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Barrier Activated Off Injured Reserve

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The Edmonton Oilers announced that they have officially activated defenseman Tyson Barrie off of injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Barrie had been placed on IR on March 7th, retroactive to March 5th, missing the past three games. Adding Barrie back into the lineup will give the Oilers more of an offensive punch on their back end and deepen their defensive core once again.

For Barrie, this trip to the IR was his third absence from the Oilers roster in 2022, having previously spent time on IR in late January and early February, as well as time in COVID protocol in January. Barrie has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence to his career since joining Edmonton before the 2020-21 season and signing a three-year, $13.5MM contract with the Oilers this past July. The Oilers will certainly count on Barrie to remain healthy down the stretch, as the team will need all it can get to secure a playoff spot in the incredibly tight Western Conference.

Oilers Have Been Linked To Dominik Kubalik

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  • Pope reports in the same column that the Ducks have been interested in winger Dominik Kubalik and that the 26-year-old is no longer viewed by the organization as part of their future. Kubalik is owed a $4MM qualifying offer and with 11 goals and 10 assists in 59 games this season, it would be hard to justify tendering that offer although there’s nothing stopping GM Kyle Davidson from approaching him about signing a cheaper deal to stay in Chicago; it stands to reason that Anaheim would be interested in signing him for less as well.  Pope also lists the Oilers as a team that has been linked to him although making the cap work would be a lot more challenging for them than it would for Anaheim.

Josh Archibald To Be Activated Off LTIR

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After what’s been a season-long doubt with myocarditis, Edmonton Oilers winger is expected to come off long-term injured reserve, per The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman. He could be an option to play for the team in the coming days.

In order to make room on the active roster, forward Colton Sceviour and goalie Stuart Skinner were assigned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors today, according to Nugent-Bowman.

However, the games he’s legally able to play in after his return could be limited. Archibald is still unvaccinated against COVID-19, and due to border complications and local restrictions, it’s unclear how available Archibald could actually be for the team.

Over the past two seasons, Archibald had played 114 games for the Oilers, tallying 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points. Now 29, Archibald will have to compete in what’s become a crowded Oilers bottom-six group.

Edmonton Oilers Extend Markus Niemelainen

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The Edmonton Oilers have reached a two-year contract extension with Markus Niemelainen, one which will keep him signed and on an average annual value of just $762K. The first year of the extension, 2022-23, is a two-way contract, while 2023-24 will be a one-way deal.

Niemelainen, 23, has split this season between the Oilers and the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL, providing some valuable size and depth whenever Edmonton is dealing with injuries. The 6’6″ defenseman is averaging just over 13 minutes in those NHL appearances–and even less in his most recent few–but has flashed a defensive ability that isn’t all that common among the rest of the team’s young options. He’s actually fourth on the team in hits despite playing in just a third of the games, and his length suggests he could have a substantial role on the penalty kill down the road.

This deal represents a bet from the Oilers that he can provide some more NHL minutes over the next couple of seasons and comes with basically no risk. The cap hit means he’s earning league-minimum in both years (and should actually be $762.5K for this reason) so even if he’s just an extra defenseman on the roster, it’s worth it. Notably though, Niemelainen still won’t be eligible for waivers next season, meaning he can continue to bounce up and down without worry of claim. That is of course unless he establishes himself as a regular at some point before 2023-24 and manages to get into 43 more games.

Either way, this is a little bit of work done for general manager Ken Holland and his staff ahead of the trade deadline, when things will get really interesting in Edmonton.

Tyson Barrie Placed On Injured Reserve; Stuart Skinner Recalled

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The Edmonton Oilers have officially recalled Stuart Skinner from the AHL, as Mike Smith continues to deal with an illness. To make room, Tyson Barrie has been placed on injured reserve.

Barrie, 30, was injured in a game earlier this month against the Chicago Blackhawks and was recently listed as “day-to-day” by head coach Jay Woodcroft. Given that his placement on IR is retroactive to March 5 and he has to miss at least seven days, he’ll miss at least the next few games while he recovers.

Skinner meanwhile is set to serve as the backup tonight behind Mikko Koskinen, though many believe he should be getting a chance to play for the Oilers given their goaltending issues. The 23-year-old goaltender has a .913 save percentage in 13 appearances this season, including a 20-save shutout in his most recent game–almost a month ago against the San Jose Sharks.

Since then, he’s been playing in the minor leagues where he continues to find success. In his most recent game with the Bakersfield Condors, Skinner stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn an overtime victory against the Stockton Heat. Overall, he has a .919 save percentage in the AHL this season.

Oilers Could Look At External Upgrades In Net

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  • As mentioned in the team’s Trade Deadline Primer, the Oilers’ goaltending situation should be their key priority when approaching the trade deadline. The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman examined that situation in more detail. (subscription required) The Oilers are in dire need of improvement in the crease, and the team could look to add outside help at the deadline. Nugent-Bowman floats four names as potential trade targets: Semyon Varlamov, Ville Husso, Braden Holtby, and James Reimer. He notes that Oilers’ GM Ken Holland “won’t send away top assets for rentals,” but also highlights the importance of the Oilers improving their play in net. Varlamov, Husso, Holtby, and Reimer would all be definite improvements over Koskinen and Smith, but the responsibility is on Holland to strike a deal if that improvement is to be secured.

