Pacific Notes: Dell, Duclair, Hutton, Sekera
The Sharks aren’t expected to trade any of their young forwards for a scoring upgrade before the trade deadline, notes Paul Gackle of the Mercury News. The one exception to that is if they acquire a young core player in the trade which doesn’t seem likely to happen unless they’re willing to include other future assets in a deal. Accordingly, Gackle makes a compelling case to trade netminder Aaron Dell. The 28-year-old is having himself a strong season and while he provides an above-average insurance policy behind Martin Jones, it’s unlikely that San Jose will be able to afford to keep him around for next season with Dell hitting the open market this summer. With the young forwards off the table, Dell is the one trade chip they can use to bring in someone of consequence to help solidify their hold on a playoff spot. If they were to do so, they would presumably then have to turn around and make a follow-up move to bring in someone else to play behind Jones.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- Coyotes winger Anthony Duclair was a healthy scratch against Washington last night. Head coach Rick Tocchet told Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic that since he wasn’t going to be used in a top-six role, there wasn’t much point to playing him as he’s unable to handle the defensive responsibilities that players in the bottom-six are expected to do. Unfortunately for Duclair, his production so far this season (7-6-13 in 27 games with three of those goals coming in one game) hasn’t been good enough to justify consistent top-six playing time so this may continue for a little bit.
- The Canucks have scratched defenseman Ben Hutton twice over the past week but Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province argues that despite the fact his offensive game hasn’t progressed like many had hoped, Hutton is still their top option on the penalty kill. At 24, Hutton is still young enough to be considered part of their long-term future which makes the decision to sit him down for depth defender Alex Biega a bit surprising. Hutton has just four assists in 34 games but is averaging a career-high 20:50 in playing time per night.
- Although Oilers defenseman Andrej Sekera needed treatment yesterday on his recently-repaired knee following his season debut on Thursday, he will be able to suit up tonight against Montreal, reports Postmedia’s Jim Matheson. The treatment was just precautionary. After playing 16 minutes in his first game, it will be interesting to see if he gets a bigger workload tonight or if they wait until after the holiday break; he has logged more than 21 minutes per night in each of the last five seasons.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Edmonton Oilers
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will look at what teams are thankful for as the season nears the quarter point of completion. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We take a look at what’s gone well in the first month and what could improve as the season rolls on. So far we’ve covered ANA, ARZ, BUF, CGY, CAR, CBJ, COL, DET, LAK, NSH, NJD, NYI, SJS, STL, TOR, WSH, and VGK.
What are the Oilers most thankful for?
The fact that they have already locked up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to long-term deals and don’t have to worry about them wanting to leave after the team’s disappointing start to the season. Not much has gone right for Edmonton as many of their moves have not worked out well and the team sits in seventh place in the Pacific Division (when most people expected them to win it this year) with a 11-14-2 record. The team has had trouble on defense and even have had trouble putting the puck in the net as they have relied too heavily on wings that have not produced. Much of the blame falls to general manager Peter Chiarelli who has made several questionable moves, including trading winger Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome. Eberle has 10 goals and 19 points for the New Yorkk Islanders, while Strome has managed four goals and 11 points.
Who are the Oilers most thankful for?
McDavid. It doesn’t matter how much the team overall has struggled. That just hasn’t been the case for the team’s star player. McDavid has 11 goals and 32 points and been that one positive player to focus around. McDavid, who still makes just $925K, however, will get a nice pay raise next season when his eight year, $100MM extension kicks in, meaning McDavid will be with Edmonton for a long time. He should be in contention for the Hart Trophy again and if he can get a nice hot streak going, perhaps McDavid can beat his 100 points total that he had a year ago.
What would the Oilers be even more thankful for?
Some of their defensive depth to improve. Injuries on their defensive end have not helped with the Oilers struggles this year. The biggest injury was when the team lost Andrej Sekera in May after tearing his ACL. He should be back in a few weeks, although there have been no official updates. Sekera was a critical piece to the team’s defensive success last season. The team has also just lacked depth this year. The team has added former Oiler Brandon Davidson back to the team today after claiming him off waivers from Montreal and expect Adam Larsson to return soon from injury, but the hope is the return of Sekera should give the team the depth it really needs.
What should be on the Oilers’ Holiday Wish List?
