The Edmonton Oilers signed Jason Dickinson yesterday. It’s a five-year deal, $4 million AAV and there is a no-movement clause for two years followed by a limited no-trade restriction for the final seasons. Please read this.
Too long, I don’t like the nmc and ntc, but based on comments in yesterday’s comments section I like the player more than you do. Then again, I’m probably the only person who still looks at Corsi Rel five-on-five, but I think Dickinson can be a productive player for this team.
He’ll need Mike Babcock to stay with him during times of struggle, and he’ll have to play tough minutes with own-zone starts a nightly chore. However, if he can successfully play those minutes, it will allow Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl room to wheel. Especially at home, where Babcock can line and situation match.
Some will say Josh Samanski could do that job, and I think that may be true. However, Babcock doesn’t know Samanski and what he can bring, hell we’re not even sure if we’re being honest. I think you can view the Dickinson contract as a two-year deal, giving Samanski, Owen Michaels and maybe William Nicholl a chance to emerge.
The Dickinson contract could go sideways. He could get hurt, lose effectiveness, all kinds of things could go wrong. The Oilers have a solid third-line center and Samanski pushing. Dickinson helps the PK and the Oilers need help there. Maybe he could mentor a young winger and maybe, just maybe, the Oilers can populate Dickinson’s left and right side with offensively able wingers.
My breaking point on Dickinson were reports of $5 million AAV. The extra year probably got the number to $4 million. Most free-agent deals don’t work out as hoped, so being downbeat today is the easiest path. I think Bowman made a good signing. That’s my view of this deal.
On the Lowdown today, Jason Gregor will be our feature guest at 1:20. We’ll talk about a big win on the weekend for the Elks, the Dickinson signing and the massive deal made by the Florida Panthers to acquire Brady Tkachuk. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
Five Edmonton Oilers trade targets ahead of 2026 NHL Draft
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7380741/2026/06/22/edmonton-oilers-trade-targets-nhl-draft-2026/
Mike Grier turned a paperclip into Michael Kesselring plus.
Future considerations for Jake Walman and a 2nd round pick.
Walman and Carl Bergland into a conditional 2026 first round pick.
The 2nd round pick into Leo Sahlin-Wallenius.
The conditional 2026 first round pick (#20) into Michael Kesselring and 2026 first round pick (#27)
So
Future considerations and Carl Bergland
Into
Leo Sahlin-Wallenius, Michael Kesselring, and the #27 pick in the 1st round of the 2026 draft.
Mike Grier has put on a master class of how to re-build a franchise’s talent pipeline from the ashes.
Not quite done yet but close.
He still has some veteran’s contracts to clear off the books shortly.
Couture – $8 million
Toffoli – $6 million
Goodrow – $3.6 million
Orlov – $6.5 million
Dead cap from past disposals – $3.5 million
That extra $27.5 million opens up a whole new window of flexibility over the next 2 seasons. Add that to the current $40.5 million and he can do some significant big game hunting.
Celebrini (like Draisaitl) being much more than advertised has helped. Otherwise, they’re Detroit.
This World Cup is shaping up to be one for the ages. Whoever decided not to have games played in Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium missed out on a big City with a small Town sporting atmosphere.
That was a provincial government decision; they wanted 5 games guaranteed, with at least one knockout round game. That makes sense to me, as Commonwealth Stadium would have had to have their astroturf converted to real grass at the cost of millions of tax payer dollars.
I don’t particularly care for my tax payer dollars being spent helping FIFA get rich, while we can barely keep our rural ERs in BC open, our obstetrics wards staffed, and cannot pay for individuals to have life saving new therapies, all in the name of sucking every beer keg in Vancouver dry. Our nurses are on strike … but sure, let’s spend the money on a football tournament, the ticket sales of which are not going back to tax payers.
I don’t mind the provincial governments spending to build arenas for our own pro sports teams … there’s at least a potential long term benefit to be realized, by revitalizing an urban area, and creating jobs for folks locally, and keeping a major sports team here which has long lasting benefits.
The Olympics in Whistler led to the development of numerous training facilities that are still in use by our amateur athletes today.
What exactly is going to be the lasting benefit of hosting the World Cup for the city of Vancouver? And don’t say tourism … that BS has been debunked. Vancouver is a world class city in a fantastically beautiful province … we never asked for nor needed help attracting tourists here.
The legacy for us in Vancouver wil be paying the debt from the cost overruns that are never fully disclosed until after the event. Corrupt FIFA gets billions of dollars and we get stuck with operating debt. What a deal!
I’m clueless on the politics end of it. What would have been the cost to get Commonwealth up to speed? It would have been more professional looking then erecting scaffold
on that eyesore bush league Toronto stadium. A lot of people could have a made a good buck
from the cab drivers to waitress all the way up the line.
Edmonton and Calgary are getting the World Cup of Hockey. A much more cost efficient and profitable endeavor.
The Olympics and the FIFA World Cup are world class grifts.
Stauff alluding to the fact that Nurse could be back next season. He mentioned the list might only be three teams right now and he may need to expand it in order to deal done.
Said he could be traded but there is also a chance he’s back.
I imagine this is the Oilers trying to put pressure on Nurse.
Personally I think him coming back would be extremely awkward. He knows management doesnt want him and was seemingly pressured into giving a list. The questions that will come from the media..yeah, it seems like a horrible idea.
i listened to the segment and it sounds like the eastern teams want us to retain more than we want to. Gregor and Spec seemed confident it would get done before July1.
Jackson and Bowman cannot do anything right. They were the ones who wanted Nurse out with an NMC in place. And now that Nurse has agreed and given them a list, they cannot execute.
It’s not that they can’t execute, it’s that the value isn’t there in a trade. I suspect you know this.
Godot, you seem especially down on Oilers management right now. Hope you’re doing alright.
Now? When hasn’t he?
They just want it out there that they’re also open to keeping Nurse for added leverage.
I just can’t see this Dickinson-Murphy signing without a Nurse deal being the next domino. If I was a private investigator I would drive buy Nurse home and see if there’s a for sale sign on the lawn.
Chaulk and the entire Bako coaching staff has been extended – well deserved.
In five years as head coach, Chaulk has produced two (arguably only 1.5) NHL players who were not first round picks.
What ever happened to hunter1909? I miss the death march contest.
Hunter— I hope you are well!
He takes summers off the blog if I recall correctly.
Nick Kypreos:
It appears Dylan Larkin’s destination of choice is Dallas – Sportsnet
Dallas is kind of like the Canes … they’ve done a great job building that team, but they’ve had tough luck in the playoffs.
To fit Larkin’s salary, they’d have to part with Robertson.
They should just stay the course with the players they have.
I hope they don’t.
Seems Bowman is keen on his ‘mature’ players via UFA. If Nurse can be dealt without taking back another poor contract, I’d expect SB to sign a forward who is around 30 years old to play top 9. Scary.
32 – Laughton
31 – Blueger
31 – Bjorkstrand
31 – Mantha
31 – Marchment
31 – Mikheyev
30 – Bunting
30 – Olofsson
29 – Kapanen
28 – Jost
27 – Yamamoto
It is kinda hard to find a good 25 year old free agent with NHL experience…..
Hah! Who said anything 25 y/o UFAs?
My point was Bowman is looking for older players and giving out longer term at lower dollar. Plus, as you can see from the list above, top 9 help within the ranges of 27-29 is scarce.
Mason McTavish
Shane Wright
Jake Debrusk
Brock Boeser
Just to name a few of many,
But if you blow the budget on 30+ plumbers you can’t shop in the right aisles.
