isn’t Kulak.
Nurse’s play down the stretch and, even moreso in the playoffs, was so far below his established level of play and historical norms that.
It would be very surprising if he’s not significantly better next season.
Darnell Nurse has had real success in the NHL as the 1D on a team that won playoff round (with non-1st pairing partners) – I find it almost impossible to believe that, all of a sudden, he can’t be a solid second pairing d-man, actually, a high end 3D anchoring a second pairing.
The problems in Nurse’s and Ceci’s play have become more pronounced statistically since they stopped getting the goal support from 97, and 2 & 14 replaced them on the 5 man unit.
Also, his best season statistically was during the COVID shortened Canadian league that saw his own individual contributions skyrocket.
There are technical elements to his game, the way he doesn’t quite close the gap, the way he doesn’t fully play the man or the puck, and low hockey IQ choices that I don’t think will ever change. In the very least it seems this is a player who is not having success in a shut-down role, and who has lost a physical element to his game after a hip flexor injury.
This is why Seravalli has him at the top of the trade board and Bruce McCurdy “isn’t certain what they are going to do about him.”
McCurdy and Staples have counted his contributions to own goals as off the charts. And McCurdy in particular has pointed out that he contributes to screens against his own goaltenders, and this is why he has a low on-ice SV%. NHL_SID has shown that in the second pair, it’s Nurse who’s most problematic.
I think there are a lot of factors that made Nurse look better than he is. And there are a lot of reasons to believe he isn’t going to suddenly turn into a great shut-down defender. That combined with lack of physicality should be enough for any Oilers fan to want to see him moved.
I need to look up what Seravalli, Staples, McCurdy and NHL_SID are saying about Nurse, especially re: Nurse being most problematic of the 2nd pair D.
As I see it, we’re still over cap and Kane has an NMC and is quite valuable when healthy and I doubt his injury will last until the playoffs so something has to give. The only option to bring the team under cap once Kane is healthy seems to be Kulak or Cecil. They have Ekholm, Nurse, and Broberg on the left side (I believe Broberg plays better there yes?). Bouchard on tne right side. Ceci helps the right side. Then you have fringe D on the right after Ceci, so I don’t think Ceci is an option. Dermott looks like the most dependable D left on the market. The right side D available are mostly offensive minded with poor D. Maybe there is a trade to be made, but I don’t see it.
I’ve seen a couple “but the team is worse now” comments and I would highly suspect the team is about to bring in a right-handed checking centre to take the role McLeod (a lefty) had and even out the team. Derek Ryan is currently the only Righty centre with 4/5 right-shot wingers (Hyman, Arvidsson, Brown, Perry, maybe Lavoie or Savoie) and a couple of RHC cuspers (Pederson, Philp) I would suspect that a 3/4 RHC is going to be added likely before the season starts.
Arvi is a LS!
I hope so. Wonder if they run Ryan for a couple of months and wait to see how Philp does. He was ready before he took a break. But they can’t wait too long or he won’t get enough games in
Arvidsson is a righty.
Arvi is a RS!
I had to check again on it 🤣🤣 I think it’s part of the reason Sam Carrick was acquired is they are looking for that #4 RHC who can also PK to give them an extra option there. I do think Philp will be given a shot there eventually but I also believe they’ll want “just one more”. That might even be the plan for Savoie but I suspect we see one more player with NHL experience added much like we had Gagner added last year.
Bjugstad should be available at the deadline again. 😉
A question concerning Evan Bouchard. Next offseason he is RFA and arbitration eligible. If my reading is correct, he will have 4 seasons in towards reaching UFA status, correct? Current cap hit is 3.9m per and 2024/25 salary is 4.3 m. What is a reasonable price for his remaining RFA years, and separately for his UFA years on an 8 year extension look like?
Comparing to Fox and Makar, his UFA years might cost 10mx5, his RFA years 6m x3? Does that sound reasonable to extend him for 8 yrs and 68m total? That would be a Cap hit of 8.5m per year for 8 years. doable? Add in Drai at 13.5 and McD at 16, would get all three at a combined hit of 38m per year, 2m less than the media are speculating for their combined hit.
What do you think?
I would think Bouchard gets between 11 and 12 percent of cap at 8 years. That’s within the range of percent of cap of Makar and Fox. It will be on the order of 8 x 10m.
I would sign that extension ASAP. Worth every penny. And I have not always been a fan.
I don’t quite get what you’re asking about RFA vs UFA years. If EDM was going to sign a larger extension at a lower dollar number, they missed that chance with the last bridge deals. They didn’t have the cap to do it, and should have done so before sending out Barrie and putting Bouchard on the PP.
They have up till now been slow at deciding on players. I wanted term last bridge, the cap is a thing but you can move cap. The thing is playing it too safe ends up hurting the team in the long run for high offense players, they get increasingly expensive. You can usually move those players it’s not as risky as Lucic or Kassian for example
Bouchard is arbitration eligible next offseason.
What do you think an arbitration award would look like?
There is another way to look at this.
And by that I mean the player and his agent.
Bouchard’s career earnings have been suppressed by the way in which his development was handled by the Oilers.
When his current contract expires he will have career earnings of $12.775 million.
By way of contrast, Quinn Hughes, who reaches UFA status in 2027, will have career earnings of $51,912,500 million and will be in line to sign a max term contract that will likely pay him north of $10 million over 8 years.
While the two players are not identical, they are from the same draft class.
Other 24 year old defenseman career earnings:
Rasmus Dahlin $117.325 million (3 year bridge deal @ $6 million but Dahlin was extended a year ago for 8 years at $11 million before the cap was unfrozen.
Miro Heiskanen $77.875 million
Owen Power (3 years younger) $64 million
Jake Sanderson (3 years younger) $69.950 million
Teams have been locking up their top D coming out of their ELCs for several seasons but Holland did not.
Would it be reasonable to ask Bouchard to forego even more career earnings to compensate for that?
Disingenuous much?
Even the 8 x $8.5M deal Mayan suggests would put Bouchard over $80M in career earnings and #2 on the fine list you’ve compiled.
Math is hard.
Bouchard would not hit that level until he turned 33.
Dahlin will be eligible for ANOTHER contract when he is 31
Heiskanen when he is 29
Power when he is 27….Sanderson too.
But Hughes is the best example since he will reach UFA status when he is 27 and will be in line for a new contract that will probably exceed $11 million annually.
While you are pointing to Bouchard having $80 million in career earnings, Hughes under those circumstances would have career earnings of $139 million.
An extra $59 million buys a lot of tacos.
You’d think Broggan Rafferty would be happy just getting a contract.
Math definitely is hard.
With your $11M next deal Hughes will have made in the $116M range by age 33 (no clue where your $139M is from).
He definitely is an interesting example though.
