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Edmonton Oilers’ Matt Benning Drawing Interest

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Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports that while the Edmonton Oilers continue to look for an answer this season, “at least one team” is showing interest in defenseman Matt Benning in trade talks—though there is certainly no hurry to move him. Spector writes that the team likely would however be willing to give up Anton Slepyshev or Ryan Strome in potential deals.

Matt BenningEdmonton is off to a terrible start for a club that was expected to contend for the Stanley Cup this season, riding a 3-6-1 record into Wednesday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Connor McDavid clearly can’t carry the team all on his own, and they’ve received little offensive help beyond the top line. Slepyshev has been held scoreless thus far, while Strome has just three points on the season. That’s while Jordan Eberle starts to thrive in New York with nine points through 11 games.

The Oilers need help, and they need it soon if they’re going to turn around this ship. The team ranks dead last in the NHL in goals for, and both special teams rank in the bottom three. Spector does suggest that Chris Kelly will sign if Kailer Yamamoto is sent back to junior, which should help their penalty kill but do little for their offensive woes. The answer to those isn’t quite so simple.

Moving Benning would certainly bring back something of value, as the 23-year old defenseman has shown at least an ability to play a full-time role in the NHL. Though he doesn’t have a ton of offensive upside, some might see him as a solid answer to shore up a bottom pairing. Dealing him would mean opening one hole to fill another however, as the Oilers would need a replacement for his 16-odd minutes a night. Benning is a restricted free agent this summer though, and with money locked up in four defensemen already and a new deal looming for Darnell Nurse, he could be on the outside looking in anyway. The Oilers will obviously have to be very careful with their cap space once McDavid’s league-leading contract extension kicks in.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Keeping An Eye On Entry-Level Slides: An Update

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Two weeks ago we ran an article looking at the young players in the NHL who were also eligible to see their contracts slide by one year. Should they be sent back to their junior or European clubs before playing in 10 NHL games, they would avoid burning the first year of their entry-level contracts.

At the time, none of the players eligible had surpassed that threshold. Today is a different story. Three players have already played their 10th game in the NHL, changing the goalposts somewhat for their respective teams. Now, those clubs must decide whether or not to keep them past the next threshold of 40 games, when they’ll get a year closer to unrestricted free agency. Below, we’ll take an updated look at the entire group.

10+ Games Played

Mikhail Sergachev (TBL)
Victor Mete (MTL)
Alex DeBrincat (CHI)

Each of these three seemed to have a good shot at staying with their respective teams right from the start, but now the most interesting thing to watch will be that 40 game mark. For Sergachev especially it holds quite a bit of value. Due to a condition on the trade that brought him to Tampa Bay, if he fails to play 40 games this season the Montreal Canadiens would have to send a second-round draft pick (Montreal would also receive a sixth-round pick in return). That extra asset could be tantalizing for the Lightning, but with Sergachev’s outstanding start—the young defenseman has 10 points in 11 games—it may not be worth sending him away from the team.

8-9 Games Played

Pierre-Luc Dubois (CBJ)
Nico Hischier (NJD)
Jesper Bratt (NJD)
Nolan Patrick (PHI)

All four of these players seem destined to play past the nine game threshold, with Dubois set to play his tenth game tonight, and Patrick only sitting out due to injury this week. Bratt and Hischier have played in all eight of New Jersey’s games, combining for 13 points. Their strong early play will likely keep them in New Jersey for the year.

Interestingly, Dubois has lasted in the Columbus lineup despite registering just one point all season. He’s not being sent back before tonight’s game, but it will be interesting to see how the season plays out. He’s not struggling with the pace of play, but hasn’t received the opportunity to really show what his offensive ceiling is. Should Columbus face more injuries, Dubois could be thrust into a more important role.

5-7 Games Played

Kailer Yamamoto (EDM)

Yamamoto is one of the most interesting cases, because though he’s played seven games with the club and at times been one of the ice-time leaders beside Connor McDavid, he was scratched last night against the Dallas Stars. As Leon Draisaitl and Drake Caggiula came back, there seemingly wasn’t a spot left for Yamamoto in the top nine.

The diminutive forward has three points through his seven contests, but isn’t a lock to stay past nine games if the Oilers feel he still needs some more development. Though he obviously has the skill to play at this level, if they’re not going to play him every night his path may lie back in the WHL. That would certainly change the fate for the Spokane Chiefs, his junior team, who are currently 8-6-1 on the season.

