- The Oilers announced that they have placed defenseman Kris Russell on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. With fellow blueliner Oscar Klefbom being placed on IR yesterday, Edmonton’s defensive depth is starting to run thin. On the flip side, they are getting a regular back in Tobias Rieder, who was activated to take Russell’s spot on the roster. The winger missed the last dozen games with an upper-body issue and is slated to suit up on their fourth line tonight against Winnipeg.
Oilers Rumors
Oilers Notes: Hitchcock, Koskinen, Krug
Since Ken Hitchcock took over as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers back on November 20th, the team is 7-2-1 and back in the Western Conference playoff picture. The Oilers’ players seem to have embraced Hitchchock’s system and the veteran coach may be the author of a turnaround for a franchise that had been heading in the wrong direction for more than a year. Will that earn him an extension beyond his current interim role? TSN’s Darren Dreger thinks so, as he stated on the latest segment of “Insider Trading” that Hitchcock appears to be a long-term option for the Oilers. The 66-year-old was set to retire from coaching at the end of the 2016-17 season, back when he was with the St. Louis Blues, but was fired by the team before the end of the season. That made his hiring by the Dallas Stars in the following off-season even more surprising. After last season, Hitchcock again announced his “retirement”, only to join the Oilers when they called this season. Hitchcock doesn’t really seem to be committed to moving on from the game and Dreger believes that a winning season would leave Edmonton with little choice but to extend their new coach’s contract. Dreger adds that Hitchcock could wind up with a deal that would allow him to transition from the bench into a front office role if he so chooses, but doesn’t doubt that Hitchcock could continue to coach the team “well beyond this season”.
- One of the more evident changes under Hitchcock has been his trust in backup goaltender Mikko Koskinen, if backup is even the correct title anymore for the import keeper. After Cam Talbot started each of the Oilers’ first eight games of the season, Koskinen has received 13 starts to Talbot’s nine the rest of the way. Under Hitchcock, it has been seven games for Koskinen out of ten total. After shutting out the Calgary Flames last night, Hitchcock announced that he would stick with Koskinen again tonight when the Oilers take on the Colorado Avalanche. Admittedly, Koskinen has outplayed Talbot with a .929 save percentage, 2.06 GAA, and three shutouts – all among the league’s best marks – so the real test of Hitchcock’s trust in the “rhythm” will come when Koskinen begins to struggle. For now, the new coach and his new starting goalie are helping each other make a case for extended stays in Edmonton.
- Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug has been a name connected to the Oilers, through unconfirmed rumors and media speculation, for some time. It was believed that Boston and Edmonton were close to a deal that would have sent Krug to the Oilers at the NHL Draft this past June, while rumors of ongoing discussions continued through the summer. Edmonton could certainly use Krug, one of the most productive defensemen in the NHL over the past few years, and there is some level of familiarity with the player on the Oilers’ side in former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. While they have leaned on Krug as the team fought through injuries early this season, the defenseman is also not as crucial a piece for the Bruins as he would be for other teams, with Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk representing future offensive threats on the blue line and Krug’s contract expiring after next season. As such, a hypothetical deal has some intrigue and Boston Globe beat writer Matt Porter re-ignited the discussion recently when he posited that the Bruins could potentially pry Ryan Nugent-Hopkins out of Edmonton with a package of Krug and a young forward. As the idea picked up steam among fans, The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson put an end to the possibility – possibly for good – with his report that the Oilers are in fact one of the team’s on Krug’s limited no-trade list, a clause that kicked in for the first time this season. So, while the Bruins and Oilers may make fine trade partners hypothetically, a Krug-to-Edmonton deal is unlikely to happen.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Edmonton Oilers
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Edmonton Oilers. Click here for the other articles in this series.
What are the Oilers most thankful for?
A very jumbled Pacific Division. No team has truly run away as a contender just yet and second through seventh place are separated by just eight points. As a result, Edmonton still is right in the thick of a push for a playoff spot despite not a whole lot going well. They’ve fired their coach, are struggling to score, and have a goaltending controversy with their starter struggling. Despite all that, they’re three points out of a top-three spot in the division. There aren’t many times where that much can go wrong early on and still be that close to a postseason position but this is one of them.
Who are the Oilers most thankful for?
Could it be anyone other than Connor McDavid? The two-time Art Ross Trophy winner is the top player in the NHL in the eyes of many and he continues to get better. New bench boss Ken Hitchcock is using him even more with his playing time approaching 25 minutes a game most nights and the 21-year-old has shown he’s up to the task. McDavid is the type of player that a franchise can be built around and he has already made a long-term commitment to the team, inking an eight-year deal with the team last season. He’s the most expensive player in the league but he is living up to his price tag.
What would the Oilers be even more thankful for?