More than half his career earnings will have come from a team other than the Canucks (New Jersey being a good guess) by that point.
So Hughes current deal certainly is a good one for him. Much less so for the Canucks. And I’m pretty sure I’d favor the outcome the Oilers are almost certainly going to get from Bouchard.
Wait, his lower career earnings are due to how the Oilers developed him?
We are one season removed from you stating “not an NHL d-man” – you stated that within the 2022/23 season.
Why do you keep changing your handle?
Harper Hair to “The Great One”.
There were some rather peculiar d that bouch were compared to, the last couple years, some which are trying to remain on NHL teams.
“If you don’t try to move the goal posts consistently, they’ll never truly move” –
the great oneHarpers HairMakar and Hughes signed their deals like 3 years ago.
I think Bouchard is in the $10MM range for full term
This trade made me think unicorns with a great checking line.
The last offensive line could be Holloway-Savoie-Kane.
I have read lots about his having no Pro resume was more due to his age and not ability. He had to play NHL or Chl last year.
As an aside if Ceci is moved out and Broberg Holloway sign 1 million deals. That brings us cap compliment on a 23 man roster w 9k to spare.
Sounds like Savoie was injured last year and the year before as well. It would make sense if the org wants him to play in the AHL to get a better sense of the pace and physicality before moving him up for good
Almost certainly a training camp decision. And all good if he plays 40 in the A. But this as a 4th line would eat 10 min a night 5v5.
As to injuries the only one I could confirm was the shoulder injury in training camp last year.
Most definitely spends half season plus in Ahl
Jackson needs to put a tag on someone as G.M. Make a certain special person as honorary G.M because Edmonton is clearly the front runner for the G.M award.
Sather just retired. Bring him back for one more run.
Definitely having flashbacks of the Eighties with the moves Action Jackson has made starting with Coach K.K.
I feel like this was a good hockey trade for both teams. Our current roster is stacked with forward depth, but our prospect pool has been thinning out for years. Buffalo is stacked with promising smallish, high-scoring prospects, but is looking to get better now. I think both teams capably addressed their weaknesses.
I like this move for Edmonton as Savoie looks like a guy who will be able to step into the top 6 in a year and provide the type of insane value on his ELC that you need to keep the window open a couple years longer.
I don’t hate this move for Buffalo, as I think many of us have McLeod’s disappointing playoffs front and center, and likely forgetting that he played well as a middle 6 guy, and on a value contract as well. He’s still young with room to improve and watching the playoffs, I felt like it was a good experience for him to maybe finally realize what he needs to work on.
That said, Savoie definitely has more upside than McLeod, so unless Tullio really pans out, I think it’s fair to say (as most have been) that Edmonton won the trade. On the flip side, if Skinner, Janmark or RNH go down for any length of time, we might miss having a plug-and-play option like McLeod on the roster, who can provide adequate cover anywhere in the lineup. I guess Henrique has the versatility to provide that cover, but then you’re breaking up a very solid third line and risk firing up the blender again.
So it’s not 0% risk by the Oilers, but indeed you have to give to get, and this move does show there is a clear vision from the team to try and balance win-now mode with extending our window to compete.
Holloway can fill those spots. Trading McLeod gives more opportunity for Holloway either up the lineup or at center. And who knows, maybe Savoie will play himself onto the big club sometime this season too.
Yeah, good point. Holloway sitting on the 4th line all year isn’t great either, so having him fill the McLeod role does make sense. Now I feel even better about the trade! (I was already a big fan)
I’m really surprised at any and all of the comments that even have a smidge of negativity about this trade. I appreciate the diverse opinions of this community, but to me this trade is a 360 windmill slam dunk in favour of the Oilers. I get that there are risks with every player and every trade and Savoie may not turn out, but right here right now, the Oilers won this trade like Vince Carter won the 2000 slam dunk competition.
The downside I guess is that the Oilers clearly get worse in the present, right before a season that is probably their best chance at a cup with Drai and Bouch on extremely cheap contracts.
Maybe worse than they were yesterday, not worse than they were four days ago.
Sorry to see him go but there’s not a lotta ice time left for Clouder the way things shaped up, and he’s had his chances to carve a larger role.
How much worse did the Oilers actually get? They just traded their 4C. Maybe the most easily replaceable position on an NHL roster. Yes, McLeod was far better than that, but that’s the position he occupies on the Oilers 2024-25 depth chart.
Henrique took is Job for now and Holloway may transition into a 3-C in 2 years.
Agreed fully. Henrique is a great 3C.
This is a change in philosophy and in sense of urgency. It’s a different vision of what is needed, and that things were needed
Holland tried to accumulate good and better players, but didn’t seem to get to a place where there was the right balance on the roster. He left some holes he started with. The right guys to compliment each other (most players need that, Connor is a freak that way usually) and the right mix of attitude
Curlock points out on X that the Oilers relied on McLeod to get out and out the ice. That is because of the mix of the D group. He was used a lot in game 7 to do it. However the rest of his game is lacking, and he failed to move it out on the 1st Florida goal
I think with how he struggled with his confidence in the playoffs is the main reason he was dealt, secondly cap space. They want more assertive players. Foegele was also let go he is also timid, and wasn’t seen as good as players they brought in at a similar or higher cap hit
Curlock also thinks they have other moves in mind, need another 4C and D upgrades, I would like to see more tweaks
Kevin Adam’s has made 33 trades since becoming the GM of Buffalo, I suspect he wants a re do on the Reinhart trade. If you look over his body of work he seems to have an excellent handle prospects and their value.
We traded a middle six NHL a 6.3, 190 lb who has played 219 games with some excellent skills that are not possessed by others on the team, with a reputation as a perimeter player.
For a 5.9, 180 lb with 1 NHL games, who needs time in the minors to make the team, with a reputation as a perimeter player.
We will not know if we won this trade for 24-36 months, which is out of the win now window.
I haven’t seen perimeter play highlighted by any of the write-ups that I’ve read. Is this a thing?
Curlock on X. Said he’s watched him ~50 times and he’s not dialed in defensively and can play outside. He also said he won’t be a C in the NHL. Those are his opinions, as LT says the player will tell us in time
This is the first mention I’ve seen of Savoie as a “perimeter player”. Source?
5.9 tall probably 175lbs, elite scorer in the WHL. He is going to play undersized and that is not going to change. These body frames don’t excel around the boards in the NHL. No PP1 time and Connor and Leon having a RW, he is going to need a break to excel within this roster.
There is only 1 top 6RW locked in for term on this team, Zack Hyman.
Victor Arvidsson looks to be the 2RW but that contract is only 2 year and he very well could slide down to be a great 3rd line piece if/when passed by a higher ceiling player.
So Brad Marchand and Brayden Point are giants compared to Savoie?. Maybe let the player tell us, rather than assume so much ahead of time.