Trade Deadline Primer: Edmonton Oilers

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As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make?  We continue our look around the league with the Edmonton Oilers.

There is a lot of pressure on the Edmonton Oilers this season. The team boasts two of the NHL’s premier offensive talents, but has been unable to find any sort of consistent play, and as a result is on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. They sit a point behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card spot (with two extra games played) and two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. The Oilers got off to a blazing start, but then went on a brutal stretch of games that ended up costing coach Dave Tippett his job. The season is now in the hands of interim coach Jay Woodcroft, and as the deadline nears the heat is on GM Ken Holland to fix the issues with his roster in order to provide Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with the best chance to truly threaten for a Stanley Cup for the first time in their careers.

Record

30-22-4, 4th in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$1.96MM today, $1.96MM in full-season space, 43/50 contracts used, 1/3 retention slots used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2022: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd*, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th

2023: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd, EDM 3rd, EDM 4th, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th

* Per the terms of the offseason Duncan Keith trade, if the Oilers make the 2022 Stanley Cup Final and Keith is inside the Oilers’ top-four highest time-on-ice for defenseman during those first three rounds of their playoff run, the Chicago Blackhawks will receive Edmonton’s 2022 2nd instead of the 2022 3rd they are currently owed.

Trade Chips

Much of the conversation surrounding the Oilers this season concerns their goaltending, and it’s not difficult to see why. Their tandem of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen has been challenging, to say the least. Smith, 39, has an .891 save percentage so far this season. Koskinen, 33, has been slightly better, with a mark of .904 in 31 starts. Koskinen is more important for the deadline, though, because of his cap hit. He is on an expiring contract that has a $4.5MM cap hit, a number that the Oilers would likely be eager to ship out in order to facilitate adding additional players to a roster without much wiggle room under the cap. The issue with trading Koskinen, though, is that he has trade protection on his contract. Koskinen is allowed to submit a no-trade list of 15 teams, per CapFriendly, and that reality combined with his play this season could make him a difficult asset to move despite how beneficial it could be for the Oilers.

Pivoting from goaltending, if the Oilers do wish to make upgrades to their team at the deadline they could potentially need to part ways with players on their NHL roster to make a deal work. One of those players who could be moved is winger Kailer Yamamoto. Yamamoto, 23, is the 22nd overall pick from the 2017 draft who has flashed great offensive talent at the NHL level but has yet to put together his game on a more consistent basis. After a brilliant 27-game stretch with the Oilers in 2019-2020 where he had 26 points, Yamamoto struggled to re-capture that offensive spark. He has only 20 points in 55 games this season and had 21 points in 52 games last season, marks that are clearly lower than what a five-foot-eight, skilled offensive player would be expected to produce at the NHL level. But despite those struggles with consistency, Yamamoto remains a somewhat tantalizing offensive talent who has scored at a high level earlier in his career. Given his age and status as a former top prospect, Yamamoto could be a player other teams target to receive in return for the player they send to the Oilers.

If the Oilers need to create some cap space in order to faciliate bigger additions at the deadline, but moving Koskinen’s contract proves to be impossible given his no-trade protection or $4.5MM cap hit, a player who could be shipped out instead (for more modest savings) is center Kyle Turris. Turris is a longtime NHL veteran who was the 3rd overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft and starred with the Ottawa Senators from 2011-12 season to the 2017-18 campaign, when he was included in the blockbuster Matt Duchene trade. Since that point, Turris has struggled to maintain his form as an NHL scoring center. He was bought out of a massive extension with the Nashville Predators, and signed a two-year contract with the Oilers in the 2020 offseason with the idea that he could be a strong third-line-center for the club. Since signing, Turris has continued his struggles and has only nine total points in his 50 games in Edmonton over two seasons. With a cap hit of $1.65MM, he would provide some relatively minor (but still potentially crucial) savings for the Oilers if he is shipped away at the deadline.

Others to Watch For: F Tyler Benson, D Tyson Barrie, D Dmitri Samorukov

Team Needs

1) Quality Goaltending

The Oilers are desperate to make noise in the playoffs this season, something that has not really happened in the McDavid-Draisaitl era. In order to make noise in the playoffs, teams typically need exceptional goaltending. What the Oilers have received from their Koskinen-Smith tandem this season has been far from exceptional, as mentioned before. If Holland is serious about wanting his team to earnestly compete for a Stanley Cup, they simply must have a different goalie starting playoff games for them this spring. Barring some unforeseen miracle, a long playoff run will probably not be possible with Koskinen or Smith minding the crease.

