We have reached the final chapter in the long trade deadline history of the Edmonton Oilers. From the deadline that brought Ron Low and Don Murdoch to Edmonton, through the deals that will be announced in the next three weeks, it has been a long and fascinating run. Here’s the final chapter, featuring some of the best deals in team history and the usual flotsam Oilers fans have come to know.
2019—KEITH GRETZKY
February 16: Oilers trade LW Ryan Spooner to the Vancouver Canucks for RW Sam Gagner. Spooner is not well remembered by Oilers fans, but it wasn’t his fault Peter Chiarelli dealt Ryan Strome to get him. I’ll never forget the media avail where Todd McLellan announced that Spooner (Chiarelli’s new center) was a winger. He was awful on a line with Nuge and McLellan got fired like four days later. Keith Gretzky made an astute deal that helped the team. This trade made sense, and as such signaled a new dawn in Edmonton.
February 16: Oilers trade G Cam Talbot to the Philadelphia Flyers for G Anthony Stolarz. At the time I didn’t like the deal, as Talbot did nothing but play his heart out for a team that didn’t understand the idea of resting goalies. Having said that, once again Gretzky received good value on the deal, as Stolarz has been solid to excellent since. I don’t think Keith Gretzky gets a chance in the GM’s chair again, but his brief resume suggests he should get that opportunity.
2020—KEN HOLLAND
February 24: Oilers trade RW Sam Gagner, 2020 second-round pick (D Brock Faber) and 2021 second-round pick (F Aatu Raty) to the Detroit Red Wings for LW Andreas Athanasiou and LW Ryan Kuffner. Holland’s first deadline set the tone for all others. He always paid full price and then some. At times, as we will see, the return justified the investment. However, this trade isn’t it. Edmonton paid a heavy price for a player who was a difficult fit for the role required (scoring winger who could ride with the fast horses). I didn’t like the target, for me it fell short of the mark no matter how it turned it. It was certainly too rich a price to pay.
February 24: Oilers trade F Kyle Brodziak and a fourth-round pick in 2020 (Jan Bednar) to the Detroit Red Wings for D Mike Green. It didn’t work out, due to the pandemic and health worries upon return to play, but the price paid was fine in this deal.
February 24: Oilers trade a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft (Gage Alexander) to the Ottawa Senators for LW Tyler Ennis. A good bet and it worked out well enough, although the Oilers didn’t go far that spring.
2021—KEN HOLLAND
April 12: Oilers trade a fourth-round pick in 2022 (Charlie Leddy) to the New Jersey Devils for Dmitri Kulilov. This trade was a solid one and Kulikov is still delivering quality play. Holland’s targets most often fill the role required, credit where due.
2022—KEN HOLLAND
March 21: Oilers trade D William Lagesson, a second-round pick in 2022 (Lane Hutson) and a seventh-round pick in 2024 (Rasmus Bergqvist) to the Montreal Canadiens for D Brett Kulak. The Habs hit a home run with the pick, but the price was reasonable and by any measure Kulak has covered this bet and then some. I think this trade was a win for Edmonton.
March 21: Oilers trade a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft (Alex Ciernik) for C Derick Brassard. I believe this is the last year Archie Henderson was in charge of the pro scouting side, and this trade kind of sums up his time with Edmonton. The organization needed a better player.
2023—KEN HOLLAND
February 28: Oilers trade D Tyson Barrie, LW Reid Schaefer, a first-round selection in 2023 (Tanner Molendyk) and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft (Hagen Burrows) for D Mattias Ekholm. On the Lowdown yesterday I asked listeners to text in the best trade deadline deal in team history, and the Ekholm deal won by several miles. Holland finally closed the Oscar Klefbom gap and settled the defense with a giant Swede with calm feet, a physical presence and a complete skill set. Music!
February 28: Oilers traded RW Jesse Puljujarvi to the Carolina Hurricanes for Patrik Puistola. This was an important trade because it sent away cap dollars. Best of luck, Jesse, I hope Zito finds a way.
February 28: Oilers trade D Mike Kesselring and a 2023 third-round pick (Vadim Moroz) to the Arizona Coyotes for C Nick Bjugstad and D Cam Dineen. Well dammit all anyway. The Oilers aimed higher than Brassard and found Nick Bjugstad, who struggled in the role during the postseason. PLUS the team gave up a gem in Mike Kesselring. I don’t believe a GM should be expected to win every deal, but a RH two-way blue is a damned unicorn.
2024—KEN HOLLAND
March 6: Oilers trade 2024 first-round pick (Ben Danford), conditional fourth and fifth round picks to the Anaheim Ducks (and Tampa Bay Lightning) for C Adam Henrique and C Sam Carrick, plus a 2024 seventh-round pick. I liked this trade the day it happened and felt it was a worthwhile investment. The fact Henrique signed a value deal over the summer was merely icing on the cake. Henrique has enough utility to be useful in several key areas for this organization. He is less than perfect, but every team needs a savvy veteran with range.
March 6: Oilers trade a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes for D Troy Stecher and a 2024 seventh-round pick (Bauer Berry). An astute trade that required very little in the way of assets, Stecher has provided solid play and already covered the bet.
I hope you enjoyed this look at Oilers deadline trade history. I held back specifics on many of these items, because I want to write a follow-up book to On The Clock. I pitched Oilers: At the Deadline but it didn’t get picked up, but I may write it anyway and then publish it myself. Any road, this is a labor of love and I do hope you enjoyed it.
On the Lowdown today (noon at Sports 1440), we’ll be joined by Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation to discuss last night’s opening game at the Four Nations. We will also chat deadline and about Matt Savoie’s possible recall in the second half of the season.