1-4 Games Played

Owen Tippett (FLA)
Janne Kuokkanen (CAR)
Samuel Girard (NSH)

Tippett finally worked his way into the lineup for Florida, and the early results suggest he could stay there all year. The winger from the Mississauga Steelheads scored his first goal last night, and could find himself getting more ice time as the Panthers try to dig their way out of a rough start. By no means is he guaranteed, but the team has hinted that he would stay in the NHL right away since the start of training camp.

Kuokkanen started off hot for the Hurricanes in limited minutes, but has been relegated to the press box for the team’s last five games. As we wrote in the previous article, the Hurricanes could actually send him to the AHL instead of back to junior, meaning he could bounce up and down this season.

Girard has certainly impressed in the three games he’s played, but none of those have come in the team’s last four. He may be back in the lineup tonight however when the team takes on the Chicago Blackhawks, and if he keeps up his high level of play they may have no choice but to keep him around. Still, it’s always tough for a 19-year old defender to stick in the NHL and especially one that is just 162-lbs. He’ll have to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s ready to be a contributor to this team all season.

No Longer On Roster

Logan Brown (OTT)
Filip Chytil (NYR)
Alex Formenton (OTT)
Martin Necas (CAR)

All four made their NHL debuts, but were eventually sent back before breaking the first threshold. Only Chytil remains in the North American professional ranks, currently playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.

Teddy Purcell, Lauri Korpikoski Sign Overseas

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Two of the more notable names left without an NHL contract when the 2017-18 season began have come to terms on new deals elsewhere. Teddy Purcell, a former 65-point scorer who of late was on a PTO with the Boston Bruins, signed with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk today, the team announced. Lauri Korpikoski, fresh off a strong campaign with the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets, somewhat surprisingly drew little attention this off-season and has now signed with the ZSC Lions of the NLA, according to a team release. The former Edmonton teammates will each look to rejuvenate their careers overseas this season.

Purcell, 32, was had a roller coaster career. The undrafted University of Maine product made a surprise jump to the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings in 2007-08 after just one year of college and made an immediate impact. After being swapped for Jeff Halpern early in his career, Purcell took off with the Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring 51 points his first season and 65 the next. His scoring continued, but that didn’t stop the Bolts from trading him to the Edmonton Oilers, who in turn traded him to the Florida Panthers less than two years later. During this time, Purcell had continued to be a consistent scorer no matter where he landed. So, when Purcell given nearly no attention in the free agent market last year and ended up back in L.A. and soon after buried in the minors, it came as a shock to many. This time around, no one was surprised when Purcell was unable to turn his tryout in Boston into a contract, but the fact remains that there is still no evidence that Purcell ever stopped being a solid play-making forward. Now in Russia, Purcell has the potential to light it up with Avangard. Don’t be surprised if the swift winger scores early and often in the KHL and catches the eye of the Canadian Olympic team.

As for Korpikoski, his off-season went much like Purcell’s last year. 20 points in 60 games aren’t eye-popping numbers, but it was a pleasantly surprising season for Korpikoski in Dallas. The two-way forward had never been a big producer – his career high 40 points came back in 2010-11 with the Phoenix Coyotes, a team on which he was pressed into a top-six role due to a lack of talent – but Korpikoski had made a career out of his well-rounded game. A 2004 first-round pick of the New York Rangers, the now-31-year-old was a hard-working and reliable player for long stretches in New York and Arizona, but a drop-off in production in the desert and a subsequent trade to the Edmonton Oilers in 2015 looked like the beginning of the end. Yet, the Stars took a gamble last summer and it paid off with a sold effort from Korpikoski and a trade return of young defenseman Dillon Heatherington from Columbus at the deadline. However, the renewed interest never came and Korpikoski has had to settle for Switzerland. With ZSC, Korpikoski will join a talented NLA team and will get a chance to skate alongside NHL veterans like Robert Nilsson and Drew Shore. While Finland is in better shape for the upcoming Winter Games than the U.S. or Canada, don’t count out the possibility of the veteran Finn winger from getting the call to go to Pyeongchang as well.

Edmonton Oilers Officially Activate Leon Draisaitl, Drake Caggiula

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The Edmonton Oilers are starting to get healthy. After practicing in full this week and being cleared to return, the team has activated both Leon Draisaitl and Drake Caggiula from injured reserve, while assigning Brad Malone to the Bakersfield Condors to make room. Draisaitl and Caggiula will be in the lineup tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The pair return to a team that hasn’t been able to generate much offense despite having one of the best players in the world leading their lineup. Edmonton is 2-5 on the season and have scored just 10 even-strength goals all season. Six of those ten have been assisted on or scored by Connor McDavid, leaving one to wonder where any secondary scoring is expected to come from. Draisaitl will hopefully help that, though his breakout season a year ago was played for the most part alongside the 20-year old captain. Draisaitl did have three points before being taken out of the lineup due to a concussion.

