Oilers Had Interest In Torey Krug Last Season
With Andrej Sekera once again out long-term following surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon, Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston notes that the Oilers showed interest in Bruins blueliner Torey Krug last season and wonders if the injury could help re-spark the talks. Boston doesn’t necessarily want to move Krug but given their depth on the back end, it could make sense for them to use him as a trade chip to get some top-six help up front.
However, with Krug checking in at a $5.25MM cap hit, Edmonton would need to unload a similarly-priced contract as they still have to re-sign blueliner Darnell Nurse and long-term injury reserve would only help until Sekera is ready to return; they will have to be back in cap compliance before they can activate him later in the season. The team only has a handful of forwards near that price range in Milan Lucic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. It’s doubtful that Boston would want Lucic and the five years left on his contract so unless the Oilers are comfortable with moving Nugent-Hopkins (something that has seemingly become less and less likely compared to a year ago), there may not be a great trade fit at this time between the two teams.
“A Lot Of Doubt” Still Surrounds Henrik Zetterberg’s Future
Reports have surfaced every few weeks this summer that Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg may not play in the 2018-19 season due to a lingering back injury, and last week GM Ken Holland muddied the water even further. Holland called Zetterberg an “unknown” when speaking to reporters, and indicated he would know more in September. That timeline is what head coach Jeff Blashill repeated to Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, but seemed even less confident in Zetterberg’s ability to play this season:
He’s had a hard summer and I don’t think his back is reacting great. Certainly we’ll know more in a month, but as of today, there’s a lot of doubt as to whether his back will be healthy enough to play.
If Zetterberg does sit out the year, the Red Wings could put his $6.08MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve to create some more cap flexibility. The actual salary of his deal drops to just $3.35MM this season, and the contract will pay him just $1MM in each of the next two years. That seems like quite the coincidence given that Zetterberg hasn’t missed a regular season game in three straight seasons, but Blashill was quick to point out that his captain was also forced to stop practicing entirely for the last two months of the 2017-18 season.
From 1990-91 to 2015-16 the Red Wings never missed the postseason, and Zetterberg played a crucial role in many of those seasons. He, Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom formed the core of a powerhouse team for years, until the latter’s retirement in 2012. Now having missed the postseason in back to back years, the Red Wings will try to form a new young core of players like Dylan Larkin, Filip Zadina and Anthony Mantha to get them back to the promised land and compete for the Stanley Cup once again. It never seemed like Zetterberg could be a real part of that, even without a career-threatening injury popping up. The 37-year old has seen his offensive numbers decline in recent years, to the point of just scoring 11 goals last season. That was the lowest full-season total of his career, and one that the team should be able to replace.
They won’t as easily replace his leadership though, which will put even more pressure on Larkin to develop into a true first-line center. Without that the Red Wings could be in for a tough season, given their cap problems and lack of real elite talent throughout the lineup.
If it is the end for Zetterberg, he would be leaving the game with 960 career points in 1,082 regular season games. The veteran forward has been in Selke contention for nearly his entire career as one of the better defensive forwards in the league, and took home a Conn Smythe trophy during the Red Wings 2008 Stanley Cup run. Undoubtedly one of the most well-respected and beloved Red Wings players in history, this would be a tough way to see his career come to an end.
Options For The Oilers To Replace Andrej Sekera
Normally, it takes training camp before any teams begin scrambling for an unanticipated injury replacement among the leftovers of the market. It is unclear how long the Edmonton Oilers knew about the injury to defenseman Andrej Sekera – they announced the surgery today indicating they knew of the injury prior – but what is clear is that the team will need to add another body to the mix in Sekera’s stead. Out indefinitely with a torn Achilles tendon, Sekera is likely to miss a substantial amount of time and extremely unlikely to be back at 100% at any point in the 2018-19 season. It is no coincidence that with Sekera missing most of last season due to a knee injury, the Oilers defense struggled on all fronts. Sekera had easily been the team’s top defender over the two years prior and this will now be the second straight season where he cannot be relied upon. The team must do something to avoid another frustrating campaign on the blue line, but what?