I’m getting perfect in my predictions lately. Perfectly wrong. Time to hang em up.
Time for…Opposite George? #keystothekingdom
Sounds like Thomas Harley is team Canada 7th Dman per Elliot Friedman
Yup – won’t be able to actually join the team unless another d-man gets hurt and can’t play.
“Oilers have no chance at a Stanley Cup with Skinner”
“Finland has no chance at a Four Nations Cup with Sarros”
Nothing worse than a nationally televised game from Montreal. The pre game is as long as the game. Just get to the game.
The pre-game ceremony last night was epic.
Pageantry my good man. Pageantry!
Summarizing!
O’Reilly o’registered three o’ssists.
Nichol scored his 14th goal* and added a helper.
Wakely picked up an apple.
Akey was denied the gift of soup.
Stonehouse did not dress. Neither did his teammates. Or opponents. Game was postponed due to weather and will be made up on the morrow.
*Will no longer be linking to tweets. Any highlights will come from elsewhere. Intercourse Elon Musk.
Am I the only one who does not give a flying f about four nations?
The whole thing feels very forced.
There has been about 5 periods of very very entertaining hockey.
Its the first best on best with 4 of the top 5 hockey nations in the world in 10 years and the players are going all out.
One may not like the concept – to each their own.
I feel the same way when the Oil are playing Columbus, or Utah, or Seattle.
No, I think its bush league. Cash grab. What other major league sport would set up something like this, on the fly, with only four teams? The NHL might as well grab a guitar, a styrofoam cup and head down to the LRT
One could bitch about the format or one could enjoy the best players from four of the five best nations play each other for the first time in a decade as a pre-cursor to the Olympics next season.
Anything other than these four nations would require non-NHL involvement and a much longer runway to organize – that will start every four years in 2028.
I enjoyed watching Crosby, MacKinnon and McDavid on the ice together – others may not.
Also “cash grab” is such an over-used derogatory term. God forbid a business look to make a profit – let alone in a way that harms noone or no thing.
Youre not alone.
I havent even tuned in. Dont care 1 bit. Lame. Gimmicky. Likely destroy a team or twos chances at a deep playoff run for a meaningless mid season tournament
I come here for comments about the trade deadline targets etc. Scroll over 99% of the 4N comments. All respect to those who care. I just dont at all. So rest assured youre not alone (about half my hockey buddies care and half dont. Most that care are fans of the canucks or other teams that are not contenders)
That’s another thing, one injury for this stupid thing would be tragic. Have the World Cup in the summer with all the teams.
I care way more about this than I care about the Oilers. A lot of Oilers aren’t even Canadian. The whole concept of club teams is a bit weird to begin with. That fact obviously doesn’t stop me from following and cheering for the Oilers, but I recognize a bit of ‘cheering for laundry’ in my Oiler fandom. Not so for my Team Canada fandom.
Country first.
You’re cheering for the laundry on Team Canada, also. How many, if any, of the players reside in Canada full-time? I would guess that most head south.
Don’t you think club teams should be 100 percent based on merit? Segregating people by their place of birth would be weird. I thought it was a Canadian value to judge people based on their abilities and not who their parents are.
The big positive is we don’t endure the NHL All-Star game event. In future years, they should just cancel the all-star game and give every team a weeks break in February
I don’t care about the outcomes but the play itself has been stellar.
This US – FIN game is awesome.
If the game had remained close, the nasty edge between the teams might have led to a fight. It was borderline dirty in the first period.
The Finns tried to hang in but couldn’t convert on their early 5 bell chances. Once Mike Sullivan put the Tkachuk brothers together with Eichel, the U.S. started steamrolling.
Once Sarros let in a couple of stinkers to start the 3rd period…..
Can’t win with goaltending like that – inconsistent, bad goals at bad times – Nashville needs an upgrade if they want to go anywhere……
Freaking Teemu Selanne. What fountain of youth is this guy drinking from?
Judging by his IG over the year, he pretty much spends his time playing goal, playing and watching tennis and swimming in pools with multiple dogs…….
Is Finland really a top 5 hockey country? I just realized that they’re dressing a defenseman named Matinpalo, an undrafted 26 year old with 22 games of NHL experience (Sens), zero goals, zero assists and 6 PIM. How many teams would Canada have to put together before such a player got a call? Fifteen? Twenty?
Heiskanen and Ristolainen are out with injuries. The Finnish League likely has a fair few players that are NHL capable. Not every Euro wants to leave their domestic league to play overseas.
The same Finnish league that Jesse Puljujarvi dominated? I doubt there’s many NHLers hiding over there… otherwise we’d see them in the 4N tournament.
Yes they are.
Reasons why the USA might not even make the final game.
Early on the Americans look like they want to play mean. Since when have the Canadians ever been intimidated? As in…never?
Modern(Oilers) hockey demands an all out attack. Canada’s attack is run on the same lines. The American defense looks unorganized.
When Matthew Tkachuck formerly from Calgary is one of your top players you know you’re in deep against: Crosby, McDavid, and that other poor slob from Colorado(make that 2 poor slobs from Colorado one is on defense).
Crosby would almost guarantee a cup win if he plays for Colorado/Edmonton.
Goaltending…..
Well I have to admit you have got me there.
Whoa – go Finland!
It is easy to dislike the american team.
They are trialing a 10 minute 3v3 OT for the 4 Nations. MacKinnon said that he was gassed and wouldn’t want a full 10 minute 3v3 in the regular season. Rumor is that the scenario that will be proposed by the league is to extend OT to 7 minutes exactly, followed by the shootout.
*****
LT, can you ask your radio audience a question.
