When they teach NHL cap structure and best practices at hockey universities in the future, I suspect the collected works of Peter Chiarelli, Ken Holland and Stan Bowman may fill a semester. Everyone makes mistakes, but the list from 2015 summer through recent times is enormous and I’ll guess most certainly cost more than one Stanley.
The unrestricted free-agent signings are the most obvious ones. If we made a list of them, how many would you consider to have had a chance to bring value? I wrote about the best free-agent signings in Oilers history a year ago, and the general manager count is what you might expect:
- Glen Sather 5
- Ken Holland 2
- Kevin Lowe 1
- Steve Tambellini 1
- Peter Chiarelli 1
Now Glen Sather had 20 years to gather his five, but he was also dealing with massive money restrictions the other names didn’t have to worry over (Kevin Lowe, too). Stan Bowman doesn’t make the list yet, but he can approach this summer with room to wheel if the club can offload Darnell Nurse without retention. The San Jose Sharks and Logan Couture’s contract and LTIR status offer a sliver of hope in this area.
The contracts Bowman has signed are the ones that slip through the cracks because they are not technically unrestricted free agents. The Oilers traded for Trent Frederic, and then signed him long term before he hit full free agency. Even if he performs at expected levels (I like the player, but he has been poor as an Oilers winger), he is a third-line player and an eight-year contract is unwise for that portion of the depth chart.
I think the Jake Walman deal could work out if the player can stay healthy.
This is Walman’s player card from Puck IQ, reflecting the 2025-26 season. A 40-percent Dangerous Fenwick versus elites isn’t awe-inspiring, and the 45 percent goal share is also less than ideal. However, if Walman has a veteran partner, one who is RH and can play a sound two-way game, I think the bet is worth it if Walman can play 70+ games and be available for all of the playoff games. That’s a big ask.
So, I think Oilers fans have to wait and see. I know Michael Parkatti will have a strong list for Bowman, but also know general managers trust no one more than themselves. Can Bowman take the advice math offers? I’ve always hoped an analytics-based team would win the Stanley Cup with a bunch of slide rule managers wearing thick glasses in the same summer Edmonton had some walking around money. That possibility exists this summer. Can Bowman embrace analytics for an entire summer? We wait.
I’m unable to muster much sympathy for the Vegans after blowing a 4 goal lead and now on their way to overtime
The Hurricanes have a great team and system but I don’t think they can match the Vegas star power of Eichel/Marner.
Or not.
Yeah that aged like milk.
Mitch Marner is really good at hockey.
Lol…really really really good
Chris Johnston
@reporterchris
From NHL stats:
Mitch Marner (6:10) scored the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history, besting the previous mark of 6:21 set 69 years ago by Maurice Richard
Wow!
This is brutal. When does the game start.
LOW RENT MARVEL CLAPCLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP
Go Elks!! Some great throws/catches lead to the season’s first touchdown. Beauty.
Listening to Hitchcock and Bowman the Elder on 100% Hockey, talking SCFs and details. “Sprint to the bench” à shift. No coasting. Pay attention to the puck carrier when entering the O-zone. “Don’t ever go offside.”
I won’t make any comments here, now about lackadaisical Oilers on their change…
Incredible TNG reference in the title LT
A story to watch at the draft:
Mike Morreale
@mikemorrealeNHL
News on the Ruck twins – Liam and Markus. They informed the ‘NHL Draft Class’ podcast that they will return to Medicine Hat for 2026-27.
Also noteworthy was the fact Liam, the RH right wing, had 25 club interviews & Markus, a LHC, had 20.
The twins have been telling teams they would love to be drafted together and, as they come from Osoyoos, would like the Canucks to be the team.
Notably, their younger brother Landon was also selected by the Tigers in the WHL prospects draft.
Sedins/Hughes/Hutson vibes.
Scott Wheeler with a closer look:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7125603/2026/05/16/liam-markus-ruck-twins-2026-nhl-draft-sedins/
Canucks should package Hronek for the 2 pick and take these twins 2 and 3
Based on the mock drafts I’ve seen, they should be able to pull it off.
They have the #24 from Minnesota (Hughes trade) and their own pick at #33 as well as the #41 (from Sharks in the Sherwood trade)
Liam is ranked somewhere around 28 while Markus is at 32.
