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Jesse Puljujarvi

Minor Transactions: 11/11/18

November 11, 2018 at 10:35 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

With a busy 11-game schedule Saturday, the NHL remains busy on Sunday with another six games. With all that action, teams are going to make moves to re-stock their roster. Check out our updated transactions throughout the day:

  • The Boston Bruins announced they have recalled defenseman Jeremy Lauzon from the Providence Bruins of the AHL on an emergency basis. The 21-year-old has already appeared in four games for Boston as well as another eight for Providence. In fact, if Lauzon gets called upon to play today, he’ll be playing in his third straight game in consecutive days. He was recalled as defenseman Brandon Carlo is listed as questionable after suffering an upper-body injury late in the game Saturday. Lauzon will play for Carlo, if he can’t go.
  • The Dallas Stars announced they have assigned forward Denis Gurianov and defenseman Dillon Heatherington to the Texas Stars of the AHL. Gurianov has been a solid addition to the team, posting his first NHL goal Saturday in their 5-4 overtime loss to Nashville. He has been thriving in Texas, putting up six goals and 12 points 11 games there. Heatherington has appeared in five games for Dallas, posting one assist. He’s played in 10 games for Texas this season, accumulating four points. While there are no corresponding moves, it’s likely that the Stars hope that one of their injured forwards could return as both Alexander Radulov and Brett Ritchie both were practicing today, suggesting one, if not both, could be back soon. Heatherington’s demotion suggests the team was more impressed by defenseman Ben Gleason, who played well for Dallas Saturday.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced they have assigned forward Matt Read to the Iowa Wild of the AHL. The 32-year-old Read played five games for Minnesota and had six shots on goal, but failed to tally a point in that time. In Iowa, he has two points in seven games. With Matt Hendricks feeling better and able to fill in when needed, Read became expendable.
  • It looks like there may not be a “super line” in Bakersfield after all as center Cooper Marody, who many expected would center the elite line of Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto, has been recalled by the Edmonton Oilers Sunday. Marody will be making his second appearance with the team this year as he played two games with the Oilers earlier, but failed to score. He has three goals and 10 points in seven Bakersfield games this year.
  • CapFriendly reports that the Los Angeles Kings have assigned forward Matt Luff to the Ontario Reign of the AHL. The 21-year-old failed to score in three games and will return to Ontario where he compiled six goals and 12 points in just eight games.

AHL| Boston Bruins| Dallas Stars| Edmonton Oilers| Injury| Los Angeles Kings| Minnesota Wild| Transactions Alexander Radulov| Brandon Carlo| Brett Ritchie| Dillon Heatherington| Jesse Puljujarvi| Kailer Yamamoto| Matt Hendricks| Matt Read

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Pacific Notes: Oilers Defense, Hertl, Desjardins

November 10, 2018 at 8:55 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

The Edmonton Oilers haven’t had much success when it comes to trades in recent years, but the team may be able to plug some of their offensive woes with a trade. The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell (subscription required) writes that the Oilers are actually overloaded in left-handed defensive depth throughout their system and might be able to use that depth as a way to send off for some veteran help at the wing that might allow the team to give extra development time to Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto, who both were sent down to Bakersfield this afternoon.

Mitchell writes the team is loaded on the left side with two top-four players, including Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse and still have Kris Russell who is playing on the right side. After that, the team has Ethan Bear as well as a host of left-handed defensemen in Bakersfield, including Caleb Jones, Ryan Stanton, William Lagesson, Keegan Lowe and Kevin Gravel. That’s a lot of options for a team, should they consider moving someone like Russell, Lagesson or Jones to add some depth at some point this winter.

  • Curtis Palshenka of the Mercury News reports that San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, who has missed the last three game with a head injury, is starting to feel better and may be able to return Sunday for their game against the Calgary Flames. He still needs to go through more testing, but remains positive. Hertl has been a key piece to the Sharks’ first line, including Logan Couture and Timo Meier. The 24-year-old is producing a point a game so far this year with five goals and nine assists in 14 games.
  • One change the new Los Angeles Kings head coach Willie Desjardins intends to implement is to cut down shift times. Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times writes that the coach intends to cut all shifts by 10 seconds, so that lines are only on the ice for a little over 40 seconds. “If you look at teams’ regular-season shifts and then look at their playoff shifts, their playoff shifts are always shorter,” he said, “and that’s because the intensity of the game goes up. And I think we have to bring our playoff game right now. I think we have to get our shifts shorter and I think that’s something our guys have to buy into, to be successful.” Desjardins also adds that he wants to cut down the ATOI of both Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, who both lead the team in ice time at their respective positions.