Getting some sort of positive contribution from Milan Lucic. He was brought in with the hope that he could provide some grit and scoring alongside McDavid and in his first season with the team in 2016-17, he fared relatively well. However, last season he struggled considerably while 2018-19 has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster thus far. He has just a single goal in 28 games while his playing time is down to just 14:28 per night, his lowest since his rookie season. Considering he has four years left after this one with a $6MM cap hit on a contract that is basically buyout-proof thanks to the signing bonuses, the Oilers are stuck with him for the foreseeable future. Finding a way to get any production out of him would be huge.
What should be on the Oilers’ Holiday Wish List?
While Edmonton has surprisingly had difficulties scoring this season, their focus should be shoring up their back end. They have enough depth in the system but a top-four defenseman would go a long way towards bolstering their playoff chances, especially with a greater emphasis on defense under Hitchcock. However, cap space is at a premium so they will likely have to move a notable contract out in order to get an impact defender.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Edmonton Oilers Make Several Roster Changes
The Edmonton Oilers have made a few swaps on their roster, recalling Cooper Marody from the minor leagues and activating recently claimed forward Valentin Zykov. To make room, the team has moved Drake Caggiula to injured reserve, and assigned Patrick Russell back to Bakersfield of the AHL.
Most interesting in the bunch is Zykov, who was claimed off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes at the end of November but hasn’t yet played a game for the organization. The 23-year old forward has some lofty offensive potential as shown by his AHL-leading 33 goals for the Charlotte Checkers last season, but hasn’t been able to fulfill it at the NHL level. That is to say, not on a full-time basis at least. Zykov does have 11 points in 25 career games, which actually comes out to a 36-point full season pace, a total the Oilers would likely take at this point.
Through 28 games, the Oilers sit 14-12-2 on the year and can thank just a handful of players for nearly all of their success. Outside of their three big forwards, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the rest of the team has been nearly invisible through the first third of the season. Alex Chiasson has been a nice addition with 11 goals, but no other forward even has more than 10 points on the year.
If Zykov can find some of that offensive success he showed at the minor league level, there’s no reason to think the Oilers wouldn’t push him into a full-time, top-six role. The team simply hasn’t gotten enough from the wings this year, and has had trouble finding linemates to skate with McDavid and company. Cagguila, who at times looks like a perfect fit for the top line, has just 10 points in 23 games and is now dealing with a hand injury. You couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to make an impact, one that Marody or Zykov (or both) will need to take advantage of.
Drake Caggiula Has A Hand Injury
- The Oilers announced (Twitter link) that winger Drake Caggiula is dealing with a minor hand injury and will miss tonight’s game against St. Louis. As a result, winger Patrick Russell will remain in the lineup instead of ceding his place to center Connor McDavid who returns after missing the last game due to illness.
Board Of Governors Notes: Salary Cap, Melnyk, Seattle
The NHL’s Board of Governors Meeting began today in Sea Island, Georgia, as the league’s owners and executives sat down today for the first of two days of discussions. Commissioner Gary Bettman then spoke with the media this evening, apprising the press of certain topics of discussions. The biggest announcement made by Bettman related to the projected salary cap for next season. As relayed by NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, Bettman expects the 2019-20 salary cap to raise to $83MM, a significant jump of $3.5MM for this season’s ceiling of $79.5MM. Rosen notes that this value could change, but that the league has been consistently accurate in their predictions in the past. Such an increase would serve to accommodate the growing salaries of younger players, as emphasized by the recent William Nylander negotiations. With several high-profile players on high payroll teams becoming restricted free agents this summer, this added cushion should help those squads to stay together in a more comfortable manner.
- TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is not in attendance at the meetings, which is perhaps why Bettman took the opportunity to speak about his unhappiness with the situation in Ottawa. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed that Bettman is “disappointed” in how the progress on a new arena in Ottawa has been going, although he did not point any fingers and stated that he understands it is a complex process. Nevertheless, with Melnyk’s seemingly poor management of the team, as well as his poor placement in the public eye, and now an admission from the commissioner that he is frustrated with the situation, perhaps the idea that the Senators owner will be forced to sell is not as outlandish as it once seemed.
- The meeting today did not involve any discussion on the expansion bid of the potential Seattle ownership group, although Rosen reports that David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer were in attendance. Instead, any discussion has been tabled until tomorrow, when the owners will vote on Seattle’s entry into the league. A two-thirds vote in favor of expansion is needed to make Seattle official and there is a strong expectation of such a result. However, the vote also more or less is a vote of realignment, as Seattle will almost certainly be added to the Pacific Division, whereas the Central Division is currently short a team. One organization who could be moved, but has no desire to do so, is the Edmonton Oilers. The team does not want to move to the Central, meaning the Oilers’ and Calgary Flames’ owners could be two potential votes against on Tuesday. If those two teams don’t move, it’s likely the Arizona Coyotes being shifted to the Central and they can’t be too happy about the possible move either.