Unless another team goes off the board they would have a pretty good shot since they have 2 second round picks they could bring into play.
As for Hronek, the Canucks might entice San Jose to take him in trade in return for more picks and a young prospect.
(San Jose has #2, #20 (Oilers) and #62 (from Colorado).
It would be one hell of a marketing ploy if they can pull it off.
It must be nice to be 18 and dictate to the league that they want to be drafted together. I know they didn’t mean it in a prima donna way. I do think the Canucks will pull the Sedin card and get both of these youngsters. I would definitely take both brothers if they draft the one brother with the other brother still on the board I would then trade up to get the other one.
They’ve played together since they were tykes so it would be a shame to break that up.
They seem like humble kids so likely wouldn’t bitch if they were are.
If, as expected, the Ducks take Caleb Malhotra at #3, they’ll have quite the family affair going on with the Sedins as POHOs.
Not to mention 3 Petterssons in the lineup.
Canucks, not Ducks and, yes, I fully expect them to take Maholtra and it will be a great pick, unfortunately.
Lowetide
What do you think of Gerard Gallant or Alain Vigneault as possible coaches for the Oilers?
Both seem to have been cast aside but were top coaches when coaching.
Gallants style appears to be more holding accountable and letting players play speak for itself but has the history of being slow to make decisions to change tactics.
Vigneault is probably more the style the Oilers would need but does slow play younger players.
Vigneault officially retired 3 years ago after 3 mediocre seasons in Philadelphia.
Who do you think the Oilers should pursue?
I would take a close look at Todd Nelson.
He had great success with the Hershey Bears and Grand Rapids before being hired as an assistant with the Penguins after getting the bum’s rush by the Oilers.
His record in the AHL is sparkling: 406W – 222L – 77OTL
I think Bowman goes with a coach he knows from the past. It seemed like Bowman and K.K were never on the same page did it appear that way to you? It’s always nice to get an opine of someone that isn’t drunk on the Kool-Aid being served daily on Kingsway Ave.
KK always struck me as lacking imagination and was more like a school headmaster herding a few very smart kids who were actually setting the agenda while the rest of the class were just filling seats at the back of the room.
The team, I’m my opinion, needs a strong, non-player personality to set the tone and demand accountability throughout the lineup.
I didn’t mind K.K no nonsense straight ahead approach to begin with after having Woody talk a hear off over every little play. The no nonsense all work and no play ran out of gas this year. The team looked miserable this year I hope the new Coach loosens up the group and the boys look to have fun again.
I think if the Oilers are set on wanting Cassidy they should hold out for Cassidy. Hearing Elliot Friedman saying they may look to get a 1 year coach then get Cassidy after his contract is up. I think that is a horribly irresponsible idea – Unless that coach was Paul Coffee
Hiring someone outside of the Org and knowing it was for only 1 year is like standing still in a race.
I believe the Oil will be granted permision after the cup
based off of Bill Daly’s last words on the subject
Paul “Coffee”? 🙄
I hear he brings a lot of energy. Has the potential to really perk up the team. Like Cassidy, doesn’t last too long – there’s always a crash at the end.
I think the Oilers would be wise to pick a coach who has been in the league recently.
Torts would be fireworks. Fun to watch.
One other thought on optimizing the value of your players. Like real life jobs, opportunity and being supported can make or break your career in competitive fields. Besides Nurse, I think Howard is the prime player who the new coach has to assess and see if he can optimize. He’ll probably be the most niche player on the team, at least at first, and finding him the right opportunity to thrive is the difference between another 5 point in 30 game season or perhaps having a more Caufield like trajectory.
I think the other player could be Quinn Hutson. Although not as talented, the way he looks in the O-zone is similar to his brothers – lots of shifty 4 way skating and always looks best attacking from above after a cycle. With his NHL quality shot and 2 way ability, I think there’s a way to maximize his talents and cover up his deficiencies in strength and speed by placing him with speedy forecheckers who can transport the puck in the N-zone and cycle and get him the puck in the O-zone.
I think sometimes we focus a lot more on what we could get that’s better instead of how do we optimize what we have.
Everyone will always look at their own players and say “God I wish we had that, why aren’t you like that?” Rather than look at what their player brings that the other doesn’t.