 

Calgary Flames| Edmonton Oilers| Injury| Los Angeles Kings| San Jose Sharks| Willie Desjardins Anze Kopitar| Darnell Nurse| Drew Doughty| Jesse Puljujarvi| Kailer Yamamoto| Kevin Gravel| Kris Russell| Logan Couture| Oscar Klefbom

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Edmonton Assigns Puljujarvi, Yamamoto To Bakersfield

November 10, 2018 at 4:06 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

As many had anticipated, the Edmonton Oilers announced they have assigned Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto, two of their top young players, to Bakersfield of the AHL in hopes of sparking their play.

Puljujarvi, the team’s fourth-overall pick in the 2016 draft, was expected to put up big numbers after two years of struggles when he arrived. However, instead, the 20-year-old seems to have regressed with just one goal this year, five healthy scratches, and has seen his playing time on the ice dwindle, as he received just 9:06 minutes of ice time on Thursday. That has prompted much discussion about whether the team should send him down to Bakersfield, a proposal that Pujujarvi is not particularly interested in doing.

Yamamoto, the team’s 22nd-overall pick in 2017, was sent back to the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL after playing in nine games last season, but the team opted to keep him on the roster this year. The diminutive, speedy forward, however, hasn’t produced as he has just one goal and one assist in 12 games and also has been a healthy scratch several times, receiving one of his lowest ATOI’s of the season Tuesday with just 12:34.

This is likely the best case scenario for both players as scratching them hasn’t provided the impact on either player that the team had hoped for. The belief is that both players will receive top-line minutes in Bakersfield and get the opportunity to receive massive amounts of ice time in all situations in hopes of getting both players back in gear and back to the team as quickly as possible. There is hope the Condors will team him with center Cooper Marody in hopes of forming a formidable line. The three would likely have a few days to practice before Bakersfield goes on a busy stretch of games in which they would play five games over their next nine days, starting on Nov. 16.

AHL| Edmonton Oilers Jesse Puljujarvi| Kailer Yamamoto

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Oilers Growing Impatient With Forward Jesse Puljujarvi

November 9, 2018 at 5:59 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 1 Comment

The Edmonton Oilers are off to a much better start to this season than last, but not everyone is rolling on all cylinders. Young forward Jesse Puljujarvi has been unable to make the most of ample opportunity on the right side, with just one point to show for eleven games of top-nine minutes. Now, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger speaking on “Insider Trading”, there’s “more tension” growing between the team and player. Dreger believes that an AHL reassignment, or perhaps even something more drastic, could be on the way.

Dreger said that such a demotion “could, in fact, be a breaking point for a player who just wants to develop in his own way in the NHL.” The Oilers expected the 2016 fourth overall pick to be much more effective at the NHL level, while Puljujarvi himself likely didn’t expect to spend 49 games in the AHL over the past two seasons and again be on a short leash this year. The two sides seem to be at odds with the youngster’s role and expectations within the organization and a change seems to be on the horizon. Most likely, that is yet another reassignment to the Bakersfield Condors. However, GM Peter Chiarelli has a history of pulling the trigger on trading under-performing young players, making a permanent solution also a possibility.

For his part, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal feels that both Puljujarvi and struggling rookie Kailer Yamamoto would be better served to stay in the NHL, saying that while “non-scoring”, both players are dynamic and worth a “roll of the dice”. However, Staples is also open to sending both down to the AHL, proposing that recently-demoted center Cooper Marody center the pair on an elite first line Bakersfield. That way, the trio would all continue playing with NHL-caliber talent around them, but would be able to better develop their skills and find their respective games at the AHL level. This is perhaps the top solution for the ongoing Puljujarvi problem and a likely result in short time if his poor play continues.