First off. Me? I’m not the GM of the Oilers and that seems to have escaped you and dulock. Secondly, those aren’t UFAs.
I’m describing what Bowman is doing, not what I would do in his stead.
Good gracious, some thick heads out tonight.
Four more sleeps until Draftmas! Five more sleeps until the Oilers make a selection!
Today’s theme song is “Tall, Tall Trees” by George Jones and (later) Alan Jackson.
The tallest tree of all is D Alexander Karmanov, who is everyone’s friend when it comes to reaching things on the top shelf. He is 7’1″ (!) and 280 lbs. (!!) and hails from Moldova (???). In 20 GP with North Bay, he registered but two helpers with 29 PIM. He’s currently ranked 214th among NA skaters by Central Scouting, which would maybe get you drafted if it went 15 rounds. But I suspect some team — probably one with a lotta picks — will take a swing on him. He is slated to attend Penn State the season after next, so has a long runway ahead.
Not quite as monstrous but still pretty monstrous is 6’8″, 238 lb. d-man Maksim Sokolovskii. Reports have him as a big man who can skate and has a mean streak a mile wide. He had 44-2-6-8 with London this past season, and we all know the Oilers looooove their Londoners. There’s a chance he could sneak into the tail end of Round 1, so it wouldn’t be a Niinimaki-esque reach should he fall to the Oilers at #52. He is a LHD though, and the Leftorium is alive and well again. We wait…
I’ve been curious for awhile where Karmanov goes. He should be a 7th round pick but I think someone will take him in the 5th because they want to be sure to get him. He might make the NHL just to punch in some faces.
I look forward to the Babcock presser. It will be a shitshow.
Honestly, maybe Babcock will be good. He is a prick. Need someone to combat Florida and Vegas. Oilers have been missing that swagger since Kane left.
Being “nice” guys has availed the Oilers exactly nothing.
If they can win with an arsehole for a coach, a cad for a waterboy and a live, rabid jackal for a spokesperson, sign me the F up.
Yep let’s win a cup and sorry, not sorry for not being nice guys.
Hmm. I think Bowman is more than a waterboy and it might be a bit early to call Clattenburg the spokesperson.
How about a Hunter costume full
of live badgers?
There are three kinds of people 😉
Babcock won’t allow 4th line scrubs to take runs at Leon without retribution same goes for Connor dropping the gloves. Never liked Babcock seems like an arrogant prick. Now that’s he’s our coach I hope we start getting the veteran calls that refs seem to give for certain coaches. I also hope he rolls 4 lines not allowing Connor-Leon to be dog tired for the last 10 minutes and especially OT which we used to crush 5 years ago.
Yeah. I was growing tired of Knobber just smiling as Connor was dragging around three opposing defenders.
I may be misremembering but didnt those Detroit teams have some of the fewest fighting majors in the league?
They had a dman Kromwell that was as close to Scott Steven’s for taking forwards heads off. They crashed the net and battled in corners. They had some of the best breakouts in hockey. Im not sure about the fighting part but they didn’t get pushed around and played their game no matter who they faced.
I remember this Kronwall hit on Hemsky…announcers wondering what Holland is thinking because he wants to trade for Hemsky haha https://youtu.be/rppnMrGDqDk?si=2OKCQ0der-yLMHLZ
Babcock Ducks and Wings teams were as filthy as they come.
What a gem Mattias Ekholm is. There is still an argument that he is our best overall defenseman, yet he is just the fifth highest paid out of current six signed defensemen on the roster. This is a guy who doesn’t get nearly enough credit imo
So true. With two other balls out defenders he will love it
TSN Hockey
@TSNHockey
The Hockey Hall of Fame
Class of 2026…
Elected on his first ballot, Patrice Bergeron joins Carey Price, Pekka Rinne, Keith Tkachuk and Cindy Curley as players, with Brian Burke elected as a Builder.
The 2026 HHOF induction ceremony is set for Nov. 9:
When everything is said and done the Tkachuk family will be the highest scoring family name in hockey history. The total may continue going even higher if either one has a son to make the NHL. Keith taught the boys on how manoeuvre after the ELC. I would think the old man lives in Florida as well. The Tkachuk’s are one big happy family chasing Cups-Gold Medals.
Also the biggest ass hat family
The Tkachuks still have a ways to go before they catch the Gretzky family (looking at regular season only as I am lazy):
Keith – 1065 points
Brady – 463 points
Matthew – 670 points
Vs
Wayne – 2857 points
Brent – 4 points
Another 5 years Brady is only 26 Matt 28. With the changes to the LTIR pertaining to the Cap this will kind of put a damper into Matt taking 60 game vacation to surf-deep sea fishing and golfing during the winter months.
Bergeron – what a great player. Still can’t believe the Bruins got him in the second round … he’d go #1 overall in a redraft.
Happy to see some goalies get some love this year!
And then what, a buy-out? I don’t see how we can view it as a two-year deal. The remaining 3 years have repercussions.
It’s 3 seasons of full trade protection then he’s tradeable. Same for Murphy, they must be close their contracts are almost identical. CM gets 100K extra for being RS? There aren’t many players that are untradeable, it’s the return may not be great
Disposing of 2 years remaining on underperforming $4 million dollar cap hit 37 year old players will not be free.
Maybe not. Maybe it doesn’t have to happen
Also JD 33
If Murphy hits a stone wall in 3-4 years maybe he retires like Duncan Keith did. Any idea how his bonuses are paid out?
If he retires, he essentially is given up what is left on his contract – nothin is paid out after official retirement and there would be no dead hit on the cap post retirement (unless he was 35+ upon signing).
He turn 31 next week.
What do you suppose the Oilers could get for a slightly used 33 year old Mattias Janmark at less than half the cap hit?
how about a 37 year old who signed a 6 year extension at 5,25m / year ? asking for a friend ;)…
The Great Fibber beat me to my response.
That’s the next G.M’s problem. Ever since Peter we’ve been kicking the can down the same road.
It’s clear that Bowman is comfortable running it back again with a new coaching staff and a full offseason on rest and recovery.
I thought KK and his staff needed to be replaced. I am of the opinion that most of the players were out of gas for most of the season. But, I do not think that running it back without upgrades will work.
Biggest shoes have yet to drop. They will make or break this summer/team/window.
Hope Bowman gets this right. Needs to make an impact move with the Nurse cap space 🤞
I have been on that train alone with Bowman – the improvements on this team will mainly come from the incumbents. 5.5 months of true reset and recharging (both mentally and physically) and a full re-set, that’s massive. Everyone will come to to comp not coming off rehab but healthy and trained. The top player acknowledged the issues in their own games last season and look truly ready to play a structured game with a renewed respect for the regular season. Bring on the new coach and lets go.
There will be players Babcock will wanna weed out.
And there will be player that will gladly be weeded out.
Babcock added should be an instant 5-10% upgrade/improvement from virtually every player, based on his rep alone. Nobody wants to piss him off… Babs just wants his guys to work their butt off, and I believe they will. How often have the Oilers been the hardest working team on the ice in recent years? That element sometimes is absent from their game, and that is something that used to be a staple in Oil Country. It’s what made watching the 2006 Oilers cup run so memorable.
Dickinson talks about it being excited to be coached by Babcock if it happen.
The Oilers keep signing these veteran players on the back 9 of their careers and then are surprised when the players fall off a cliff. Unfortunately the Oilers don’t have any other options at 3C and 2RD in their system so their hands are kind of tied.