I think so too. The Avs are the perfect example. They weren’t as deep as was said. A rising tide floats all boats (and the reverse), they were playing very organized and really well. When the pressure went up and Mac and Mak couldn’t carry them we saw what was more real
Same for the Oilers, they and the players are better than what we saw this season. Was it Bob that said he talked to one of the guys that was moved and he didn’t think they were better than the guys that replaced them, as much as opportunity was different
In the end this is why we are getting a new coach
If it was Brown he is certainly better than Freddi and Mangiapane
I believe Bowman had given K.K enough younger skilled players to add to our stars to be a offence force. Yet unless our PP went 2-4 or we scored the 1st goal we were sucking hind tit for most games. Let’s face it the Oilers style was boring trying to clog up the middle leads to boring hockey. I want the new coach to think if you outscore the opposition 7-3 you win the game. Must fans will be happy with a more upbeat style there will always be boisterous crowd that thinks trapping style with 1-0 or 2-1 results with low event hockey is the way to win.
This isn’t a revolutionary post but getting your coach in place and knowing what system they run is just so valuable for pro scouting meetings on who to re-sign and target in trades, free agency, and offer sheets.
If we want to mine for undervalued players, Carolina extracting K’andre Miller out of NY knowing he struggles with zone coverage but is great with man to man is the perfect arbitrage example.
For the Oilers, Cassidy plays zone and the reported second option Laviolette plays man. A very real and timely decision on Nurse could be held up because he also plays well in coverage (Woody) but struggles more in zone. Knowing what structure we’re going to play helps properly evaluate his value to the Oil and I’m sure this extrapolates at least somewhat to the many good and not so good signings we have had over the years.
I’d much rather have a coach that doesn’t come with a set of textbooks and a roadmap to impose on his players. Thats lazy and won’t max out their potential.
The ones that come with a good pair of eyes, a thinking man’s brain and background in every way you can beat another team…that’s what they should be looking for.
I don’t know if they have any idea how to do that.
When a certain player or line is having a good game give them more of a push. Same applies to the D and PP. When the PP 1 is looking stale would it kill the coaching staff to try PP2 especially coming off a long shift by Connor-Leon. I hope the new coach believes in shorter shifts while rolling 4 competent lines. Give the bottom 6 an identity reward them if playing well like I stated above go with the hot hands that particular game.
That seems like Cassidy to me. Howden commenting on how he would adjust in game to counter the other guy’s game plan. You need to be able to read the game well to do that. The Oilers need that. He apparently wants to coach the Oilers, I doubt he sees as an opportunity to turn the Oilers into something they aren’t
I think he sees what he could do organizing a team with three elite players into something as strong as it should be. They leave an awful lot on the table, and as Connor says like to do things the hard way. Just getting better with their sticks would really change which way pressure goes. They did it for a week or two this season and it was effective, and of course then stopped
We seem to give-up so many tipped in goals from the point and we rarely score in that fashion. Under K.K scheme we sometimes would go 8-10 minutes of low event play and then bam a harmless long shot from the point is tipped in. These types of goals are so dejecting. I don’t know how to find a stat like that? If anyone can dig up how many goals we allow and score via a tip-in it would be interesting to see that stat?
I think a big part of that is that they would revert to being out of position a lot. If you watch Vegas play they are usually where they are supposed to be and that means in lanes where the shot isn’t then taken, or if it is it’s blocked, the player is facing the shooter meaning the puck hits where they are protected
The Oilers are often turning to their side and getting hit where there is little or no protection. They deflect pucks because they aren’t where they should be and are trying to recover. It’s dumb to tip after the shot is taken, you have to trust the goalie, tie up a stick, make sure you weren’t screening him or if you are you have to block it
Same with Nurse deflecting pucks in with skates or body. His positioning isn’t good and that is why it happens so much. The new coach needs to teach them gamesmanship. That they have been looking to jail break because the coaches couldn’t get them doing anything else has lead to a lot of the problems including injury
Hyman said his wrist thing was because he wasn’t being careful enough. He was looking up ice and took a hit and obviously wasn’t ready for it. That lapse might have cost them a Cup. Bouch getting nailed in the Worlds because he was puck watching
Take care of business, and when you break them down be heads up and support the puck. Get your breaks and rushes that way by playing smart, or clean shots, instead of forcing them. Gamesmanship, patience, maturity. Vegas and the Canes are giving a great example of it
I’m with you on patience, maturity. I’ve never seen a def of “gamesmanship” like this, but I agree (I’d call it “details,” a pretty broad, maybe useless def, but after listening to Bowman the Elder and Hitchcock talk about details viz Vegas and CAR I like it.
