- The injury to Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins likely won’t play much of an impact in Edmonton’s trade deadline preparations, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector suggests. While there’s a strong assumption that Nugent-Hopkins will eventually have to be traded with Connor McDavid’s new $12.5MM AAV contract kicking in next season, it’s unlikely that they would have been looking to move him until the summer anyway and the news he’ll miss five-to-six weeks all but cements that.
Oilers Rumors
Edmonton Oilers Place Nugent-Hopkins On IR, Recall Pakarinen
The Edmonton Oilers have placed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on injured reserve, recalling Iiro Pakarinen to fill his roster spot. Nugent-Hopkins was injured in Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, but was expected to return following the Oilers bye week. Edmonton won’t be back in action until Saturday evening, but have at least brought Pakarinen up to practice with the team in case Nugent-Hopkins is unable to play.
Pakarinen, 26, has played 18 games for the Oilers this season but has been held to just a single point. The Finnish forward was re-signed to a one-year $750K contract last spring, and was expected to take a regular role in Edmonton’s bottom six. That hasn’t exactly materialized, as he’s spent just as much time in the minor leagues as the NHL, scoring 13 points in 18 games for the Bakersfield Condors.
The Oilers will start the unofficial second half of their season against the Vancouver Canucks this weekend, and find themselves still 10 points out of a wildcard spot with several teams ahead of them. Sitting 13th in the Western Conference, their season hasn’t gone anything like what was expected of them after Connor McDavid and Cam Talbot led them to a seventh game of the second round a year ago.
With their third-leading scorer in Nugent-Hopkins now banged up, and just 16 games left before the February 26th trade deadline, the Oilers will have to make a quick decision on whether to sell off several of their assets or try and climb their way out of the gutter with a strong second half. It’s not out of the question that they could make up some ground in the Pacific Division, but pending unrestricted free agents like Patrick Maroon, Mark Letestu and Mike Cammalleri might all be more useful to the franchise going forward as trade bait.
Oilers Likely To Trade Patrick Maroon
With the Oilers on the outside looking in at a playoff spot and the fact that he is a pending unrestricted free agent, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Sportsnet 960 (audio link) that it’s highly likely that winger Patrick Maroon is dealt in advance of the February 26th trade deadline.
“I think he’s going to get traded. I don’t think there’s a doubt that he’s going to get traded. I would be surprised that they’re keeping him. I don’t see any way that he finishes – I shouldn’t say that because there’s always a way. I would say it is extremely, extremely unlikely that he finishes this year in Edmonton.”
The rugged winger is on pace for another 20-goal season after posting a career-best 27 last year and has shown some chemistry on Edmonton’s top line with Connor McDavid. That type of versatility to play up and down in the lineup will likely be attractive to teams. The fact that he doesn’t shy away from playing physically will also help, knowing that the postseason is a tougher grind than the regular season.
What will perhaps be most appealing to teams is Maroon’s contract. While he carries a cap hit of $2MM, $500K of that is being retained by Anaheim as part of the trade that saw him join Edmonton back at the 2016 deadline. Most contending teams should be able to work in a prorated $1.5MM cap charge without too much difficulty and the asking price will undoubtedly be lower than what Buffalo is seeking for Evander Kane, the top rental player up front.
While the Oilers have certainly been pleased with what Maroon has been able to provide since being acquired, they’re unlikely to have the money to keep him around on a long-term deal with McDavid’s new $12.5MM contract kicking in next season and have nearly $61MM committed to just 13 players, per CapFriendly. As a result, even if they do inch closer to a postseason spot in the weeks to come, the prudent move for the Oilers may still be to trade Maroon now rather than lose a key contributor for nothing in the summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Dealing With Bruising But No Concussion
- Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins left Saturday’s game with what was speculated to be a head injury but TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports via Twitter that there are no concussion concerns. Instead, he’s dealing with some bruising that the team is hopeful will have gone away by the time they’re off their bye week on Saturday. Although he has frequently been involved in trade speculation, Nugent-Hopkins has quietly put together a strong year, sitting third in Edmonton scoring with 31 points in 46 games.
Pacific Notes: Vancouver’s Defense, Kane, Muzzin, Sekera
The Vancouver Canucks have been hurting for offense for quite some time. Yet despite adding veteran Thomas Vanek and rookie sensation Brock Boeser to the team’s lineup, the team is ranked 27th in the league in scoring. The Vancouver Sun’s Jason Botchford writes that the main reason is due to the defense’s inability to move the puck forward and help create offense.
Vancouver lacks a true offensive defenseman as the team seems to have little, but defensive blueliners in their rotations. The team’s top offensive defenseman is offseason acquisition Michael Del Zotto, who has 12 points this year, but Botchford says that the 27-year-old has rarely been the answer this season. The teams had hoped that third-year defenseman Ben Hutton might improve on his rookie year’s 25 points. Yet he has no goals and just six assists so far this year. Alexander Edler also has failed to improve on his offense as well.