Let’s be honest, these players are short term stopgaps, signed for too much term. But the term really doesn’t matter. In 4 years McDavid and possibly Bouchard and Draisaitl will be gone, and the Oilers will be in a full rebuild. That is the price for the last 2 years of Jackson/Bowman.
Holland gutted the system. Bowman has been able to bring in a chest full of forwards in faster time than I thought possible. The D is another story Peter Pumpkin Eater left Holland in great shape when it came to D prospects. This is what happens when you trade all your prospects and you don’t have any draft picks.
Holland did not gut the system. Holland left a young contending core, that Jackson/Bowman promptly gutted.
Name 1 prospect on the Oilers that was drafted by Holland? I was hoping for the Russian Berezkin. Now do this with every other team in the league. Holland passed up on a gift when Walstedt fell in our laps. Sather had Moog yet drafted Fuhr with his 1st round pick Sather followed that up years later by trading Moog for a bushel full of players. I hate signing non core players that are on the back nine. I feel a little more comfortable in that Bowman knows these players from the Chicago days. I would gather that Bowman has talked to Babcock about these 2 individuals in his system as well.
Berezkin, Yevseyev, Jonsson, Copponi, Day, Akey…. to be fair a couple others were traded after Holland left. I think the point was that Holland left Bouchard, McLeod, Holloway, Broberg, Desharnais, Foegele were left by Holland though.
Holland left:
Bouchard at $4MM requiring an increase to $10.5MM
Drai at $8.5MM require a raise to $14MM
McLeod at $2MM one year away from requiring a rais
Foegle at $1.5MM or $2.5MM (I think) requiring a raise to over $4MM
Same with Broberg and Holloway
That sure sounds like a lot of high value assets
Yes, and Holland had them on value contracts requiring (or soon to require) massive raises with not much cap space to do it with.
Henrique, Arvidsson, Skinner and Brown all waive and say thank you for the misspent money.
Not sure how many teams are giving up there 25 year old star players for nothing and a low cap. We have been chasing Stanley for a while now and have not had much draft capital for years. We have spent at the deadline the past 7 years. We are not rebuilding. We are in to win every year until rebuild. Broberg and Holloway were huge mistakes, not sure i can put that on Bowman though. We got Podz for nothing which helps. We need to find a couple more Podz out there for huge wins. Other than that is getting what vets you can afford to try and fill the holes you have.
The Nurse trade has become pivotal if they can
Which of these things is most important? Because they won’t be able to accomplish more than 1 (without adding in copious draft picks)
To me, it is purely the space, but it is probably naive of me to think it will be spent well.
But as an example, Rust and Graves would be poor for me, then you’re burying 3+ mil on a buyout and getting older at forward, despite Rust being a very good player.
Any return involving Seeler would be excellent
Lohrei and someone like Jeannot is the other scenario I see. Both are awful fits for the Oilers, but I could see a smart team trading one or both of their contracts for any picks they can get and more cap space.
For me cap is king but of course it helps to have at least a serviceable D coming back. The problem with having loads of cap in-season is you need to make trades to utilize it, and Oil have almost nothing left to offer or much they can afford to give up.
So imagine clean-ish disposition of Nurse, and some team makes available a high value D man or winger. Now what?
Last week Stauffer and Rishaug were saying that there is a chance we see Darnell back in the fall. They were saying the situation is not like Skinner’s where it was thought he really needed to go. This makes me think they aren’t getting offers they like.
Our cap situation is dire if we don’t move Nurse at this point isnt it? 7.5M left to sign 5 players?
Our cap situation is okay even with Nurse on the team. It just means we are mostly running it back with no major upgrades. Howard makes the team and maybe swap Ingram and Kapanen for two other players with a cap hit less than 4.5M together. Right now we are a playoff team but to be a top contender a lot of things will need to break right including a decent Nurse trade or Nurse having a great season.
Agreed on that last sentence. Need to win a trade or two
Getting Seeler would be great. If deal is huge cap retention or taking a crap contract of a non NHL player back then you definitely keep Nurse. We will have more money invested in the d than we should but you do not take a poison pill to get rid of a good and serviceable dman
After the Murphy signing the glaring holes are a goalie 3rd pair LHD (which would be filled with Nurse) and depth pieces. The only other note worthy RFA signings are pretty inexpensive.
The Oilers likely won’t be getting a goalie good enough to command over 4 mil. So, they’ll have a bit of cash to fill the roster out but no real space for a big add (which is probably a good thing)
It seems many fans are focused too much on offensive production. Oilers got bounced from the playoffs and had a poor season not because they cannot score but because of inadequate defence and PK…. signing Dickenson and Murphy will in the short term (2-3 years) definitely help stabilize the D. Think of it this way…Nurse at $9.25 M for 4 more years traded for these two players at a total of $8.1M for 5 years…that is a nice trade in my opinion…take that any day.
you can probably add Kirby Dach for $1.15M to complete the trade
I mean Colton…but i would take Kirby for that price as well…LOL
Patty Dach
Completely agree with you. That and everyone looks at what the Panthers anre doing and thinks that their team in Northern Alberta can compete with the lifestyle and tax free living of South Florida.
Dickinson has a reputation from playing tough comp—though he did get worked against the elites in Chicago, but other than that, he’s not an analytics hire.
The smart kids don’t sign contracts like this. Scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in hockey. The smart kids pay for goal scoring. They also add to the top of the pile like Zito just did.
Dickinson hasn’t batted above the Mendoza line in 4 years.
For the bottom six, you use players you drafted and backfill by signing six or 8 guys at a million cap hit each for 3 or 5 jobs.
There are people that learn from their mistakes and there are the Edmonton Oilers.
I love Ryan posts.
Agree with these points in a vacuum … but I think you over rate the city of Edmonton as a destination. It’s not Florida, New York, California or Las Vegas. That needs to be taken into account … right now, top players want to go there, and with their NMCs, they are able to control the process, and the NHL refuses to acknowledge that have lower/no state income taxes makes the competitive balance tilt even more in their favour. Full credit to liked of Zito, Brisbois and McCrimmon for taking advantage.
Given how shallow the pool of UFA talent, Dickenson and Murphy would have gotten way more for longer if they tested the market this summer. I don’t like these contracts, but these are good players who can play important roles for the Oilers.
Bingo.
I’ve yet to see any “analystics” that show me Dickinson is a third line center.
Just because a guy plays that role on the depth chart, doesn’t mean he can cover the bet.
Only those that live by hope and prayers, and squint a lot, can justify Dickinson as a third line center. Everything about him screams prototypical, low event, 4C.
Ill add that I hope Im wrong.
But I wasn’t wrong on Frederic being totally useless so I’ll pat myself on the back for that.
I wonder who are they supposed to get? I’m a Samanksi fan, but no team in the Oilers position is pencilling him in at 3C yet right? Who is the defensive minded RD, which they seem to want, that they could get at 4.1M, or at all?
The assets were spent, and if there was no UFA they’d have to spend more trying to make a trade
I imagine that having had them on the team played a big role, it’s not like the UFA’s have been working out that they didn’t know. And I’d throw Fred in that pile. I would for sure liked JD 3 or under, but is that realistic for players in his and Murphy’s position?
And a quickly rising cap?
Pius Suter is a $4 million center with one year left on his contract. Evan Rodrigues is a $3 million something centre with one year left on his contract.
Ryan Nugget Hopkins is the 3rd line center going forward. He’s already on the team and under contract.
