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Edmonton Oilers Linked To Matt Dumba

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It seems as though Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba has been on the trade block for years on end. Now, rumors are once again starting to build up regarding the 2012 seventh overall pick. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on today’s edition of Insider Trading that both the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers have shown interest in Dumba, who is a pending unrestricted free agent.

Ottawa seems to have a larger hole of the two teams mentioned on the right side, but they do sit further out of playoff positioning than the Oilers. With Minnesota solidly in playoff positioning, they would undoubtedly be looking for roster players in return for the 28-year-old Dumba.

Latest On The Edmonton Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers have been one of the most-watched stories in the league this season. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue to put up generational scoring numbers. Still, old issues have reared their ugly heads, and the team remains on the fringes of the playoffs as the calendar turns to 2023.

Edmonton has two big dates circled on their calendar over the next weeks: the return of elite power forward Evander Kane to the lineup and the NHL Trade Deadline on March 3.

In terms of making trades, the Oilers are “working the phones” well before the deadline, writes Pierre LeBrun in a piece for The Athletic. LeBrun says Edmonton has been connected to Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun, as well as Montreal’s Joel Edmundson, and about “every selling team you can think of with a defenseman potentially up for grabs.”

With the team’s swath of promising young defensemen, it does seem that adding just one bigger name into the mix could offer Edmonton the ability to optimize their pairings and solidify defensive issues that have plagued them for years.

However, they can’t expect to keep pucks out of the net without goaltending, which is still somewhat of a concern. Jack Campbell still hasn’t been able to figure things out in Edmonton, now completely losing the starting job to Stuart Skinner just months after signing a five-year, $25MM contract. Skinner himself has been passable at worst and lifesaving at best, maintaining a .914 save percentage through 25 starts.

Kane’s return from a horrifying wrist injury could shore up another issue – depth scoring. Edmonton’s fourth-ranked offense in the NHL comes courtesy of McDavid, Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman, who have scored 95 of their 147 goals (a staggering 65%). No other Oilers forward has more than five goals – which is Kane, who’s played in just 14 games.

His return is likely coming this month, meaning his activation (and salary cap implications) remains untouched by any potential deadline trade.

PuckPedia outlined potential scenarios for the cap-strapped Oilers today, which would allow Kane to come off long-term injured reserve. It would be a tricky scenario, requiring them to place defenseman Ryan Murray on LTIR, assigning Devin Shore and Vincent Desharnais to the minors, and sending one more player down who makes more than $1.125MM against the cap. This would likely be Mattias Janmark, who has nine points in 28 games and failed to make the team out of training camp.

Edmonton Oilers Recall Vincent Desharnais

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Perhaps the Edmonton Oilers can find their defensive stalwart from within. Today the team has recalled Vincent Desharnais from the Bakersfield Condors, the first NHL recall of his professional career.

The 26-year-old defenseman signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Oilers last spring, after a long grind through the college and minor league ranks. Selected 183rd overall in 2016, Desharnais played four years for Providence College, then one in the ECHL, and two more in the AHL before earning his first NHL deal. Now, the team will hope that his 6’6″ frame can translate to the NHL and give them a more effective option for their struggling defensive unit.

Desharnais was excellent in the AHL last year. Racking up 27 points in 66 games, he led the entire league in +/- with a +36 rating. There are times when that statistic can incredibly misleading, but from all accounts, the massive defenseman was a big reason why the Condors were such an effective group. This year hasn’t been quite as good, with Desharnais recording just two points in 13 games, but it isn’t his offense that the team needs.

Edmonton continues to leak scoring chances and goals at a concerning rate, including Saturday night when they gave up two third-period goals to the Colorado Avalanche, before losing in overtime. The team had seven defensemen dressed, but still relied on Darnell Nurse to play more than 28 minutes. Three of Philip Broberg’s ten minutes were short-handed, while Markus Niemelainen saw just a handful of shifts.

While they continue to look for potential trade candidates, it will be interesting to see if Desharnais gets a chance to play. The Oilers are in Los Angeles to take on the Kings tonight.