AHL| Edmonton Oilers Jesse Puljujarvi| Kailer Yamamoto| Peter Chiarelli

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Edmonton Activates Ty Rattie From Injured Reserve

November 2, 2018 at 6:13 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 2 Comments

Entering the 2018-19 season, forward Ty Rattie was labeled as one of the players who could make or break the Edmonton Oilers’ season. Any determination of Rattie’s impact on the campaign was put on hold in mid-October, when the 25-year-old was placed on the injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Expected to be out until later this month, it came as somewhat of a surprise this afternoon when the Oilers announced that Rattie has been activated from the IR and is set to return to the lineup. In a corresponding move, rookie forward Cooper Marody has been returned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

After an incredibly productive preseason, Rattie was handed a coveted first-line slot on the right wing of superstar center Connor McDavid. It was a career-defining opportunity for Rattie, who has been little more than minor league depth thus far in his pro career. A second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2011, Rattie played in only 30 NHL games in parts of four seasons in St. Louis, recording eight points. He was lost on waivers briefly to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016-17 and contributed two points in five games. Rattie opted to sign with Edmonton as a free agent in 2017 and played in a career-high 14 games last season, posting a career best 15:28 ATOI. It was far from regular NHL action, but was the first step toward taking a permanent role with the Oilers, and he made the most of it by posting nine points. Expected to take a step forward this year, Rattie notched a goal and an assist in his five games prior to the injury. While he’s not quite back at square one, he may very well have to work his way back into top minutes and first-line consideration.

If Rattie can find his scoring touch quickly, he should be back in the top-six as soon as possible. The Oilers have struggled with secondary scoring this season, with only McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins holding more than seven points on the year. The platoon on the right side is an especially troublesome situation, with Alex Chiasson, Drake Caggiula, Zack Kassian, and Jesse Puljujarvi all failing to make the most of their opportunities. Rattie’s addition would be a welcome addition to the competition for production and consistency at right wing.

Marody, a first-year pro out of the University of Michigan, skated in two games for the Oilers during Rattie’s absence. While he was limited to under nine minutes of ice time per night and held scoreless, he didn’t look out of place at the NHL level. A sixth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers acquired for a third-round pick last spring, Marody’s stock is clearly on the rise and he should see more action in Edmonton before the end of the season.

AHL| Edmonton Oilers| Injury| St. Louis Blues| Waivers Alex Chiasson| Connor McDavid| Drake Caggiula| Jesse Puljujarvi| Leon Draisaitl

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West Notes: Puljujarvi, Thornton, Stars

October 29, 2018 at 8:58 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

With Oilers winger Jesse Puljujarvi having been a healthy scratch in three of ten games already, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector notes that there is a debate inside the organization as to whether or not it’s time for the 2016 fourth overall pick to spend some time in the minors.  Edmonton was hesitant to give him much minor league time last season even when he was struggling but optics aside (it rarely looks good when a high pick heads for the minors), there’s certainly a strong case to be made that this is a good time to send him down.  Puljujarvi’s value has sharply eroded over the last couple of seasons and an extended stint with AHL Bakersfield would allow him to work on his all-around game while getting a lot more playing time than he currently is now.

Elsewhere out West:

  • While Sharks center Joe Thornton wasn’t expected to miss much time due to a knee infection, he has now missed the last night games. Head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters, including Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required), that while Thornton is “getting closer”, he still has a catheter in his arm to give him antibiotics which would need to be removed before he could get clearance to return to San Jose’s lineup.
  • Dallas is set to get one defenseman back but is losing another. Mike Heika of the Stars’ team website reports that Marc Methot is ready to return after missing the last two games due to a lower-body injury.  However, he’ll likely take the place of fellow rearguard Connor Carrick who sustained a lower-body injury of his own on Sunday.  Meanwhile, head coach Jim Montgomery indicated that he’s hopeful that winger Alexander Radulov will be available for Tuesday’s game against Montreal after missing four straight due to a lower-body issue.

Dallas Stars| Edmonton Oilers| San Jose Sharks Alexander Radulov| Connor Carrick| Jesse Puljujarvi| Joe Thornton| Marc Methot

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Pacific Notes: Brannstrom, Goldobin, Rattie, Suomela

September 22, 2018 at 5:15 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The Vegas Goldent Knights are in a much different situation than they were a season ago when there were little to no expectations in front of them. The team made the decision to protect their young prospects, returning them all to juniors as well as sending several key prospects such as Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL at the start of the season to protect as many of their players as possible.

However, this year looks like a whole different story. With the team without Nate Schmidt for 20 games and Theodore, who is holding out without a contract, there are many opportunities available to their young defensive prospects and several of them remain in camp, including Erik Brannstrom, Nicolas Hague and Jake Bischoff and it’s possible the team may keep one of them. Ken Boehlke of SinBin Vegas writes that head coach Gerard Gallant may have tipped his hand when asked about the prospects today.