Botchford says the team does have one possibility in AHL’s Philip Holm, who has seven goals and 19 points in 30 games this year in Utica. However, the team has not used him this year despite their need for an offensive spark. The team has a logjam of defenders and a trade deadline deal to move out Erik Gudbranson might be the best thing for the Canucks as it would allow the team to start playing the 26-year-old Holm.
- The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that while he believes that San Jose Sharks might be interested in acquiring Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane at the trade deadline, there are definitely some issues with doing that. While Kane would provide the Sharks an immediate top scorer (his 35 points would make him San Jose’s top point-getter) which could offer the Sharks the depth needed to field three solid lines, there are other factors San Jose would have to consider before making a trade. The current asking price by Buffalo is a first-rounder, a top prospect and a conditional pick. The team lacks resources as they attempt to retool their franchise, so moving those three assets would be tough to do. On top of that, the team would have to have confidence to re-sign Kane to a long-term deal and would they want to do that. He has a history of concerning incidents in his past, including a recent scuffle with teammate Justin Falk. Would the team want to sign him to a seven or eight year deal?
- Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin is listed as doubtful, according to Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen. Muzzin, who had played in a consecutive 281 games, broke that streak last Saturday when he missed a game against Nashville with an undisclosed injury. He is not expected to play tonight against the Ducks, but is making progress.
- Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal grades the performances of all the Oilers after Friday’s victory over Arizona and points out the defenseman Andrej Sekera has improved every game he’s played since returning and is already looking more as himself since returning from a torn ACL.
Slepyshev's Availability Troubling Trend For Oilers
As it was reported earlier, the Edmonton Journal’s Bruce McCurdy believes that Anton Slepyshev’s availability is a “fire sale” sign that Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli has displayed for the entire league. McCurdy opines that the Oilers “appear poised to part company with yet another talented young Russian for pennies on the dollar.” Arguments abound for and against such a decision, with the former being that the young forward struggled with injuries and didn’t put together enough “excellent” nights to justify his keep. The latter argument poses that the youngster received an ample chance to display what he could do. Given little to no opportunity on special teams and logging limited minutes, McCurdy writes that the Russian posted impressive numbers during those limited chances–fleshed out further by advanced metrics. To be fair, McCurdy points out that only 40% of the Oilers goals occurred when Slepyshev was on the ice while his “pedestrian” numbers of 1 goal, and 3 points do little to help his case. While it appears to be another young player that the Oilers will ship out, one can only wonder how much longer the front office and coaching staff have before they’re the next to be booted.
Edmonton Makes Anton Slepyshev Available In Trade
The Edmonton Oilers are experiencing a disappointing season, and have been considering which direction they will take at the trade deadline. Today, according to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, the team has informed the rest of the NHL about Anton Slepyshev’s availability. As Spector points out, Slepyshev recently became waiver eligible.
Slepyshev, 23, has registered just three points this season in 18 contests for the Oilers, also spending time in the press box as a healthy scratch. The third-round pick from 2013 made his NHL debut two seasons ago, but hasn’t been able to lock down a full-time job with the club or replicate the offensive success he found in his final year in the KHL. In that 2014-15 season, Slepyshev recorded 15 goals and 25 points in 58 games, but he has just 14 points during his NHL career.
Still, there is some upside there to be had for a club looking for a big winger to help their bottom-six. Whether he’ll ever be able to contribute much offensively is still very much still up for debate, but he has recorded positive possession statistics this year and could still develop into something over the next few years.
The problem—one that Edmonton surely realizes—is that Slepyshev is set to become a restricted free agent this summer and has arbitration rights. A qualifying offer of just under $875K might be even too much for a club worried about salary structure to hand out, meaning there’s a chance he could become an unrestricted free agent anyway.
Morning Notes: Trade Bait, Golden Knights, Hurricanes
TSN’s Frank Seravalli released his updated “trade bait” board, and the name at the top once again is Buffalo’s Evander Kane. Kane was recently involved in a minor altercation at Sabres practice, and has a reported price tag of a first-round pick, prospect and conditional draft pick based on him re-signing with the acquiring team. Though Kane’s deal seems inevitable at this point, several other names on the list are interesting.
Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman appears fourth on the list, and fellow TSN insider Bob McKenzie believes a deal of the scoring forward is “more likely than not” at this point. Seravalli maintains that even though the Vegas Golden Knights are winning, James Neal remains a possible trade candidate, while Patrick Maroon seems like an easy rental piece after the Edmonton Oilers’ struggles this year.
- The US Army has filed a notice of opposition against the Golden Knights trademark, according to Chris Creamer of Sportslogos.net. Creamer has been all over this story since the beginning, noting that both the Army and the College of Saint Rose who each use the Golden Knights name, had filed extensions when the first trademark opposition deadline came about. Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated gives us the Vegas hockey team’s response, in which they “strongly dispute” the idea that there is any confusion between the army parachute team and the NHL club.