2) Defensive Reinforcements

Evan Bouchard has impressed this season, but if the Oilers are to be Stanley Cup contenders they will need to add some help to their defense. Darnell Nurse is a star, and Keith has had a great career, but as currently constructed their defense is a flawed unit that rarely does its goaltending many favors. We all know that playoff hockey is a different beast than the regular season grind, and perhaps adding some muscle and experience to reinforce a defense populated with offensively-oriented players like Barrie and Bouchard could make for a more well-rounded unit.

3) Additional Scoring Depth

Looking at the situation from a strictly on-ice perspective, Evander Kane has been an important addition for an Oilers team with some issues getting reliable scoring outside of their two offensive dynamos. Adding more experienced offensive scorers to this roster could help them down the stretch as they are currently a bit too reliant on their dynamic power play to create goals. Adding some additional scoring depth should not be the first priority for Holland’s deadline, goaltending is far more crucial, but the team’s issues scoring sustainably at five-on-five is something to definitely keep an eye on.

Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

 

 

AHL Shuffle: 03/05/22

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It is a busy Saturday across the NHL with 10 games on the docket over the course of 12+ hours. The St. Louis Blues and New York Islanders kick things off at 11:30am CT, followed by at least one game starting nearly every hour from 2:00pm CT until the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche square off in one of the most highly-anticipated match-ups of the season thus far at 9:00pm CT. If all of these teams aren’t too busy preparing and the other dozen not playing aren’t too busy themselves watching all the action, perhaps we will see some roster movement today.

Atlantic Division

Metropolitan Division

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have demoted defenseman Jake Christiansen, a player who has been up and down regularly this season. The team announced that Christiansen has been reassigned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, where he has played in 39 games this year. While he has only suited up for four with the Blue Jackets, Christiansen has spent considerable time on the NHL roster.
  • Kevin Hayes is back with the Philadelphia Flyers. The veteran center has been out since mid-January after undergoing surgery and his recovery exceeded the expected three-to-four week projection. However, he has finally been activated from the injured reserve. Philadelphia may not have many playoff hopes left this season, but will be glad to have a locker room leader back. The timing is poor for Wade Allison, who has also been activated from the IR but with Hayes taking the open NHL roster spot, Allison will head to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Allison suffered a knee injury in his season debut back in January and has been out ever since, but certainly hoped to return to the Flyers lineup after playing in 14 games as a rookie last season.
  • The New York Islanders recalled two players in time for their game against the St. Louis Blues earlier today, a 2-1 win for New York. Forward Otto Koivula was recalled from Bridgeport and played in the game for the Islanders, who were without forwards Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee. This was just Kiovula’s fourth game of the season, last playing December 2nd for the Islanders. Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon was also recalled from Bridgeport, but was immediately sent back down after the game. Wotherspoon has yet to make his NHL debut, but has been a solid contributor for Bridgeport the past few seasons.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes recalled goaltender Alex Lyon from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves on an emergency basis. The 29-year-old Lyon has only played in two games this year for Carolina, but has had an impressive 23 games in the AHL, carrying a 2.14 goals against average and .911 save percentage. Lyon’s emergency recall suggests that one of Antti Raanta or Frederik Andersen are unable to go for Carolina tomorrow night.

Central Division

Pacific Division

  • The Edmonton Oilers recalled defenseman Philip Broberg from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. Broberg was immediately inserted into the Oilers lineup as they square off against the Montreal Canadiens at home. The 20-year-old Broberg has just one point in 17 games this season for Edmonton, but has excelled in the AHL, tallying 19 points in 27 games.

Oilers Place Ryan Nugent-Hopkins On IR, Activate Kyle Turris

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The Edmonton Oilers have performed a roster swap of sorts, moving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to injured reserve in order to activate veteran forward Kyle Turris, as per the team.

Nugent-Hopkins has already been on the shelf for about a week with an upper-body injury suffered on February 26th against the Florida Panthers, causing him to leave the game after just three shifts. It’s his second injury-related absence this season after a lower-body injury kept him out for most of January.

Turris, who has just a goal and three assists in 22 games this season, has played just one game since January 5th. He subsequently entered COVID protocol, played one game, and then suffered an undisclosed injury that’s sidelined him for around a month.

With Nugent-Hopkins still out of the mix for a little while yet, the team will need to rely more on wingers such as Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele to up their production. Yamamoto has especially lagged in the points department this season, notching just 11 goals and nine assists in 53 games despite getting consistent top-six usage.

As the Oilers have been icing 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the past while, though, it’s a natural fit for Turris to potentially get his feet back under him with some game action.

Josh Archibald Could Be Traded By Deadline

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Because of how difficult that makes it for him to play with the Oilers or go on a conditioning loan to the Bakersfield Condors due to cross-border travel, Spector expects Archibald to be traded to a U.S.-based team at some point and suggests his time as an Oiler is effectively over. The 29-year-old forward is a pending unrestricted free agent in the second season of a two-year contract that carries a $1.5MM cap hit. He scored seven goals and 13 points in 52 games last season.

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