M.Savoie has a reputation as a perimeter player? Is that an assumption based on height? Evaluations and quotes about his play indicate he’s not a perimeter player (from what I’ve read anyway).
See Scott Wheeler from this spring:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5303482/2024/03/04/top-nhl-prospects-2024-matvei-michkov/
Another example, (quote from Warriors GM):
https://chl.ca/whl-warriors/article/trade-warriors-acquire-savoie-in-blockbuster-deal/
I thought CapFriendly was supposed to go dark yesterday. Has something changed because it still appears to be functioning although they seem to have stopped confirming contract details.
Shhhhhh, don’t tell Brian MacLellan….
I think the sale was supposed to complete on the 5th(or 6th?)
It’s up to the Washington Capitals when they disable the public access
Friedman was saying that the league doesn’t like these sites and when they are acquired the teams are obligated to disable public access.
I’d assume Washington cuts off public access later in the summer. While it is known that they acquired it, the real outcry will come when it is cut off and it’s better to do that in late July or even August instead of right in the middle of free agency. They may also have advertising agreements that they need to honour as well.
So are we sure we are getting real value? Not to compare Savoie to Rinehart, but the NYI obviously knew something when they traded a “stud defenceman” away quite quickly. Hia game never translated to the NHL. Do the Sabres know something similar about Savoie? Not saying they do, but it does make me wonder
It’s a quite different situation. Reinhart was struggling in the AHL at 21 YO and the Oilers must not have checked that out. Savoie when he went there at 20 in his first 6 games got 5 points. That’s when players get promoted. Many consider him a top prospect not in the NHL. His issue is size, but he’s a very talented player, Reinhart wasn’t
I think it’s the opposite actually. Kalle Larsson – Oilers senior director of player Dev’t who they hired this May – was the GM in Dubuque where Savoie played during Covid when the juniors leagues up here shut down. So Edm has first hand knowledge and a history (pre-draft) of the player.
Fair comments and I actually do like the trade and hope we hit the home run, I just worry a bit when a team seems to give up on a hotshot prospect early. Even if it doesn’t work out, I’m ok trading McLeod. I think with Henrique, Skinner and Arvidsson, I’m not sure where McLeod would have fit.
I think in the deal McLeod is Reinhardt
Mate, everyone knew Reinhardt was no good. Oilers were just smarter than everyone else.
That’s how I remember things as well … my immediate impression of the Reinhart trade was that it was like seeing an another car about to rear end you and all you can do is just brace for contact, and pray the damage won’t be too bad.
This trade was 180 degrees the opposite … I was on call and didn’t have anytime to check my notifications yesterday. When I learned of the Savoie trade I couldn’t believe it cause it seemed too good to be true.
There are clouds on the horizon for Michael McLeod, and it seems unrealistic to think that will not affect Ryan McLeod whatsoever. In that respect, it’s also a smart move and those variables are known.
Buffalo has a swath of first round pick prospects at forward.
They were able to do this because this was the area of their org where whey are deep and could use to overpay for what they were looking for.
Still not a good reason to lose a trade.
Of course not but its a response to the original post of the thread and provides reasons for why Buffalo believed he was expendable.
I’m not sure the place for this thought, but sending away McLeod reminds me a lot of sending away Andrew Cogliano. I think we all would have been ecstatic if we got a top offensive prospect for Andrew Cogliano back in 2013.
The trade was in 2011, the pick not until 2013.
wound up being a #25 overall for a #56 8 years later.
This after Cogs had made the NHL directly at age 20 & played 328 games in the subsequent 4 years.
Cogliano finished with 1294 games in NHL, 0 in AHL.
Marco Roy with 0 in NHL, 100 in AHL, 181 in ECHL.
absolutely batshit trade, among the very worst of the Decade of Darkness. Made zero sense the day it happened & got worse from there.
Yup. Let’s fire the trainer while we’re at it.
I also thought of that. Cogs is on record saying he needed the trade to shake him out of old habits/roles. He still saw himself as a top offensive C and only afterwards started to tweak his game. I wish a similar journey for the Highlander.
If McLeod ever learns to attack the net with confidence and aggression, or use his skating to make pockets of space for his teammates, he will score 20 goals.
Hoping things go well for him, but better for our new guy!
Cogliano refused to play wing for the Oilers and they didn’t force him but he definitely said he needed to be traded to realize he had to play differently
Just noticed. Does this blog no longer sail people on…?
Right you are!
Sail on Highlander – may the scotch be single malt and the wind not blow up your kilt.
LT is busy with life!
let him enjoy it
LT was over the moon that we got Matt Savoie.
— for me it’s a little bittersweet all this: if only we had a nimble mobile management group that did all this stuff for the last 5 years of McDrai.
— pretty hard to not see what many believed: Holland was just meh ..
Yup
Or, the organization now has the luxury of being successful enough to make trades like this. In years gone by the Oilers could not afford to trade away good roster players for futures.
That is because in a few days the GM made the team deep enough to do it. Part and parcel of the same thing
And that GM was able to do what he did 4 days ago partially (mostly?) because of how successful the organization is.
— these aren’t the moves for the guidebook IMO. It needn’t have taken 5 years to “justify” : now it’s easy because of all the great work done the last years they got us here.
— Just imagine McDrai 5 years with this savvy.
No Fng Way. This management group is just better more current. No floating compress to read the tea leaves if they trade so and so.
“Guide and record book” Holland was the one to bring in Henrique and Stecher so why would JJ get the credit? Same with Janmark and C. Brown.
Jeff Skinner is most certainly “guide and record book.”
I”m not knocking JJ, but I’m also not discounting what Holland has built and the impact that has. Simply put, success breeds success.
Yes it’s not black and white. The success in my eyes has been driven by Connor. He has carried the team for a long time – on/off stats. He carried it these playoffs as it boiled down again to one line and one pair doing the most work, and some timely help from Brown and Jan
I mentioned this elsewhere here that Staples wrote a piece detailing how the investments by the owner have made the team very attractive to players. They’ve had Connor and Leon and the arena since 2016. I think it wasn’t pitched as well before as it was this last week, and deals weren’t able to be negotiated that were team friendly enough
It’s not like they haven’t been good for a few years now and gotten deeper in the playoffs, it hasn’t changed that much just because of the finals, although it helps of course. Not surprisingly the former agent was a better salesperson, even swiped Arvi and Brown from under the Flames. Beauty
Gotta hand it to JJ. He’s been Dyn-O-Mite this offseason.
McLeod was defensively aware but guys who play on the perimeter and rarely piss a drop are certainly replaceable in this league. As Steve Kelly taught us once upon a time, fast boots alone are not enough.
If the early returns are any indication, Oiler management has turned the corner from competent to a competitive edge.
Next up the immoveable force. The Nurse contract!