- The one piece of Seattle news that did come out today, albeit still not official, is that the team is likely to begin play in 2021. TSN’s Darren Dreger states that no one would go on the record, but that all signs point to the team’s inaugural season being 2021-22. While this is a year later than most expected when the current round of expansion officially began, the delays in making the move official combined with concerns over collective bargaining have hinted at a 2021 start for some time.
Edmonton Has No Interest In Moving Out of Pacific Division
With the expected approval on Tuesday for the Seattle expansion franchise at the board of governor’s meeting, the next question that will have to be determined is how to re-align the Western Conference as Seattle will obviously move into the Pacific Division, giving them nine teams, while the Central Division would have just seven. While there has been talk about moving the Arizona Coyotes over to the Central Division, many feel the team should stay where it is as they have short rivalry trips to Las Vegas and Los Angeles/Anaheim.
Another popular suggestion is to move both the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames together to the Central Division and sending the Colorado Avalanche back to the Pacific Division. However, Terry Jones of The Edmonton Sun writes that option isn’t very popular in Edmonton.
“We want to stay in the Pacific. And we’re pretty strong about it,” insists Bob Nicholson, vice chairman and CEO of the Oilers Entertainment Group. “Seattle is going to come into the league and when they do come in, we definitely do not want to move. We feel the rivalries are too strong for the NHL to do that to our franchise.”
The two teams have built rivalries in the Pacific, including one between the Flames and the Vancouver Canucks, while Edmonton has built some significant rivalries with some of the California teams, most specifically with recent playoff matchups with the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. Nicholson said the team intends to appeal to the NHL to allow the Oilers as well as the rival Flames to stay in the Pacific Division.
“I just believe we’ve been in the league a long time now and hopefully the league will respect our rivalries, especially the Calgary and Vancouver rivalries,” said Nicholson.
Of course, there are new potential rivalries between both Calgary and Edmonton with a team such as the Winnipeg Jets and even the Minnesota Wild. Regardless, Nicholson has a strong feeling the league will accept the wishes of Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
“I’m relatively confident from the unofficial conversations that have gone on, so far,” Nicholson said. “I’m expecting it to be simple and that it will be Arizona that would move into the Central. If it gets more complicated than that, I think there would be big debates. We expect to stay where we are. I would think it would be Arizona that would move.”
Minor Transactions: 12/1/18
It’s a full day of hockey today across the NHL, with Sharks-Senators kicking off the action with an early afternoon matinee, Stars-Canucks later on in the afternoon, and ten more contests on the way tonight. With 24 teams in action, it’s fair to expect some movement over the course of the day, even if all eyes will be on William Nylander regardless. Keep up with all of the minor transactions here:
- After claiming Valentin Zykov off waivers, the Edmonton Oilers have made a move to open up a roster spot. The team announced that forward Patrick Russell has been returned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Russell, a native of Denmark, was on his first career NHL call-up after signing with the Oilers out of St. Cloud State University in 2016. Russell was held scoreless in his four games with Edmonton, albeit with limited ice time, but was involved at both ends and should see another opportunity soon.
- The Ottawa Senators have recalled veteran defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer, the team announced. The 29-year-old is in the second season of a two-year minimum deal, during which he has primarily played with the Belleville Senators in the AHL. Named the minor league Sens’ captain this season, Burgdoerfer has six points in 16 games in Belleville and leads the team with a +5 rating. Burgdoerfer has only played in one game with Ottawa this year, but is expected to see some more action on this call-up. The Senators then announced after their 6-2 victory over San Jose that Burgdoerfer has been returned to Belleville. He was just recalled as a emergency forward and did not play in the game.
- Eeli Tolvanen is back in the NHL, as the Nashville Predators have recalled their top prospect per a team release. It wasn’t long ago that Tolvanen was considering returning to the KHL this season, but opted instead to stay stateside and work toward a regular role for Nashville. It’s unclear if this call-up will be long-term or not, but Tolvanen has 11 in 21 games, tied for second among forwards on the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, and has shown flashes of brilliance amid some streaky play. Tolvanen already has an NHL skill set and would be better served to stay in the NHL if the Predators can afford the roster spot and regular play time.
- The Carolina Hurricanes have activated both Brett Pesce and Haydn Fleury from the injured reserve, the team announced, signaling the end of the brief debut call-up of promising young defenseman Jake Bean. Bean has been returned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, but not before he skated in two games with the Hurricanes and looked comfortable competing at the NHL level. Bean has 11 points on the year and a +6 rating, both second among Checkers defenseman. Bean is the next man up for Carolina and hopefully will get another look sooner rather than later.