Finding a trade partner that can get the team a not too pricey wing solution. The team has tried to put its faith into young wingers like Anton Slepyshev (one goal), Drake Caggiula (four goals), Jujhar Khaira (three goals), Jesse Puljujarvi (four goals), Kailer Yamamoto (one goal and returned to junior team), Iiro Pakarinen (no goals and just waived and sent down to the AHL), Zack Kassian (two goals) and Jussi Jokinen (no goals and traded to the Los Angeles Kings). Many might still have some potential, but none of them seem to be players who could be in the team’s top-six. The team is loaded with centers, but can’t seem to find anyone to consistently put the puck away. A move must be made at some point if they want to salvage their season.
Edmonton Claims Davidson Off Waivers
The Edmonton Oilers have claimed defenseman Brandon Davidson off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens today, according to Elliotte Friedman. This will mark Davidson’s second stint in Edmonton as the Oilers were the team to draft him back in 2010.
Davidson played 91 games for the Oilers until he was traded in February of last season to Montreal for David Desharnais. Davidson was considered a promising young defenseman a few years ago with excellent defensive skills, but never fully developed in Edmonton. After being traded to Montreal, however, he never seemed to be in the coaching staff’s plans too often as he only played 23 games for the Canadiens since February. This season, Davidson has one assist in 13 games.
Now reunited with his previous team, Davidson should immediately jump into their lineup with their injuries on the blueline to Adam Larsson and Andrej Sekera. However, Larsson is eligible to come off injured reserve on Wednesday, and if he does, the team will have to make another defensive decision then, as they will have eight players on the blueline. However, Davidson might be a preferred option to defenseman Yohann Auvito, who has a history of taking a lot of risks on offense.
Assuming he stays with Edmonton after that, he could get a matchup with his old team on Saturday in Montreal.
Pacific Notes: Sekera, Demko, Cogliano
Oilers defenseman Andrej Sekera skated for the first time on Friday since undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL sustained late in May during the playoffs, notes Postmedia’s Jim Matheson. The blueliner says that his recovery is on schedule but given the varying timelines for players coming back from this surgery, there remains no firm timeframe for his return. At the time of the operation, the team said he’d be out between six and nine months; the six-month mark is still a couple of weeks away (November 18th). Sekera estimates that he won’t be cleared for contact for another two weeks so it’s unlikely that he will get the green light to return until late this month at the earliest.
Other notes from the Pacific:
- The Canucks announced the recall of goaltender Thatcher Demko from Utica of the AHL. This will be his second stint with the team so far this season although he did not get into a game when he was up last month. He will be on standby to take the place of Anders Nilsson whose wife is set to give birth shortly. The 21-year-old Demko is off to a strong start in the minors this season with a 1.85 GAA and a .939 SV% through seven AHL appearances this season; those numbers rank fourth and second respectively league-wide among qualifying netminders.
- Ducks winger Andrew Cogliano is set to become only the fourth player in NHL history to play in 800 straight games when he suits up tonight against San Jose, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. He will become only the second player to do so in the first 800 games of his career. The record is held by Doug Jarvis at 964, meaning that if he can stay healthy, Cogliano should have a chance at beating the record in a couple of years.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Edmonton Oilers
Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Edmonton Oilers
Current Cap Hit: $65,647,000 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Matt Benning (One year remaining, $925K)
F Drake Caggiula (One year remaining, $925K)
F Connor McDavid (One year remaining, $925K)
F Jesse Puljujarvi (Two years remaining, $925K)
F Anton Slepyshev (One year remaining, $925K)
F Kailer Yamamoto (Three years remaining, $925K)
D Darnell Nurse (One year remaining, $863K)
Potential Bonuses
McDavid: $2.85MM
Puljujarvi: $2.5MM
Nurse: $850K
Slepyshev: $600K
Caggiula: $425K
Benning: $300K
Yamamoto: $230K
Total: $7.755MM
Believe it or not, McDavid is still on the list as the Art Ross Trophy winner, Hart Memorial Trophy winner, and Ted Lindsay Award winner is on the last year of his entry-level deal. McDavid will also be listed later in the story under four year and more as McDavid signed his eight year, $100MM extension this summer and will be locked up long term regardless. More on him later …
The Oilers have high expectations for both Benning and Nurse to take that next step. With injuries mounting, both should be vaulted into bigger roles than they were last year. The 23-year-old Benning played in 62 games last year and played solidly while filling in for injured players. The 22-year-old Nurse also had a solid showing in 44 games this year. Both may be asked to jump onto top-four pairings on defense throughout the year.