The thing is while some stat numbers were put up at times, in the playoffs he wasn’t good defensively. 22/23 GF% 44.44 23/24 GF% 25
Foegele 22/23 GF% 37.5 23/24 GF% 34.62
Woodguy I think had put some data up about them not using McLeod against Eichel and Bjugstad getting crushed. But overall he was a problem that way
How about no?
I am not as giddy as most about this trade but will reserve judgement until I actually see Matt Lavoie play hockey.
I liked Mcleod. I liked his puck skills and loved his separation speed. That kind of separation speed is rare at the NHL level, where most players are plus skaters. I hate seeing players with that skill set traded away.
My understanding is this trade doesn’t get the Oilers cap compliant, so Kane would still have to go on LTIR, and that could have been done without trading Mcleod.
I don’t see how trading Ceci or Kulak improves the cap, unless you are not replacing them with similar talent. And if you are not, the defense would be considerably weaker.
Anyway, here’s hoping Savoie can stay healthy, can skate like the wind, and evolve into a 60 plus point forward.
They have 8 defence man on the roster. One of Stetcher or J Brown will be sent down and they are compliant. And Kane will definitely at least start the season on IR
That doesn’t quite get you cap compliant as you need to add in Holloway and Broberg but, as per my post a minute in this thread, it does create a path.
What the trade does do is permit the signing of Holloway and Broberg and getting down to a 20-player cap compliant roster for opening day (without risking anyone material on waivers), then LTIRing Kane and fully maximizing LTIR space.
Sending down J.Brown and Stecher saves $1.8M. Oilers are currently $350k over the cap. I don’t think Holloway and Broberg are signing for a combined $1.45M. Looking like Perry will also need to be sent down. I suppose there is a small risk that Stecher, Perry or Ryan could be grabbed on the waiver wire.
What’s next? Ceci & a defensive prospect for some young stud RHD who may or may not make the team immediately to start the season? And give enough cap space to sign Broberg & Holloway.
Savoie’s puck skills are top 5 already in Edmonton, his speed probably is as well. His vision is exceptional, his shot is top drawer, his give and go talents are top line. For a team that loves to play off the rush, he’s a perfect fit.
https://youtu.be/cvApVQBKNB4?si=LkIlkEdkP8eTElQX
That video composite is a stunning display of this kid’s crazy good talents. Small but mighty … Bedard (also a small fella) was drafted 1st overall a year later, how does he compare?
Looks like a good set of hands and a good shot. Didn’t seem to have the speed through the neutral zone that McLeod does. I think we are going to miss that.
Maybe I have a lower opinion of Ceci than most. I believe, he could be replaced at 2 rd by Broberg and at 3 rd by Stecher without a noyiceable drop off in play. Might even be an improvement.
Given that, trading Ceci does allow you to become cap compliant with the two RFA’s signed and Kane on the roster. Allows to accrue cap space for trade deadline additions if needed. And allows Kane to play in season if his health allows.
I see what you’re saying but I do rate Ceci over those end of the roster options. Half the time people complain about Ceci they’re really complaining about Ceci w Nurse, and then assuming Ceci is the bulk of that problem. I don’t know that I do.
Fair enough. I just think if Broberg isn’t already better, he will be very soon. Stecher can handle third pair minutes for a third of the cost of Ceci.
I get what you’re saying on Nurse. I’m still baffled by his play this year and especially in the playoffs. I was expecting to hear about some injury once the season was over but so far nothing.
Although his contract is bad, I still believe Nurse has enough history to show that he can play second pairing minutes effectively. Hell, before this past year I would have said he would dominate those minutes. Hopefully he gets back to his established level of play next season. If he does, that will be huge for this team
With respect to Stecher I think we should temper expectations. We don’t know what his ankle injury was about or even what the timeline is for recovery.
Connor Brown needed a whole season to get back to the player he was after he had his knee done.
We do know.
This was a cyst being removed from his ankle that had become infected. Recovery time is 2-4 months and, when signed, the intel was that recovery was going well. Should be skating in August.
He may be a bit “behind” to start due to not being able to train fully this off-season but I don’t think this is anything like Brown and major knee surgery that is known for taking months and months and months after back playing to truly be 100%.
With that said, I’d pump the breaks on this player being better than Ceci and, even if that was an “even swap”, moving one step close to Josh Brown being in the lineup is scary.
Thanks for the update – I didn’t see that had been reported. That’s good news. He should recover just fine, as long as there is no post-op infection.
I think Stecher and Brown would be a step down from Ceci.
I definitely like the trade and am enthused about the potential but I am also of the opinion that the NHL roster is weaker right now than it was 24 hours ago, at least for October.
Maybe Savoie plays NHL games this season, heck, maybe he plays game 1 and stays on the roster all season long, but I think its reasonable to suggest he starts in the AHL, and maybe spends most of the season there.
Ryan McLeod was a flawed NHL player but he also was a solid NHL player with some real plus attributes. His ability to pick the puck up down low and transition out, through an in, is elite, his PK is very good and he suppress goals against – end stop.
It hurts to lose McLeod but something needed to give on the roster and the potential with the add is real and its spectacular.
Stay healthy Matt Savoie!
Losing McLeod will not hurt us at all this yr as he wld have last yr. Henrique replaces him at 3rd C(upgrade). He wld have been playing 4th line, 7-10 mins per game. A D Ryan/N Philp split are better suited as 4th line centres, and will at least be equal to what Mcleod wld have brought
They will definitely miss McLeod’s ability to exit with possession.
When October rolls around and everyone is of good health, Mcleod is 4C getting 10mins a night maybe.
He needs someone in the top 9 to trip up, and it’s most likely Holloway that gets the 1st bump up.
Trading him while Mcleod still has some perceived value only made the Oilers stronger come October.
I’m not saying that trading him wasn’t a good move, in fact, I specifically expressed that it was.
Maybe he would have been slated to start 4C but there is every chance that we could have started at 3LW or every chance that he could move up there quickly.
Passing Janmark and/or Brown on the depth chart (along with Holloway) if very reasonable to project.
They will miss the player on the ice – the speed, the transition, the PK. It was a good move but there is a reason this player was able to get a very good prospect in return – he had value.
If Matt Savoie takes off in the AHL, then he could also become a huge trade chip to get the 2RD that we’ve been pining for. I don’t think that McLeod was going to have the same trade value at the trade deadline after a year playing 4C.
Jackson absolutely fleeced Kevyn Adams on value of assets exchanged
Are you sure about that?
Adams is under tremendous pressure to make the playoffs.
With a plethora of young centre/winger prospects he was dealing from a position of dominating strength and addressed a glaring need for a veteran defensively minded 3C.
If you closely examine their draft history you will find:
2023 draft pick Zack Benson has already passed Savoie
Buffalo had 3 first round picks in 2022 and took 3 centres, including Savoie, Noah Ostlund and and Jiri Kulich.
