We’ve got like what 9?
Gotta sign a backup and puju for sure. 2.5 puju? 1-2 for a backup short term.

So we’ve still got 5 to resign Rattie, jt and chiasson. Prob shouldn’t commit more than 3 total for all of em if you want em back.

So 2 left.

Russels gotta go regardless imo. There’s another 4 potentially. So we’ve got 6. Willie gets paid 7.
Maybe try and beg to move brodziak.

I mean sure, the next guy’s gotta get creative, but finding that money certainly isn’t Everest. And that’s just off the top of my head.
Honestly, if they don’t find a proven scoring winger to slot in the top 6, (at the very least) instead of forcing benson up there, expect another year like this one.
Def not in the top 3 in the pac anyway
- HB77

Adding a legitimate scoring forward would make the transition into the NHL so much easier for Benson, too. Slot him next to Nuge and a Nylander and hot damn. He won't be tasked with having to create all the offense himself and instead can rest easy knowing that the offense will come.

Adding a legitimate scoring forward would make the transition into the NHL so much easier for Benson, too. Slot him next to Nuge and a Nylander and hot damn. He won't be tasked with having to create all the offense himself and instead can rest easy knowing that the offense will come.
- MaximumBone

Cap stuff aside (yes I seen what was written but a big contract is going to have to move regardless of 10% stuff) exactly how confident are we that last season was just an off one for him and not the norm? 7 mil is a rather expensive gamble for us to be taking at this point wouldn’t you say? If it works then yes it’s a great move but if not we are stuck with another major anchor for a contract.....imo if I were to go after any Leaf I would see if Kapanen could be had....would slot in great with Nuge and would come cheaper then Nylander

Needs more Rasmussen. Yamamoto for Rasmussen.

Been burnt by 1 Nylander. No interest in having it happen again. Solid no on Nylander for me. Could he help, sure. But he just no showed after holding out for big money. What's to say he doesnt just coast until his next contract year?

Been burnt by 1 Nylander. No interest in having it happen again. Solid no on Nylander for me. Could he help, sure. But he just no showed after holding out for big money. What's to say he doesnt just coast until his next contract year?
- wreckage

My point in short form Kapanen would be a good one to target

My point in short form Kapanen would be a good one to target
- RatedR80

Agreed.

Been burnt by 1 Nylander. No interest in having it happen again. Solid no on Nylander for me. Could he help, sure. But he just no showed after holding out for big money. What's to say he doesnt just coast until his next contract year?
- wreckage

Agreed.

We’ve got like what 9?
Gotta sign a backup and puju for sure. 2.5 puju? 1-2 for a backup short term.

So we’ve still got 5 to resign Rattie, jt and chiasson. Prob shouldn’t commit more than 3 total for all of em if you want em back.

So 2 left.

Russels gotta go regardless imo. There’s another 4 potentially. So we’ve got 6. Willie gets paid 7.
Maybe try and beg to move brodziak.

I mean sure, the next guy’s gotta get creative, but finding that money certainly isn’t Everest. And that’s just off the top of my head.
Honestly, if they don’t find a proven scoring winger to slot in the top 6, (at the very least) instead of forcing benson up there, expect another year like this one.
Def not in the top 3 in the pac anyway
- HB77

Yeah I don't see any painless way to simply remove Russell and his 4M.

They already have 8.4mil in cap space along with another 2-4mil around the corner in the likely increasing salary cap. We have 6 Dmen and 8 forwards currently signed. Beyond my usual schemes (retained trade of Russell, split retention of Lucic), buying out Gagner adds 2mil this year at the cost of 1mil the following year (1mil likely covered by the following cap increase). Buyout Sekera to save 3mil each year for years at the cost of 1.5mil in the two years following the contract (only makes sense if you're betting against a lockout). Trade Benning to a team in need of RD to save 1.9mil. Bury Brodziak for around 1mil in savings.

I'm not saying to do all these things, but there are plenty of options that can be taken advantage of if it means adding a high-end offensive forward to our team. Improving our middle-6 scoring is priority #1 as far as I'm concerned and adding Nylander to a 2nd line with Nuge does exactly that.

Do I think the Oilers will hire a manager capable of doing the lateral thinking required for this? No, but since when do we pontificate on what this dumb(frank) organization WILL do and not on what we want them to do?
- MaximumBone

Okay, bold is true and fair enough.

Cap stuff aside (yes I seen what was written but a big contract is going to have to move regardless of 10% stuff) exactly how confident are we that last season was just an off one for him and not the norm? 7 mil is a rather expensive gamble for us to be taking at this point wouldn’t you say? If it works then yes it’s a great move but if not we are stuck with another major anchor for a contract.....imo if I were to go after any Leaf I would see if Kapanen could be had....would slot in great with Nuge and would come cheaper then Nylander
- RatedR80

Extremely confident

Back to back 61pt seasons before the age of 22, with strong possession numbers, solid defensively, and a lethal shot.