Slepyshev, who suffered an ankle injury in the offseason looks close to being ready. He had 10 points in 41 games a year ago, but also scored three goals in the playoffs for Edmonton last year and many feel the 23-year-old is ready to take that next step. Caggiula, a big college player from the University of North Dakota, had seven goals and 18 points in 60 games a year ago in his first year with Edmonton and is also thought to be a player ready to make a jump.
Both Yamamoto and Puljujarvi (Edmonton’s 2017 and 2016 first-round picks, respectively) went head-to-head and battled it out for a final roster spot this training camp with Yamamoto getting the edge and Puljujarvi getting sent to Bakersfield, but don’t be surprised if Puljujarvi is back up at some point during the season.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
D Mark Fayne ($2.6MM, UFA – team saved $1.025MM in cap relief by sending him to AHL)
F Ryan Strome ($2.5MM, RFA)
F Mark Letestu ($1.8MM, UFA)
F Patrick Maroon ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Jussi Jokinen ($1.1MM, UFA)
G Laurent Brossoit ($750K, RFA)
F Iiro Pakarinen ($725K, RFA)
Perhaps the most interesting player the team must focus on will be Maroon, who had a breakout year playing next to McDavid. The 29-year-old wing scored 27 goals and has proven to be one guy who seems to play well next to McDavid. He is a presence in front of the net and a physical force for the team.
Letestu, is another player the team will have to consider. Likely to be the team’s fourth-line center, Letestu put up 16 goals last year, although that was a career high and he’s already 32 years old. Jokinen, who signed a one-year deal this offseason, put up 11 goals last year in Florida, but at 34 years old is likely not a priority to the team.
As for restricted free agents, the team will take a long look at Strome, who the team acquired in the Jordan Eberle deal. The 24-year-old center has had an inconsistent career with the New York Islanders, but put up 13 goals and 30 points last year. The Oilers hope he can keep improving on those numbers. Brossoit will get his first chance to be Talbot’s backup. The 24-year-old looked promising in eight appearances last year.
Pacific Notes: Virtanen, Neal, Slepyshev, Sekera
One preseason game remaining and Jake Virtanen remains with his team. The former sixth overall pick in 2014, has failed to crack the Canucks roster, but a solid training camp has many believing he has a good chance to become a regular in Vancouver this year, according to NBC Sports Cam Tucker.
After getting into 55 games two years ago with Vancouver in an underwhelming season, he managed to make just 10 appearances last year and even struggled with the AHL’s Utica Comets, scoring just 19 points in 65 games. However, his skills are obvious. Canucks GM Jim Benning has stated that his size and speed just need developing. At 6-foot-1 and 229 pounds and only 21 years old, Virtanen is trying to establish himself now, but is also trying not to think about whether he makes the roster this season. He has focused on his play instead and has already notched three preseason goals.
“I’m not going to worry about that,” Virtanen said of the team’s upcoming roster decisions. “I love when I can get in games. Whatever opportunity you can get, you want to make the most of it.”
- Vegas Golden Knights’ forward James Neal, who has been out with an injured hand, is reportedly practicing today without a red jersey, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. That suggests the top scorer might be ready for the regular season next week. The 32-year-old wing, one of the team’s top players, put up 23 goals last year and is considered to be a key trade chip at the trade deadline later this season.
- The Edmonton Oilers tweeted that forward Anton Slepyshev is expected to make his preseason debut tonight in Vancouver. “We’ve got to get him up and running,” said coach Todd McLellan. Slepyshev has missed all of training camp with an ankle injury. The 23-year-old wing scored four goals in 41 games for Edmonton last year.
- The Athletic’s Sunil Agnihotri (subscription required) writes that Edmonton’s choice to not bring in a veteran defenseman to help the team out while Andrej Sekera is out until January with a torn ACL is a big mistake. The scribe details how relying on internal options to replace him such as Darnell Nurse, Matt Benning or Yohann Auvitu is unreliable as the team hopes one of them makes a jump in their development. One example in his breakdown is Sekera’s success on the power play, which the young candidates have a combined 78 minutes of experience playing there.
