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Oilers Could Still Add A Defenseman

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The Edmonton Oilers could still be looking to add a defenseman despite signing John Klingberg just last week (as per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic). Klingberg signed on for the remainder of the season and could provide some offense from the backend depending on his health and how quickly he can get up to game speed.

With that need taken care of, Edmonton may be looking to fill out their defensive depth with a player who provides more of a shutdown skillset and comes with the ability to kill penalties. As LeBrun points out, Edmonton ‘s penalty kill is in the top five in the NHL since November, so the need isn’t an urgent one, however, given how many defenseman teams require in the playoffs, the Oilers feel it may be best to add to their depth.

Injuries in the playoffs can always change the dynamic of a series, and while Edmonton feels that have a solid seven skaters to fill out their defense core, one or two injuries could shake that belief. Teams that have won the Stanley Cup recently have had 8-10 NHL defensemen on their roster on average and have generally relied on all of them due to the unpredictability in the playoffs. Injuries piled up early in last year’s playoffs, and while Edmonton was fairly lucky in that regard on their way to winning the Western Conference, they can’t count on the same luck this season if they hope to get back to the Stanley Cups Finals.

John Klingberg Still A Week Out From Game Action

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  • Don’t expect to see newly-signed defenseman John Klingberg to play for the Edmonton Oilers in the next few games. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported earlier that Klingberg is still a week out from game action. Although Klingberg has been working his way back to game speed over the last few months, it’s understandable he’ll need additional time given he hasn’t played in an NHL contest since November 11th, 2023.

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Oilers’ Connor McDavid, Canucks’ Tyler Myers Given Three-Game Suspension

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Jan. 20th: The NHL Department of Player Safety has issued their punishments to McDavid and Myers. Both players have been issued three-game suspensions for cross-checking.

Jan.19th: Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland on Saturday. Garland grappled with McDavid in the final seconds of Vancouver’s 3-2 win, and McDavid responded by hitting Garland in the face. In the ensuing scrum, Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers also cross-checked Oilers defender Evan Bouchard in the face. Myers will also have a hearing with Player Safety. Both McDavid and Myers received match penalties for their infractions. The date and time of either hearing are yet to be determined – as is whether the hearings will be virtual or in-person, which will change the length of suspension both players will be eligible for.

This news brings a peak to McDavid’s recent violent streak. He gained notoriety after, seemingly, inadvertently elbowing Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Johansson in the teams’ January 15th matchup. Johansson was placed on injured reserve with a concussion the next day. McDavid also earned scour with a high-stick against Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek in Saturday’s game, catching the defender up high after breaking into the zone. McDavid’s match penalty for cross-checking Garland was his first in-game penalty for any of these infractions – and, coupled with a game ejection, earned him a career-high 15 penalty minutes in one game.

It will be hard to determine how long either McDavid or Myers could miss with their looming hearing. Both players committed similar infractions, at the tail-end of an already-won game. But nine other players also received penalties for the late-game scrum, which could lead the league to react lighter to two big pieces of a larger scrum. Alternatively, this will be an opportunity for NHL Player Safety to send a message on stick infractions and headshots across the league, by coming down hard on the face of the NHL.

Oilers’ Derek Ryan Clears Waivers

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Jan. 20: Ryan has cleared waivers and can be assigned to Bakersfield at will, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports Monday. That reassignment will pave the way for newly-signed defenseman John Klingberg to come off injured reserve when he’s ready to make his season debut.

Jan. 19: The Edmonton Oilers needed to make a few roster moves to stay cap-compliant thanks to newly-signed defenseman John Klingberg’s contract hitting the books today. According to a team announcement, the Oilers organization has placed depth forward Derek Ryan on waivers for reassignment to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, and have additionally reassigned defenseman Josh Brown.

It’s an unfortunate transaction for Ryan as he’s entered the twilight years of his NHL career. Ryan made his way to the NHL at the age of 29 during the 2015-16 season after an impressive run through European leagues, showcasing one of the more underrated stories of the last decade. After a brief three-year run with the Carolina Hurricanes, Ryan has been a key depth forward in Alberta since the 2018-19 season with the Calgary Flames and the Oilers.

His offensive production has decreased steadily throughout the years, similarly to his average time on ice. Ryan neared the 40-point plateau in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons before hovering around the 20-point total from 2021 to 2023 in Edmonton. Last year saw his biggest decrease in scoring over a full season, with Ryan only scoring five goals and 12 points in 70 games. His only true value anymore is his role in the faceoff dot, as Ryan has averaged a 55.2% success rate over 5,072 career draws, which is even more impressive considering 53.3% of his shift starts have been in the defensive zone.

Joining Ryan on the road to AHL Bakersfield is Brown, albeit unencumbered by the waiver wire. He’s primarily served as organizational depth on the blue line for the Oilers this year on a relatively expensive price tag of $1MM for the next three years. He’s tallied one assist in eight games in Edmonton this season averaging 11:29 of ice time per game.