In replacing Sekera, Edmonton will likely target a right-handed defenseman. Although Sekera is a lefty himself, the team is set on the left side regardless with Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, and Kris Russell. There is also free agent addition Kevin Gravel, also a left-handed defenseman, though he is best suited for his current extra man slot. The right side however poses questions behind Adam Larsson, with Matt Benning likely slated for the second pair and now a hole on the third pair. It is unlikely that the Oilers want to press Benning into a top-four role this season, nor do they want a left-handed depth option like Gravel, Ryan Stanton, or Keegan Lowe as a regular on the right side. As such, they are likely looking for a second-pair caliber righty.
The easy answer is the free agent market. In a relatively stagnant summer, there remains ample talent available in unrestricted free agent defensemen. However, the Oilers are not in the most flexible of positions. The team currently has all but approximately $5MM in cap space committed to their roster which doesn’t include restricted free agent defenseman Nurse, still in need of a new contract. If and when Nurse re-signs, the team will be left with little to no cap space. Fortunately, at this point in the summer they face little competition on the free agent market and could negotiate several tryout deals with available defenders, signing one or more after the start of the season once Sekera’s $5.5MM cap hit can be buried on injured reserve. Yet, the pickings are slim on the right side. Cody Franson could be the team’s best bet with Paul Postma potentially as the next-best option. Ryan Sproul or Frank Corrado could be younger dark horse candidates, while the team could possibly look at veteran Kevin Bieksa. However, if the Oilers consider overloading on lefties as they would have anyway with Sekera, then Toby Enstrom, Luca Sbisa, Alexei Emelin, Johnny Oduya, or even old friend Brandon Davidson jump out as attractive options.
If the team is set on adding a right-hander and not sold on the available free agents, they could also wait for training camp cuts. While there is no guarantee that the right player would wind up on waivers, it’s also well within the realm of possibility. Robert Bortuzzo, Nate Prosser, Jake Dotchin, Steven Kampfer, Brad Hunt, Alex Biega, and Adam McQuaid – a former favorite of Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli in Boston – are just some of the names who could wind up on the waiver wire and fit in on the right side of the Edmonton blue line. It would not be a surprise to see the team sign multiple defenders to PTO’s and also keep an close eye on who gets cut from training camps.
Finally, Edmonton could simply stand pat and attempt to replace Sekera internally. On paper, it doesn’t seem like the Oilers have the pieces to do so effectively, but some of their defensive prospects have not yet been given the opportunity to show what they can do at the NHL level. Many will clamor for recent first-round pick Evan Bouchard to get a shot at sticking with the team. Although very talented – and a right shot – it would be asking a lot for the 18-year-old to step into the top pro game and succeed. It’s not unprecedented, but it is unlikely. Recent Swedish import Joel Persson, currently on loan to his SHL club, is a 24-year-old righty who could be an intriguing experiment and has more experience with the pro game. William Lagesson, on loan in Sweden last season but now back in North America, is a left-shot defenseman but played on the right side frequently during his college days at UMass and is a very safe defensive player who could be a stopgap. Elsewhere in the system, small puck-mover Ethan Bear and hulking Ryan Mantha are both righties who could provide some different style options alongside Lagesson in the AHL. Between these young possibilities and some veteran depth, the Oilers could opt to just let camp battles decide who steps into Sekera’s shoes.
The only thing that is for sure is that Sekera is not going to be suiting up for Edmonton any time soon. Whether the team finds a way to add a capable free agent, gets lucky on the waiver wire, or trusts their young depth, the Oilers will need someone to step up in his stead. An injury to a top defenseman is not how they wanted to begin the season, but the Oilers now have some time to figure it out before the puck drops on the new campaign.