Would they like a scenario where you put 10 minutes on the clock but have the OT end with the first “sudden death” stoppage in play after the 5 minute mark? Add in a provision that the OT will not stop until any assessed 2 or 5 minute penalties have been killed off.
So if both teams want to keep ragging the puck back and forth and trade chances for the full 10 minutes, they can. But if one team feels their chances are better in the shootout, they try get a stoppage once the initial 5 minutes has elapsed and no penalty time is left to be served. That could lead to some fun chaos as one team tries to play keepaway and one tries to play capture the flag/puck as the ice gets choppier and choppier.
Great series LT – can’t wait to buy your next book. I still enjoy referencing the current book at the end/start of a season to see how drafted players progress and comparing with other teams.
Fantastic series, LT, thanks. Sorry i havent had much time to comment, i will tell the Igor Ulanov story one day soon I promise.
From the above I got that Ken Holland was fixated on 30-something blueliners & got Ekholm, Kulak & 15 minutes of Kulikov. The other guys wound up getting Faber, Hutson & Kesselring. That’s the joy of trading prospects & picks,,, sometimes they work out.
Deadline, free agency, trades in general – all interesting and worthy topics IMO.
If you end up publishing a book about the deadline, something else on the Oilers, childhood memories, or really anything I’ll be sure to order a copy.
Thanks for your work on this LT and good luck with the new book 🤞
No certainty, as its Bowman’s first deadline with the organization and we
don’t know what he’s thinking (except what he gave Nugent Bowman) but I don’t think we are going to see big moves at the deadline.
Everything he has done has seemed very targeted – from Emberson to Podz to getting Paul Fischer and even the Kapanen and Regula additions.
I don’t forsee him just trying to get the biggest fish available just because – I see him focusing on what he thinks the team needs to upgrade in areas including depth.
In my opinion this team has barely got out of 2nd gear and have vastly underperformed as a whole on the season and, even so, are in 3rd in the NHL while being far from the best.
I know others have differing opinions, mainly with respect to goaltending, but there are not evident major holes on this team – in my opinion.
A McCann or a Tuch would be a bigger move than I expect – I can hope for somthing like that but I think we are looking at some smaller hole fillers.
The biggest move we see this spring is activating s fresh competitive Kane. If he’s 80% of what he was in the playoffs a few years ago Oilers will roll this spring, I do think they add another forward with some sandpaper.
One simply doesn’t know what Kane will be able to bring when he comes back.
I have little doubt he’ll bring the truculence but is he a bottom six banger or is he a top 6 power forward?
Not only a year off from playing after surgery but he was already in to regression years as an aging power forward and he’s now a year further in to his 30s.
We don’t know what player is going to be inserted.
I would love the Kane when we first got him – going on a huge stretch run and playoffs heater as a massively impactful top 6 power forward. Its probably not reasonable to think that’s in the cards.
Hoping for the best, planning for the worst would be wise. Planning on him to be a bottom-six banger who might chip in 3-4 goals on deep cup run seems most likely. Hope he blows that expectation out of the water!
Evander Kane has got a superstar’s ability to turn up cold and produce at an extremely high level.
Healthy, Kane is a fantastic player.
On the plus side he’s really had time to recover from those terrible injuries accumulated over the years.
You’ve said this before and when asked why you think this, you gave an answer along the lines of “a feeling”.
He did play well mid-season right after signing with the Oilers but also had a normal training summer, camp, played early season and was out for like a 20 games stretch and not injured.
I’m with you on this. Steady as she goes.
Good to see McD in higher form last night at 4N. I look forward to him bringing that energy to the regular season, and playoffs, on his return. Same w Arvidsson and Ekholm.
I think Bowman will keep his powder dry and won’t move a major prospect/draft asset (Savoie, O’Reilly, Berezkin, Akey, 1st or 2nd rd pick) this deadline. I think he knows he’s in year 1 of a multi-year tenure as GM, and won’t be prepared to go all-in until he’s had an offseason to put his stamp on the team, and wants to make sure he has as many assets to play with as possible next year. I also think he believes that this roster is good enough to win a cup without any additions, and doesn’t feel that there are any major holes in the roster he needs to fix. I think he ultimately adds a 6/7 type LD and either a RH 3C/4C or a physical winger like Greenway.
Personally, I’d like to see a bit more substantial additions, somewhere between going all-in and adding depth pieces. I think Donato and/or Murphy can be pried out of Chicago for less than a 3rd each, or Jokijarhu in BUF instead of Murphy. I also wouldn’t mind some cheap goalie insurance (Reimer). I don’t think Donato or Murphy fetches a 2nd by themselves, but I might actually do something like Donato + Murphy w/ some retention for a 2nd + 4th.
I think a Donato + Murphy + Reimer deadline without giving up a good prospect of 1st might be preferable to trading a 4th for lefty Troy Stetcher and a 5th for 2025 Jerred Smithson, but think the latter is more likely.
That being said – giving up a second round pick for pure rentals would make me a bit apprehensive. I know it’s supposed to be a weak draft class, but who knows if you’re missing out on a Faber or a Lucic, as opposed to a Curtis Hamilton or David Musil …
I think we see Bowman wait until the offseason to put his stamp on this team by upgrading both Goalies. Not only has Bowman always had a 1-A above average Joe his backups have also been above average Joe calibre as well. I’m in the Bowmsn camp if your going to win multiple Cups you need a Goalie to steal a few games along the way.
Huh?
Niemi won a cup with decidedly league average numbers. Corey Crawford was the poster child “for you don’t need great goaltending to win a cup”, and his backups were a rotating cast of clear #2s like Khabibulin, Ray Emery, Scott Darling, Antti Raanta, etc.