Edmonton has a tough stretch in front of them, facing the reigning Stanley Cup champions twice in the span of four games. In between, they’ll take on the streaking Dallas Stars and the always dangerous Washinton Capitals. If things don’t start turning around for the Oilers, they could find themselves in a deep hole to try and climb out of. Even with McDavid leading the way, giving up points in what looks like a wide open Pacific Division is a rough way to start the season.

Edmonton’s Tough Decision On Kailer Yamamoto

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One of the more interesting decisions when it comes to the junior-aged NHL players as they approach the cut-off mark before the first year of their entry-level contract kicks in is with Edmonton and winger Kailer Yamamoto.  While he didn’t play much early on, Leon Draisaitl’s concussion has given the rookie a chance to skate on the top line and he has made the most of it with three assists in the last three games while averaging nearly 20 minutes per night in ice time.  Players with that type of responsibility don’t typically get sent back.

However, there are other factors potentially at play when it comes to Yamamoto.  When Draisaitl returns, will there still be a spot for the rookie inside Edmonton’s top-six?  Given his very small stature (he’s listed at 5’8 and 154 pounds and was the smallest first rounder in NHL history), Yamamoto is not the type of player that typically fits in a lower-line role.  There are also questions about whether or not he will be able to withstand the rigors of a full NHL season even if he is certainly holding his own for the time being.

Kailer YamamotoThen there is the salary cap.  While it’s not a big factor this season with Connor McDavid still on his entry-level contract, that will change next year when his $12.5MM deal kicks in.  When that happens, the Oilers are going to become a team that spends right to the Upper Limit every year and with some other big-ticket deals on the books (Draisaitl, Milan Lucic, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins), Edmonton is going to need some cheaper contracts to fill out the roster.

Sending Yamamoto back before he plays his tenth NHL game would keep him cheaper for one more year at a cap hit that actually would be slightly lower than his current $925K thanks to the treatment of signing bonuses on players whose contracts slide.  (It would drop to just over $894K.)  While that would be more beneficial for them three years from now, it would also weaken their current roster which is a trade-off that GM Peter Chiarelli will seriously need to consider.

Alternatively, the Oilers could opt to keep him around past nine games and look towards the 40 games on the active roster threshold.  If they were to send him back before that mark, he would still burn the first year of his contract but wouldn’t accrue a year towards unrestricted free agency.  That’s the route they took with Draisaitl back in 2014-15 and that played a bit of an impact on his long-term deal as instead of having to buy out six UFA years with the max-term eight-year contract, they only had to cover five which likely helped to slightly lower the AAV.

Because he was a healthy scratch for a handful of games earlier on, Yamamoto isn’t as close to the games played threshold as several others around the league are (teams will be making calls on several players early next week).  He is suiting up in his sixth game today so that will give Edmonton a bit more time to see how the 19-year-old fares on their top unit and assess how close Draisaitl is to returning to the lineup but it’s safe to say that Yamamoto is going to make this decision a lot harder than it seemed just a week ago.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Talks Increase Between Red Wings, Athanasiou

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The final restricted free agent to be signed is Andreas Athanasiou, who has not been able to work out a deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Athanasiou has been skating in Switzerland to try and stay ready for the season should a deal be worked out, but there had been little discussion in recent weeks between the two sides.

That seems to be changing now, as Bob McKenzie of TSN reports that dialogue between Athanasiou’s agent Darren Ferris and the Red Wings has really increased in the last few days. McKenzie cautions that there is nothing imminent, and even suggests that Athanasiou could sign in Switzerland to start playing real games.

The Red Wings are actually off to a solid start to the year, going 4-2 in their first six games and scoring more than most expected. Some of that has to do with Mike Green’s impressive nine point performance in the early going, but the team has also leaned on younger players like Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin and Martin Frk. Should Athanasiou return quickly, perhaps the young guns in Detroit are better positioned to push this team close to a playoff spot than many believed before the season began.

Still, the Red Wings are in tough with the salary cap. According to CapFriendly, the team has used all of the space provided by Johan Franzen’s LTIR status and currently project to be over the cap by the end of the season. That means, in order to sign Athanasiou and bring him onto the active roster they’d need to make a corresponding move. If the reported $1.9MM (two years for $3.8MM in actuality) price tag is true, it’s a lot of room to move quickly. One option would be the much speculated Riley Sheahan, who comes in at just under $2.1MM, or sending at least two players down to the minor leagues. Detroit is already operating with just 22 players, one fewer than the maximum allowed for an NHL roster.