There is no need to play Samanski in the role, nor sign Dickinson to a 3rd line center type money contract.
Fill the holes with players that can cover the bet. Simple.
I think Frederic-Dickinson-Murphy are Babcock type of players that flourish in his system. If Frederic-Dickinson score 13-15 goals under Babcock hockey I’ll be happy.
This post summarizes my frustrations succinctly.
Every transaction is underwhelming. I’m only looking to be appropriately whelmed at his point but they keep under delivering.
Exactly. Stan just keeps doubling down. Completely predictable results too. Babcock will get them in this year and leave just enough hope to walk Connor to free agency. The management of this team is pathetic.
I don’t think they had a choice at this point so I don’t mind them resigning these guys even though the term is too long for 30+ guys. But what led us here is poor planning/mistakes made in the last couple years.
Trading McLeod – he was the internal 3C option. Hes not perfect but I much prefer him at his age and offense than Dickinson. We then end up spending assets and UFA prices on 30+ Dickinson.
Acquiring LD Walman for 2RD last season. we spent good assets on Walman to be our 2RD and then they decided he isnt good on the right side i guess. And then had to reacquire one this deadline and extend at UFA prices for a 33 year old.
Dickinson in Chicago versus elites last season (in 297 minutes, which is a substantial amount) had:
*45.1 DF-against
*51.0 CF-against
His Corsi rel was 5.8 percent. Now, he wasn’t playing on a good team, and he didn’t have all world linemates, but he was helping suppress opposition offense. One can assume he will have better linemates in Edmonton.
I think the disconnect on this contract has much to do with how bad the ‘Hawks were. There was a decade of darkness Oilers feel to that club. I remember one year Horcoff, Hemsky and Penner were the only forwards with a decent rel corsi, and they were good to very good offensive players at the time. If Dickinson gets some wingers with skill, suspect the goals will be more prevalent. He does have to outscore for certain.
LT, he played 17 games during the regular season with Edmonton so is there really need to quote what happened in Chicago?
That 17 games he played with the Oilers, were also during the Oilers best 11 game stretch. His contribution with those better Oilers wingers during the teams best stretch was 1 goal and 3 assists.
Are you sure Dickinson is a 3C?
The stat lines Im looking at say he’s a 4C and should be competing with Samanski for that role.
He was also 5-10 gf/ga with Edmonton.
And his rel numbers were poor in Edmonton IIRC.
I think it’s wise to always go with the larger sample. For instance, with the Nuge, Dickinson scored 2,26 goals-60 and 5.52 points-60. It was in 26 minutes, though.
What about the effect on the non-Dickinson minutes?
What about him taking, whatever it was, 8 minutes per game against elites opening up McDavid and Drai to not play those minutes?
What about his effect taking those hard minutes when Leon was out allowing for some decent depth down the lineup?
What about adding a PK forward, again, reducing some hard minutes from other up the lineup players?
Perhaps Parkatti and the org are looking at more than Natural Stat Trick.
Corsi rel is tricky though. It is easier to have good Corsi rel on a bad team. It shows Dickinson performed above average on his team, which is good because his team sucked. But I am not sure how Corsi rel translates across teams. Dickinson’s Corsi rel will almost assuredly be negative on the Oilers because he will play limited minutes with McDraiBouch.
What is an analytics hire?
Is Parkatti and his team getting paid to pursue NST and PuckIQ, maybe log in to SportLogiq if they purchased a membership and advise management of some players with great metrics that no-one is talking about?
I suspect the job of the analytics is a bit more advanced than what could be done by half this community.
Well, the Oilers analytics community would have access to a mountain of information not publicly available. I know Michael Parkatti, he has mind boggling intelligence.
As much as I believe in Michael, I don’t think we can say with authority a specific decision is analytics driven. In this case, Parkatti may well have advised against, and been ignored.
For me, this was a good signing despite the length and the inevitable slide into the abyss. The alternatives were either unattractive (the open market), unproven (Samanski) or to be deployed elsewhere (Nuge).
I would have had Nuge as 3C. I suspect he’ll be 3L instead.
Yeah that’s kind of the interpretation I have, in what this deal shows me is that the Oilers analytics department might have their say, but is ultimately ignored. As per usual. Nothing says ol’ skool hockey men like overvaluing an offensive blackhole, defensive only players.
The viewpoint disregards my point which is backed up by LT’s first two paragraphs.
We (the public) are looking at a fraction of the information the organization is (and analyzing it at the most common-folk of abilities).
How can any of us say “not an analytics hire” based off what we see on NST and PuckIQ when org has magnitudes more of the information and the intelligence to analyze it?
Your first two paragraphs kind of help prove the point.
We (the public) are looking at a fraction of the information the organization is (and analyzing it at the most common-folk of abilities).
How can any of us say “not an analytics hire” based off what we see on NST and PuckIQ when org has magnitudes more of the information and the intelligence to analyze it?
You keep saying this, but that doesn’t make Dickinson’s numbers any better. Dig deeper and they would still be bad. Cause he’s not a third line center. In that role he gets caved.
How in the world do you know that? The organization has access to a vast amount of data you and I don’t. You don’t know what any of it is, what is say, what their analysis says, etc., etc.
Too much, too long and blocks Samanski who is much cheaper. Overall bad use of cap and how you use cap is very important.
Did McDavid leave more than $5M on the table to hire this guy?
I hope to be proven wrong.
I find it a little worrisome how much money Edmonton has invested in guys who don’t score. Between Dickinson, Frederic, and Janmark, Edmonton has $9.30 million committed to guys who put up the following last season:
They scored a combined 12 goals in 181 games played. $9.3 million for 12 goals in 181 games is terrible value. $9.3 million should net you a game-breaking forward who is capable of scoring 80-90 goals over 181 games, or 2 solid top six/middle six centres/wingers who are capable of scoring a combined 80-90 goals over 181 games.
Agree, like MacT has said “to be a forward in the NHL you need to score at least sometimes.”
This is a big problem.
That’s my issue. Signing far too many non factors.
I know the Oilers issue is defense, but the players cant be only defense. Those players get pinned in their own zone and end up defending. Which is a nice way of saying they are getting scored on. A lot.
Of course, there is value in forward away from production, right?
I think we know that both Janmark and Dickinson provide value on the PK and as good defensive 5 on 5 players. Of course, they can’t be a complete black hole offensively, which Janmark was, however, he was playing with a shit shoulder all season long. He’s also only about. $200K cap hit now if buried and they may move him.
Dickinson has to provide a bit more offence at his cap hit.
I expect Frederic in the 10-15 goal range this coming season – non-injured and hockey trained up and re-set.
Fu ck it, I am buying a Dickinson jersey.
Just tear the name plate off your Darcy Hordichuk #16 and reuse that.
Given their depth, you would think it would be a good move to target an outgoing player from Florida as they rework their structure to accommodate the latest Tkachuk.
Really bad offseason development for the Oil btw. That Panthers squad is going to be an absolute load. Better bring your big boy skates to play them next season.
Chances are overwhelming that the Oilers will only play the Panthers twice next season.
Agreed.
Panthers didn’t make the playoffs this year, quite likely that trend repeats.
This is true.
Chances are also overwhelming that the Panthers will play every Western Conference team only twice next season.
Think the inmates in Florida might overwhelm the screws. Maurice might have his hands full with all of that personality in one room.
I like both Oiler signings. Sure, I’d like them a little cheaper and shorter, but I think the team is better off with them at that price and term than they would be with the money in their pockets and 2 more holes in the lineup.
