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Oilers Notes: McLeod, Smith, Koekkoek

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There are only a handful of restricted free agents left to sign and it appears as though at least one will come off the board rather soon. Ryan McLeod was at the Edmonton Oilers practice facility to undergo his preseason medical testing, and general manager Ken Holland told reporters including Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic that he hopes the young forward will be on the ice tomorrow.

McLeod, 23, scored 21 points in 71 games as a rookie last season and was a strong defensive presence in the playoffs, averaging more than 14 minutes a night and adding four points. Selected 40th overall in 2018, his emergence as a legitimate option down the middle of the ice is a huge reason why the Oilers lineup looks deeper than it has in years. Holland expects to sign McLeod to a one-year deal because of cap restraints.

  • The team is currently over the salary cap, but as expected, Mike Smith will join Oscar Klefbom on long-term injured reserve to start the year. Smith took his physical this week and failed, according to Holland, and has now returned to his home in Kelowna. Smith, 40, is heading into the final year of his contract and is not expected to play professional hockey again.
  • Slater Koekkoek, meanwhile, has left the Oilers for a different reason. The 28-year-old defenseman has left the team for the time being to work on his mental health but still has the goal of returning at some point. Holland and the entire organization are in full support of Koekkoek’s decision. In his absence – and that of Cody Ceci, who will miss the first few days with a hamstring strain – the team brought in Jason Demers on a professional tryout.

Edmonton Oilers Update Smith Status; Sign Pickard

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The Edmonton Oilers have their starting goaltender in Jack Campbell, and now they have a third-string option as well. The Oilers are bringing in Calvin Pickard to play behind Campbell and Stuart Skinner on a two-year, two-way contract. The deal carries an average annual value of $762.5K

That leaves Mike Smith on the outside, and general manager Ken Holland updated the veteran’s status today. “I’m not expecting Smitty to play this year,” Holland told reporters including Jason Gregor of TSN, explaining why they needed someone like Pickard to come into the organization.

Smith, 40, is expected to move to long-term injured reserve as he deals with “several” chronic injuries. That will give the Oilers some additional cap flexibility, and potentially end Smith’s career after 670 regular season appearances. His overall record with Edmonton during that time was 56-27-10 with a .913 save percentage, helping the club all the way to the Western Conference Finals this year.

If it is the end, he finishes 36th all-time in games played by a goaltender, 40th all-time in wins. Not a Hall of Fame candidate, but a good goaltender for a very long time in the league.

Pickard, meanwhile, spent most of this season in the minor leagues, posting a .918 with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 30-year-old has bounced around the league for the last decade, appearing in 116 NHL contests.

While he represents a solid minor league option, if he’s playing regularly for the Oilers this season they will be in trouble.

West Notes: DeBrincat, Dickinson, Oilers

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If the Blackhawks are going to move Alex DeBrincat this summer, it’s going to take a sizable haul to get him.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Chicago is believed to have recently turned down a package that would have yielded a high first-round pick in next week’s draft, another first-round selection, and a prospect for the 24-year-old but GM Kyle Davidson felt it wasn’t enough.  DeBrincat is coming off a 41-goal, 78-point season and has one year left on his current deal with a $6.4MM AAV but will be owed a $9MM qualifying offer next summer which is something that acquiring teams will need to budget around.  Meanwhile, with the Blackhawks squarely in a rebuild now, the time might be right to sell high on their star winger and they have justifiably set a high asking price for his services.

Elsewhere out West:

  • The Canucks are unlikely to pursue a buyout with center Jason Dickinson this month, notes Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link). Vancouver acquired the 26-year-old last summer with the hope that he could be a quality third-line center, signing him to a three-year deal that carries a $2.65MM cap hit.  However, Dickinson managed to put up just five goals and six assists in 62 games this past season, numbers that aren’t close to justifying that cap hit.  But since a buyout cost wouldn’t yield considerably higher savings than waiving and demoting him, the Canucks may be better off keeping him around or flipping him for another player that’s similarly underachieving.
  • The Oilers have extended the decision deadlines for defenseman Duncan Keith and goalie Mike Smith, reports Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (subscription link). Originally, Edmonton was looking for clarity on their futures by July 1st but that has now been pushed to July 10th.  At this point, Keith appears to be likely to return although there has been recent speculation that Smith, who played through multiple injuries this past season, could be placed on LTIR for the final year of his contract which would have the Oilers on the lookout for another goalie in the coming weeks.

