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Edmonton’s Markus Granlund Expected To Sign In KHL

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After spending a significant amount of time with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL this past season, many people in Edmonton knew that Markus Granlund’s time with the team was short. Now a Russian website, al.hockey.ru reports (translation required) that Granlund has reached an agreement to head overseas and sign with Ufa Salavat Yuleaev of the KHL. No terms have been reported.

Granlund signed a one-year deal on July 1 last season for $1.3MM. The Oilers, desperately in need of inexpensive depth due to their salary cap, signed a number of NHL veteran forwards to low-cost deals, including Josh Archibald, Riley Sheahan, Gaetan Haas, Joakim Nygard, Tomas Jurco and Granlund. While some of those players were successes last season, Granlund was not. Archibald, Sheahan and Nygard won permanent jobs, while Granlund was eventually sent to Bakersfield, the first time he’s played in the AHL since the 2015-16 season.

The 27-year-old appeared in just 34 games for the Oilers, posting three goals and four points while averaging a career-low 10:50 of ATOI. He rarely played on the penalty kill and was eventually made expendable. He played 20 games for the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL, scoring six goals and 15 points in that time.

Granlund will likely will take a much bigger role on his KHL team and might be able to take his game to a new level there and earn a chance to return to an NHL team. He has appeared in 335 NHL games with the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and the Oilers.

Oilers Have Interest In Re-Signing Riley Sheahan

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The Oilers clearly like what they’ve seen from some of their depth players this season and have already handed out extensions to center Gaetan Haas and winger Joakim Nygard.  They may not be done there yet either.  Postmedia’s Jim Matheson reports that the team has interest in re-signing center Riley Sheahan although he’d have to take an amount close to his current $900K price tag even though he has spent a fair bit of time on the third line this season.  While his production has tailed off in recent years, he still takes a lot of key faceoffs and can help on the penalty kill.  Matheson also suggests that there’s interest in re-signing Tyler Ennis, who didn’t look out of place after being acquired at the trade deadline.  However, after putting up 37 points between Ottawa and Edmonton and no longer being paid by Minnesota on his buyout, he may be seeking a fair bit more than his $800K salary.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Filip Berglund

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The Edmonton Oilers have locked up another one of their draft picks, signing Filip Berglund to a two-year entry-level contract. Berlund recently completed his fourth full season in the SHL, playing for Skelleftea AIK. Just over a month ago, Berglund joined Linkoping HC on a two-year contract. It’s not clear if that’s where he’ll spend next season now that he’s under contract with the Oilers or if he’ll join the organization here in North America. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reports that he is expected to stay in Sweden until the 2021-22 season.

Berglund, 22, has been a steady two-way presence for years now in Sweden, showing flashes of an offensive ceiling that could help him reach the NHL one day. Though he’s not at all the small, skilled puck-mover that the NHL has been trending towards—Berglund stands 6’3″ and is not an elite skater—there is still enough promise in his game to believe that he could one day be suiting up for the Oilers.

The question now becomes how the Edmonton blueline shakes out over the next several years. Ken Holland has been hoarding defensemen ever since taking over the GM role, but very few of them are signed long-term. It’s obvious that he is trying to build a young core on the back end, but who rises to the top is still to be determined.

Markus Niemelainen Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers have finally convinced one of their 2016 draft picks to come back to North America, signing Markus Niemelainen to a two-year entry-level contract. The hulking defenseman has spent the last three seasons in Finland’s top league after playing two years of junior hockey in the OHL. Had the Oilers not been able to get him under contract, Niemelainen would have become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

There’s a lot to like about the 6’6″ Niemelainen, who is actually an incredibly good skater for his size. While there still isn’t a ton of offensive upside in his game, the Oilers would likely be happy with a rock-solid stay-at-home option after taking him in the third round.

Whether he can translate that strong defensive play to the NHL level is another question entirely, but Niemelainen has all the tools to be an effective bottom-pairing presence that logs heavy minutes on the penalty kill.