Hockey in Florida just got stupider.
Yes, stupider.
Who thought that was possible? Anyone?
If you score an empty net goal against the Panthers???? FIGHT!!!!
If you score a regular strength goal against the Panthers???? FIGHT!!!!
The guy is just a moron.
There isn’t a single player in the league with a lower IQ.
It’s unpossible.
Enjoy the fruits of your labours, Zito.
I’m pretty fine with both these signings really. Of course the term is long, but they both took a paycut to stay. What else can we ask Bowman to do. I’d rather this than sign two Mangiapane’s on July 1st.
If we win a cup, nobody will care. If we’re in year 3 of these deals and have no cups, these contracts are going to be the least of our problems.
Agreed, also, with the cap projections going up, in year 3, $4.1m will be the new $2.75m.
Could they sign Kulak now for $4.1Mx5 LOL.
Really interesting how the emerging trend is US Olympic Team players pushing their way out of Canada or Canada adjacent markets. Hughes, the Tkachuks, Larkin, and next possibly Hellebuyck and Matthews.
It would seem hockey players are also influenced by the increased tension between our two nations. If this results in Canadian teams drafting more Canadian talent, that’s a positive imo.
I don’t know if you follow Reddit or any of the other social media out there but if I were a US Olympian I would have asked out of Canada after that win too. If you need your hockey players to pass a political purity test before they’re acceptable on your team, you’re gonna go through a lot of players and the pure ones probably won’t be the best ones.
Yes, it’s a shame that certain politicians are leaning so heavily on sports as a wedge issue to foster division instead of unity. Definitely not what sports is intended to be.
..and what were sports intended to be? It’s all a distraction my friend. Don’t look up 😉
B Tkachuk made his bed, and the politics of the moment were only a secondary consideration for his decision. Frankly, most of these guys asking out want to be the 4th or 5th best player on the team so not as much is asked of them. Didn’t speak well of their leadership or desire to “the guy” in the room.
Anyone can take the easy path….
Taxes are lower in Florida so you keep more of what you earn
As they are in Seattle and Nashville. No one is beating down their door. Some guys just want to join an org where they can hide behind someone else to avoid the spotlight or accountability.
Canadian Reddit is an echo chamber of leftist groupthink.
Two years ago I got banned from a CFL sub for pointing out that changing the Esks’ name was a bad idea. The other day CEO Chris Morris said that the name change has been disastrous.
I highly doubt the Reddit mods will let me in just because time has proven me right. They’ll probably accuse me of being a participant in structural racism or something like that.
There were a lot of factors involved in the EE’s diminishing attendance. The League lost an entire season to the pandemic, the Chris Jones fiasco made them a perennial loser, and the team has had spectacularly bad luck with weather conditions on game day. Not to mention the league as a whole is in decline with their core fanbase greying out.
The name change certainly didn’t help but it’s far from the only issue with this once proud franchise. But hey, 2-0!
Sure, all true. But that kind of misses the point. The name change doesn’t have to be the only factor. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a factor. It’s something the reasonable people should be able to disagree about, as we Lowetideians often do. But Reddit will not allow disagreement on this issue. That’s incredibly illiberal.
It’s also incredibly damaging to the league. The CFL has a hard enough time competing with the NFL social media machine. Now it has to deal with mods who want to drive out at least half the population from engaging. CFL Reddit is better at shooting itself in the foot than Oilers management.
The name change is what pissed me off the most. Eskimo isnt racist. And im metis. Innuit people actually like the name. Its all bunch of political bs due to the Cleveland indians and the red skins. The Blackhawks never folded like those other 3 teams did.
As if on cue….the article on r/CFL has a pinned comment from the mod:
“I can’t believe we’re doing this, again.
Listen up, if you decide to come in here ranting and raving about the name change with no prior history posting in our community, you’re getting banned. No one cares. The name was changed; deal with it.
No, the name change didn’t cause them to start losing games. No, changing the name back won’t bring back the success the former name is synonymous with. Yes, the previous name was a slur. No, I don’t care that you don’t think it’s a slur.”
The CFL desperately needs a Lowetide blog: a place where intelligent people can disagree respectfully.
Was Brady in a commercial before the Olympics, where he said he wanted Canadian tears? Not a great look for a captain of a Canadian hockey team.
If Dickinson is a true shutdown C like a Staal or Charbonneau or Toews, then that contract is worth its weight in gold. People forget that John Madden almost won the Conn Smythe with NJ. This player role when it’s played at an elite level has massive impact on a team’s Cup potential.
The other side of the coin obvs is you’re getting a performance curve more akin to Henrique, Danault with LA, or Toews with WPG.
I think Dickinson will fall somewhere in the middle. He has the range, hockey sense, and savvy to play well as an aging vet. It’s too much to expect Bergeron or Charbonneau level dominance, but that’s not the price point we’re at with this player.
I think this has the potential to be a value contract for a invaluable role on the roster. But as LT rightly points out, it all depends on proper usage by the HC.
In some ways, going this route is an indication the club doesn’t want to send out Connor’s line for late game defensive assignments. I’m ok with that.
He also showed he has some offensive ability, a couple of nice playoff goals. I like it when guys show up better for the real season
That was a great game but I think his career history shows that is the vast exception. He’s been over 9 goals once and he’s turning 31.
I’m hopefully of a bit of bounce-back offensively on a better team than the Hawks but we can’t realistically expect even 10, let alone more, right?
Madden’s production in an era that was harder to score in was substantially more.
Toews and Staal were top centres on their teams for the majority of their careers. They could also score. Even Madden scored more than Dickinson, and he played during the dead puck era.
Comparing Dickinson with these guys (HHFers) is setting him up for failure. Dickinson does not score at remotely the same rate as any of the players you mentioned.
He is definitely not comparable to Toews or Staal.
He will be fine with the right wingers beside him, if he elevates in the playoffs like he did this yr (though limited) I am fine with this for a couple yrs.
I didn’t say he was. I said that was the upper marker and he was more likely to fall in the midtier beneath that elite level for a shutdown C.
I was replying to Brogan’s post.
Agree with your post.
Did you read the entirety of the post cos it seems like you just read the first paragraph?
Babcock made all but official and these incumbent UFAs choose to foreo the market and re-sign early in Edmonton – both with discounts to the presume market (as far as AAV, traded for term and trade protection early).
Another way to look at Babcock is as a pre filter. If players don’t want to play for him, maybe that’s not a bad thing that they don’t come. I’ll qualify with if they hadn’t played for him at some point
I’m positive Babcock will have some say with anything that goes down with free agent frenzy. I hope it doesn’t create any friction with Bowman.
Of course he’ll have some say, as did Knob (we saw video of him in all the meetings).
One reason to get the coach in place prior to free agency is his involvement in that process.
I’m not sure Knoblauch did, that might have been part of the problem.
Knob was in the meetings. Perhaps he didn’t speak up or didn’t speak his mind or just agreed – if so, more reason he had a shit season.
Discounts? Discounts imply other teams would have paid significantly more. McDavid gave a discount.
Yes, I think both would have got more in July if they had gone to market, in particular Murphy – he’s $4.5MM less than Ceci.
4m was within range of what I was hoping for Murphy but at 2 or 3 years. Would have rathered a bit of a higher cap hit for fewer years. Hopefully he can maintain effectiveness as he ages, he could fall off a cliff next year or the year after and it shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s definitely a position of need in the org and takes a little pressure off the Nurse return – cap room is key.