re Hyman said his wrist thing was because he wasn’t being careful enough. He was looking up ice and took a hit and obviously wasn’t ready for it
I wondered about that. Had a look at the replay. Not sure if I agree w Hyman’s take. He’d just deked Lindell at his blueline, had his eyes on the puck, Marchment came out of his blind side at the last moment and Hyman almost avoided that check. Not sure if there was a “careful enough” option that wouldn’t have involved more direct collision, w Lindell/puck turnover at Oilers blueline, or w Marchment and perhaps having more serious impact? If his attention was north it was to get the puck out his defensive zone. I’d call that “taking care of business.”
Maybe not but experienced players should be aware and protecting themselves. If they don’t it’s only a matter of time. Pretty unusual injury for a hit like that. Usually a shoulder or LBI
To me details are more the basics, perhaps individual skills like getting off quick, not going offside, winning stick and positional battles on the walls etc
The other parts of the game that are about team play to me is where gamesmanship comes in. Are you aware of the game state and clock? Are you supporting the play both ways within the system, and waiting for that process to play out? Discipline (mental maturity) is a big piece of it
Puck management, reacting to what’s going on in a way that can overcome the other guys ideas instead of forcing plays and trying to do too much, which harms your teammates chances most of the time. There are times when you have a step or lane or whatever and of course go for it. That’s different than constantly making really low odds plays
Thanks.
I belief the CoH stats might have that. They certainly have stats on “deflections off Oilers player,” Nurse v others. And Staples is obsessive (not a bad thing for stats guys) on the tip-ins from long shots (what he calls “Californians”).
C of H has always done a fine job of tracking. We need somone from each team doing it.
That’s exactly it.
Not only does CoH track every goal but they track every scoring chance, each way, and assign contributions to the scorn chance/goal and mistakes on scoring chances and goals again.
Its yeoman’s work, and Staples is doing it alone with Bruce now, with true value but, we can only use it to compare players on the team and not across teams.
Their work, now Staples’ alone, was and is a (labour intensive) labour of love. A public gift the CoH shares with everyone in Oilerville.
I hope Staples is cultivating reinforcements and ensuring the work continues.
Two terrible contract decisons in the past have led to the ongoing cap issues for this team.
First was the Lucic signing, awful the day it was signed and proved to be as bad as projected. Cratered cap space and stayed on the books for a long time with the Neal buyout.
The second was the last Kassian contract. Abysmal the day it was signed, zero chance of outperforming that deal and a minute chance of even being value for it. That deal took the cap space that was needed to go longer term with Nurse which would have prevented the current massive deal.
Jack Campbell is a gift that keeps on giving.
Walman was signed to be a top 4 d-man, no doubt.
When he is playing well, he is a legit, he can be a 2/3 dman, he can be very good.
Of course, he is not always at his best, like we say last season, he was quite poor most of the season. Of course, that was primarily injury related as he struggled playing though injury – clearly limited in his mobility. He was better later in the season and in the playoffs.
I have no issues with a healthy Walman as 2LD – Murphy should be a good partner as Jake is high event.
If Nurse is traded, a big if, some of those cap savings need to go to a legit 3LD upgrade. Kulak at $4.75M to anchor a third pairing and move up if injuries present themselves.
The “when” part is problematic. If one has to ask “when”, why is one handing out a 7 year $7 million AAV contract.
Bowman has done two of these “when” contracts with Walman and Frederic. His “when” contracts ultimately cratered the Blackhawks.
Tulsky just goes out and finds better cheaper younger guys when he lost Pesce, Skjei, Orlov, Hamilton, rather than signing anchor contracts.
Don Waddell did most of those, only dealt with Orlov.
Waddell is a manager. He was not out there finding the players. That was Tulsky.