- The sale of a majority stake in the Carolina Hurricanes to new owner Thomas Dundon will close today according to Luke DeCock and Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. Dundon will be purchasing just over 51% of the club, with an option to buy the rest after three years from now-minority owner Peter Karmanos. While it’s not clear how exactly the deal will impact the team on the ice, it should provide some extra stability to the executive level.
2018 All-Star Rosters
The NHL released the rosters for this year’s All-Star game in Tampa Bay, leading to an inevitable onslaught of discussion over who missed out and who didn’t deserve to go. The event will take place on January 27-28th. The full rosters can be found below:
Atlantic Division:
F Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning (captain)
F Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
F Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs
F Aleksander Barkov – Florida Panthers
F Brad Marchand – Boston Bruins
F Jack Eichel – Buffalo Sabres
D Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning
D Erik Karlsson – Ottawa Senators
D Mike Green – Detroit Red Wings
G Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning
G Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens
Head Coach: Jon Cooper
Metropolitan Division:
F Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals (captain)
F Taylor Hall – New Jersey Devils
F Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
F Josh Bailey – New York Islanders
F John Tavares – New York Islanders
F Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers
D Seth Jones – Columbus Blue Jackets
D Noah Hanifin – Carolina Hurricanes
D Kris Letang – Pittsburgh Penguins
G Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers
G Braden Holtby – Washington Capitals
Head Coach: Barry Trotz
Central Division:
F Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks
F Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche
F Blake Wheeler – Winnipeg Jets
F Brayden Schenn – St. Louis Blues
F Eric Staal – Minnesota Wild
F Tyler Seguin – Dallas Stars
D P.K. Subban – Nashville Predators (captain)
D Alex Pietrangelo – St. Louis Blues
D John Klingberg – Dallas Stars
G Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators
G Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets
Head Coach: Peter Laviolette
Pacific Division:
F Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers (captain)
F Johnny Gaudreau – Calgary Flames
F Brock Boeser – Vancouver Canucks
F James Neal – Vegas Golden Knights
F Rickard Rakell – Anaheim Ducks
F Anze Kopitar – Los Angeles Kings
D Drew Doughty – Los Angeles Kings
D Brent Burns – San Jose Sharks
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Arizona Coyotes
G Jonathan Quick – Los Angeles Kings
G Marc-Andre Fleury – Vegas Golden Knights
Head Coach: Gerard Gallant
Peter Chiarelli Talks About Direction Of Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers’ season hasn’t gone as expected. After taking the Anaheim Ducks to Game 7 of the second round last year, the Oilers were expected to be a Stanley Cup contender and steamroll over the Pacific Division with a dynamic offense led by Connor McDavid. Instead, Edmonton has just 118 goals on the season and sits 13th in the Western Conference standings with just 39 points through 43 games.
Because of their struggles, head coach Todd McLellan’s name has been thrown around as a potential scapegoat, while GM Peter Chiarelli has felt some of that heat himself. Chiarelli said as much when speaking with TSN’s Ryan Rishaug today in a long interview that goes in detail on several topics.
Chiarelli once again stated that he would not be firing McLellan this season despite the struggles, and refuses to pin all of the blame on him or his coaching staff. Instead, the GM believes there has been a confluence of issues that have resulted in a poor record and the front office is still working out what exactly has gone wrong. With that, he wouldn’t reveal which direction the team will take at the trade deadline but admitted that a decision would have to be made soon.
Rishaug was quick to mention that McDavid’s entry-level contract is up after this season, at which point his cap hit will balloon to $12.5MM for the next eight years. With Leon Draisaitl already making $8.5MM this season, the Oilers will have trouble adding much in terms of free agency over the coming years. There simply won’t be much money to go around if they’re going to continue to lock up their homegrown talent while paying $21MM to their top two offensive talents.
The Oilers do have expiring assets that could be used as bait as the deadline approaches. Patrick Maroon, Mark Letestu and Mike Cammalleri are all unrestricted free agents at the end of the year and could be interesting additions for various clubs around the league. Beyond that, Ryan Strome, the player acquired in exchange for Jordan Eberle in the offseason (a topic that is broached by Rishaug in the interview) is a restricted free agent that could be viewed as another buy-low candidate for a rebuilding team. Strome is due a $3MM qualifying offer this summer and is arbitration eligible, making it possible that Edmonton can’t even afford him depending on how they view his value going forward.
Looking forward there is quite a number of unknowns in Edmonton. Cam Talbot is only signed through the 2018-19 season and has seen his play drop off this year, while is a trio of veterans with full no-move clauses and big cap hits. Milan Lucic, Andrei Sekera and Kris Russell are all on deals that take them through at least the 2020-21 season, and combine for a $15.5MM cap hit. Though each brings some value to the team, they can only be relied upon as complimentary players at this point in there careers.
It’s unclear which path Chiarelli will take at the deadline, and whether any core pieces will be moved out to try and send the team in a different direction next season. It does seem likely that if there isn’t a marked improvement at this point next year, Chiarelli’s seat might not just be hot, it might be gone.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images