If anything, the Bowman template would be to put a great team in front of marginally-above average goaltending. Stu certainly hasn’t had the career of Crawford, and Crawford put up some pretty good seasons in his early 30s, but it’s inaccurate to say the Bowman built teams using a 1A/1B system with two above average goalies to win cups …
You need to replay the tape of the Chicago Cup runs and watch the exceptional goaltending they recieved Cawford was a all-star. We couldn’t score on Crawford enough to beat them when Crawford was 35 pounds overweight nevermind when he was fit. Every goalie you named up above is better than Pickard and arguably Skinner. Take the glasses off ask anyone that’s not Oiler blind what our weakness is? It’s always the same answer. Everyone and there dog watched the Oilers and Panthers series yet Skinner wasn’t even in the 4-nations discussion. As a Canadian Goalie a half-dozen no names came up before Skinners. I’ll cheer like hell for Skinner and Pickard but they will be upgraded before next season.
Pickard SV-904. Skinner SV-908 between them zero Cups.
Niemi SV-912. 1Cup
Huet SV-913 1Cup
khabibulin SV-907 1Cup
Raata SV-915
Darling SV-908 1Cup
Emery SV-906
Crawford SV-918 1Cup
I’ll take a 918 hack all the way to the final money table every year that McDavid-Leon are wearing our silks.
League-average save percentage was about 10 points higher during Chicago’s run than it is today. Apples and oranges.
The advantage of going into the TD with no major holes – and I don’t see goal as a major hole – is that you aren’t boxed in. As GM you can simply make the trade for the best fit at the best price that you find available.
That is what I expect Bowman to do regardless of whether or not that ends up being high end, in the middle or nibbling at the edges.
The Oilers Trading NHL Defensemen at the Deadline, 2007 to Present:
Out: Marc-Andre Bergeron, Dick Tarnstrom, Denis Grebeshkov, Lubomir Visnovsky, Steve Staios, Tom Gilbert, Nick Schultz, Jeff Petry, Justin Schultz, Brandon Davidson (x2), Tyson Barrie+other assets, Kesselring
In: Curtis Glencross, 2010 2nd (Curtis Hamilton), Ryan Whitney, Aaron Johnson, 2011 3rd (Travis Ewanyk), 2014 5th (Tyler Bird), 2015 2nd (Siegenthaler), 2015 5th (CalebJones), 2016 3rd (Filip Berglund), David Desharnais, 2019 3rd (Ilya Konovalov), Matthias Ekholm, Nick Bjugstad
Oof.
Prospectilence!
A quintet of OHL’ers take the ice, 80% of which is in one game as London opposes Barrie. The House of Stone completes the sched.
Barrie (Akey, Wakely) @ 5 p.m.
London (O’Reilly, Nicholl) @ 5 p.m.
Peterborough (Stonehouse) @ 5 p.m.
All times are the same time and are also Judson time.
Thanks for the write ups LT, nice to see it all laid out, but man that’s tough to read through
1) Haven’t paid much attention to 4N roster construction but Hockey Canada seems to have more “we want to pick our guys/a certain type of player” than “let’s pick the best 23 players we can” than other teams in this tournament. I don’t really care as it pertains to this tournament, but I do worry about future Olympic/WJC teams.
2) Glad the 3 Oilers escaped without injuries last night.
3) Thought McDavid looked great last night – I wonder how much he’s been looking forward to this tournament. Hope that he (and Arvidsson) come out of this tournament playing well and can continue it down the stretch (I’m not worried about Ekholm).
4) LT’s summary above was a great refresher of Holland’s tenure and check against my own bias. I always have felt Holland had a strong tenure and I feel I could overlook/explain away his mistakes, but he did have a few pretty substantial whiffs at the deadline and always (over)paid to make sure he got his target. Not afraid to take some big swings, and when he hit it was a home run/hard line drive in the gap, but there was a lot of swing-and-miss in his game. Hindsight is 20-20, but man the Athanasiou and Bjugstad trades look bad. Frankly, it makes me appreciate Bowman’s tenure so far (working around the edges, not in a hurry to make a big move).
5) Circling back on TDL targets this year – as it always seems, it’s easier to find a middle-six/top 9 forward than it is to find an above “good bottom pairing”-caliber D. It’s looking increasingly likely to me that the Oilers top-4 D this postseason will be 14-2 and 25-36/27, and that any D they pick up will be a bottom-pairing type. A true top-4 D at a reasonable cap hit/under team control might be one of the few player types I’d be happy to give up Savoie for. If only Klefboms, Petrys and Sekeras grew on trees …
KH wasn’t terrible, but in his 5 years the team still had the same holes as when he started. I appreciate the professionalism he brought to the org which badly needed it, but he isn’t the only one that could have done that. They whiffed badly in interviewing Zito and passing. Far more active, I prefer the players he likes, and evidently he’s more right than Holland was
Couldn’t get enough of the old guard and Hockey Canada guys, I worried from day one about Holland’s track record the years before leaving Detroit, and particularly that he was getting old, and had achieved his laurels. When you have a player like Connor, the GM has to have that kind of hunger and drive and brilliance to match it, maximize it
Yeah I feel like his tenure did a lot to make the Oilers a more “well-run” organization, but then the Oilers made the seemingly snap decision to hire Bowman without doing much of a search, which made me start wondering how permanent/temporary Holland’s impact would be. Zito would’ve been a wonderful Oilers GM …
I don’t think Holland lacked the hunger/drive, etc., but my concern with the “established” candidates is that they can be stubborn/unwilling to change/adapt. If they’ve had success winning/building a team one way before, they tend try and recreate that success with a similarly constructed roster, rather than working with what they have and finding a way to build/win with what they have. Holland wasn’t as bad at this as Chia was, but both had a bit of that Kevin Lowe “I know something about winning let me tell you” stubbornness to them that I think held them back.