Over The Cap: Detroit Red Wings
Although the St. Louis Blues are dangerously close to the salary cap ceiling and the defending Stanley Cup champs of the past three years, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, are within an uncomfortable distance, the Detroit Red Wings are the only team who have surpassed the NHL’s $79.5MM limit at this point in time. When the team re-signed franchise center Dylan Larkin to a five-year, $30.5MM contract last week, his $6.1MM salary boosted Detroit’s payroll for the coming season to $82.772MM for just 21 players. The Red Wings currently sit more than $3.2MM over the salary cap with a roster that contains just six defenseman. While the NHL CBA allows teams to surpass the cap by 10% in the off-season – up to $87.45MM – the Red Wings must clear enough space to begin the season under the cap.
Once the season is underway, the salary cap is unlikely to be much of an issue. Johan Franzen, who last played in October of 2015, has been sidelined with post-concussion symptoms for the past three seasons and is almost surely not going to return to the Detroit lineup. His $3.955MM contract on the long-term injured reserve will wipe out all of the Red Wings’ cap overages. Additionally, it remains a very real possibility that captain Henrik Zetterberg may also be on the shelf this year and possibly done with his hockey career altogether, with a nagging back injury reportedly making his availability over the final two years of his contract an “unknown”. If Zetterberg doesn’t play, his $6MM cap hit added to Franzen’s on LTIR would give the Wings more than enough space.
However, injured reserve transactions cannot be made until after the official start of the NHL season. This has previously caused teams to trade away players unlikely to ever play again due to health, with the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa as the latest example, even though their cap hits can be absorbed. A team tight against the cap, like Detroit, may struggle to manipulate their roster enough to fit those injured players under the cap on day one. As such, the easiest way that the team could get under the cap prior to the start of the season would be to find a taker for Franzen’s contract. The Wings would have to part with a pick or prospect, but may be able to unload the deal to a team far from the cap ceiling. If Detroit is certain that Zetterberg is also done, they could do the same with his contract, although a higher cap hit means parting with greater trade capital.
Barring an injured player salary dump, the Red Wings are likely left with the reality that they must trade a roster player in the next two months. The team may be able to sneak players like Martin Frk and Luke Witkowski through waivers before the season begins, but it would not result in enough savings to make a difference. Detroit would be unlikely to expose anyone else to waivers simply to clear space briefly. As such, it appears as if someone must go. While Red Wings fans and leadership alike might like the idea of shipping an aging defenseman like Niklas Kronwall or Jonathan Ericsson away or trying to sweet talk some team into taking on the behemoth contract of Frans Nielsen or Justin Abdelkader, it would be a surprise to see any team with interest in that foursome. The likes of Danny DeKeyser and Trevor Daley may also be immovable for a team rife with poor contracts. Instead, impending free agent Gustav Nyquist or two-way center Darren Helm are the most likely candidates, while a player like Luke Glendening heading elsewhere paired with some clever waiver action could do the trick. There is also a chance that, if he proves to be healthy, some team might be interested in Zetterberg.
It’s never a great situation for a team to be forced into trading away assets simply to become cap compliant for one day, but trading away an older player would nevertheless be a step in the right direction for a team that has never truly embraced a rebuild. Opening up salary with a trade, as well as an LTIR placement for Franzen, would allow the Red Wings some flexibility to test out some young players this season while building around their established young core, headlined by Larkin. The salary cap crunch could prove to be their ally long-term, but in the short-term the team is left with little option but to make a move and hope for the best.
Andrej Sekera Undergoes Achilles Surgery, Out Indefinitely
The Edmonton Oilers have already suffered a blow to their hopes of a bounce back season, as today they announced that Andrej Sekera will be out indefinitely following surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon. The injury occurred during an off-season training session.