Ekholm-Bouchard
Walman-Murphy
Kulak-Emberson
Or maybe even a legit 1LD to play with Bouchard not that Ekholm isn’t legit but someone better. That is with Nurse’s cap hit off the books.
I don’t think that grouping is better than the one that ended the season.
Agreed. But if Ekholm can be upgraded on he would trickle down to one of the second or third pairs and things would look much better.
Upgrading on Ekholm would cost like $7MM plus given what he did last season:
1) played 82 games
2) had 41 points
3) was 12th among all d-men in 5 on 5 points
4) played 36% TOI vs. elites
5) had a 56% goal share and 56% expected goal share
Of course, Bouchard floats all boats and Ekholm is somewhat a function of that but he was a legit top pairing d-man again last season (even if the eye test showed some slowing down, inconsistency and decrease in mobility).
I didn’t say he wasn’t a legit top pairing D but there are better top pairing Dmen out there. After all isn’t the goal to improve the defense or do you think it was good enough last season?
Sure but to acquire a top 20 d-man in the league would be tough.
Yes! Trickle that calm expertise down to support younger, more-chaos D. Isn’t that his obvious “elder” role, from now until the cows come home?
Would it kill the Oilers to draft-develop and then mentor them with Ekholm etc. Nashville had been doing that for years with success if Poile could have figured out the draft and develop up front they would have been a force in the west.
I’m a know-nothing hockey fan, but I like the model of draft-develop with sage mentorship in other parts of life. Also: it fits with the “10-year solution” v “win now” model that I’m partial to.
You want to trade Howard because the Oilers placed him in the AHL to develop after a 29 game NHL stint (generally playing on the 3rd line some middle six) and now you are asking why they won’t draft and develop?
Holy Hell!
Howard is a 22 year-old Hobey Baker winner. Howard was ready to play NHL just like the countless Howard teammates from the U.S development program that have had success so far in the N.H.L. There’s a difference between drafting and developing a big D compared to small scoring D. Just as there is in a smaller skilled scoring Winger compared to a big Centre. Bowman and K.K were not on the same page with the usage of Howard-Frederic-Jarry. This will all come out on in the wash eventually and they will no longer be in the falsehood dirty laundry basket.
Howard was 21, not 22.
Winning the Hobey Baker at 20 is not the flex you think it is.
What his teammates were doing is irreelvant to his performance (and most of them had much higher pedigree).
Howard got 29 games in the NHL and proven that he was best served developing in the NHL.
Lots of small scoring forwards need their AHL development time – look at Logan Stankoven for a very good comparable. Shit, look at Matt Savoie.
Just because you’ve chosen Issac Howard as a guy that was ready to score 30 and didn’t need standard development doesn’t make it so – and all the evidence points to you not being right on this one.
If Walman plays to his abilities (and Kulak is back to being Kulak), it might be close bit it also creates another $4.5MM to spend (if Kulak is in the $475MM range).
Moving Nurse out is not going to make the defence better in isolation as its removing an apx $6.5MM player out (I suggest his worth is in that range).
Its how they allocate the new found cap space that will determine if the team is better, right?
There are also plenty of intangibles for instance , Regula, Carfagna, Leppanen, Akey, Jonsson, Ungar, Hutson, Howard even Clattenberg. Savoie & Samanski are already factoring in. If all of a sudden any of these youngsters can contribute in a positive way, that goes a long way to improving the team in a cost efficient fashion.
For sure but not a single one of those guys can be projected to be on the team out of camp but Howard, right? Bowman needs to build the training camp roster presuming none of the others are on the team, right?
For example, he can hope that, say, Carfagna only needs another couple of months and then he’s NHL ready but that’s the best case scenario (and fairly unlikely even if we hope).
Making the D worse to try to make the forward group better isn’t going to make the team better.
Depends on how that cap is allocated. If there is a true $9.25MM to allocate, it could/should make the team better.
That’s a lot of ‘ifs’.
And to have $4.5M to spend after Kulak you are assuming there are no bad contracts coming back, or really any cap coming back. Is this realistic?
If they do take a “bad contract” back, it will still be a player that helps the team (like Nurse makes the Oilers better by adding/having him even if a bad contract).
True. But aside from the injury afflicted post season, the season ended well.
This was not the team that floundered in Oct-Nov 25. (My current broken record: was no one paying attention? Was panic the only option?)