Holland inherited a team that had won one playoff series in 13 years. He had a couple of false starts before the team won 6 playoff series in his last 3 years, losing to the eventual Cup champ every time. He left the team as a strong Cup contender, thanks in part to a lot of roster pieces that he acquired.
He definitely didn’t hit on all of his moves, but he consistently moved the team forward.
I don’t think that there’s any doubt Sather is #1 in the pantheon of Oilers’ GMs. I’d put Holland at #2 with a massive gap between him and #3.
Or you could say he inherited a team with McDavid Draisaitl Nurse in prime and Bouchard. Not many GM’s have that kind of running start
I think the few years prior to Holland taking over negate the argument that anyone could do it with those players.
Drai and McDavid were in their first few seasons, at four years in much more ready to roll than as players on ELCs
There are a few GMs that get after it assertively, and their teams have been winning the Cups the these last years
Holland made them better, but slowly with a lot of waste. It is what it is, but it didn’t have to go like this based on what other teams have done
What was the bigger feat getting to the Cup in game 7 in Carolina or game 7 in Florida? Anyone that votes Florida is probably 25 or less.
I don’t disagree with most of this take, but I will say (a) those false starts amounted to giving up assets that the team REALLY could have used the past few years, (b) Holland arguably over-paid for players who were not a great fit, and (c) it’s sad to say, but “silver medalist among Oilers GMs” isn’t a necessarily a high bar to clear. Grading on a curve might make him look better, but the gap between him and Slats is quite substantial, and I think we should be comparing him to his peers, not Steve Tamebelli.
During his tenure you have an strong case that Holland wasn’t a top GM in the league. Jim Nill (DAL), Kelly McCrimmon (VGK), Julien Briesbois (TBL), Joe Sakic (COL), Bill Zito (FLA), and Bill Guerin (MIN) arguably have had better tenures than Holland, and you might even through in Rob Blake (LA) and a few others.
He wasn’t awful, but he had five years with two of the five best players in the world and doesn’t have a cup to show for it. He certainly got close, and evaluating his tenure isn’t as simple as calling it a “success” or “failure”, but we shouldn’t consider his tenure beyond reproach because it wasn’t as bad as Chia.
Those are fair points. I definitely agree his tenure isn’t unimpeachable, and yeah, I probably grade him out at a B or B+ and he shouldn’t get too much praise for the fact that any other Oilers GM bar Sather tops out at a C-. That said, he was the steady hand on the wheel that the franchise desperately needed but could not find.
I see Campbell as the huge, obvious misstep. It’s a real indictment on Chia that it has competition for worst Oilers goalie signing of the past decade. Ekholm and Hyman were massive home runs though, which I think more than cancel out the Campbell signing.
The shame is we won’t get to see the full long term impact of the Holland vision because his best draft picks were lost to a bizarre offer sheet coup.
I think B/B+ is right on the money, agreed on everything else you have to say. I also miss Brolloway (Hoberg?)
Notwithstanding he did take the money, it might be a bit rude to call him ‘Hoberg’.
Holland was So-So he settled down the mob that was angry but for every good move he made a bad one followed. He started with ace king same suit in the hole plus a nice salary but he had no vision for the future. He threw away draft picks like dollar bills at a seedy strip club. I’m glad he’s gone the jury is still out on Bowman who’s Hawk team that won 3 Cups is way more impressive on the resume then the team Little Ceasars bought with cold cash in Detroit.
Bowman inherited a roster largely built by his predecessor. He took over as GM after Dale Tallon already signed Hossa, and when he started as GM the team already had Toews, Kane, Hossa, Keith, Seabrook, Ladd, Sharp, Byfuglien, Bolland, Brouwer, Campbell, Crawford, Bickell, and Niemi on it.
His biggest moves were probably acquiring Johnny Oduya and signing Panarin as a FA. He oversaw drafts which saw them pick Brandon Saad, Philip Danault, Teravainen, and Andrew Shaw, and did a decent job and finding replacements as players like Bolland, Bickell, etc. were moved elsewhere when they got too expensive. He didn’t do nothing, but the core of the Hawks’ 3 cup teams was there when he took over as GM.
Bowman was in the org for 9 years before that, gradually working his was up to AGM of Hockey Ops. Impossible to know what he comtributed, but it’s not as if he came out of nowhere to take over a Stanley Cup winner.
Ditto for Holland in Detroit for that matter.
Fair point!
He also won the cup 3 and 5 years after being the GM and his team finished 1st in its division 7 years after.
He retooled multiple times, successfully.
Canada has a ton of players to choose from. Though in a tournament like this, it may be beneficial to have the proper players playing the proper roles as an actual team would, rather than players adjusting to different roles than what they’re accustomed too. The best team will win this tournament in this format.
I mean if you’re picking between two players who are in the top 6 on their respective teams for who to play in the 4th line in the 4N tournament, neither will be playing in their “proper role” on the 4L, and both will have some adjusting to do. Maybe if its close you pick a player who’s a great PKer, etc., but I think you get better results by picking the best player, rather than the guy who “fits” best as a 4Ler.
Let’s face it there aren’t any 4th liners on any team playing in this 4 Nations tournament. Who is talking about 4th line players? I’m talking about putting the best player available for the different roles to form the best team. So really, we’re talking about the same thing.
Judging from what I saw from last night’s game there weren’t many penalties called so special teams wasn’t a factor. So, 5 on 5 play should be more important. I guess we will see tomorrow night if that changes against the Americans.