The 32-year old Sekera already missed a good chunk of the 2017-18 season with a knee injury, suiting up for just 36 games. Though he’s not a dominating presence on the ice, Sekera has been quite effective throughout his career and was dearly missed by the Oilers last season. Without Sekera healthy for much of the year and facing some injuries and stagnation by Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson, the team received very little offensive production from their defense. That was a huge reason they struggled to find any consistency during the year and finished so low in the standings, and Sekera’s new absence could start the whole process over again. Achilles injuries usually last months, and there is no clear indication if Sekera will be able to play at all this season.
While that won’t be decided for some time, the Oilers now have to find a way to improve their blue line in the next few weeks. Already there was plenty of speculation about them going after a right-handed puck-moving defenseman this summer, but nothing seemed to materialize on the trade front. Darnell Nurse is still unsigned, and the team has very little cap space (if any) to spend on a free agent acquisition. Though Sekera can likely be moved to long-term injured reserve to regain some cap flexibility, the Oilers have a ton of money already on the books going forward.
Unless the team is willing to go with a full-time bottom pairing of Matt Benning and Kevin Gravel without any real NHL-level depth behind them, a move needs to be made in a hurry. There are still several veteran options on the free agent market who could be signed for a reasonably low amount, but without the certainty of Nurse’s cap hit they won’t know exactly how much they can spend. A trade may be more appetizing, but there are only a few assets that would really bring back anything of value on the Edmonton roster given how expensive almost all of their NHL talent is.
It may improve the chances that Evan Bouchard, selected 10th-overall in the recent draft, could make the Oilers out of camp and stay all season. Though some believe Bouchard is better off returning to the London Knights of the OHL and continuing his development, he also may be the most talented option the Oilers have available to them. Bouchard recorded a huge number of points for the Knights last season while sometimes playing more than 30 minutes in a single game, and could likely be a contributor—albeit an inconsistent one—right away for Edmonton.
All this boils down to an extremely unfortunate circumstance for Edmonton, who were counting on a return to form by Sekera as a reason for optimism. Now they’ll have to find a way to piece together their blue line once again, and hope for no more significant injuries to their top three options. This also brings into question Sekera’s future with the team, as he’s now missed huge chunks of two seasons with injury and will be heading into his mid-thirties soon. Signed through 2020-21 at a $5.5MM cap hit, he may quickly become an anchor on the Edmonton salary structure if he can’t return to form.
Edmonton's Double-Edged Sword With Cam Talbot
- The Oilers face a bit of a conundrum regarding goalie Cam Talbot, notes NBC Sports’ Scott Billeck. The veteran is coming off of a substandard season and the team is certainly going to be counting on him to help get them back into contention. However, he’s entering the final year of his contract and a top-notch campaign could very well result in Talbot pricing himself out of what Edmonton can afford given all of the money on their books long-term. For now, they’ll certainly hope that he can get back to his 2016-17 form but they will have to get even more creative with their cap room if they want him to be their netminder for the long-term.
Pacific Notes: Silfverberg, Czarnik, Hathaway, Oilers
The Anaheim Ducks are committed to paying more than $66MM for 13 players for the 2019-20 season after agreeing to a extensions with center Adam Henrique (five years, $29.25MM) and goaltender John Gibson (eight years, $51.2MM) this summer. So with those extensions already completed, the next question is whether there will be enough money to extend forward Jakob Silfverberg.
The Athletic’s Eric Stephens (subscription required) writes that the good news is that there are no major extensions that have to be dealt with for several years, so what money is left, the team is free to use without having to worrying about having to use the money to sign the next superstar. In fact, most of the team’s top prospects such as Sam Steel, Troy Terry, Max Jones and Jacob Larsson will be on entry-level deals until at least 2020-21.