“It’s always been we’re taking our best players,” said Gallant. “It’s not like the situation we had last year, if that’s what your trying to get to, it’s not like that situation, we want to win it’s a completely different scenario than it was last year.”

At the moment, the scribe writes that Brannstrom, the Golden Knights’ 15th-overall pick in 2017 is the leading candidate to win a NHL job. However, Hague, the team’s second-rounder in 2017, has also been extremely impressive on the power play.

  • J.D. Burke of The Athletic (subscription required) released his stock report and writes that Vancouver Canucks winger Nikolay Goldobin has really impressed the team in the preseason and has his stock soaring high. The winger had a strong end-run with the Canucks late last season and the team had hoped that the 22-year-old might continue that streak this year. Goldobin has thrived on the team’s first line next to rookie Elias Pettersson and veteran Sven Baertschi. He’s improved his play and has proven to be both fitter and faster this season.
  • Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun writes that the Edmonton Oilers should be happy with the impressive play of many of their young wingers, including Ty Rattie, Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi. Rattie may be the most impressive player so far as the 25-year-old has potted four goals and three assists in just two preseason games and is expected to play on the team’s first line alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins when the regular season begins.
  • When the San Jose Sharks included center Chris Tierney in the Erik Karlsson trade with the Ottawa Senators, it opened up a spot in the Sharks lineup and two youngsters are quietly fighting hard for that center position, according to The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka. Both Antti Suomela and Rourke Chartier have been impressive in recent preseason games as Suomela had two goals and an assist in his second preseason game on Thursday, while Chartier has had a goal and three assists in two games. Suomela came over from Finland’s Liiga after posting 43 goals over the last two seasons there. Cartier suffered through an injury-plagued season with the San Jose Barracuda in which he played in just 28 games, but still produced 21 points in that time.

Edmonton Oilers| Gerard Gallant| San Jose Sharks| Vancouver Canucks| Vegas Golden Knights Alex Tuch| Antti Suomela| Chris Tierney| Connor McDavid| Elias Pettersson| Erik Brannstrom| Erik Karlsson| Jesse Puljujarvi| Kailer Yamamoto| Nate Schmidt| Nikolay Goldobin

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Salary Cap Deep Dive: Edmonton Oilers

August 25, 2018 at 8:51 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

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 2018-19 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: $75,521,166 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Jesse Puljujarvi (one year, $925K)
F Kailer Yamamoto (three years, $894K)
D Ethan Bear (two years, $798K)

Potential Bonuses

Yamamoto: $230K
Puljujarvi: $2.5MM
Bear: $70K

Total: $2.8MM

One major need is for the Oilers to get some help from their young players. Perhaps the most intruiging prospect is Puljujarvi, the team’s fourth-overall pick in 2016. After struggling in his rookie season, Puljujarvi showed some promise last year, scoring 12 goals in 65 games, but the 20-year-old still hasn’t proved that he can be a top-six winger yet. Regardless, the Oilers have resisted trading the prospect as they have received quite a bit of attention from other teams. Yamamoto also struggled in a early-season tryout last season as he played in nine games (tallying just three assists) before being sent back to juniors. However, after scoring 21 goals in 40 games with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, the speedy Yamamoto might be ready to claim a spot on Edmonton’s roster this season.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

G Cam Talbot ($4.17MM, UFA)
G Mikko Koskinen ($2.5MM, UFA)
F Tobias Rieder ($2MM, RFA)
G Al Montoya ($1.03MM, UFA)
D Jakub Jerabek ($1MM, UFA)
F Ty Rattie ($800K, RFA)
D Kevin Gravel ($700K, UFA)
F Jujhar Khaira ($675K, RFA)
F Pontus Aberg ($650K, RFA)

The team has many decisions to make with their goaltending next season. All three goaltenders are on one-year deals and will have to prove their value to the franchise for a new contract. Talbot will be the chief goaltender who must prove that last year’s disappointing season was a fluke as the 21-year-old went from a 2.39 GAA in 2016-17 to a dismal 3.02 GAA last year. His .919 save percentage in the 2016-17 season dropped to a .908. So which is he? If Talbot can rebound and show that he’s closer to the 2016-17 season, the team will likely lock him up for several more years, but if not the team may look elsewhere for goaltending help.