I was trying to figure out what you mean when you say “it may be beneficial to have the proper players playing the proper roles as an actual team would, rather than players adjusting to different roles than what they’re accustomed too”. I don’t know what “role” means if you’re not talking about what line they’re on/deployment (i.e. checking line or shut-down pair) or if they fill a niche like a certain special team, righty-face off guy, etc. And what I’m saying is I would put the best players on the team, not trying to construct a roster based on “fit” or “roles”.
I would have picked Scheifle and Suzuki over Bennett and Cirelli, even though the latter two bring more grit/physicality. I would have also taken Weegar over Doughty because I think the former is the better player right now. I would have also taken Logan Thompson over Montembault for the same reason.
Put your 18 best skaters out there, run 4 scoring lines, keep the puck away from the other team and fill up the opposing team’s net. Don’t worry about roles/fit.
I think a more effective wish for Jesse would be that he finds a way to listen to the people trying to mentor him into being a consistent and coachable pro.
It isn’t on Zito or Sullivan or Woodcroft anymore to fix this player. After striking out of 3 organizations, the onus is squarely on Puljujarvi now. Last Chance Texaco has arrived. This is when you find out what a man is made of.
Will he finally reinvent himself as a viable NHL roster player or will he slink back to Finland to play bandy hockey?
His game much better suits the big ice and style of play over there. He’s such a horse and sort of clumsy, he can’t get out of his or anyone else’s way over here
Unlike last time his ship is only sailing one-way to Helsinki.
Team Canada is what we thought it was. Binnington let in a soft one and the line with Cooper’s boys (Hagel and Cirelli) was scored on twice.
That said, the game was extremely entertaining and I think the boys will take it up a notch vs the USofA on Saturday night.
With everything going on south of the border, this is exactly what the doctor ordered. Tariff this!
Bennet may come in for Konecny
Bennett might the player Cooper would want in line up facing Team USA with the likes of the Tkachuk brothers, Kreider and Miller among their forward group.
The funny thing is a lot of Americans are sympathetic to Canada, except of course for the supporters of that orange buffoon down there. It most certainly could be dubbed the Battle of Canada.
Put me dow for a pre-order for the next book.
If the Oilers have an opportunity to sign Marner or Rantanen this summer, who should they target? Or try to sign both? Or neither?
Rantanen
Rantanen, with a bullet.
I like Marner quite a bit, but I’d still prefer Rantanen between the two of them.
If given the choice, I’d prefer the Oilers take a run at one of the UFA D (Ekblad, Gavrikov, Provorov, Chychrun, Pionk). Can easily see most/all of them staying with their current teams, however.
It would need to be one or the other. Marner is small but he does everything at a high level. Rantanen is more one dimensional.
lol I’m saying INSTEAD OF Marner/Rantanen they pursue a D.
If we get either one of these players means Mcdavid is leaving on a jet plane.
Not if we trade Bouchard for a cost-controlled young D
Why would the Oilers trade a player that is likely to be a top 3-10 d-man in the NHL for the next near decade?
When’s the last time we had a defence man of Bouchard quality? They only come around every 1/4 century. Coffey-Pronger-Bouchard
Re the book: We just (self) published my mother’s memoir; I’ve floated several books to publishers in recent years; the appetite (market) for publishing “like it used to be,” is gone. Good on you for being crazy/driven to write a book. I’ll buy. My guess is everyone who read the first one is anxious to read the sequel.
ps. Where do I pre-order?
Marchand was a little beast last night. Doubt they trade him, but wouldn’t he be fun here
It’s in the organization’s DNA to have players like that. The Oilers at their best were never a ‘nice’ team. The ’06 team was nasty as well. Bring it on
The rumored asking price for Marchand is a 2nd rounder and a solid prospect.
Apparently, Oilers don’t have any solid prospects.
Holland made sure of that.
depends on the “solid” prospect…
Really adds an additional layer to the evaluation of Holland’s work when you see who was drafted with the picks he dealt. Not so easy to call 2nd round picks ‘magic beans’ when they’re turned into Brock Faber and Lane Hutson. Ouch.
It was interesting to see how Anthony Stolarz and Keith Gretzky didn’t get much playing time, or in Stolarz case any playing time in their respective roles with Edmonton. On closer look Gretz was 2 for 2 on trades while Holland IMO was 2 for 11.
I take solace in the fact that had Holland kept the picks, the Oil would likely have drafted two duds anyway.
We will never know.
IMO, you can’t evaluate picks against who they actually took. You have to evaluate relative to the expected value of that pick.
I don’t think the Oilers can afford what the asking price will probably be, but Jarred McCann. Would be the perfect fit here. The guy is a very good skater and has a great shot. He can pk, play the dot if needed ( doesn’t play it much). Has good size at 6.1/196.
and at 28 in his great years. With 2 years left at 5. Not sure Seattle would eat anything on him, but if they do it will be even more expensive , especially for a guy that will get you 25 plus goals.
My bet would be Seattle would ask for Savoie right out of the gate plus a 1st next year more than likely, especially if they do eat. But I have no clue really. But this is a guy that a lot of teams will be wanting. Especially a Vegas.
Plenty of chatter about McCann ending up back in Vancouver,
The Canucks have the cap space not to require retention and have several prospects Seattle might find attractive.
He could be the replacement for Miller I guess, just not as good and tenacious or a full time C man
Here’s a brief summary of the Canucks first pick in the past five drafts (2020-2024):
Joni Jurmo, D- ECHL, Rapid City Rush, 10GP-2G-5A-7P (no longer in Canucks org.)