However, much of the team’s ability to sign Silfverberg will depend on what the 27-year-old is demanding. His defensive abilities is what makes him so intriguing as his offense is rather pedestrian, though Silfverberg has posted at least 17 goals over the past three seasons. But the winger hasn’t really seen a significant improvement to his offensive game in four years. Stephens writes that if Silfverberg is willing to take $5MM per year for four years, the team would likely be able to fit him in, but any higher demands could easily prompt the team to trade him if they can’t come to an agreement as opposed to losing him for nothing next offseason.
- Kent Wilson of The Athletic (subscription required) takes a deep look at the Calgary Flames new acquisition Austin Czarnik, who many people have been fascinated by. The diminutive forward, who stands at 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, was extremely successful in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, but has never really given a chance at a full-time NHL job. The scribe compares his skills to that of Vegas’ Jon Marchessault, and Tampa Bay’s Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde as smaller players who thrived in the AHL and then took off at the NHL level as well. Despite being older than the standard prospect (he played four years at Miami University of Ohio, the 25-year-old could step in and make an immediate impact in Calgary.
- A year ago, Calgary Flames forward Garnet Hathaway found himself regular playing time after being recalled from the AHL after 18 games. He managed to appear in 59 games, posting four goals and 13 assists on the team’s fourth line, but might have an even tougher challenge this year with the team making quite a few offseason changes, according to NHL.com’s Alex Medina. Hathaway, who signed a one-year deal with Calgary on July 30, is ready for the challenge. “It’s my goal to be there for game one and for all the games,” Hathaway said. “Management has done a great job bringing guys in and I think it’s going to be a very competitive camp and competitive season. I think that’ll help the team improve having guys push each other to get better. That’s what makes a team take the next step.”
- The Edmonton Oilers have 13 forwards under contract currently, but intend to be patient about finding a 14th forward, according to NHL.com’s Paul Gazzola. In an interview with 630 CHED Oilers Now, Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli said the team will look at multiple avenues to fill that 14th spot from offering PTO to some veteran free agents to looking at young players who might impress at training camp. “I’ve been asked quite a bit about that 14th forward,” Chiarelli said. “We’ve talked to a number of players on PTOs. We’re going to look at waivers and see what’s available there. We’re going to kind of take it slowly because we also have some guys that may compete and beat out guys – younger players – that might be in that category.”
Poll: Can Connor McDavid Win The Art Ross Trophy For A Third-Straight Year?
The Edmonton Oilers went from a top performing playoff team in 2016-17 to a struggling franchise that didn’t even come close to earning a playoff spot last year. Quite a difference in years. Yet among all that went wrong last season, the team got the most out of their star player Connor McDavid, who captured the Art Ross Trophy for a second year in a row.
McDavid, who enters his fourth NHL season and first as the highest paid player in the league, posted 30 goals and 70 assists in the 2016-17 season for 100 points. He easily walked away with the Art Ross Trophy as the next closest were Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby with 89 points. Behind them was Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom with 86, as well as Boston’s Brad Marchand and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov who both had 85 points.
In 2017-18, despite a lesser team that struggled, McDavid’s numbers only got better as he posted 41 goals, 67 assists and 108 points, but the competition only increased as two other players broke the 100-point barrier, including Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux who had 102 points and Kucherov who went from 85 points to 100. Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin (98 points) and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (97 points) rounded out the top five. However, while five players in 2016-17 had 85 points or more, that number altered quite a bit last year as 15 players had 85 points or more, giving McDavid even more competition.
There are several players who could compete with McDavid this year, including Kucherov who continues to improve at 24. Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall finished the season with 93 points, while MacKinnon, who is just 22, is also a young player who can still take his game to the higher level. Or could someone else take that next step?
So the question is, can Connor McDavid lead the league in points again?
Will Connor McDavid win the Art Ross Trophy (for most points in an NHL season) for a third-straight year?