Ostlund just had a very good season in the SHL.
Kulich scored 27 goals and 45 points with Rochester in the AHL.
With 3 23 and under forwards in his top 6, JJ Peterka, Dylan Cousins and Jack Quinn, there is little room for another.
And of course Buffalo just drafted another small centre in highly regarded Konsta Helenius who already has 2 seasons in the Finnish Liga under his belt.
And Dom at the Athletic is pretty bullish on McLeod:
@domluszczyszyn
Sabres get a solid middle six forward in Ryan McLeod, a player who fits in with the age of the team’s core and adds some defensive oomph.
https://x.com/domluszczyszyn/status/1809321496848003440
(click for player card)
Appears to me that Adams got exactly what he needed and Savoie won’t be missed much if at all.
“veteran defensively minded 3C”
Everyone and their shih-tzu knows you would never have applied this label to Ryan MacLeod before yesterday when he became a non-Oiler.
I don’t disagree that Adam’s traded from a position of strength in that he has a lot of magic beans to peddle.
But I don’t think McLeod and the rest of their additions are going to move the needle enough for them to make the playoffs out of the East.
What he should have done is used his assets to make the kind of 4 for 1 deal that would net a major difference maker. Instead they got a player who was up until yesterday a 4C on a Cup contender.
While Edmonton traded for the 2nd best prospect from a team with a stacked pipeline, all Buffalo acquired was a guy who may be a fit in their bottom 6 forward group.
There is no expectation for Matt Savoie to make a deep and talented Oilers team this season. All he has to do is stay healthy and tear the cover off the ball in the minors and his stock will still remain high (e.g. see Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankhoven).
LOL – now all the postives and narratives in favor of McLeod come out.
What do you keep changing your handle?
Short term pain for long term gain.
LT’s recently-issued Top 20 Prospects list features a proper rightorium.
Subbing Matt Savoie for Tullio–the former now leading the pack–and subtracting the goalies, the list is 14-4 for the RH shots. The top 9 are all RH, with Lachance the highest LH.
Losing McLeod sucks as he was one of the very few that held his own away from McDavid & Draisaitl and he could end up connecting the last major dot (attacking the net) and become a real middle-6 threat.
There’s potential for this to mirror the Strome for Spooner deal (multi-dimensional middle-6 for skilled bet), though I definitely don’t put it in the same category. Savoie’s skillset is an impactful one: great skater, attacks the net, elite playmaking. May be a great fit alongside Drai and Holloway! Further, having the full ELC changes the dynamic of the team’s future significantly 🙂
The strome to spooner looked bad the day the trade was made. This is the opposite. Sure there’s chance of Savoie busting but they bought a lotto ticket for 10 cents on the dollar. And they can sell that lotto ticket at the trade deadline for a really really good player if they want.
McLeod is hardly the equivalent of 10 cents on the dollar.
I would disagree. I was expecting a 2nd round pick for return on Mcloud not a top 20 prospect
Spooner was not a prospect when the Oilers traded for him. He was 24 or 25 iirc.
Obviously Savoie could be a bust but the situation is not similar at all.
Which isn’t what I said. I explicitly stated that I don’t put it in the same category. The point isn’t that the situations are similar but that the outcome could end up similar. If the end result of the trade is losing the long-term services of an effective, young middle-6 outscoring F and having the skill bet not pay off, then the outcome would have mirrored the Strome for Spooner trade.
I naturally worry about stuff. I am worried about this July, if it all breaks right, it is could be amazing.
But……
Oiler’s goaltending was a concern and remains a concern. – Pickard did well enough last year, but he is a career AHL goalie. The solution was Delia (yuck) and Rodrigues (maybe)
The RHD side of the Oilers is weak – We are going into the season with Bouch (Very good), Ceci (urg), Stecher coming of injury (yuck), Brown (???) and Broberg a player with 81 regular season games in the NHL all as a LHD (measured gamble).
We have added 4 smaller player (Stecher, Arvidsson, Skinner, Lavoie) and sent three big bodies away in the prime of their career. In the playoffs you tend to need the big fast bodies.
Kane, Stecher, Lavoie,Arvidsson are injured a lot.
Jousha Brown, Perry, Delia our mistakes in weak area for the Oilers.
Rookie coach who was amazing last year, but is a career AHL coach.
Jackson has done lots of transaction but is a rookie on this side of the sport. He has known Holland was gone for months and has no GM in place to transition, this is very odd.
Are there enough guys committed to the goal side of the puck?
Jackson has been very clear that his main targets for the GM position are employed with other organizations and he needed to wait until the end of the season to seek permission to speak with them
Lavoie is certainly “smaller” at 6’4″, 216 lbs. Very small indeed! I’m guessing you meant Savoie.
2RD is the only significant weakness left that I can see – but as usual – reasonable candidates to fill that hole are very hard to come by. So simply saying wait until the trade deadline doesn’t seem prudent. A guy I have been watching is Ristoleinen. His numbers have been unquestionably bad for years, but last season, he may have turned a corner with his on-ice results. A guy worth watching IMHO.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20232024&thruseason=20232024&stype=2&sit=ev&stdoi=oi&rate=n&v=p&playerid=8477499
I hate to bring it up, because I cheer for Nurse (I’m not one of those fans that’s into hating on some of my team), but the entire 2nd pairing might be a weakness. Hope I’m wrong about that, and that it was just injuries/a bad stretch/not the right partner for 25.
I thing that 2rd AND significant tenacity are still on the Oilers shopping list. Seeing the work so far, I imagine they are watching for opportunity.
2RD is one area that I could see an upgrade being possible and welcome, but I wouldn’t say it’s a weakness. This defense is largely unchanged from last season with the exception of Desharnais ==> Broberg. Aside from that, it’s the same defense, and our group as a whole was solid last year. If anything, I’d say 2RD has already improved if you slot Broberg in there and expect similar results to what he gave in his limited time last season.
That changes a bit if we simply subtract Ceci for cap reasons, but I wonder if maybe Kulak isn’t the one to go instead. I think he’s a better player than Ceci, and his cap hit fits better, but if they are committed to Broberg at LD, there’s a logjam at that position and the other 2 guys are going nowhere. Plus, something has to give to get the 2 RFAs signed and stayig under the cap.
3 more years at $5.1 million.
If we could exchange Nurse for Risto … I’d do that immediately. Not that I think Risto is better … I don’t. But I do think that Broberg is and he will eventually supplant Nurse as soon as next season, as the 2nd best LHD on the team.
And it would be a lot easier to get out of 3 years x 5.1 million, than 6 years x 9.25 million.
Yeah I know Bruce and cap would have to be dumped. But if you could send them Kulak and Cecil the cap works……….or Nurse.