All in all I think both players make the Oilers better/deeper and buy some time because there’s not a lot of sure things bubbling under. They desperately need to get some high draft picks and keep improving the pipeline though or we’re headed for another infinite build, and it could happen sooner than we’re hoping.
I would have been thrilled with $4M over 2-3 years. Over 5 years? This contract will age very poorly.
I get that we have urgency today, that flags fly forever, and that supposedly nobody cares about 3+ years from now. But that was also the mentality that led Ken Holland to draft Xavier Bourgault instead of a goalie. It’s also the mentality that Carolina avoided, which has only ever led them to playoff failure, amirite?
With the material increases in the cap projected, I’ll take the extra year or two with a materially low cap hit. In 2-3 years, $4MM will be a 6D costs.
I do see a third line with an identity coming into view. Dickinson – Frederic (assuming both recover well in the offseason) fit the type of players for a classic shutdown line. If we could get another Podz (or maybe find a 2LW that allows Podz to play 3LW) then they could be a pain for the other team to play against.
It will be interesting to see where the market gets set after after free agency. I have a feeling there will be sticker shock across the board. Still feels like an overpay with too much term, but it might look more reasonable in a couple weeks.
I don’t hate the NMC as we’ve seen him play on our team (unlike, say mangiapane) and he should cover the bet for at least 2 years. The last 3 years could look pretty rough if he loses half a step though.
That’s a fourth line. They won’t score at all.
It’s not an idea I endorse. As many have noted here, the plan should be to stack scoring talent as deep as you can. We’ve seen for several years in a row now (honestly, imo since Kessel helped the Pens win their last cup), that third lines win championships.
This strategy doesn’t fit that at all. But if they’re able to slow down the other teams’ top talent more than they slow down ours, I suppose you could still generate positive results even if getting outscored (the goal being to get outscored slower than your top guys are outscoring). The thing is, the idea with that is that guys who aren’t much of a threat to score shouldn’t be getting paid much. Unfortunately, these guys are being paid like “average” NHLers in that they each take up ~4% of the cap. You should be getting more value from a defense-first line than that imo.
So yeah, I don’t like the strategy or the signing or the contract. But you can at least say that there seems to be a plan for a line with an identity, which is certainly one of the things we were lacking last year.
Third lines win championships when they are hard to play against AND can score. Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall were third-liners just like Phil Kessel. Jason Dickinson and Trent Frederic are barely in the same league as those three players.
Yes, I was saying that this third line DOESN’T fit the build of recent winners. I don’t think a defense-only line in is the way to build the team. I am just trying to guess at Bowman’s vision/rationale
I’m curious how they will structure the lines. I’m having trouble seeing where Howard fits. Can you play him with JD and TF if it gets hard minutes, or is that too much of an ask for him as a rookie?
But then if he’s in the top 6 the defensive requirements are still there, playing higher comp more. My thoughts are based on JD’s line being a D zone start hard match line. Maybe it’s more a hybrid and not getting excessive time against elites, but more than the 3rd line has the last few seasons. Pretty hard to read it ahead of time
Top 6 or 4th line I guess. He doesn’t fit on a Dickinson line at all.
I can see Howard playing the Drai and Podz if they don’t resign Kap. I don’t think he’d be relied on too much as the defensive conscience and puts him in a spot to make use of his offensive talents. If he’s not there to start the season, then maybe he starts with Dickenson, but I’d hope they wouldn’t be hard matching against the top lines as much until he could get more of a feel for the game.
Truth be told Howard doesn’t fit.
He sure does.
Issac Howard should play with Leon Draisaitl – their respective skillsets should be highly complimentary of each other.
One thing I absolutely trust in Draisaitl from my short time watching: his ability and interest in mentoring (and sheltering) young talent. So I’m a strong second on “Isaac Howard should play with Leon Draisaitl.” I believe this to be the fastest, surest way for him to develop on this team.
Will have to see what happens in regard to nurse trade.. would love to add Tippet in a trade (Ike would be gone as part of the trade). Add Marchment and Stanley as UFA. If Tippet not and option then Debrusk.
Savoie McD. Hyman
Pods. Drai. Tippit
Nuge. Dickinson Marchment
Dach. Samanski Freddy
Walman. Bouch
Ekholm. Murphy
Stanley. Emberson
I like this.
I like the Marchment add though he will be PRICEY….
I also would take Debrusk instead.
That 3rd line is closer to a solid real third line.
Maybe a top 4 D at the deadline… it seems that is still needed.
That lineup has some compete/crazy eyes in it… and if coached well and to have some muster, it could be a load at times.
If you want to add a little more bite you could replace Emberson in a trade for Braden Schneider
I wouldn’t be surprised if Savoie is gone in part of a trade too.
hopefully not.. he is legit and will only get better.
Better get something good back.
If that’s the case and you want to Match Florida you go:
Marchment McD Hyman
Pods. Drai. Tippitt
Nuge Dickinson AJ Greer
Dach. Samanski Freddy
Walman. Bouch
EKholm. Murphy
Stanley. Schneider
Geezus… that is a lineup
the Scheider add for me…
Greer is a great add but there is a loss of skilled youth/upside with Savoie gone.
My concern is that young players might not meet the new coaches expectations.
We have a Florida-centric problem here in Oilerville. The east has other dynamics brewing for the longer term. Fast, young, talented, and relentless teams with emerging goalies in Carolina, Montreal. Buffalo too (and theyve been a handful for the Oilers since before last season’s surge).
Id love to see the Oilers vanquish the Panthers. But that may not be in the Cup menu, this year, or for a while now.
And getting out of the WC will be even harder next season.
Anaheim, San Jose, Minnesota and Utah are all surging.
Evergreen statement made ever summer, teams change but many are passing the Oilers on the side of the road.
The Oilers will also be surging next season, even with mostly an incumbent roster – the elite players on this team and new coach will lead this team to group excellence.
I don’t have a Florida-centric problem. We need skilled players (which we do have, the more the merrier) and we need players that are hard to play against especially in the playoffs.The bottom line, this team isn’t/wasn’t good enough at the moment. I hope SB makes some smart additions. I don’t care about vanquishing the panthers until it was the finals, if the panthers were the team there. First step is create a skilled team that is tough to play against, create a bonded culture, never say die attitude and then go out and beat the good teams.
Babcock as much as it is a bit of an annoying hire, he may bring this to the team.He knows the game, the players have to buy in and he has to park some of his bullsh!!T
The rookie who scored close to 20 with little PP time and played PK1 all year?
We are lamenting older players that will not be value for cap hit and this player is under $1MM cap and likely to put up 50 points plus, be responsible 2-way and play on the PK.
Carolina and Montreal have shown us a future for exciting, winning hockey. It’s built on a roster of fast, young, relentless/hard-working talent. Savoie. Howard. Maybe Dach, Jones.
and old dudes like Jordan Stall (and even Taylor Hall who is like 34 turning 35).
and a lights out clutch tender which is how Dobes performed.
We shall see how the coach views your opinion.
Does anyone have time for a classic grind line and Bulldogs(tm) “kid” line for 3 and 4?
Savoie-McD-Hyman – 18min/g
Pods-Drai-Rackell – 18 min/g
Nuge-Dickinson-Frederic – 14 min/g
Howard-Samanski-Hutson 8 min/g
Dach
I’ve package Nurse plus…I dunno, for Rackell. The rumblings of Nurse to Pitt are known. You don’t like that, trade Nurse for magic beans and cap relief and go get yourself a Tuch.