Danila Klimovich R-AHL, Abbotsford Canucks, 39GP-14G-5A-19P
Jonathan Lekkerimaki R-AHL, Abbotsford Canucks, 27GP-16G-8A-24P
Tom Willander, D-NCAA, Boston University, 26GP-2G-14A-16P
Melvin Fernstrom, R-SweHL, Orebro HK, 37GP-4G-6A-10P
By “several” possibly “attractive” prospects, did you mean two?
Damn they don’t have any other prospects except those 5 guys? And I thought the Oilers prospect pool was sparse …
That makes sense. McCann has a history of disappearing in the playoffs, so he’d be a perfect fit next to Pettersson.
I too would like another forward, but if the Oilers only have enough assets for 1 “premium” addition, I think Top 4 RHD trumps any need for a forward. I’m also more confident that useful Top 9 forwards can be acquired for less than Savoie/2026 first, while I don’t think there’s any way to acquire a Top 4 D for anything less than one/both of those assets.
I hope Bowman continues working around the edges.
Another grass-is-greener Oilers fan. Why don’t you also talk about him being a perimeter player, the lack of physicality and the fact he disappears in the playoffs?
Man did Holland pay full price and then some
For the Kesserling deal,
I don’t believe a GM should be expected to win every deal, but a RH two-way blue is a damned unicorn.
..but a RH two-way TOWER blue is a damned unicorn
the guy is 6″5″ or 6″6″ and can skate!
Lesson for the other 31 teams around the league: If the Oilers GM is trying to trade you a RH defenseman at the deadline, get the call into the league office before they change their mind …
There was 7 people that gave a crap about Kesselring in that trade – 5 of them are part of this community.
For the vast majority, citing losing Kesselring in that trade is huge revisionist history – not a care at the time, only a year or so later, after the kid pops (like 7 people projected) do they look back.
Fine, maybe 8.
I’ve heard Mark Stone to the IR, Thursday 20th February at 10:30pm. Back to play the Flames on April 15th.
lol, he looked quite healthy last night
Shea theodore. 7.5M just got freed up for Vegas. Theodore to return for playoffs. Book it. Mark Stone will take another turn next year.
That would mean that they lost him for all those games and are not able to spend his money.
Our roster just needs tweaking. We should have Kane back, so that may affect the deadline. If some of the off season signings start to cover their bets, then we should be good.
Last night’s game: I thought Connor played very well. If MacKinnon wasn’t such a puck hog, he could well have scored or set up the OT winner. Good on Marner, who had struggled with the assignment “get the puck and give it to Connor”. Couple of solid defensive plays by Reinhart, but largely ineffective. They refused to hit Connor at speed and yet the goal in OT was a very Oilers goal – the drop pass to the faster player.
I was worried about the game before hand when they interviewed Sid and Nathan. They were asked (paraphrased) “what do you both need to change to play with each other?” Sid kind of gave a stock answer, but Nathan said “just play my game and not worry about anyone else.” Sid just smiled as if this was expected. Now, Nathan may have meant it that he’s just going to play naturally, but it came across to me as “you guys are on MY team”. I bring this up because of his play in OT. I believe we could have won sooner if he used his teammates…
Yes MacKinnon was just a kook in OT. Especially that 3 on 1.
Saving his assists for Avalanche games!
I don’t understand the puck hog comments.
MacKinnon with speed, got a defenseman isolated 1 on 1 with a big gap, and got the puck to the slot and took the shot.
That is something I’d like to see McDavid do more often.
He’s definitely different than our studs, who sometimes look to have a competition as how open they can get the net to be before scoring. (Especially on empty nets!)
I thought it was pretty funny how Team Canada got so many great looks, but couldn’t finish, and how good the Swedish goaltender was. Then how Binnington let a couple goals in that he might have wanted back. Not to mention the need to win it in OT. It all just sounded too familiar.
My mentality was you are Joe Sakic and are the alpha of your NHL team and would be an alpha on almost any team you’re on.
2 on 1 in OT.
Wayne Gretzky is on the other side.
You pass the puck 10 times out of 10. He didn’t pass 4 separate times.
Learn the lesson, get in line.
It was just a strange sequence of events. 29 took it to the net 5x in a row. He got decent shots but gave up possession. On his last two rushes he pulled up at the blue line with 97 and I believe Makar with him and killed their speed then he regrouped and took it all by himself with no help. Then after they had to get the puck back he looked off 97 and did it again. I’m fairly confident 97 would have given it right back to him for a tap in or would have found the trailer for a wide open look. Just 29s style, take it to the rack… 97 is a possession player and will take his time and find the best look.
4 times.
I’ve seen this “I’ll get ‘er done” impatience from McD too, more than a few times this season. Talented players who think it’s up to them. I think Crosby showed why he’s C on the team. Intense. But not feeling like he has to do it all himself when things are taking longer than he’d like.
It’ll be interesting to see how these dynamics develop over this short series. And, as someone (McCurdy?) suggested, what McD learns in the process. He had more juice last night than I’ve seen in a bit.
I get in OT that Crosby & MacKinnon would be paired together. But I wonder if McDavid & MacKinnon with all that speed might have been a better combo. Duly noted MacKinnon needs to share the puck.
Ya, I agree about McKinnon. A couple of times he went 1 on 2 or 1 on 3. 3 on 3 play is about working the puck around until you get someone open.
MacKinnon might have appreciated McDavid going 1 on 2 or 1 on 3 during the OT. The difference being McDavid would have found MacKinnon for the OT winner.
Appreciated the stroll back in time in regards to the deadline deals LT, and I hope like hell that the 2nd book comes around! I’ll buy a few copies!
OK, who the hell down-voted This ?
Totally enjoyed the deadline mini series LT… thanks!