Arvidsson's Injury Not Believed To Be Serious

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  • Oilers winger Viktor Arvidsson left yesterday’s game against Colorado late in the third after blocking a shot. However, Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the undisclosed injury isn’t believed to be too serious.  That’s certainly good news for Edmonton as the 31-year-old has been a solid performer for them when healthy.  While he missed 15 games earlier in the campaign with an undisclosed injury, Arvidsson has picked up 15 points in 30 games thus far, giving them some much-needed secondary scoring.

Oilers Sign John Klingberg

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2:31 p.m.: Klingberg’s bonus is a signing bonus, not performance incentives, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports. There are no performance bonuses in the deal, but the prorated cap hit now rises to $1.35MM instead of $1MM.

1:57 p.m.: Klingberg’s contract carries a prorated base salary and cap hit of $1MM, Dreger reports. He can earn an additional $350K in performance bonuses. The Oilers confirmed the signing in quick succession.

12:37 p.m.: The Oilers are nearing an agreement with unrestricted free agent defenseman John Klingberg, Darren Dreger of TSN reports Friday.

Edmonton was one of a few Canadian teams and a smaller handful south of the border to express interest in Klingberg over the past few weeks, according to earlier reporting from Dreger. The 32-year-old, who finished as high as sixth in Norris Trophy voting twice early in his career, hasn’t played in well over a year after undergoing season-ending hip resurfacing surgery with the Maple Leafs in December 2023.

Klingberg became an unrestricted free agent last summer after the one-year, $4.15MM deal he signed with Toronto in 2023 lapsed after just 14 appearances. As a player with at least 400 NHL games played who spent at least 100 days on injured reserve in the prior season, he’s eligible to sign a one-year contract with performance bonuses that could lower the initial cap hit of the deal.

As with any contract involving performance bonuses, the Oilers must have the cap room to accommodate any bonuses he may earn as part of his deal. If they don’t, any amount they exceed the salary cap will be applied as a bonus carryover penalty to their 2025-26 picture.

Thanks to Evander Kane’s continuing recovery from multiple surgeries, Edmonton should be in the clear with over $5MM in its LTIR pool. His availability for the rest of the regular season is in doubt after he underwent additional knee surgery earlier this month, carrying an eight-week recovery period and halting his rehabilitation from offseason abdominal surgery.

If he stays healthy, Klingberg serves as an early deadline pickup for the Oilers and takes some pressure off general manager Stan Bowman to give up assets for an additional right-shot defender. Edmonton’s left side of Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak have all averaged north of 20 minutes per game this season and done so with decent possession metrics, but the same can’t be said of depth righties Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher.

The Oilers needed another body to throw into the mix on either their second pairing alongside Nurse or their third pairing next to Kulak, and adding Klingberg gives them a far more offensively inclined option – albeit one that comes with significant defensive shortcomings. While still a serviceable power-play quarterback who posted five assists in last year’s injury-shortened campaign and has averaged more than 20 minutes per game in all of his 10 NHL seasons, his -60 rating between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 campaigns is sixth-worst among defensemen. In the 2022-23 season, which he split between the Ducks and Wild, he was on the ice for more expected goals against per game at even strength (1.13) than any other qualified defender in the league.

Edmonton will need to free up a roster spot to sign Klingberg officially. That will likely be demoting center Noah Philp or defenseman Josh Brown to AHL Bakersfield.

Klingberg will be a UFA again in months if his contract is a one-year pact, as expected. It will mark his third consecutive one-year deal after completing a seven-year, $29.75MM commitment with the Stars in 2022.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Oilers Recall Noah Philp

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The Edmonton Oilers have recalled forward Noah Philp from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield (as per Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic). The 26-year-old will be an option for Edmonton heading into tomorrow night’s game against Minnesota and could get an extended look before the NHL Trade Deadline if he is a good fit in their bottom six forward group.

The Oilers dressed just 11 forwards last night and have a real issue with depth at the center position which should give Philp an opportunity to center the fourth line before Edmonton pulls the trigger on a move. Derek Ryan has struggled as of late and has been a healthy scratch on multiple occasions. The Oilers likely see their center depth as a concern that they will need to address before March 7th.

Philp nearly made the Oilers out of training camp but was sent to Bakersfield where he has had a strong first half of the season, registering nine goals and eight assists in 28 games. He did get a three-game audition with the Oilers in late October/early November and filled in admirably as Connor McDavid was out of the lineup with an ankle injury. Philp saw limited minutes, averaging just 10:44 of ice time per game during that mini-run. However, he did pick up an assist and appeared to grow more comfortable and assertive as the games went on. It’s hard to make much out of 31 minutes of NHL action, but Philp’s size, speed, and his defensive work certainly make for an intriguing option in Edmonton’s bottom six.

Philp’s story is certainly a feel-good one. The Canmore, Alberta native played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League before spending two seasons with the University of Alberta. He then was able to catch on with Bakersfield as an undrafted free agent in 2022. After a successful first AHL season, Philp went on a hiatus from professional hockey last season before signing a one-year two-way contract with Edmonton last summer.

Multiple Canadian Teams Interested In John Klingberg

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The Maple Leafs, Oilers and Senators are among the five to seven teams that have expressed interest in signing unrestricted free agent defenseman John Klingberg, Darren Dreger of TSN reports Tuesday.