Another factor could be Koskinen’s presence. Brought over from the KHL, the 30-year-old veteran has been one of the top goalies in the KHL for the past six seasons, but whether he can make the conversion to the NHL is a whole new question. However, a good showing could change the way Edmonton looks at Talbot and his contract in one year. If neither is capable of locking down the No. 1 job, the team should find quite a few interesting names in the free agent market next season.

The team does have hopes that they can properly develop the speedy Rieder, who signed a one-year “prove it” deal, which could turn into a two-year deal considering that he’ll still be a restricted free agent next year. The 25-year-old has scored 12 or more goals for four seasons, but has never been able to take his game to another level and now is on his third organization in one year, which suggests that two organizations have given up on him. However, with his speed, he could be the perfect complement to the team’s top speed line.

Two Years Remaining

F Ryan Strome ($3.1MM, RFA)
F Zack Kassian ($1.95MM, UFA)
D Matt Benning ($1.9MM, RFA)
F Drake Caggiula ($1.5MM, RFA)
F Kyle Brodziak ($1.15MM, UFA)
D Keegan Lowe ($675K, UFA)

Strome was the key piece in the Jordan Eberle deal last offseason, but while he posted moderate numbers, he hasn’t yet proven that he will be a significant part of the future of the Oilers. The forward’s production continues to decline. The 25-year-old posted 13 goals, the same he did a year ago, but he also played a full season this year, as opposed to just 69 games in 2016-17. However, no one is quite sure what his role will be going forward although the team has two years to figure it out. Is he a top-six winger, who can put up a large number of goals or a bottom-six center? Caggiula has a similar issue. Signed as an undrafted free agent out of the University of North Dakota, Caggiula has improved, posting 13 goals himself last year, but hasn’t been able to provide the breakout season the Oilers are looking for out of their youth. The 24-year-old struggled with consistency throughout the year as he had several significant streaks where he didn’t even register a point and disappeared on the ice, but again, the team has two more years to figure out what it has in him.

The team did add Brodziak to its roster to provide veteran depth to their roster. The 34-year-old center had a impressive year last year, posting 10 goals and 33 points, his best season since the 2011-12 season. In just his second season, Benning received a significant uptick in minutes played after several teammates went down with injuries. The 24-year-old blueliner, known for his big checks, played well, but is not likely ready for a top-four role as yet. However, with injuries already mounting, that may become inevitable.Read more

Three Years Remaining

F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6MM, UFA)
D Andrej Sekera ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Adam Larsson ($4.17MM, UFA)
D Kris Russell ($4MM, UFA)

While many things in 2017-18 didn’t go well, the team saw improved play from Nugent-Hopkins, a phenomenal defensive player, who hasn’t been able to step up offensively much over the last few years. However, the center eventually moved over to the wing on the top line and seemed to find his scoring touch as he tallied 24 goals, matching a career-high. With so much money invested in three centers, the team has made it clear they want to see Nugent-Hopkins play on the wing in hopes of getting some value out of his contract. While at one point, Nugent-Hopkins was a significant trade candidate, it looks like the team intends to hold onto him for the time being.

Sekera might be the deal the team will suffer through for the next three years. A top defenseman a few years ago, he suffered a significant injury at the end of the 2016-17 and returned to play half a season with Edmonton last year, but was never the same. Then almost two weeks ago, the Oilers announced that Sekera will be out indefinitely after he underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL during a training session. With most, if not all of the 2018-19 season ended, the 32-year-old may have a hard time coming back and establishing himself as a dominant No. 1 defenseman or even a top-four defenseman that he has been in the past.

Larsson and Russell have proved to be solid, but hardly spectacular defensemen for the team. Both defensive-minded defensemen, they both didn’t help a struggling blueline enough last season. The team had high expectation for Larsson to develop into a top-four defenseman when they traded Taylor Hall for him a couple of years ago, but he has failed to do that so far.