Deadline Approaches To Ask Players To Waive No-Movement Clauses
On the heels of yesterday’s report that both Keith Yandle and Dion Phaneuf had been asked to waive their no-movement clauses in order to be exposed for the upcoming expansion draft, speculation is running rampant around the league on who else will be asked. Below is the full list of players who currently require protection due to their clauses. The deadline to submit a request to a player is 4pm CDT today, while the player must inform the team of his decision by the same time on Friday June 16th. Because the Stanley Cup Finals ended last night, Nashville and Pittsburgh will not receive an extension and will need to submit their requests at the same time as every other team.
Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet radio today and mentioned that the Anaheim Ducks have spoken with Kevin Bieksa about possibly waiving his clause, something examined at length in our recent Ducks Expansion Primer.
Anaheim (4)
Kevin Bieksa — Expected to be asked.
Ryan Getzlaf
Ryan Kesler
Corey Perry
Arizona (1)
Alex Goligoski
Boston (4)
David Backes
Patrice Bergeron
Zdeno Chara
David Krejci
Edmonton Oilers Notes: Nugent-Hopkins, Sekera, Bear
The Edmonton Oilers, coming off a successful season in which they improved by 16 victories, and reached the second round of the playoffs (losing to the Anaheim Ducks in seven games), feel that some of their young players have more to learn and improve on as they look towards the 2017-18 season. Oilers head coach Todd McLellan was quoted recently on NHL.com that he feels that center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins must continue to improve, especially on the offensive end.
The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft has already played six full seasons with Edmonton and yet is still only 24 years old. The defensive center, needs to take more chances, according to McLellan and, while the coach praised the young forward for his all-around game, he must learn that it’s OK to take risks, especially now that he has a very talented team around him.
Nugent Hopkins finished with 18 goals and 25 assists for 43 points in 82 games this past season, which was his one his least productive seasons, offensively. He produced 19 goals in 2013-14 and then 24 goals in 2014-15 before only scoring 12 in 2015-16 in 55 games. He was not able to take his game to a new level as he told his coach that he was more focused on his defensive play. His playoff performance this was also disappointing as he didn’t score in 13 games and only finished with four assists.
“… we need him to be a little more productive so we’re going to encourage him to take a little more risk to try and be a little more productive offensively,” McLellan said. “Not at the cost of losing a game or anything like that, but mistakes are going to happen and you have teammates that have to cover for you sometimes.”
- McLellan also tried to look on the bright side of the loss of their top defenseman Andrej Sekera, who will be out six to nine months after tearing his ACL in Game 5 of the second-round series against the Ducks. The coach said that while the loss is tragic and the team will miss his veteran presence over the first half (or more) of the season, this might allow some young defensemen to get a chance they otherwise would never have gotten. Matt Benning is one name that came up in the interview. Benning, 23, who played in his first season with the Oilers after suiting up for Northeastern University for three years, got increased playoff time after Sekera went down and showed his is up for the challenge. Darnell Nurse, 22, also could see increased playing time as well in the first half of the season.
- Speaking of young defensive players, Oilers’ defensive prospect Ethan Bear’s season came to an end after his Seattle Thunderbirds were eliminated from the Memorial Cup. The former 2015 fifth-round pick had a breakout year in the WHL, finishing with 28 regular season goals. If you add his 17 playoff games to his totals, Bear finished his season with 34 goals and 62 assists for 96 points. The 20-year-old will now focus on NHL training camp with the hope of sticking with the Oilers. If not, he will be expected to join the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL.
Don’t Expect Edmonton To Make Major Move
Don’t expect the Edmonton Oilers to make any splashy moves this offseason. At least that’s what Edmonton Journals’ David Staples writes about statements that general manager Peter Chiarelli made that the team will stand pat during the offseason, at least when it comes to major deals. And Staples says that Chiarelli is a man of his word, so don’t expect a big deal for a top-four defenseman.
With the loss of Andrej Sekera, who is out till midseason 2017-18, the team would be in need of improved defense. Chiarelli says the team will do everything it can to re-sign Kris Russell in the offseason. However, the possible loss of Russell also makes one wonder if the Oilers might force a trade to upgrade
With the flurry of trades expected before the expansion draft next month, there could be some quality defensemen that might come available as teams realize theyâd be better off trading a player for an asset rather than handing them over to the Las Vegas Golden Knights for nothing. There might be several defensemen who could fill a vital role on the Oilers’ blueline next season. However, the scribe believes that Chiarelli will allow his young nucleus to develop and fill in the holes for a team that made a 16-win improvement from 2015-16. The belief is that he is expecting young defensemen Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning to take the next step until Sekera returns.