Leon Draisaitl Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Edmonton Oilers have placed star forward Leon Draisaitl on injured reserve following an evaluation, and will not be available to the team during the upcoming road trip. Draisaitl is dealing with an eye injury and now a concussion, and has no timetable on his return.

For the Oilers, this is just another setback in what has been a tough start to the year. With just one win in their first four games and coming off a blowout loss against the visiting Ottawa Senators, the team hasn’t been able to find their identity early in the year. Though Connor McDavid has five points in four games, the team as a whole has only scored seven even-strength goals and just a single tally on the powerplay. Losing Draisaitl—one of only two other players with at least three points on the year—for any length of time won’t help those numbers improve.

With Draisaitl out, the team went with Kailer Yamamoto on the first line with McDavid at practice today, with Ryan Strome moving from center to the second line wing. While Yamamoto registered his first NHL point against Ottawa, and has generally impressed early in the season, putting a 154-lbs, barely 19-year old player out for nearly 19 minutes a night is a lot to ask. While Yamamoto definitely has the skill to stick in the NHL, it’s hard to rely on him that heavily in the face of the “Stanley Cup Contender” expectations.

Drake Caggiula Placed On IR

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The Oilers announced that they have placed forward Drake Caggiula on injured reserve.  The 23-year-old last played on October 7th so assuming they back-dated the placement, he will be eligible to be activated at any time but this frees up a spot on the 23-man roster.

With center Leon Draisaitl now in concussion protocol, some speculated that the Oilers would turn around and sign center Chris Kelly, who has been skating with the team despite being released from his PTO at the end of training camp.  However, the team instead opted to recall veteran Brad Malone from Bakersfield of the AHL to take Caggiula’s roster spot.  The 28-year-old has three points in three minor league games this season and has 176 career NHL games under his belt between Colorado and Carolina.

Draisaitl Out For Saturday, Potentially Longer

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Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl will miss Saturday’s game against Ottawa and possibly longer with an eye injury and a potential concussion, head coach Todd McLellan told reporters, including Postmedia’s Robert Tychkowski.  Draisaitl has missed the last three practices with his eye being swollen to the point where it was impairing his vision but McLellan suggested there could be more to the injury, noting that they are waiting to hear more about his condition and how it might affect his head.  Fresh off his eight-year, $68MM contract, the 21-year-old has played a big role once again early on for Edmonton with three points in as many games while averaging over 20 minutes a night of ice time.

Pacific Notes: McDavid, Sutter, Boeser, Kempe

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Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid rejected the idea outright. Without blinking, the young superstar made it very clear that scoring 100 goals is impossible. Just days ago, Jaromir Jagr predicted that McDavid could score 100 goals someday, but McDavid would have none of that., according to Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal.

“It’s not possible at all … no one’s ever done it,” said the 20-year-old McDavid, who scored 30 goals a year ago. “Not going to happen.”

The closest anyone has ever come was by Wayne Gretzky, who scored 92 goals in the 1981-82 season. Gretzky also had 87 goals in 1983-84. Alex Ovechkin, who has seven goals in the Capitals first two games might have a better shot at it than McDavid. However, the 32-year-old’s best season was 65 goals in 2007-08.

  • In the same article, Matheson pointed out that McDavid played his first game without taking a faceoff in Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks. The center yielded to linemate Leon Draisaitl, who is a better faceoff specialist, having won 49 percent of his faceoffs (out of 972 attempts) in the 2016-17 season, while McDavid won just 43 percent (806 attempts). “People know that I’m not that good on faceoffs,” McDavid said. “It’s one of the perks of having Leon on the line.”
  • Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Sun writes that a lot of the credit that goes towards the Canucks 3-2 victory Saturday was the play of Brandon Sutter. The 28-year-old center and his line of Markus Granlund and Derek Dorsett shutdown McDavid, who didn’t register a point in the game and finished with a plus/minus of -1 in 24:38 of ice time.
  • In the same article, Botchford writes that the public outcry that top prospect Brock Boeser was scratched due to the team focusing more on shutting down Edmonton’s offense. “I know it’s a hot topic,” Vancouver head coach Travis Green said. “He’s going to play. He’s going to get his chance. We set our lineup against a very strong Edmonton team. He’s not going to sit here for a month.”
  • Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times writes that Los Angeles Kings’ Adrian Kempe’s role on the forward line is already beginning to diminish. The former 2014 first-round pick only played two shifts in the third period for the second straight game and it looks like Alex Iafallo has taken his place on the second line of the power play. Kempe has struggled to break through as a wing on the professional level. He scored 12 goals in 46 games for the Ontario Reign of the AHL last year and scored just two goals for the Kings in 25 games.

 

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