The potential of Risto has always been much better than the reality but his numbers last year suggest a corner may have been turned. Might be a mirage and I haven’t watched him enough to know. He was drafted the slot right after Nurse in 2013 and I have to admit I’ve always liked him even if if never came close to his potential.
Who knows. Would not surprise me if there was a second part to the draft deal between us and Philly. Still can’t see how what Philly got on that one is worth it.
I don’t question for a minute that there has been a seismic shift in perspective in the last week or so with this team in their procurement decisions but I do have a question about what role Jackson is playing in all of this.
Do we think he is personally identifying players for procurement based upon his own research, scouting and sources or is it that he has given directions & permission to pursue to the previously assembled management team to identify the players that fulfill his vision of the type of team he wants to ice?
The reason I ask is because Keith Gretzky, Brad Holland, Bob Green have all been around for awhile now. Have they been on a leash all this time? Should they be kept because they knew what to do but weren’t in the room or is Pracey now the voice most listened to?
Exactly how have the dynamics of the decision making process changed in the last little while within the inner circle?
Larsson, Parkatti, Pracey, Jackson. Several new voices added in the last year.
Thanks. Forgot Parkatti for some reason. Not sure Larsson is part of procurement decisions in his role of player development.
I guess what I am wondering – as are many others – is how a new GM would affect the current dynamic.
Larsson literally recruited Savoie for Dubuque. I would be stunned if he were not consulted.
Thanks, I did not know that. My point, though, was that the role of player development does not usually involve procurement decisions.
Normally true, I would suggest this would be an exception due to exceptional circumstances. Larsson’s past history as a USHL GM might make him a useful resource above & beyond his new job description.
I believe those voices were always spitting out ideas and recommendations, but Holland was unable to execute.
Unable or unwilling?
Or uncomfortable? It was out of his normal operating procedure.
Maybe outside of his mandate from ownership as well.
Given what we just saw I don’t see how that is possible
Different times, different situation. Five years ago I doubt very much that Jackson could have been enticed to join the Oilers. It was a ship wreck.
Getting the team to a place where talented people want to be part of its future was a huge accomplishment. One that a number of Holland’s predecessors failed at.
I worked for venture capitalists the last ten years of my working life. My job was to fix the disasters that they bought for intellectual property or patents.
The IP’s & patents had value. The companies were worthless. I usually ran them for 2-3 years until they were profitable and ready to take public and then handed them off to people with actual business/management skills.
So I know that my working past colours my perspective but if you have never had to clean up a disaster I suggest that maybe you don’t realize just how many steps you have to go through before risk taking and imagination become important to incorporate into your business plan because if you move too soon you just flush the value back to zero and have to start all over again.
Yes good points. Jackson may not have come on board that early, probably felt he needed to so the ship didn’t roll over. However there were other options to him. As for your point on when to do things, for a hockey team you have to not be rash, but you have to move quickly. Your ingredients have a short shelf life, every season is very important, especially the seasons of an all time great player. The damage is caused by not improving and doing bad deals, which is a choice
I haven’t worked at the levels you did, but have turned two businesses around, the second with no significant help, so I eat or starve by my decisions
Like you it informs my opinions on everything, human nature. To me what you did is more complex than running an NHL team. You competed in a world market I presume, probably dealing with large aggressive competitors. I compete in a local market against large aggressive competitors
I think the NHL is more like what I do, the NHL is a closed system. It has a ‘small’ number of potential people for off ice operations, and a limited amount on ice. For my business the key hasn’t been doing everything perfectly, it’s been about getting the important things right and having an attitude of driving forward and not stopping as best as possible. Also understanding the important things better than my competitors. I’m no genius, they haven’t make it that hard so far
Looking at what happened, I’m not sure the Oilers had trouble attracting off ice people. Before Connor was drafted they hired Nicholson. That was a very high profile hiring. The team, after Connor was drafted and made it clear he was as billed in the first season, I think had cache, if not yet to all players. The owner was spending money, the team is a top revenue team
It of course takes a while to build the group off ice. I don’t think that is why things have taken so long on the ice though. Maybe I’m not right, but to me it was decisions about important things that they got wrong that have slowed it down. The people that they did hire to make decisions
The IP’s and Patents were in place, the 2018 roster Holland inherited had McD, Drai, Nuge, Nurse, Larsson, Klefbom, Strome, Sekera, Russell. They just had to improve 14 players or whatever and hire good coaches. McLellan was maybe good enough, but Holland never gave him a balanced deep enough roster. Yes some things happened like injury, but that’s the gig, happens to every team
Staples wrote at CoH about how the work the Owner has done asking for and funding a top level org has been a major piece attracting players. That has been the case for years. Rogers opened Connor’s rookie season. I think compared to what we just saw, Holland was not as good pitching players as Jackson. Not even close. And I don’t think he was as strong a negotiator. I think he was too much on the player’s side of things. I think he had trouble dealing with the cap
So he couldn’t move as quickly as he should have. I compare what our GM does to the other top team’s GMs in the closed system, and have found it lacking. Nicholson hired the wrong guy, his buddy with a long resume that was at an age and career point he had nothing to prove. His leisurely pace seemed like it
Good post.
To me the Oilers would have been better served if Holland had been given a 3 year contract. That was the time for what happened this summer.
I’m not convinced this summer could have happened any sooner than the 21- 22 season given what Holland walked into.
Completely agree with this analogy and the shipwreck one as well. Chia left the Oilers in such an awful state, that it took a few years and a Cup Finals run to really change the perception of the team on and off the ice. Holland brought professionalism back to the Oilers management. I don’t think we get a Jeff Jackson as POHO and the other assistant GMs that we have now, without Holland setting the table beforehand. It takes time for the stink of previous failed management to be washed away.
Also agree with SS that Holland’s roster management was a bit of a mixed bag. Pros include stealing Hyman from TO, RNH’s forever contract, the Ekholm trade and filling the team in with competent veterans without having to expend assets (e.g. Kane, Ceci, Ryan, Janmark, Brown, Perry, Barrie). Cons include the Anthanasiou trade, going back to the Toronto well for Campbell, the Nurse forever contract, paying for Kassian’s career year, expending assets in the early years to fill the roster with veterans that had little tread left (e.g. Mike Green, Keith) and dithering too long and letting too much of the shine wear off on assets such as Yamamoto and Puljujarvi, and even Benson.
But getting a 50 goal scorer from a Canadian rival and a stud first pairing LHD from another Western conference team in my view outweighs the missteps that he made.
I think he also had some really foul luck when we lost Klefbom and Larsson to circumstances that were largely out his control. Those two would still be a contender level 2nd pairing defense pair if circumstances were different. Some of the subpar moves that were listed above, were also influenced by the loss of the two Swedish d-men. There is not a GM out there that could have overcome that, and those two losses were what really set this team back.