So mixed feelings on the Shea Theodore injury last night. Canada loses a good defenceman which sucks, Vegas may have an injury on their blue after the tournament, which is great. Knights probably find a LTIR loophole to squeeze Rantanen in at the deadline and make the Oilers give a 3rd round pick to Calgary which truly sucks.
lol, For sure. Andersson and possibly McCann adds
Sounding like he’s week-to-week, so doubtful he’s on LTIR.
I sometimes wonder if trades are really worth the bother, but then you get one like the Ekholm trade. (Or the Roloson one.) I guess you have to make some duds along the way to score the winners.
also, wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the Four Nations tourney. I didn’t watch last night and I wonder if it is just a gimmick or what?
(edited to correct Roloson’s name. Autocorrect doesn’t like it)
The game last night was miles better than I anticipated. I think the game on Saturday will be well worth watching.
Having seen it though, Hockey Canada made a couple of glaring mistakes by not upgrading the goalie position and by putting Doughty on the team (as a legacy add, he is just not up to speed). I also think Hyman in the bottom six over a couple of other guys would have been very helpful, but I am more than glad he is getting the 2 weeks off.
Doughty was not bad at all
I thought Doughty was, by a considerable margin, the weakest d-man last night.
Yup.
They couldn’t upgrade the goalie position after the fact – not without one of the three original picks being injured.
The game last night was fantastic. The Montreal crowd chanting “Crosby! Crosby!” is something I’ll remember for a long time.
Watching McDavid play with Crosby, MacKinnon, and Makar on a powerplay was splendid.
If you love hockey you will love this tournament. Kicks the crap out of an all-star game anyway.
Have to agree the allstar game has been a farce for years
There was a time when the All-stars played the reigning Stanley champs. That might be fun to revisit.
When I started watching the NHL in the early ‘60s said format actually kicked off the new season. All-Stars at Toronto, or All-Stars at Montreal. They played a real hockey game, maybe not 100% but close. Some real pride on the line, & games had scores like 3-3 or 3-2 not 14-11 or whatever.
then they moved it to midseason, then expansion came & the new format became East vs West. Been a downhill slide ever since..
I was whining about Four Nations (middle of the season? What about injuries? Etc)
When I tuned in to proceedings at the shrine of hockey (home of the Habs, birthplace of the game 150 years ago, etc) and heard the crowd, all of that disappeared and I was in. And the game did not disappoint. What a PP! Lots of best on best playing well together. Habs fans cheering Marchand (!), and chanting Crosby Crosby Crosby. Shame about Theodore (fingers crossed for Arvidsson, Ekholm, McDavid & grateful no other Oilers are on the ice). I’m very much looking forward to Saturday, 🇨🇦 v 🇺🇸
Go Canada go!
There is AHL level speed, NHL level and there is 4 Nations speed. Any fumbles and the counterattack happens even faster than in a normal NHL game..
On the second Canadian goal, the turnover at the Canadian blueline was in the Swedish net no more than 5 seconds later off the 2 on 1.
I mentioned it in the thread last night but it’s a good thing Hyman wasn’t selected for Canada and same for Bouchard. One misstep and the best passers and snipers of the 4 Nations will take advantage in a blink of an eye.
Hyman would always be a step behind and Bouchard would have zero room for the careless mistakes that he does at least once a game. We mitigate the lack of footspeed of our wingers by getting them to station themselves at the opposing blue line. Our system helps hide the slower boots by not making them skate thru the neutral zone with the puck.
Bouchard would be one of those best passers with a multitude of high end options to pass the puck to.
Bouchard has shown a clear ability, two playoff seasons in a row, to minimize mistakes when the games gets faster, more intense and the comp better.
Sure glad he wasn’t picked for the 4 Nations. It’s best kept secret.
Hyman is actually a very fast skater. Not McDavid fast, but on NHL Edge, he is 90th percentile among NHL forwards in top speed, speed bursts over 22 MPH and speed bursts over 20 MPH. And he is strong on his skates as well.
NHL Edge has Janmark at like the 2nd highest recorded speed ever – Jamark has decent speed but he’s not near the 2nd fastest in the NHL and I don’t put any stock in to this data as its currently presented.
From my eye, sure, once he gets going, Hyman can have good straight away speed but I wouldn’t say he’s get very good acceleration nor does he have plus edges or the ability to move laterally at all.
Hyman is a fine skater but he’s not going to be able to stop and turn on a time if a rush is broken up and the puck goes the other way elitely nor will he be getting back quickly is he’s caught deep in the zone and the puck is going the other way.
Or that’s to my eye.
That Kesselring trade rankles. Every time.
Yup. Here Paul, take Peter’s money.
That one, and not being in on Kovacevic as far as I know, but I guess there wasn’t really a GM
Given they needed a RD, and JK is also 6’5 223, and costs 767K, huge miss. Devils paid a 4th and he leads their D in TOI. I hope Bowman is way better at that than what we are used to
Trades like Kovacevic make me think that a low-risk, high-upside trade for a D at the deadline might be the move for the Oilers. Jokiharju has (apparently) worn out his welcome in Buffalo. While he’s not making less than $1M and is a pending UFA, and of all the names out there likely available for a 3rd or less, he probably has the most upside. Of all the players out there who the oilers might be able to get for a 3rd + stetcher type package, he probably has the best chance of establishing himself as a 2RD to pair with Nurse.
Buying assets at their low point from bad GMs under a lot of pressure tends to work out well for the acquiring team. Would be nice for an Oilers GM to be on the other side of one of those trades for once …
Thank you for the stroll down memory lane and here’s hoping for an auspicious beginning to the upcoming Bowman series.