Klingberg, 32, has not played since hip resurfacing surgery capped his 2023-24 campaign with Toronto at 14 games. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported last month that Klingberg was set to resume skating in Toronto after the holiday break and hoped to sign with a team for the rest of the season once he got back up to speed.

According to Dreger, Klingberg’s rehabilitation over the past couple of weeks has gone as planned. He still has a ways to go and needs another couple of weeks before he’ll be medically cleared to sign anywhere, but all signs point to him resuming his NHL career and doing so north of the border. The Canucks have also expressed interest in signing Klingberg but have done so to a lesser degree than their Canadian rivals, Dreger added.

Once one of the top power-play weapons in the league, the past few seasons have been tough on Klingberg. After operating at least at a 45-point pace in each of his first eight NHL seasons with the Stars, Klingberg wanted more money than Dallas was willing to offer him due to the emergence of Miro Heiskanen and he tested the open market in 2022 after completing a team-friendly seven-year, $29.75MM deal in Texas.

Klingberg severely misgauged his market, though. After sitting unsigned for weeks and changing his agents, he came to terms with the Ducks on a one-year deal worth $7MM.

Since doing so, Klingberg hasn’t been a reliable top-four option. He did average nearly 21 minutes per game in Anaheim, recording 24 points in 50 games before he was dealt to the Wild at the trade deadline, but did so on one of the worst defensive teams in league history. His even-strength minutes were slashed, although the Maple Leafs bet on him rebounding into at least a fringe top-four option when they signed him to another one-year deal the following summer.

Klingberg didn’t have a chance to prove very much, recording five assists and a minus-seven rating in 14 games before his hip issues shut him down for the remainder of the campaign. He underwent his resurfacing surgery in early December, and now over 13 months later, he’s back on the ice.

The Oilers have the biggest need for Klingberg’s services out of the three, and Edmonton is also where Klingberg’s stock stands to benefit the most. He would presumably remain relegated to a bottom-pairing role at even strength, but he would be an upgrade on their second power-play unit, at least offensively, over current point men Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse. The chance to even sniff first power-play minutes and join a unit that’s clicking at nearly 25% would also boost his point totals and his market value heading into free agency again this summer, assuming he can stay healthy.

Oilers’ Evander Kane Undergoes Knee Surgery, Out Additional 4-8 Weeks

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Oilers winger Evander Kane underwent a knee procedure on Thursday in Edmonton that will keep him out of the lineup for at least another four to eight weeks, the team said in a statement. While it’s unrelated to the abdominal procedure he underwent in September that’s kept him sidelined for all of the regular season thus far, he’ll need to pause his rehabilitation schedule from that surgery to focus on his knee, the club said.

Kane, 33, should now be considered doubtful to play at all in the regular season. The veteran power forward played through a sports hernia for a good portion of 2023-24, which ended up requiring major surgery at the beginning of training camp to repair it, as well as two torn hip adductor muscles and two torn lower abdominal muscles.

The initial prognosis was a four-month return timeline, which would have put him back in the lineup sometime around the 4 Nations Face-Off. Instead, he’ll now surely be out past the trade deadline and potentially into the postseason.

Kane’s injuries took a toll on his production in 2023-24. While his 77 games played were his most since arriving in Edmonton for the 2021-22 season, his 24 goals and 44 points worked out to 0.57 points per game – his worst since the 2015-16 campaign.

In turn, Kane saw his ice time drop from nearly 19 minutes per game in 2022-23 to 16:47 per game last year, his lowest usage since his rookie season in Atlanta in 2009-10. He added eight points and a league-high 37 PIMs in 20 postseason contests as his Oilers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.

Crucially for Edmonton, Kane missing the rest of the regular season would allow them to keep his $5.125MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve through the trade deadline. The Oilers have done a good job staying out of LTIR throughout the year, so they should be able to take full advantage of that flexibility on deadline day and will likely be able to make a couple of adds without too much financial worry.

Bowman: News On Kane Expected Soon; Stonehouse Traded In The OHL

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Originally anticipated to be returning to the lineup in 2025, that hasn’t been the case for Oilers winger Evander Kane as he is not particularly close to a return.  Speaking with Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, GM Stan Bowman indicated that while Kane has been doing his rehab, he doesn’t have any new information about his potential return.  However, Bowman added that more clarity should be coming soon on that front.  Edmonton has been operating under the cap this season instead of using LTIR in an effort to give themselves a bit of cap flexibility for when Kane returns.  However, if Kane isn’t able to return during the regular season, the Oilers could then dip into LTIR, allowing them to go over the cap by up to $5.125MM which would open up more avenues heading to the trade deadline.

  • Still with the Oilers, prospect Brady Stonehouse is on the move in the OHL as Peterborough announced that they’ve acquired the winger from Ottawa. Edmonton signed the 20-year-old as an undrafted free agent back in 2023 and he is burning the first year of his entry-level deal at the junior level.  In 18 games with the 67’s prior to the swap, Stonehouse had five goals and five assists.

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