Kenny Holland had his way of doing things and so does Jeff Jackson.
Holland did some good things for sure. It isn’t black or white. But this last week for me reinforces that I don’t think he did nearly enough, he was too inactive and wasn’t concerned – in his words basically – about what were obvious weaknesses on the team
Holland used the phrase that was being debated here a little while ago, that I don’t think is completely valid, that the team got to the WC finals, so it was a good team, good enough, and he wanted to give them another shot at it. You just have to keep getting there and hope for the best. Partly true, but not aggressive enough for me. The why is always because you have Connor on your team
Well it wasn’t good enough, and you should never not try to get better – your competitors are. I think he was sentimental about the players which is why he wanted to give them another shot, also not appropriate. It cost them this last Cup I think
I was responding to the debate before when it was said he did a good job because of how far they got. I don’t see it that way because the players that were playing well had to overcome poor play by quite a few players, players Holland thought were good enough, and they were the players many knew weren’t doing a good enough job from last playoffs and analytics. Guys getting pounded in GF%, losing board battles, and not playing assertively enough. The team ended up being a one line one pair team again when the chips are down. If Connor and Leon weren’t so banged up they would have dragged them over the line, but with not enough help, that’s how good they are
When you are gifted a player like Connor you don’t sit on your hands, you have such a huge advantage you do everything you can to get the team set up well. I have said it doesn’t take half a decade to get where you need to go, regardless of what you start with, when you have the core in prime and several elite players including the best player. But you need to be able to make good deals, and your plan has to be correct
This last week proves it as I see it. Jackson got the top 6 wingers that Holland never found, restocked the system Holland depleted, removed 4 of the players that weren’t doing well enough in playoffs, in a week. It was possible to do before this. So if Holland put the right guys in place he obviously didn’t listen to them
As for his good moves – mainly Ekholm and Hyman, maybe Kane – they are at least offset by the bad ones – overpaying and over terming so many capping himself out, keeping Ceci and Foegele, and Campbell. And it wasn’t doing a good job selling Connor, Leon and the team like Jackson obviously did that got the UFAs and clinched the Ekholm trade, it was paying through the nose and giving contracts most teams wouldn’t that got it done. And it depleted the organization of picks and prospects
And there will be repercussions still from those contracts because of the restrictive movement clauses and aging curves. But I think now that they can be dealt with if need be because of the sudden about face in how things are done
I think Holland is a good guy, I’m not trying to bash him, but the facts seem clear to me. His nature helped the team along to be a calmer one. But he left money on the table, and set Connor’s timeline to where he wants to be back a couple of years for sure
All of this is true but, imo, only part of the story. The team was a shipwreck when Holland arrived. Shipwrecks always have to over pay to recruit crew members & rarely attract those with other options.
That is what took time to fix.
Imagination & daring were not Holland’s strengths but at the time of his hiring they weren’t what was needed. Maybe by year 3 he could have moved faster or differently but the first few years were just keeping the ship from sinking & getting the holes plugged. Everybody knew how good Connor is but they also knew that it was a two man team with cap problems due to it going flat. I think you underestimate those challenges even as I agree that there were mistakes that shouldn’t have been made.
If it was a team in a normal situation I wouldn’t debate the point. But it wasn’t and isn’t a normal team. My only dog in the fight is that the team is as well run as possible and is being run as the other top teams are. It’s not personal to me about the people involved, I’m sure they are all good people
When you have an all time great player on the roster all bets are off. Holland inherited McDavid going into year 5 and Drai 6. Had a decent anchor D in Nurse. That’s the hard part, getting elite talent, and teams with elite talent are usually the ones that win championships more often
The easy part is supposed to be the non elite and role players, it’s been said around here for years. The issue he had is that he was not good (for the team) at making deals and doing contracts
So for him he was in a tough spot, and he capped himself out and didn’t have many options that he could see. I also don’t think he evaluated players well, didn’t see the ones that needed upgrading, or didn’t want to, and there were a few. Now 4 fewer in a weeks work for Jackson
I don’t just pull that out of a hat, I compare what he did to what the recent Cup winners and finalists did, and they did a lot. Some even retained draft picks. The Panthers were in worse shape than the Oilers, arguably one elite players and a horribly overpaid goalie, took Zito 3 to a final and 4 to a Cup
I hope that’s the path now, McDavid is so good he can lead a team to more than one Cup, it’s just too bad he didn’t get a chance to start that earlier in his career. In my opinion it was possible
Or for instance Buffalo is looking to improve now. They identify McLeod as a target and make the call, Which puts Edmonton in the driver’s seat.
Edmonton consults Patkatti and others and identity Savoie as the ask.
Buffalo wants more and they settle on Tulip.
Still good management but fortunate that Buffalo wants McLeod badly enough to pay with Savoie.
These are good questions. Exactly which dam burst to deliver these roster moves.
It’s a team effort. JJ basically said that two months ago.
I believe that JJ does business different then Holland. With the changes that have happened there is way more then one person doing it. JJ is the center of it all because he is the boss, but he is empowering his staff to do their jobs.
Seems to be working well so far.
That would be my impression as well which is why I wonder why Jackson wants to hire a GM to get between him and the team already in place.
The only legitimate reason I can think of is that he doesn’t want to be bothered taking phone calls from the other GM’s and that doesn’t seem all that onerous to me considering what he is probably getting paid.
What would a new hire do that isn’t already being done by those in place?
I’m still willing to give Holland a fair amount of credit. He put process in place, developed teams around procurement, scouting, development etc. He had leaders and he let them grow. Once he stepped aside these groups were in place and functioning.
The difference of course being the orchestra now has a new conductor that could capitalize and be creative. How many times did we hear “we have no cap room, nothing can be done” and off we go for summer vacation?
What a welcome change. That’s the hustle we want out of the head office that matches the hustle on the ice.
Love the Sather comp LT. Other than Lowe and his out of body experience in ’06, we haven’t seen this kind of work by the GM since Slats
My favorite part of this trade is it hints that the Oilers might be capable of strategic long term planning.
For all his faults Holland’s legacy for the Oilers was to bring some calm deliberate thinking. Whereas Chiarelli would shot his foot off overreact and shot the other one off, Holland calmly hired one old vet after another.
Hollands weakness was an apparent inability to for see 2nd order effects. i.e If you overpay Kassian you are boxing yourself into a Nurse overpay as well.
JJ, in this deal, shows he can think few moves down the line, not just immediate effects. Yes a Cup contending team with two superstars can attract value high end talent at below market rates to chase a dream but for long term sustain you need high end prospects as well.
I liked what McLeod brought as an Oilers and think he only gets better as a defensive center. But his position is ably covered by the olds this coming season and next season he would have been due another raise. Savoie’s offensive skills are not desperately required this season but he can cheaply fill the Skinner spot next season.