Four Or More Years Remaining

F Connor McDavid ($12.5MM through 2025-26)
F Leon Draisaitl ($8.5MM through 2024-25)
F Milan Lucic ($6MM through 2022-23)
D Oscar Klefbom ($4.17MM through 2022-23)

McDavid continues to improve and without a doubt is worth every penny the team will be paying him starting this season. The 21-year-old increased his goal output from 30 goals to 41 as he managed to win the Art Ross Trophy for a second year in a row. He reached 100 points for the second straight year as he tallied 108 points last year and has provided the team with a star player who is perfectly designed for the fast-paced new NHL. Draisaitl, on the other hand, didn’t take that next step after signing an eight-year, $68MM deal last offseason. The 22-year-old was banged up quite a bit in the beginning of the year as he dealt with an eye injury as well as a concussion, but still quietly had a solid season in which he posted 25 goals and 70 points. Hopefully, Draisaitl can take his game up a notch this year to help provide the team with two high-end centers.

Lucic’s name appeared in trade rumors throughout the offseason, but with four years remaining on his contract, the team really needs to hope that Lucic can bounce back after a miserable season with the Oilers. The 30-year-old had been a 20-30 goal scorer for most of his career, but the physical winger managed just 10 goals last year in a full 82 games and the team will need him to rebound if the team wants a chance to reach the playoffs next season.

Klefbom also had a tough season, but much of that could be attributed to the fact that he suffered a severe shoulder injury in the Western Conference playoffs in the 2016-17 season and he wasn’t the same. He has since corrected the problem this offseason as he underwent surgery to repair the damage and is expected to be fully healthy for training camp. Klefbom came off a 12-goal, 38-point season in 2016-17, but should be able to take his game up a notch, especially after posting a five-goal, 21-point season last year.

Buyouts

F Benoit Pouliot ($1.33MM through 2020-21)
D Eric Gryba ($300K through 2019-20)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

D Darnell Nurse

Best Value: McDavid
Worst Value: Sekera

(Excluding entry-level contracts)

Looking Ahead

The Oilers are in a tough position if the team cannot develop their youth. Too many of their players haven’t developed enough and the team can only hope that youngsters like Puljujarvi, Strome and Caggulia can take that next step and at least develop into 20-goal scorers to provide the team with deeper lines and not force McDavid and Draisaitl to do all the work. However, if they fail to develop that talent, then the team will have to find creative ways to lighten their cap load as those bad contracts have at least three or four years left on them, which will handicap a team that is running out of cap space.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Edmonton Oilers| Salary Cap Deep Dive 2018 Adam Larsson| Al Montoya| Andrej Sekera| Benoit Pouliot| Cam Talbot| Connor McDavid| Darnell Nurse| Drake Caggiula| Eric Gryba| Jakub Jerabek| Jesse Puljujarvi| Jordan Eberle| Kailer Yamamoto| Kevin Gravel| Kris Russell| Kyle Brodziak| Leon Draisaitl| Matt Benning| Milan Lucic| Oscar Klefbom| Salary Cap

1 comment

Edmonton Fans Still Waiting For Big Changes

August 6, 2018 at 2:46 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 4 Comments

The Edmonton Oilers were one of the biggest disappointments of the 2017-18 season. Despite being led by one of the best players in the world in Connor McDavid, the team dropped 25 points in the standings and finished well out of the playoffs. Only three players on the team broke the 15-goal or 40-point thresholds, and goaltender Cam Talbot posted his worst season as a professional. Changes were obviously needed, and big things were expected from GM Peter Chiarelli, who had never been known for his hesitation in the past. Chiarelli has always been willing to trade players who he believed were problems, and acquire assets that could help his team.

In April, just after the Oilers season had come to a close, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal wrote a piece outlining ten changes that could happen in order to get the team back to the playoffs in 2018-19. Among them was a common thread, that basically everyone on the roster outside of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should be considered available. Real additions also needed to be made up front, to help add some secondary scoring to the rest of the lineup. A puck-moving defenseman should be added, and something needs to be done about the left-handed imbalance of the blue line.

This summer though, almost none of those things have happened.

A change in the coaching staff was expected, and the team did bring in several new faces to help head coach Todd McLellan this season. Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney and Manny Viveiros were all hired as assistants, replacing several outgoing names. That should give the team a different look in terms of system, but those asked to perform will be the same. The defense corps remains relatively unchanged, other than the fact that Darnell Nurse is still without a contract and Kevin Gravel was brought in on a two-way contract. No additional puck-movers have been added, meaning as it stands the burden will once again fall on players like Nurse and Oscar Klefbom to really drive the team.