Oilers Notes: Puljujarvi, Smith, Free Agent Goalies

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While his first trade request didn’t lead to a move, it seems that Puljujarvi’s second attempt could be more successful. Per Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, sources have confirmed that the Edmonton Oilers winger is “ready to move on for a fresh start” outside of Edmonton. He adds that the Oilers are “ready to oblige” and are already speaking with “at least four teams” in order to secure as high of a return as possible for the former top-five pick. Spector also consults a group of pro scouts to gauge an opinion on what Puljujarvi’s value is on the trade market, and the responses came generally along the lines of a second or third-round pick. TSN’s Chris Johnston confirms Spector’s reporting that several teams have engaged the Oilers in trade discussions regarding Puljujarvi, and he goes further, naming the Senators specifically as a team believed to be in the mix.

This is not Puljujarvi’s first time seeking an exit from Edmonton, but this time it seems more likely thanks to his improved play. The first time, Puljujarvi had not established himself as an NHL option and the possibility of a return to Finland was looming over the entire process. Now, Puljujarvi is coming off of a successful season as an Oiler, where he scored 14 goals and 36 points in 65 games. The 24-year-old winger offers an intriguing package of size and skill, and it’s no surprise that a team like Ottawa, who drafted their own power forward in Tyler Boucher tenth-overall at last year’s draft, would be interested. What will be surprise, though, is his ultimate destination, as Ottawa is only one of several teams vying for his services.

Now, for some other notes regarding the Edmonton Oilers:

  • On the Insider Trading segment of TSN’s Sportscentre program, Darren Dreger reported on the situation with Oilers starter Mike Smith, who has one year remaining on his contract at a $2.2MM cap hit. Per Dreger, Smith and GM Ken Holland will meet this week to discuss the player’s future, and in all likelihood the result will be that Smith will be placed on long-term injured reserve for the rest of his contract. Smith battled injuries during the Oilers’ run to the Western Conference Final, and although he had a strong season (.915 save percentage) he only got into 28 regular-season games. At 40 years old, Smith could be prioritizing his long-term health over a quick return to the ice, a choice that is definitely respectable.
  • With Smith no longer in the picture, then, the Oilers will need to target a new number-one goalie. Per Dreger, Holland is expected to delve “deep” into the free agent market this summer in search of a goalie, and Dreger specifically names Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jack Campbell and St. Louis Blues goalie Ville Husso as two candidates for the job. Smith’s play was the subject of lots of conversation during the playoffs, and many believe that the Oilers are an elite goalie away from true Stanley Cup contention. With Smith’s anticipated placement on LTIR, it looks like Holland will be on the hunt for names like Campbell, Husso, or other top goalies.

Snapshots: Husso, Ducks, Penguins

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It’s no secret that St. Louis Blues goaltender Ville Husso had a large breakout season in 2021-22. Written off as a bust as he dealt with injury issues in the minors, the organization’s former goalie of the future finally exploded for a 25-win rookie season, earning a .919 save percentage and two shutouts along the way. It was good enough to win him the starting job for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but he had just a 2-5 record and a sub-.900 save percentage as Jordan Binnington reclaimed control of the crease (before his injury, at least).

Now, the 27-year-old Finn with just 53 NHL starts will be one of the top options for teams perusing the unrestricted free agent market for goalies. On The Jeff Marek Show earlier in the week, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned the possibility of the Edmonton Oilers being interested in Husso this offseason. Friedman notes that there were rumors of the Oilers making Husso a mid-season acquisition around the turn of the calendar year, also making note of the fact that the Oilers could be without Mike Smith next season, either due to retirement or long-term injury reserve. With Edmonton already losing Mikko Koskinen this offseason, the organization needs more than just promising youngster Stuart Skinner in the crease. While Smith being unavailable may still force Skinner into an NHL role next season, it prevents him from having to be “the guy” too early in his development.

  • The Anaheim Ducks are entering what could be a transformative offseason under new general manager Pat Verbeek after the organization’s young talent took big steps forward in 2021-22. In a piece for The Athletic, Eric Stephens names a list of young players who the Ducks could take a flier on to add to that talent pool, including Carolina’s Martin Necas and Ethan Bear, Edmonton’s Jesse Puljujarvi, Detroit’s Filip Zadina, and Chicago’s Dominik Kubalik. All of them have been mentioned in trade rumors recently after falling down the depth charts of their respective organizations. With a lot of turnover expected in Anaheim this offseason, due in part to the retirement of captain Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim could give a chance to one of these players to excel in more important roles.
  • Continuing their run of front office announcements, the Pittsburgh Penguins today named Teena Murray as their senior vice president of integrated performance. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mike DeFabo notes, Murray will oversee the strength and conditioning staff, rehabilitation, sports science, and medical staff, reporting directly to general manager Ron Hextall. Considering Pittsburgh’s long history of injury-prone seasons, it’s an important role to fill for this team.