Brad Malone Signs AHL Deal To Remain With Bakersfield

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Journeyman forward Brad Malone may not be playing on an NHL contract for the next two years, but he will be content to stay in the same place for a while longer. The 30-year-old forward will remain in the Edmonton Oilers organization by signing a two-year AHL deal with the Bakersfield Condors, the affiliate announced. After playing with four different organizations over five year span, Malone has now spent three years with the Oilers and has two more years with their farm team to look forward to.

Malone, a standout college player at the University of North Dakota, has always been a productive AHL player. A fourth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2007, he recorded 36 points in 67 AHL games as a first-year pro in 2011-12. The mark still stands as a career-best, but eight years later Malone was poised to break that mark this season with 31 points through 49 games prior to the suspension of the season. Over his career, Malone has also been a valuable NHL depth piece, contributing 85 points in 161 games with Colorado, Edmonton, and Carolina Hurricanes, with whom he scored a career-high 15 points in 2014-15.

However, Malone did not see any NHL action this season (so far) for just the second time in his pro career. He will be on the wrong side of 30 as of next month and it is clear that he is not going to become an NHL regular at this point in his career nor do the Oilers see him as worthy of a contract slot as a depth piece either. He remains a valued veteran presence in Bakersfield and can still produce and perhaps he can earn another NHL contract if he keeps his play up. For now though, he will settle for a familiar place to play and will have to work to prove that he can still be an Oiler in addition to a Condor.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Theodor Lennstrom

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After playing the last three seasons in the SHL, Theodor Lennstrom is ready to make the leap. The Edmonton Oilers have signed the free agent defenseman to a one-year entry-level contract.

Lennstrom, 25, has been a reliable contributor during his three years at the highest level in Sweden, recording at least 15 points in each. The smooth-skating defenseman can move the puck quickly and effectively, though there are still questions about his overall game.

For the Oilers, there’s nothing wrong with taking a swing at a player that has shown he can compete at a high level, given how they have only just started to build the depth required to contend for the Stanley Cup. A one-year deal presents very little risk, but will leave Lennstrom a restricted free agent and under team control next summer.

Edmonton Oilers Extend Gaetan Haas

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The Edmonton Oilers have made it official, signing Gaetan Haas to a one-year extension for the 2020-21 season. Ryan Rishaug of TSN reports that the contract will carry a salary of $915K. Haas was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Haas, 28, was signed out of Switzerland last year after a strong showing at the IIHF World Championship. Though he had dominated the NLA for several seasons, it wasn’t clear exactly what he would bring to the NHL. The Oilers were pleasantly surprised when they got a reliable depth forward they could plug in every night, as Haas recorded 10 points in 58 games.

Along with Joakim Nygard (who notably defeated Connor McDavid in the Oilers fastest skater competition), Haas provided some more skill and speed to a group that desperately needed to keep up with their star players. His return gives the team another option down the middle for next season on a more than reasonable cap hit.

Oilers Expected To Re-Sign Gaetan Haas

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While there won’t be many big contracts handed out during this current stoppage in the schedule, some teams haven’t shied away from handing out smaller deals.  It appears that the Oilers could soon be one of them as TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports (Twitter link) that the team is expected to re-sign center Gaetan Haas.  He is slated to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

The 28-year-old joined Edmonton as an undrafted free agent last summer after spending the previous decade in the Swiss NLA.  While he showed some offensive potential in that league by picking up at least 33 points over his final three seasons there, that failed to translate to much NHL success as he has just five goals and five assists in 58 games while averaging 9:42 per night.

However, as someone that’s already familiar with Edmonton’s system, there would be some value to bringing him back for a deal that’s close to his $925K price tag.  Their cap situation means that they will need to have several players on low-priced deals and they already know that he can hold his own on the fourth line or serve as injury insurance.  However, after being waiver-exempt this season which Edmonton used to get him in a couple of games early on, he would need to clear waivers to go to AHL Bakersfield in 2020-21.

Stretch Run Storylines: Edmonton Oilers

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As things stand, the NHL is planning to have games resume at some point over the coming weeks.  Assuming the regular season continues, there will be plenty of things to watch for over the stretch run.  Over the weeks ahead, PHR will examine the top stretch run storylines for each team.  We continue our look at the Pacific Division with Edmonton.