Not to shi* on your idea but putting Howard on 4th line for 8 mins a game you would be better off trading him now while his value is high as he would drop dramatically in that role. Also no grit line at all. Some skill but very soft team, better for Olympic style hockey but would get killed on Nhl playoffs. Noone to go in corners or front of the net.
Howard is the 2LW that should play with Drai allowing Podz to just drive that third line.
His offensive game should mesh well with Drai – I think their skills should be highly complimentary of each other.
Podz is the 2LW that should play with Leon. And Nuge along with Dickinson will drive that third line.
Book it.
Do you seriously think they’d play both of Howard & Savoie in the top six?
Why wouldn’t or couldn’t they play both Savoie and Howard in the top 6? High pedigree and skilled forwards ready to impact with elite centers.
I’d be fine with Howard on a 3rd line with Nuge but not with Dickinson as Dickinson changes the premise of the line from a Nuge led line outscoring soft competition to a line takin on tought match-ups.
With Dickinson, Podz fits that 3rd line, Howard doesn’t but Howard does fit with Drai.
That set-up would play to positive attributes of BOTH Podz and Howard.
Are they ready? I guess if you say so, they must be. I’d rather see stronger additions in the top six. This team needs to improve quickly. They’re still in win now mode.
Savoie proved his is ready and Howard has proven ready for the opportunity.
Many (most) top teams have youn player in their top 6 performing on value contracts.
A lot of wait and see with Murphy and Dickinson – plenty of pros and cons. Both did well on a poor team the last couple of years, both a position of need last year, and less AAV then what they could get.
But both could end up being redundant in as short as a year if Samanski and Emberson develop more. And then they may be blocking cheap young talent from auditioning for bottom of roster spots.
Under talked about fact. The cap isn’t just going up this year a lot but every year after this which will kind of “age” the contracts a lot better into the territory of them being fitting for a 4C and 3D player.
Good points. I will say about Emberson, he won’t really take Murphy’s role because CM is a lot bigger and tough. You need guys like that, the panthers top 6 has 2 huge guys one an ass hat, a psycho middleweight and a psycho bantam weight
You need some beef to deal with that on the walls and to be able to respond to their BS. The Oilers top 4 is big even without Nurse, even if Bouch is still under 200
A 4C ain’t worth $4M, no matter how much the cap goes up.
The Oilers don’t consider him a 4C – time will tell how right or wrong they are on that assessment.
I’m with you LT – I like this signing, and it would seem Dickinson doesn’t have an issue with Babs coaching.
5 years at $4.1MM for Murphy.
That is a GREAT AAV.
Of course the term is way too long but that is the trade off to get the cap hit down and it was never going to be less than 4 years.
I’m sure there is trade protection but likely similar to the Dickinson deal.
5 years for a 33 year old = very high risk.
Honest question: why does Bowman like these long term deals for older players? The risk allocation seems backwards to me.
As my post says……
I think it fairly clear that the push and pull is the team given more term to get the AAV down.
Would the org have wanted 2-3 years? Sure, but that’s likely $5MM plus.
In 3-4-5 years, $4MM will be 6D on a team.
They can trade both players if needs be after two years. I really don’t think the term is anything to make a big deal about. The term is too long but the AAV is fine for two solid character veterans who will contribute greatly on the ice and in the room.
He’s trying to keep as much cap as he can, and isn’t afraid to approach the players to move, so I think he’s not worried about term. And players mostly do agree if they aren’t wanted or it’s not working
Holland wouldn’t do that so movement clauses were anchors. He also talked about guys needing a raise all the time, both of these contracts are lower than they were
I appreciate the response. That is likely the argument.
Has he successfully moved a NMC? Henrique did not waive. Nurse refused last year. Risky business.
It is risky. I don’t think he’s perfect, but he’s working as quickly as he can to build the team up as they have decided it needs to go. There were a lot of obstacles. For my tastes I like how the roster looks more than the last few seasons
its getting there.
Need a pain the ace/some scoring winger still and another Dman (if Nurse goes)
Arvi and Mangi
Mang had a full NTC.
Avidsson had a full NMC.
Kane had a 16 team no-trade clause.
That is a great AAV for sure. Ceci got $4 mill last year
Ceci got $4.5MM………
Incredible how much control players are getting now. Good for them I guess.
An important point that should not be ignored. The NHL is becoming like the NBA and the players are deciding where they’ll go and for how long. They have more leverage.
I have sympathy for all the GMs running teams based in Canada. The last time you heard “player X won’t sign with an american team” ?? NEVER. The Sens could not get a roster player back for Brady Tkachuk…not one roster player – take the “loss” and move on, on a player with 2 years left….unreal.
excellent points. My NHL fandom has waned… I don’t care as much at this point. Love the sport and reading/stats but CDN hockey market is shrinking imo. Olympics was a solid watch aside from the joke of the 3on3 choice to finish. I was even watching the world championships. There is a junior team in my city so that is also an option.
If the situation were reversed do yo you think the commissioner would address it by some form of equalization ? Right now we could have a 30% larger cap for Canadian teams due to taxation differences if the league was fair and non biased. Canadian cities will be farm teams soon.
That fairness/sharing will never happen. Would be nice but no way.
They will totally become teams that will have to build very well to become a winning culture, players will want to go to that, if not they will be screwed, players won’t want to be there.
If the NHL thinks I am going to watch a loaded Florida or Vegas team over and over or EVER. That will also never happen, lots of other things to do and as I stated above, other hockey to watch.
In fairness, presumably the Sens could have had Mackie Samoskevich instead of a low 2026 1st + 2027 2nd. Samoskevich clearly wasn’t their player type.
I actually think the Sens did very well considering the circumstances, and moderately well without considering the circumstances. Three first round picks is a lot, especially considering that Florida may be bad by 2029 (and Top-10 protected only means that it slides one year). The Sens turned Erik Karlsson into Dylan Cozens and Tim Stutzle (the latter because the Sharks suddenly went into rebuild mode).
good return… now they will package for Mason McTavish to replace the garbage pail kid
Howard (being an American) was drafted by TB, declined to sign then traded to Edmonton where he put pen to paper on his contract.
Two ways to look at the JD & CM signings:
1) Bowman just spent cap space on 30+ veterans who will play down the lineup. There is no money for a Kyrou, Byram, or similar impact player.
2) These signings are a way to build defensive stability to soften the loss of Darnell Nurse. THAT cap space may be used to improve the team in goal or with an attacking winger.
Most likely: SB is running it back with last season’s playoff crew. That is both safe and uninspired, like the Jarry trade.
Perhaps the league passed a rule that the Oilers must sign long term deals with anyone they trade for using a first round pick. Only fair to the other teams, ya know.
And a third to Calgary. Of course.
I think I like Dickenson/Murphy signings more than the Frederic/Walman signings of a year ago.
I don’t like any of them.
One has to figure Stuart Skinner is willing to offer his services at a discount for a couple of years to play for the Panthers.
Why would the Panthers want Skinner?
A cheap #1B with upside for whoever they acquire to be the #1A. One figures the Panthers will bring in two goaltenders and have an open competition.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Id be shocked, I dont think he wants to grt bullied by his own team.
Given the amount of speculation around Ottawa and Skinner this post-season, if I was Stu I’d be happy knowing there is no longer a Tkachuk on that team.
With Murphy signed the Oilers have 7.4m roughly in cap space without trading Nurse.
Stan needs to weaponize!
He’s either going to overpay salary for an old goalie, or he’s going to trade for someone at the same salary and save nothing.