- The Edmonton Oilers have inked Iiro Pakarinen to a one-year contract extension, tweets CapFriendly. Pakarinen, a restricted free agent, agreed to a one-year, one-way contract for $725,000. The 25-year-old winger only played 14 games for Edmonton last year, tallying two goals and two assists. He played in 63 games, scoring five goals in 2015-16.
Takeaways From Peter Chiarelli’s Year-End Press Conference
The fact that the Oilers will be without top-four defenseman Andrej Sekera for a decent chunk of next season wasn’t the only notable bit of news that came from GM Peter Chiarelli‘s year-end press conference on Tuesday.
He also discussed his summer plans for the team, and no, he doesn’t see another Taylor Hall-for-Adam Larsson type blockbuster. Chiarelli did say that he was open to the idea of trading down in the upcoming Entry Draft; the team has the 22nd overall pick, no second, and two third-round picks in the first 93 picks. Because this draft is seen as weaker than previous years, Chiarelli said acquiring a second-round pick isn’t a necessity but that if a trade came up, he’d consider moving down from #22 to acquire more picks.
Also on the trade front, Chiarelli called the widespread criticism of Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins‘s playoffs unfair. Trade speculation has run wild around those two, especially Eberle, but Chiarelli pumped the breaks on the suggestion that they need to be dumped at any cost. He praised Eberle’s improvement along the boards, and talked about the lack of confidence that the sniper suffered from. Eberle took 208 shots, which is the most he’s taken so far in his seven-year career, but shot at just a nine per cent rate, considerably down from his previous career-average of 14 per cent. Had he shot at that rate, he’d have scored 29 goals instead of 20. Chiarelli stressed that the team will be “careful about how [they] evaluate him.”
As far as Nugent-Hopkins, the general manager stressed the team-wide need of improving in the face-off circle. Chiarelli said that he gave Nugent-Hopkins “homework” for the summer. While Chiarelli kept a positive tone publicly, with both men on the trading block it would have been a poor decision to criticize them. With questions remaining about what position Leon Draisaitl will ultimately play and the acquisition of David Desharnais not being overly successful, Chiarelli will likely be looking to give Todd McLellan some more options in the face-off circle.
The main priority for Edmonton is signing their two best forwards to new contracts. Draisaitl is an RFA this summer, and Connor McDavid will be eligible to extend his deal on July 1. Chiarelli called McDavid priority one and Draisaitl priority two of this summer. All other free agents, like rugged winger and playoff cult hero Zack Kassian and controversial defenseman Kris Russell will have to wait until Chiarelli knows what sort of numbers he’s dealing with. The two men combined for about $6.4MM in cap space this past season (entry-level contracts plus bonuses), but will account for as much as $20MM by next season.
As far as the potential of a rival team offer sheeting Draisaitl, Chiarelli isn’t worried about that. Last week, I wrote about why offer sheets are so rare, and Chiarelli mentioned one of the stated reasons. The Oilers have the cap space to match any offer sheet to Draisaitl, so the only reason another team would submit an offer is to jack up the price. It’s highly unlikely that a team would go out of their way to try hurt another team’s cap situation because of the negative affect it would have on that GM’s reputation.
Had Sekera not been injured, the Oilers defense might not have had any changes on opening night. Oscar Klefbom is developing into a good top-pairing defenseman, Larsson had a strong first season, Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning have made strides together, and Chiarelli expressed interest in re-signing Russell and Eric Gryba. Chiarelli admitted the team doesn’t have a championship defense (yet). He pointed to Nashville and Anaheim, saying that “it would be nice to have a D at that level.”
Russell is loved by old-school hockey people, and considered highly overrated by people with a mind for advanced stats. While Russell blocks a ton of shots (213 in 68 games), he bleeds possession and hasn’t had a positive CF% Rel. (scoring chances when he’s on the ice compared to off the ice) since 2012 when he was in Columbus. He also scored just one goal this season despite playing the third-most minutes of all skaters. However, the injury to Sekera could motivate the Oilers to sign Russell to help fill the void. As mentioned above, Chiarelli will wait until he knows what McDavid and Draisaitl will cost before making any considerable signing, even if it means waiting until after July 1.
Chiarelli said the team blew his expectations out of the water, finishing with 103 points and getting to Game 7 of the second round. This summer will be about locking up key pieces and letting the young roster develop next season.