Edmonton Oilers On Jake McCabe's No-Trade List

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  • When discussing potential defense targets for the Edmonton Oilers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast touched on Jake McCabe of the Chicago Blackhawks. Friedman believes that Edmonton is on McCabe’s no-trade list, which could be the end of any speculation that he could be acquired at the deadline. McCabe holds a seven-team NTC, carries a $4MM cap hit and is signed through the 2024-25 season.

Should Edmonton Deal Their First-Round Pick?

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  • There are teams that will need to move first-round picks over the next couple of months to add a missing piece or two. While the Oilers typically haven’t been one of those lately, Allan Mitchell of The Athletic argues (subscription link) that they should be much more willing to do so this time around.  Whoever they get with that selection if they were to keep it likely wouldn’t be ready to play in Edmonton before the contracts of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl expire.  Accordingly, with the team in win-now mode, acquiring someone with that pick that can help the current core might be the better way for them to go.

Oilers Notes: Kane, Broberg, Defense Options

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The Oilers suffered a big loss back in early November when Evander Kane had his wrist cut by a skate, resulting in emergency surgery that carried an expected recovery timeline of up to four months.  Instead, as Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal notes, the veteran appears to be well ahead of schedule, speculating that he could be back by the end of this month.  Kane is in his first full season with Edmonton and had gotten off to a strong start prior to the injury, picking up 13 points in 14 games while chipping in with 51 hits.  His eventual return will certainly add another gear to their attack and while it would force some cap-shedding moves to activate him from LTIR, it would also allow GM Ken Holland to have a bit more time to evaluate his top six group before the trade deadline to help determine if any moves need to be made on that front.

More from Edmonton:

  • While many expect Edmonton to make a move to add a left-shot defenseman before the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest 32 Thoughts segment (video link) that they plan to give prospect Philip Broberg an extended look first. The 21-year-old has spent a good chunk of the season with the Oilers with his only AHL time being a six-week stretch early in the year (which he was injured for part of).  Broberg, the eighth-overall pick in 2019, has two assists in 15 games with Edmonton this season but is averaging just over 12 minutes a game.  Ideally, he’s able to step up and lessen their need for help from outside the organization so it makes sense that they’ll try to give him a stretch of games first before pondering a move.
  • If and when Edmonton does look elsewhere for a left defender, Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun has been a speculative candidate for a while. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector and Adam Vingan examine how the 24-year-old might fit with the team, noting that while, on paper, adding the top blueliner available makes plenty of sense in theory, he might not be the best fit for Edmonton.  Instead, one scout posits that a more physical stay-at-home defender such as Montreal’s Joel Edmundson or Vancouver’s Luke Schenn might be the better type of player to try to acquire.

Ryan Fanti Assigned To ECHL

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  • The Oilers have re-assigned goaltender Ryan Fanti to Fort Wayne of the ECHL, per the AHL’s transactions log. Edmonton signed the 23-year-old to an entry-level deal back in March but he has struggled in his first full professional season, posting a save percentage below .900 in both the AHL and ECHL.  He had a 3.46 GAA and a .895 SV% in seven games with AHL Bakersfield during his seven-week stint with the Condors.

Oilers Assign James Hamblin To AHL

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The Oilers have made a pair of roster moves today in advance of their game tonight against Colorado.  The team announced (Twitter link) that forward James Hamblin has been assigned to Bakersfield of the AHL.  So too has Justin Bailey after he cleared waivers earlier today following having his AHL deal converted to an NHL one on Friday.

The 23-year-old has been a nice success story for Edmonton this season.  After playing well with the Condors last season, the team gave the undrafted free agent a two-year, entry-level contract back in March with the hopes he’d eventually play his way into an NHL opportunity.  He had a strong stretch in training camp before being one of their final cuts.