Mikko Koskinen Heading Overseas For 2022-23

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June 13: With the Edmonton Oilers now out of the playoffs and their season over, it’s now confirmed that Koskinen will be heading to Switzerland next season. HC Lugano has signed the veteran netminder to a two-year contract, keeping him in Switzerland until age 35. Koskinen joins a Lugano team with Carolina reserve list defenseman Oliwer Kaski, former NHLers Mirco Mueller, Mark Arcobello and Daniel Carr, as well as Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Calvin Thurkauf.

May 20: Despite currently serving as the backup for the Edmonton Oilers and even seeing game action in Game 1 of the Second Round, there appears to already be some clarity on goalie Mikko Koskinen’s future for next season. Former NHL head coach Bob Hartley spoke today, saying that Koskinen has already accepted an offer to play for HC Lugano in the Swiss National League next season.

If true, it will likely mark the end of Koskinen’s second and final stint in North America. The Finnish netminder, drafted 31st overall by the New York Islanders in 2009, had one stint in North America from 2009-2012 in the Islanders organization, playing in four NHL games. He returned to the NHL as a free agent with Edmonton in 2018, serving as a solid tandem netminder for them for the past four seasons. As uncertainty mounts in the Oilers crease moving forward, though, it looks like Koskinen has opted to take himself out of the picture for their second goalie next season.

40-year-old Mike Smith is (somehow) still under contract with the team for next season, and they do have a solid internal option in Stuart Skinner as the backup. However, with such a gigantic question mark with Smith as a 41-year-old starter, Edmonton will surely attempt to make a significant acquisition in free agency to shore up the crease.

 

Latest On Duncan Keith, Mike Smith

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We previously covered how Mike Smith told the media that he was undecided on playing next season, and we also don’t have full confirmation on whether defenseman Duncan Keith will return next season. What we do now know, though, is that the Edmonton Oilers front office would prefer to have both players’ decisions on their respective futures confirmed by July 1st. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Oilers “have asked Mike Smith and Duncan Keith to let them know by around July 1st if they do plan on returning next year.”

It’s understandable that the Oilers would want confirmation on the two players’ futures before the offseason market begins in earnest. With Smith, if the team has uncertainty over whether he will be available next season, the Oilers’ entire goaltending situation becomes uncertain, and the team’s ability to pursue other starting goaltenders could be compromised. Additionally, as teams potentially scramble to make trades similar to the recent Ben Bishop deal in order to get out of LTIR, a potential Smith retirement via LTIR could complicate the Oilers’ search for additional cap room. With Keith, the team would prefer certainty about his overall future due to the immense cap implications of whatever decision he chooses to make. Per Puckpedia, if Keith retires this summer, not only is Keith’s full $5.5MM cap hit taken off their books but the Oilers are also actually given a $3.4MM cap recapture credit to facilitate even more moves. That sort of major cap space clearance could be exactly what the Oilers need to re-sign Evander Kane, for example. So the potential ramifications of his choice are huge.

Any way you look at it, without certainty on the futures of those two players, the Oilers would be entering a crucial offseason with one hand tied behind their back. With Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, and other core pieces locked up and in the primes of their careers, using this offseason to build off of the momentum of this year’s playoff run is essential if the Oilers want to go even further next year. So while being pushed for a decision on a particular time frame might not be ideal for Smith and Keith as they weigh important, life-altering decisions, the Oilers will need certainty on those two players’ futures in order to conduct their offseason at maximum efficiency.

Oilers Notes: Nurse, Goaltending, Puljujarvi

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The Edmonton Oilers were obviously dealing with several key injuries by the time they were eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche, including limiting issues for Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl. When speaking with the media today in his end-of-year press conference, general manager Ken Holland announced that none of the injured players are expected to need surgery at this point.

That’s huge news for a team that obviously has its sights set on contending for the Stanley Cup again next season. As we’ve seen around the league, playoff injuries can cause absences at the beginning of the following season that drastically hurt a team’s chances–or at least their seeding. Draisaitl, who Holland confirmed was dealing with a high ankle sprain, still had 32 points in 16 playoff games. Nurse was dealing with a torn hip flexor for all three rounds.