Young affordable talent like Savoie and Holloway filling out the Oilers top 6 for the middle distance years until very expensive Draisaitl and McDavid’s next deals are erroded by cap growth is good planning.
I think the deal was prudent asset and cap management by the Oilers.
And the deal is good for Ryan McLeod.
I don’t think the deal is bad from a Buffalo perspective either. They paid full price, but they are likely getting a player who fill a role for a decade.
I like the trade. Sorry to see McLeod go. Good player, but clearly he was never going to add grit to his game. In my opinion, it’s what has kept him from being a top NHL player. I think the grit is either part of your DNA or not. Apparently can’t be taught.
Stauffer always like quoting Cam Moon to describe McLeod. “If they don’t bite as pups, they won’t as dogs”. That’s where McLeod was unfortunately. Wonderful skater, but a perimeter player who is shy when it comes to contact. That said, I still wish him the best. Am very excited for the future with Savoie.
Last fall there was worry that the Oilers would age out of their window too quickly. Kane, Hyman, Nuge, and Ekholm were (are) late-prime, still with term and dollars on their deals, and some perhaps starting to fade (Ekholm was injured).
Now it’s clear the cavalry born 2000 and later will be arriving. Broberg, Holloway, O’Reilly, Wanner, and Savoie could be the main support players on McDrai’s third contracts.
It’s mission critical to me. There is no need to run out of players, and emerging players, if things are done like this. It would be a crime because Connor. I’m not saying you can find what you need always, but this is the how you try, and you never stop
As many said yesterday it’s a strange and exhilarating feeling what’s been happening. I’ve said many times what I think the Oiler GM needs to look like, and this is it. Clear plan, clear and correct vision of the team and what it needs, quality player assessment. Active, can make quality deals. The last step is good fair contracts for both the player, and especially the team. The team has to come first, it’s the point of it all
💯
I am constantly beleaguered by the notion that contending teams need to burn the barn down to go all in. You support the present and plan for the future. You can always do both. Barring bad luck disaster etcetera, the life of an NHL team needn’t be boom bust.
I’ve never bought that there are windows. It’s a choice. Things change when significant players age out like Connor, you lose your unfair advantage. But the other teams never had it and you adapt
I also am not a fan of retiring any player never traded except generational players for this reason, that is how you replenish and get quality assets back while not drafting high. Pollock style
The ideal scenario is you trade player before they drop off much and sell high. There’s always a buyer for rep it seems. Not doing that is a team killer in the long run, so many examples. Other sports do it, it’s part of conducting sports business well
And there are others too like Beau Ackey. And don’t be surprised if the Oilers have a few players emerge who are longer shots, with proper development now. There is still Bourgoult, Petrov, Maxim Denekim, Copponi etc
I am happy about the trade.
I am worried about RHD and the speed of the bottom six.
I am not convinced that Broberg “proved” himself as a 2 RHD. I would much prefer he play LHD.
Kulak is really good as a 3rd pairing LD.
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the very good. Broberg will be fine at right D. Broberg also has the right skill set to settle Nurse. And a pairing that will pose contrasting challenges than Ekholm Bouchard to the opposition.
When did I say anything about perfect? Broberg’s on ice stats have quite poor on the right side for his entire career. I am not convinced he is a good option for 2 RHD.
I like Kulak plenty but he could likely fetch a decent trade return. Use the assets to get a natural RHD.
Kulak, Ceci, a prospect and go shopping.
And I like Kulak. Got to offer something though and Broberg is ready for that spot.
Agreed. Up front they are locked except 4C, and that player may be on the farm. Bro is a very talented player with tools, but I think he needs a season to fully settle in and get smoothed out. I also think the back end needs some agro because of the playoffs. It’s not in the forward group outside of a few players
Now that there is an active GM I am relaxed about what will happen, for once. My ideal to start as things are:
Ek Bouch
Nurse X
Bro Brown
Stecher
X needs to be a two way type that is good at both bluelines, and preferably they have decent size and will play a solid physical game
I like Kulak, but balancing the pairs is more important than keeping him to me, he’s good but he’s a third pair, and Bro will pass his quality this season. The other guy just isn’t a good fit and by cap. He was acceptable with Kulak third pair, but that’s too much cap there
They also need to get tougher on the back end. We saw how a bunch of half skilled big mean goons is very effective and hard to play against in the Canucks series. The Oilers are big, but Bouch Bro Kulak and Ceci aren’t hard to play against. Nurse isn’t like that anymore, and Ek is getting to the point that they need him focusing on being healthy for playoffs, not banging guys
Yikes, my ideal is for Josh Brown to play three full American League seasons.
That would be my hope as well. I don’t think Stetcher is a solution at 3RD but I am surprised how many have him below Brown on the roster.
Yikes yes. I looked at him at the trade deadline and he’s similar to Vinny but tougher and meaner. Read what I could and thought not good enough. We played some D like that in the playoffs and because it’s so different then they were hard to play against
Florida had some pretty meh D, we had trouble getting through them. Maybe Brown is for the AHL because that team now is smaller and doesn’t have many tough players. Or maybe Brown can get by with a partner like Bro and take care of the dirty work. In the end I think Bro needs to physical partner to compliment him best. We’ll see
I think that Brown is a material downgrade from Vinny and not sure he’s much of a step up from Petrovic,
Janmark, C Brown and D Holloway all have speed and can skate really well. Every team has a few players who aren’t fast, and they have them in their top 9.
I just wish they didn’t let Carter go. I don’t recall the Oilers having siblings playing together on the big team, they did have a few in the minors though.
For unestablished players, the struggles of one brother often leak into the other brother.
Carter was in need of a 2nd opinion. The Oilers did good by him to give him that opportunity.
the McAneeley twins, Bob & Ted, were both Oilers in 1975-76. They were teammates on the Oil Kings a few years earlier.
Bob was a LW, Ted a D. Both were small.
I thought Paul Messier might have gotten into a few games with Mark but he never did get called up from the AHL squad Wichita in 1980-81. Then I thought the Comrie brothers Mike and Paul but Mike joined the Oilers a few years after Paul had recieved a look see.
Paul played some exhibition games. That’s as close as he got.
Good pull on the Comrie brothers.Not bad comps to the Savoies. Local products. Older bro even played for Denver U.
Nice to know, I didn’t start following the Oilers until 1979 so that was before my time …
Will this be Buffalo’s Hall for Larsson?
No. Reinhart for draft picks was their Hall for Larsson.
Wasn’t that the Islanders?
Sam Reinhart
I will be honest, the Oilers offseason has done more to restore my hope and faith in the franchise than the cup run.
The Savoie trade was the type of robbery the Oilers have been on the wrong side of for a long time.
Those are two chapters of the same book.