Ekholm is a 1LD.
I just looked at the list of the top 50 dmen by puck empire because it would include most of the top names. Based on current play alone and not age for the moment, there are maybe 15-20 defencemen (LHD and RHD) league wide that I’d want over Ekholm.
Taking age in to account maybe 30 and both the current and with age in account are probably on the high side.
Ekholm is that good. He is that steady when he is healthy and 98% of the time makes the right play. The guy is invaluable in his ability to lead in the way of coaching and seeing the ice defensively and isn’t afraid to step up offensively at the right time.
There might come a time when he isn’t in the future but if you’re switching him out for any of the players above him, you’re giving up something that he does well.
Of course Ekholm is good. The word is they’re looking for a top six forward to play with McDavid. They might be better off looking for a top pairing D man to play with Bouchard considering the teams difficulty is keeping the puck out of the net , not goal scoring. Isn’t the goal to improve defensively?
What’s the support for your daily championing of Walman being a legit 2LD?
Well….. he is.
I’ve watched him play and last season’s play is not representative of his abilities – we saw how limited his mobility was most of the season.
What’s kept thia from happening ia EDM’s lack of cap space.
FLA, VGK, COL, TBY, WSH were all Cup winners with very strong analytics departments/input.
I guess Tulaky would be the first math geek GM, but I think Brisebois is closer to that than the other GMs
VGK and FLA have been built by trade and their perception as destination clubs, and no state income tax. They are in on every big name and make smart hockey trades where they can negotiate team friendly contracts. I get that they have good analytics crews, but on the surface the deals are good hockey trades made by traditional hockey men. Doesn’t seem to be the money puck of the Canes.
I guess so, but I’ve always felt the tax situation was a key to the Florida success. I can find a few wobbly trades in Brisebois’ past that suggest (Tanner Jeannot, Barclay Goodrow) he adheres to things that don’t necessarily march in lock step with the numbers.
FLA picked up Bennett for a song. Signed Verhaeghe when even a smart team like TBY passed, Forsling off waivers and there are other key moves that had nothing to do with tax.
Long term signings do for sure. Getting the highest end players for a discount is a massive advantage, but that’s not their whole story.
Also, analytic heavy teams can make bad decisions too, so Im not sure assuming bad decisions in retrospect are “not an analytics decisions” is always correct.
What is the evidence of GMSB using analytics in Chicago? He’s not a blank slate on that score, is he?
Nurse posted 47.8 DFF vs elites last season over 450 minutes compared to Walman’s 40.4 DFF over 247 minutes. The sliderule says do not give Walman Nurse’s minutes.
Walman was fine with McDavid, poor away. Suspect you’d find that with all the blue, although Ekholm is something like 60 percent DFF versus elites without the captain. It’s a ridiculous number for Ekholm.
Makes me wonder if they shouldn’t look at Walman-Bouchard (with 97) and Ekholm-Murphy away from 97 in a shut down role.
Im in the same opinion, split the top pair if Nurse is moved and have them each anchor their own pairing.
Bouchard floats all boats.
I think Nurse is much more valuable than most but, with Walman, I think we know he played the majority of last season injured, he could barely pivot out there – I think last year’s numbers underrepresent his abilities.
if there is a trade for Nurse that doesn’t cost too much in retianemnet or bad cap back (or assets out to divest) and they can really open up cap space, I am fine with Walman being the opening night 2LD (a healthy Walman is just fine in that role) but they do need to upgrade 3LD to cover for likely injuries (i.e. a Kulak type 3LD).
Stauff isn’t sure if San Jose is a place Nurse would waive for.
It is also highly unlikely San Jose would be interested in Nurse.
The Sharks are laser focused on acquiring RD.
All of these RD, with the exception of Andersson, are likely available.
Darren Raddysh – TBL
John Carlson – ANA
Jacob Trouba – ANA
Rasmus Andersson – VGK
Simon Nemec – NJD
Filip Hronek – VAN
Dougie Hamilton – NJD (vetoed a trade to SJ last offseason)
Should the Sharks want to acquire a LD, Morgan Rielly is nearly $2 million less of a cap hit than Nurse although he too has a NMC.
To my eye, Hronek makes the most sense since his cap hit is only $7,25 million.