Id like to see him try to grab Cossa then make a push for a Tom Wilson. Or Pelech and run 1st pair and 2 2nd pairs in the defense.
Has to go all in. If he trades Nurse he could get both.
Pelech/Bouch
Walman/Murphy
Ekholm/whoever works best beside him.
Lots of ways to configure.
The cap is going up by 8.9% for this season
Dickinson is taking a 5.9% pay cut
Murphy is taking a 6.8% pay cut.
I’m a but surprised at all the negativity surrounding these signings. With this UFA market, those guys could have cashed in for a lot more than they did.
Old guys who can’t score on term with NMCs.
Basically the worst of everything.
A thousand paper cuts.
Im convinced if we had gotten mcmann for 3×3 people would have complained it was too short!
All negative!
Dickinson is just Boyd Gordon all over again.
Imo Samanski makes more sense between Nuge/Howard then Dickinson.
Nuge/Samanski/Howard
Dach/Dick/Goose.
It feels like Dickinson is Kris Russel all over again… veteran signed to a contract long enough that it will prevent the Oilers from bringing in anyone better to play his position (3C in this case) over the next couple of years. A really underwhelming move (especially in light of the NMC / modified NTC).
Hope it works out but…
I think Dickinson ends up 4C, Samanski will pass him imo.
Boyd Gordon went from shut down C to shut down 4C and also didn’t score a lick.
If Samanski can be a legit 3C by the 2027-28 season, that would be the best possible outcome. But it’s not guaranteed.
I think Connor Murphy is Kris Russell all over again.
Oh man… so we have Kris Russell AND Boyd Gordon now? :\
In all fairness, I have a lot of time for Murphy and think he has a chance of being closer to his cap and term than Dickinson.
Though as others have posted, cheering for both of them to surprise me.
Personally I wouldn’t mind if they signed UFA Kevin Stenlund, big RHC, to play 4c and played Samanski on his LW on the fourth line.
This clown can’t possibly be getting ready to give Bobrovsky 10 mil, can he?
I had that terrifying thought yesterday and it hasn’t passed.
The Oilers?
I think the chances they sign Bobrovsky are in the range to zero.
I would also think that Edmonton is not high on the player’s list of destinations….
Have we reached the point where the GM knows he will be fired if he doesn’t win, so he doesn’t give a damn about term or NMCs because it won’t be his problem?
Sure looks that way.
Bets on the Oilers being stuck with Murphy until he’s 37 at minimum?
Sure is going to be fun having all the lower lineup spots blocked with old guys who can’t be dumped so that no young player will make it through, or even look at playing here.
From poor executive/management/coaching hires to questionable player trades/signings, I have found myself disagreeing with almost every decision the organization has made recently.
It’s difficult to support this level of incompetence.
I’m at the point of thinking this is the last year of season tickets. I never intended to give them up. Ever. I just can’t support this anymore. It’s bad enough they pissed away so many years of having a chance to win…but now acting like this? Don’t think I can do it.
Maybe you should just go be a Leafs fan.
Or, maybe we should have higher expectations from the organization if we ever hope to see another championship banner.
The expectations of every NHL team is to win the championship. The expectations of the fans are no different. Sometimes these expectations are realistic.
The Panthers are gonna be such a handful!
I think they still have $8M in cap space to dress 2 goalies also.
This is why Bowman wanted the much maligned Frederic, and a D like Murphy
You need some horses to handle what I’m sure will be even more ass hat than before
$8m for 2 goalies?
Isn’t the amount that Stan is paying for Jarry and Campbell this season? :\
They will. ugh…it is awful
I dont mind what ottawa did if they now bring in M. Mactavish which it sounds like they might be working on. They will have to use the draft choices to get a present player which I think they will.
I think you mean 8M to sign 2 goalies and 3 skaters
Jason is fine I guess if we can’t have Bruce !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEQ9e6KI2y4
“Puller at The Bottle Top, whiskey dancin’, disco, and hop.
Now all the boys are after me that’s the way it’s gotta be …”
as per Rishaug on X: Murphy 5 years 4.1M
Even worse than yesterday.
Stan is wildly incompetent.
Reminder – this guy is already 33.
Yeah…but. the contract ends before he turns 40.
Knowing that you could easily take 3 decent posters from here and a first generation iPad and make better decisions than what it happening right now is an insane and sad place to be.
But here we are.
Yep.
There’s a greater then zero chance some of us could be hired to run Blue Jackets in a few years.
Keep your options open folks.
Reminder that Cody Ceci signed for $4.5MM for term and the cap will be $113MM next year with projections of material increase for the foreseeable future.
$4MM is probably $1MM to $1.5MM below market value – the Oilers gave some term (and likely trade protection) to get a great AAV.
Of course, the player won’t be great at the end of the contract but in 2-3 years, $4MM will be the cost of a 6D.
I know, you don’t like the style of player due to lack of over skill but THIS player type continues to have an impactful role in this league and in the playoffs – which we just saw in May – the Oilers needed a defender that knows where the front of his net is and is effective on the PK. Also a player that ups his game in the playoffs.
This seems like a very fair contract.
I do not like the Dickinson one. But this is very fair. Im not sure what most fans expect… i guess never sign a free agent? Any 4-5 dman is getting 4mil now
Please trade for Byram. Please please please.
He will cost the moon and is not a true #1 D imo, though there are few of those.
He is very good IMO and the Oilers desperately need a succession plan at LHD, especially if Nurse is moved.
The have to draft and develop that, or make some kind of deal at the right time. It seems the top 4 are set, he’s not going to want to play 3rd pair, he’s an established good player
Byram wants to be in a situation where he is the #1D alpha dog and #1PP option. That is not the Oilers. And he also wants to be paid.
He would immediately be the Oilers second best D.
I imagine he would relish the opportunity to feed Drai and McD.
How can Byram maximize his salary if he is not on the #1PP. Byram has a Cup already. He wants to be the guy. He was stuck behind Makar, and then stuck behind Dahlin. He does not want to be stuck behind Bouchard.
San Jose would be the ideal destination.
Trade for Pelech
That would work great. But it might only be fantasy.
I don’t hate the player but long term deals for depth players is just such poor risk allocation. Especially when your team’s pro scouts have a spotty track record.
Here is hoping Dickinson can be Babcock’s new Kirk Maltby.
Friedman says Murphy may get gone today.
I expect this one to look better term wise than Dickinson – it could be similar but Murphy is a locked 2RD and a more impactful player than Dickinson.
Let’s hope he doesn’t “get gone” today. Unless it’s an overpayment, which we know it will be😂
Murphy is the one I was confident was coming back based off of all his words since he to to Edmonton – talked about how much he loved playing on the Oilers and, on two occasions, publicly talked about how he’s made more money in his NHL career than he could have possibly fathomed and essentially implied that chasing the bag is not primary for his.
Given the dearth of RD on the market and looking at what the likes of Ceci signed for previously, he’s likely $5.5MM on the open market but I think he comes in a million less.
The term will be longer than we want and there will be trade protection but it will be good to have him back!
Dustin Nielson
@nielsonTSN1260
The Oilers have 8 NMCs, the Canucks have 7 NMCs, the rest of the division combined has 10.
The Oilers have three 90+ point players; the rest of the division has 2.
I think it’s not the worry as it was with Holland. Bowman has already traded two players with NMC. It just makes it more difficult
Welcome to Canada and teams who don’t make the playoffs..cough, cough, Shames
The Flames have 2.
Hurricanes have 15 NTC or NMC contracts
5 NMCs