Hamblin got off to another good start in the minors with nine points in 15 games, earning himself a recall in late November.  He had been up with Edmonton since then, seeing action in ten games.  While he didn’t record a point, he won over 64% of his faceoffs while logging just shy of nine minutes a night.  However, Hamblin has played just once in the last two and a half weeks which isn’t ideal for a prospect so he’ll head back to the Condors where he’ll see more regular ice time.  As a result of his demotion, the Oilers now have an open spot on their active roster.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Justin Bailey

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Saturday: Bailey has cleared waivers, NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston reports.  He’ll now be allowed to rejoin the Condors.

Friday: The Edmonton Oilers have announced that forward Justin Bailey has been signed to a one-year, $750k two-way deal.

The contract comes after Bailey was signed to an AHL deal with their affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, in September. As part of the signing, Bailey has been placed on waivers for the purpose of officially assigning him to the AHL.

Bailey, 27, is a veteran of 82 NHL games, playing sporadically in the world’s top league over the past seven years. In that time frame, even as Bailey’s NHL opportunities were inconsistent, Bailey developed himself into a valuable AHL scorer.

Last season, Bailey scored 27 points in 30 games for the Abbotsford Canucks, the Vancouver Canucks’ AHL affiliate. In 2019-20, he scored 47 points in 53 games for the Utica Comets. This season, he has 10 points in 16 games for the Condors.

Now that he’s signed to an NHL deal, the Oilers will have the opportunity to recall Bailey from Bakersfield should that be something they wish to do. Before this signing, the Oilers had just 44 contracts on their books, meaning this deal is of little significance when it comes to the 50-contract limit.

Overall, this signing is great news for Bailey, as he likely receives a pay raise as part of the deal as well as the chance to possibly get into some games for the Oilers should the opportunity to do so present itself.

Loan Roundup: 01/06/22

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After Team Canada put gold medals around their neck last night to conclude the 2023 World Junior Championship, a variety of prospects under NHL contract were loaned back to their minor or junior teams today. We’ll keep a running list of those transactions right here.

All transactions are provided by CapFriendly.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets returned defenseman Stanislav Svozil to the WHL’s Regina Pats. Drafted 69th overall in 2021, Svozil had an incredible tournament with eight points in seven games for Czechia, winning a silver medal — the country’s first medal since 2005. Quickly looking like a draft steal, Svozil has 37 points in just 28 games, and he’ll return to playing with presumptive 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard.
  • Also from Columbus, 2022 sixth-overall selection David Jiricek is returning to the Cleveland Monsters, Columbus’ AHL affiliate. Jiricek also helped dominate from the Czech blueline, recording seven points and a staggering +10 rating in seven games. He played his first two NHL games before the tournament and has an impressive 20 points in just 19 games with the Monsters.
  • The Dallas Stars returned dynamic Canadian forward Logan Stankoven to the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. Stankoven, who has a decent shot at making the team out of training camp in 2023-24, had three goals and 11 points in seven games with the Canadians. He was a second-round pick of the Stars in 2021, another budding draft steal.
  • Gritty forward Reid Schaefer, selected with the last pick of the first round in 2022 by the Edmonton Oilers, is returning to the WHL-leading Seattle Thunderbirds. Schaefer played at the bottom of the Canadian lineup and managed one assist in seven contests. He’s fourth on Seattle in goals with 15 in just 22 games.
  • Nashville Predators right-shot defense prospect Jack Matier was loaned back to the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. The 124th overall selection in 2021 is amidst a breakout season in Ottawa, recording 26 points and a +24 rating through 26 games. He had one assist at the World Juniors.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights returned Czech forward Jakub Brabenec to the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix. Drafted 102nd overall in 2021, Brabenec was just dealt to the Phoenix today from the Charlottetown Islanders. His scoring had taken somewhat of a dip before the trade with 25 points in 28 games, but a strong World Juniors performance should instill some confidence.
  • Vegas also sent forward Zach Dean to the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. Taken 30th overall in 2021, Dean has 35 points in 27 games with Gatineau and recorded a goal and two assists for Canada at the tournament.

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