- The New Jersey Devils announced that they have activated defenseman Steven Santini and have assigned forward Michael McLeod to the Binghamton Devils of the AHL to make room for him. Santini has been with Binghamton since Nov. 20 on a conditioning loan after suffering a broken jaw. The 23-year-old has only played in one game for New Jersey this season and played in just three with Binghamton, going scoreless. McLeod, the team’s first-round pick in 2016, had a brief callup, but did make his NHL debut, but failed to register a point in that one game. He will continue to develop his skills in the AHL where he has three goals and 10 points in 21 games.
- With the Winnipeg Jets placing Joe Morrow on injured reserve, the Jets announced they have recalled defenseman Nelson Nogier from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. The 22-year-old stay-at-home defender has just one assist in 22 games for the Moose, but offers the team some size at 6-foot-2. He joins a bunch of Manitoba players on the Jets’ current roster, including Mason Appleton, Sami Niku and Cameron Schilling.
Edmonton Oilers Claim Valentin Zykov, Scott Darling Clears
The Edmonton Oilers have snatched some offensive potential from the Carolina Hurricanes, claiming recently waived forward Valentin Zykov according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Scott Darling meanwhile has cleared and has been immediately assigned to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.
Zykov, 23, will immediately bring some offensive upside to an Oilers team that has been desperately searching for some secondary scoring. Edmonton only has four forwards with more than 10 points on the season, and one of them is Alex Chiasson who is sporting an incredible 35.5% shooting percentage. The quartet of Milan Lucic, Tobias Rieder, Jujhar Khaira and Kyle Broziak have combined for exactly three goals this season, an unacceptable number even in limited minutes.
If there’s one thing that Zykov has proven he’s capable of at the minor league level it’s score, as he led the AHL with 33 goals last season. Unfortunately that production hasn’t yet carried over the NHL, but he’ll likely be given the best opportunity of his career in Edmonton. That opportunity does come with some cost for the Oilers though, as Zykov is already signed to a one-way contract through next season. His cap hit is obviously manageable at $675K, but he’ll take up a precious contract slot for the time being.
For Darling, there was little chance of claim given his expensive contract. His career hinges right now on whether he can get back on his feet at the minor league level, and show that he is able to at least serve as a backup in the NHL. The Hurricanes would likely retain some salary to get him off the books, unless they believe he can find the same level of production that earned him his current four-year deal in the first place.
Pacific Notes: Vegas’ Defense, Boeser, Kovalchuk, Luff, McLellan
The Vegas Golden Knights have always followed a general philosophy when it comes to pairing up their defensemen. Head coach Gerard Gallant loves to pair a fast, quick-moving offensive defenseman with a bigger defensive counterpart. However, with Nate Schmidt missing the first 20 games of the season with a suspension, Gallant hasn’t had the opportunity to put together his perfect pairing, which included Schmidt matched up with Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore with Deryk Engelland and Colin Miller paired with Nick Holden.
The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) analyzes those new changes which has produced a 3-0 record since Gallant put those pairings together, including a 2-1 overtime win over Arizona and a pair of shutouts over Calgary and San Jose, Friday and Saturday. That’s just one goal allowed in 183 minutes. While it has been made clear that the team missed Schmidt, Vegas’ entire defense missed him as everyone had been shuffled out of alignment without the speedy blueliner. Without Schmidt, the team lacked a third offensive defenseman as the team had to pair Holden with Jonathon Merrill, which struggled throughout the first quarter of the season.
“It adjusted our defenseman because they all played different roles when Nate was out,” Gallant said. “So, everybody is in their spots now and playing pretty well and they are confident.”
- Rick Dhailwal of Sportsnet reports that he’s heard from a source that Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser is making good progress recovering from his groin injury. The 21-year-old has been out since Nov. 2. The scribe adds that Boeser is getting closer and should be back at some point next week. He has four goals and 11 points in 13 games so far this year.
- One of the Los Angeles Kings struggles comes from the play of major off-season acquisition Ilya Kovalchuk who has failed to record a point in eight straight games, according to Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times. The 35-year-old, who signed a three-year, $18.75MM contract this summer, has gone from the team’s top winger to a third-stringer and has dropped to the second unit of the power play. The team broke their 0-for-16 slump on the power play Saturday with Kovalchuk on the bench.
- Fox Sports Jon Rosen writes that the Kings need to get more playing time to rookie Matt Luff, who has played well since being called up from the AHL. The 21-year-old has three goals in eight games after dominating in Ontario. Head coach Willie Desjardins re-teamed him with Carl Hagelin and Adrian Kempe, which found some success for the Kings. The scribe writes that Luff needs playing time and needs to start receiving power play time as well.
- Rosen also adds that the Kings have no interest in bringing former Edmonton Oilers’ coach Todd McLellan aboard.