Both the Sharks and Canucks have 2 first round picks so they can play mix and match at the draft and the teas have a recent trade history after Vancouver sent Kiefer Sherwood to San Jose for second round picks in 2026 and 2027.
“To my eye”
And there lies the problem. You have a history of needing glasses.
I like Hronek too.
He would be perfect in San Jose.
NHL News
@PuckReportNHL
Andrei Vasilevskiy has won the Vezina Trophy for the second time in his career. Here is the full voting table, as selected by the league’s general managers.
https://x.com/PuckReportNHL/status/2063275546532868397?s=20
Last night was the second time I heard Stauff mention the Oilers chose to sign “one of their AHL goalies” over Postsva. Postsva is the goalie that played in the playoffs for Grand Rappids over Cossa. Sounds like the Oilers almost, and could have, signed Postsva.
Tompkins: 31 years old, 6’4 Edmontonian with 6 NHL GP was signed as a UFA on July 1, 2025.
Postava: 25 years old, with zero NA experience 6’ 1”, 205 lbs was signed as a Euro UFA on June 10, 2025.
Postava wouldn’t have made sense with 3 other younger minor league goalies signed.
As alluded to, they may have not signed Day and signed Postsva instead. They could also have, well, not signed Matt Tomkins.
Day has size and athleticism, no way a team so thin in the prospect goaltending department doesn’t sign him to an ELC.
Of course his numbers were underwhelming, as you know, however, Day had shown flashes of excellence, including his 24-25 ECHL playoff performance.
He is too intriguing to give up on so soon and Postava was an undersized wildcard. I really don’t think these comments by Stauffer meant that a difficult choice had to be made last summer.
Much ado about nothing, in my opinion, not sure why he felt it was worth mentioning at all.
Postava would have been playing in the chaos that was Bakersfield, with Ingram and Tompkins, and then Pickard being dumped on them.
Ungar was the best goaltender (with numbers as good as the Grand Rapids goaltenders in a much worse situation) and got rewarded with a trip back to the ECHL rather than to the NHL.
Why would Postava faired any better than Ungar?
Bakersfield was a mess last year. (And nobody is rushing to sign its coach away for an NHL job. Nobody views him as remotely qualified for the Oilers open job.) There is no organizational goaltender coaching department like many other teams have.
I am sure agents look at how competent an NHL and AHL teams organizations are before signing with a team when they have options.
Another over-rating of a tiny AHL sample size for Ungar. We’ve seen goalies go to the NHL and have exceptional 10 game stretches and then are never seen again.
I hope this is the start of greatness for Ungar (and the org keeps him) but lots not overrated a handful of games.
Let’s also bit forget that Ungar fell off the cliff the last 3-4 AHL games. Jonsson is the more substantial prospect.
What about the tiny AHL sample size for Postava?
Is 33 greater than 13?
I’ve also never championed Postava – I simply posted a factoid about him and the Oilers.
Sounds like most AHL coaches
I think we’ve always known Stauffer is the ultimate insider, mostly giving out select insider info and acting a bit like a propoganda-ist for the Oilers. And we know he has had some pull too as a few of the players he talks up like Ryan and Philp get signed.
I genuinely think he may have gotten a lot more power over the last bit as guests on his show, and even himself, have been overtly insinuating it. Rishaug said something along the lines of “good luck with the coaching interviews” to Stauff and Seravali insinuated that Stauff had talked with Chiareli when he made the McLellan firing. I know he always has made insider like comments on his show but Stauff usually waits until someone is fired before slagging on their decision making. Lately he boasted he was the one who suggested Chris McFarland as a GM replacement to Chia and then stuff like this Postsva decision.
I wouldn’t be shocked if he has the same level of influence as a Senior Advisor to a GM. He is definitely uniquely positioned to be well networked in the game and watches a lot of hockey.
Bob works very hard and has enormous contacts throughout the league. He’s also a pretty good judge of talent, based on names like Derek Ryan and others over the years. I think he’s a unique voice and the Oilers would do well to consider him for a position.
That said, his work in the public eye has value, too. He has earned credibility in the marketplace, so when all hell is breaking loose, there’s a voice that is connected to ownership and can calm the waters.
I don’t think he can do both jobs, but maybe he can!