On the topic of secondary scoring, there has been little change. Tobias Rieder and Kyle Brodziak were the Oilers’ big free agent additions, giving the team two more middling offensive talents to plug into the lineup. While Rieder has shown potential at times, he still only recorded 12 goals and 25 points last season. Brodziak is actually coming off one of the better offensive campaigns of his career with 10 goals and 33 points, but shouldn’t be expected at age-34 to be an answer to the team’s problems.

Perhaps the biggest change came in net, where the team opted to avoid signing one of the more proven names in free agency and instead brought in Mikko Koskinen from the KHL. The 30-year old goaltender had an incredible season for SKA St. Petersburg in 2017-18, but hasn’t played in North America on a full-time basis since 2011. If Koskinen can push Talbot back to the level he had previously shown the Oilers will be much more competitive, but there’s no guarantee they’ll have any consistency in the position this year.

No instead of the big changes that were expected, the Oilers have generally sat on their hands this summer and hoped a change could come from within. Even their 10th-overall pick in the draft which they were open about potentially trading, was eventually used to pick Evan Bouchard. There’s clearly a boatload of talent in the London Knights blueliner, but if Bouchard isn’t able to jump right to the NHL this season he can’t help a team that needs to compete immediately. If it’s not Bouchard, then perhaps Jesse Puljujarvi is the key to the offseason in Edmonton. The fourth-overall pick from 2016 is now 20 years old, and needs to become an impact player this season. In 65 NHL games last year he registered 12 goals and 20 points, but those numbers need to improve drastically if the Oilers are to expect a winning season.

There is a chance that the team still makes a big splash to bring in some scoring help, but there financial situation is obviously limiting them. With just $4.98MM in cap space and Nurse still to sign, the team likely couldn’t go after someone like Jeff Skinner. In order to land the talented winger from Carolina, the Hurricanes would have had to accept another contract back in order to even out the salaries. That puts the Oilers in a distinct disadvantage in trade talks, and one that won’t be fixed anytime soon. None of the hefty Oilers contracts come off the books next season outside of Talbot and Koskinen, but there isn’t a brilliant young goaltender ready to step into that void on an inexpensive contract. Without moving a defenseman or Milan Lucic’s contract, the Oilers will remain in salary trouble as they try to add pieces in the future.

For an offseason that was expected to bring fireworks in Edmonton, and help surround McDavid with a team that could give him a legitimate chance for the Stanley Cup, things have been awfully quiet. Oilers fans will have to hope that change is coming from places they didn’t expect, and someone can step up to alter their fortunes. Otherwise it could be a long season, and another wasted opportunity with one of the game’s premiere talents.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Edmonton Oilers| Free Agency| Todd McLellan Connor McDavid| Darnell Nurse| Jesse Puljujarvi| Kyle Brodziak| Peter Chiarelli

4 comments

Pacific Notes: Puljujarvi, Versteeg, Terry

March 10, 2018 at 4:55 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

Edmonton’s team needs are well known and chief among them is a winger that can play with Connor McDavid.  The Oilers were hoping that 2016 fourth-overall selection Jesse Puljujarvi would fit into that role but he has yet to establish himself in his first two seasons in North America.  Accordingly, some wondered if the team might have been willing to part with him before the trade deadline in an effort to get someone who is a better fit (or fits another area of need).  However, TSN’s Darren Dreger noted in an appearance on TSN 1260 (audio link) that the team is far from ready to give up on him and made him unavailable for the deadline but wonders if they may have to re-evaluate that thought in the summer.  The Finnish winger has 18 points (11-7-18) in 50 games this season and will be eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1st.

More from the Pacific:

  • The Flames are likely to get a boost to their forward unit in the coming days. Head coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link) that winger Kris Versteeg should be able to return to the lineup this coming week after he gets a few practices under his belt.  The veteran has been out with a hip issue since late November and may be able to give Calgary’s power play a lift as five of his eight points on the season (in 22 games) have come with the man advantage.
  • The Ducks are likely to aggressively try to convince prospect Troy Terry to sign following his college season and forego his senior year, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. Neither the team nor Terry’s advisor Kurt Overhardt would comment on the status of any potential negotiations.  A fifth-round pick of Anaheim in 2015, the 20-year-old center is in his third year at the University of Denver and has put up 37 points in 32 games this season.

Anaheim Ducks| Calgary Flames| Edmonton Oilers Jesse Puljujarvi| Kris Versteeg| Troy Terry

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