  • Holland also admitted that the Oilers didn’t have a true number one goalie this season but explained just how few of those actually exist. He explained that he still needs to talk to Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen but the team is hoping that Stuart Skinner can take a step into a regular NHL role next season, even if that obviously isn’t going to be at that number one level. Koskinen is an unrestricted free agent and not expected to be back with the Oilers, while Smith still has one year left on his contract at a $2.2MM cap hit.
  • One of the more interesting moments in the press conference was when the manager was pressed about Jesse Puljujarvi, who found himself in the bottom six more often than not at the end of the year and is a restricted free agent this summer. When asked if Puljujarvi was part of the solution for the Oilers moving forward, Holland simply said “that’s what I have to sort out.” The 24-year-old forward is due a $1.41MM qualifying offer and is eligible for arbitration.

Snapshots: King Clancy, Smith, Somppi

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The NHL award being revealed on Tuesday was the King Clancy Trophy which is given annually “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community”.  It was announced that Devils defenseman P.K. Subban is this year’s winner.  He created the P.K. Subban Foundation in 2014 while playing with Montreal and pledged $10MM over seven years to Montreal Children’s Hospital.  Subban also founded Blueline Buddies in 2016 when he played for Nashville and earlier this year, he donated $1MM in support of Le Spot, a Montreal mental health clinic while also matching donations to help Ukrainian cancer patients.  It’s the fourth time that Subban has been a finalist for the award with this being his first win.  Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf and Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse were the other finalists.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Oilers goaltender Mike Smith met with reporters today (video link) and indicated that it’s “too early to tell” if he’s going to return next season. The 40-year-old had an up-and-down season and acknowledged that he played through injuries for most of the year but still managed to post a .915 SV% in 28 games during the regular season, a number that he came close to maintaining in the playoffs (.913).  Smith is signed for next season already with a $2.2MM cap hit but he is not subject to the 35-plus rule that many veterans are.  In the last CBA, a provision was put in that says the rule does not apply if the compensation in each year is uniform or if the salary increases each year.  The latter applies to Smith so Edmonton wouldn’t face a cap penalty if he opted to retire.
  • Pending Lightning RFA forward Otto Somppi has decided to head overseas for next season as Lukko of the Finnish Liiga announced that they’ve signed the 24-year-old to a one-year deal. Somppi has spent the last four seasons in Tampa Bay’s farm system but never received a recall to the NHL.  In 50 games this season with AHL Syracuse, he had 23 points.  Tampa Bay can retain Somppi’s NHL rights through 2025 by issuing him a qualifying offer next month.

Darcy Kuemper Out; Pavel Francouz Likely Starter

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Darcy Kuemper wasn’t on the ice for the Colorado Avalanche at morning skate according to Gene Principe of Sportsnet, as Pavel Francouz and Justus Annunen occupied the nets instead. The veteran netminder was pulled from game one with an upper-body injury, and head coach Jared Bednar wouldn’t comment on the specifics yesterday, other than to say “we’ll see” if he would be ready for game two. Bednar confirmed following the skate that Kuemper is indeed out for tonight’s match.

Kuemper, 32, has dealt with injury issues his entire career and already had a bad-luck incident in the playoffs that took him out for a few games. Against the Nashville Predators in the first round, a stick came through Kuemper’s mask and hit him in the eye, forcing Francouz into the net for a game and a half. While the Avalanche had no trouble finishing that series, they’re in tough against an Edmonton Oilers team that has had no trouble scoring goals.

If it is Francouz, it’s another chance for him to prove not only that he can handle an NHL playoff game, but that he can be part of a tandem for next season. Kuemper is a pending unrestricted free agent, while the 31-year-old Francouz is signed through 2023-24. To this point in his short NHL career, and despite strong regular season numbers, the Czech netminder has been completely unreliable in the postseason, recording an .891 save percentage in nine appearances. Six of those came in the 2020 bubble playoffs when the team ultimately went with Michael Hutchinson in the deciding game seven against the Dallas Stars.

The Oilers meanwhile had their own goaltending issues in game one, which saw Mike Smith pulled from the net after allowing six goals on 25 shots. Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that there is a “strong indication” that the team will go back to Smith for game two, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise given how much faith they have shown in the veteran netminder thus far.

Through 13 games this postseason, Smith has a solid .917 save percentage and even leads the playoffs with two shutouts. While he can be a bit of an adventure at times, there’s little doubt at this point that he gives them the best chance to win.

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