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Yes 70% (385)
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No 18% (99)
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Only if the Oilers get better 12% (65)
Total votes: 549
Pro Hockey Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings Inching Closer To Contract
Among the names left on the restricted free agent list, Dylan Larkin stands out as a potential franchise linchpin. Though William Nylander and Sam Reinhart are important forwards, and Noah Hanifin, Darnell Nurse, Shea Theodore and Josh Morrissey are all talented defensmen, it’s Larkin that could be the face of the Detroit Red Wings for quite some time and probably the most important contract to still be worked out. Larkin recently said that he believed something would be done before training camp, and yesterday reiterated that fact to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.
Something’s coming. I’ve told everyone I think it’ll be before training camp. It’s right there. I’m just waiting to iron out the details.
There have been reports that the Red Wings have been working towards a five or six year contract, but Larkin indicated that there are “different offers out there” that could also include a shorter bridge deal. That depends on how much room GM Ken Holland and the Detroit front office can clear up this summer, given that the Red Wings only have $2.83MM in cap space. Larkin would take up more than that even on a bridge deal, meaning there is plenty more work to be done for the club over the next few weeks.
Teams can go over the cap in the offseason (up to 10% or $7.95MM), and the Red Wings still have Johan Franzen‘s cap hit that can be placed on long-term injured reserve for additional cap flexibility. But if Larkin does end up signing a long-term deal, it would take up a considerable amount of space given that he has just four years of restricted free agency remaining.
Even with the crunch that is occurring right now for Detroit, the may rather get Larkin under contract for some of his unrestricted free agent years given that their cap situation starts clearing up as soon as 2019-20. With nearly $18MM scheduled to come off the books in the form of Gustav Nyquist, Jimmy Howard, Thomas Vanek and Niklas Kronwall, the team can certainly afford to give the next wave of talent substantial raises. As a team the Red Wings are getting closer to financial freedom and a real chance at a rebuild, and Larkin’s next deal will set the precedent for all the players that come after him. It might still take a little while to work through, but at this point both sides seem confident something will get done.
Morning Notes: McDavid, Drouin, Bavis
Connor McDavid wants to get some more consistent linemates this season, but is confident that the Edmonton Oilers can get back to their 2016-17 form during the upcoming season. McDavid spoke to reporters including Luke Fox of Sportsnet at the recent Pro Edge Power training camp in Toronto, where players from all around the league come to work on fine tuning their game in the offseason. Even though the 2017-18 season didn’t go as planned, McDavid found solace in how the team kept fighting until the end of the season.
There’s just got to be a point in time where you get sick of losing, and you just don’t anymore. Guys came together. Guys were sick of how the year was going and came back to playing hockey the way it should be, the way you need to,
Those Oilers haven’t done much to address their biggest weaknesses, but did bring in Tobias Rieder and Kyle Brodziak to help out their offensive group. One other thing that may come of the addition? A stronger locker room, given that McDavid specifically notes Brodziak’s solid reputation as a good teammate and notes that the team could use his help.
- If you thought Jonathan Drouin may end up back on the wing this season for the Montreal Canadiens, he has news for you. After struggling through the transition to center last season, Drouin told Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette that he will be back in the middle when training camp opens next month. Drouin admitted that he finally started to have some fun with the position in the second half of the 2017-18 season, which showed on the scoreboard as well. 18 of Drouin’s 46 points came in his final 25 games, including nine in nine to finish the year. If he can find that kind of offensive consistency right from the start of the season, the Canadiens might finally see the player they believed they had acquired for Mikhail Sergachev last summer.
- The Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL have hired Mike Bavis as their new head coach, after losing Mark Dennehy to the AHL a few days ago. Dennehy never actually coached a game for the Nailers, accepting the position only to be poached a few months later. Bavis spent more than a decade as an assistant coach at Boston University, but will get his first head coaching job at the professional level with the Nailers this season. Pittsburgh’s ECHL affiliate missed the playoffs the last two seasons but hasn’t posted a losing record in a decade. Bavis will be tasked with taking the group back to the postseason, while also developing some of Pittsburgh’s more raw or unheralded prospects.