No one was quite sure what to make of the Edmonton Oilers coming into the 2019-20 season. Back in 2016-17, the team made a promising playoff run, suggested that Connor McDavid was set to take Edmonton to years of deep playoff runs. Instead, the team collapsed for two straight years, being bounced from the playoffs both years and struggling with a weak defense and a lack of top-six talent. Add a new general manager in Ken Holland and the team under new head coach Dave Tippett is back in the playoff race, beginning to look like that 2016-17 team.

Hart Trophy For Draisaitl?

McDavid may be the face of the franchise, but Leon Draisaitl has been grabbing many of the game-to-game headlines as the German center has finally moved from McDavid’s wing to center his own line and has found success. He has formed his own line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto, which has had great success throughout much of the second half of the season. The 24-year-old who had 50 goals and 105 points a year ago, has already surpassed that point total in less games. He has 43 goals and 110 points through 71 games and is leading the league in scoring.

Could Draisaitl be joining McDavid as a Hart Trophy winner? He is 13 points ahead of McDavid who is second in the league in scoring. With the turnaround success of the Oilers, who are in second place in the Pacific Division, Draisaitl may just be the lead candidate for the trophy.

Trade-Deadline Acquisitions

The Edmonton Oilers picked up three players at the trade deadline in a hope to bolster their defense and their offense to another level. The team gave up two second-round picks in order to pick up the speedy Andreas Athanasiou, while also moving a future fifth-rounder for winger Tyler Ennis. They also moved Kyle Brodziak and a fourth-round pick to Detroit for veteran defender Mike Green.

However, the Oilers have yet to get much of a return on those investments as Athanasiou has appeared in just nine games with just one goal. Ennis has fared better with two goals and four points in nine games. Green has appeared in just two games due to injuries. The hope is all three can make significant strides when/if play resumes. However, if the season is cancelled, the Oilers will only have Athanasiou left as the other two will be unrestricted free agents and no guarantees that they will return next season.

With so few games under their belt, the learning curve for all three players could be significant as they have to learn a new coaching system and how to play with new linemates.

Loss Of A Teammate

With all the tragedy stemming from the COVID-19, the Oilers suffered a separate loss when forward Colby Cave passed away on Apr. 11 when he was placed into a medically-induced coma due to a brain bleed. The forward had appeared in 44 games with the Oilers over the past two years and he played in 11 games this year with Edmonton.

While he wasn’t a full-time player with the Oilers, he was a big part of the team and the Oilers will have to deal with that loss as a team. How the team handles it could have a big effect on how the team performs in the playoffs when/if the league gets the season re-started.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Edmonton Oilers Linked To Theodor Lennstrom

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Veteran Swedish defenseman Theodor Lennstrom has informed Frolunda HC that he will not honor the final year of his contract and will not play in the SHL next season. The question now is where exactly he will play. Swedish source Kvalls Posten seems confident that the answer is the NHL, as they report that Lennstrom is choosing between a number of offers, but seems most likely to land with the Edmonton Oilers.

Lennstrom, 25, was undrafted out of Sweden and has never played anywhere else but his native country, but finally seems ready to take the next step in his career and sign an entry-level contract in the NHL. Lennstrom is an offensive defenseman, excelling in the skating and possession aspects of the game. His defensive game is likely not quite ready for the NHL though and he may need to start in the AHL upon arriving to North America or else play in a sheltered, power play-dependent role at first.

If he is to succeed at the top level, Edmonton seems like a strong choice. Kvalls Posten notes that team has two fellow Swedish defensemen in Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson, as well as a former teammate of Lennstrom’s in Joakim Nygard. On the other hand, the Oilers do have a decent amount of depth on the blue line and that position battle would become even more crowded if another Swede defender, top prospect Philip Broberg, also decided to jump to North America this off-season. There remain a number of other teams interested in Lennstrom as well, specifically the New Jersey Devils as a top suitor for his services, so his decision is far from made.

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