He’s immediately our 3rd most talented player.


Dude changes the oilers significantly overnight

Extremely confident

Back to back 61pt seasons before the age of 22, with strong possession numbers, solid defensively, and a lethal shot.

He’s immediately our 3rd most talented player.


Dude changes the oilers significantly overnight
- HB77

But at what cost?

He may be talented, but he is going to cost us something significant too.

As such, I'd rather go after Kapanen instead.

But at what cost?

He may be talented, but he is going to cost us something significant too.

As such, I'd rather go after Kapanen instead.
- EdmHockeyMan

All depends on the pull Babcock has I guess.
Amd now might be the one/last time u get him for a price that’s tenable. Either way, I’d give up quite abit for him.

And That’s just it, they’ll most likely keep kapanen, cause he’ll be significantly cheaper.
He’s really fast, but not as good as nylander.
I want a guy that we know has the chops to score 60-70

Been burnt by 1 Nylander. No interest in having it happen again. Solid no on Nylander for me. Could he help, sure. But he just no showed after holding out for big money. What's to say he doesnt just coast until his next contract year?
- wreckage

There's a lot of evidence behind players struggling when they miss camp so I don't think that criticism holds up. As for his playoff performance, a lot of the team struggled and the blow up we're seeing against him seems comparable to the one against Eberle a few years ago.

However, I do agree that Nylander isn't the ideal target in my opinion. Gotta balance ideal with available sometimes.

There's a lot of evidence behind players struggling when they miss camp so I don't think that criticism holds up. As for his playoff performance, a lot of the team struggled and the blow up we're seeing against him seems comparable to the one against Eberle a few years ago.

However, I do agree that Nylander isn't the ideal target in my opinion. Gotta balance ideal with available sometimes.
- MaximumBone

It’s an expensive gamble and that’s my main issue....how many times have we gambled with big money only to get burned in the end....maybe I’m suffering from PTSD on such gambles....this franchise can simply not afford to lose another one of these deals...too much at stake this time around

There's a lot of evidence behind players struggling when they miss camp so I don't think that criticism holds up. As for his playoff performance, a lot of the team struggled and the blow up we're seeing against him seems comparable to the one against Eberle a few years ago.

However, I do agree that Nylander isn't the ideal target in my opinion. Gotta balance ideal with available sometimes.
- MaximumBone

I'd say there is evidence for slow starts. Usually guys arent training with a pro team while they hold out too. And Nylander just never came around. I could understand a slow 15-20 games after missing camp. But he never came around. And as I mentioned, we've burned by a Nylander in the past. Rather stear clear of that train wreck waiting to happen.

This is a great idea if you hate the Leafs. Chiarelli will trade off guys like Marner and it might distribute some of the Leafs young players around the league. Which is great for Oiler fans. Even if they don't get any of the players, having the leafs sign players like Russel to huge contracts and trading will help fill spots on other teams. Meaning less competition for UFAs. I am assuming this blog was written by Chiarelli himself and he hacked your account. No one else would think that he should EVER get the chance to be a GM again.

Adding a legitimate scoring forward would make the transition into the NHL so much easier for Benson, too. Slot him next to Nuge and a Nylander and hot damn. He won't be tasked with having to create all the offense himself and instead can rest easy knowing that the offense will come.
- MaximumBone

Tyler Benson is not a top 6 forward! Put down the pipe.

I'm just glad Mike Vellucci's name never seems to come up in the Coach/GM search discussions.

All depends on the pull Babcock has I guess.
Amd now might be the one/last time u get him for a price that’s tenable. Either way, I’d give up quite abit for him.

And That’s just it, they’ll most likely keep kapanen, cause he’ll be significantly cheaper.
He’s really fast, but not as good as nylander.
I want a guy that we know has the chops to score 60-70
- HB77

So what do you think he'd cost?

This might a little bit out there, but might as well see what other people think. As for Kapanen, perhaps we could try to offer sheet him considering Toronto's position in cap space now? If we push for 3m, which I don't know how you may feel about that, I don't think Toronto would be able to resign him, Johnsson, and Marner, not to mention they still need to sign other players too. As a result, they'd most likely have to let Kapanen go. And all that would cost us would be a 2nd rounder.

And I wouldn't be so down on Kapanen. 44 point season at the age of 22 where he was shifted between lines in the top 9 is pretty good. Nearly all of his points are from even strength too. His advanced metrics are respectable too.

Plus this could help Pulj. Playing with a fellow Fin who was also a teammate back on the WJC team for Finland back in 2016, not to mention that they won gold together, could be of some value here.

So... Bouchard was named OHL defenseman of the year.

Adding a legitimate scoring forward would make the transition into the NHL so much easier for Benson, too. Slot him next to Nuge and a Nylander and hot damn. He won't be tasked with having to create all the offense himself and instead can rest easy knowing that the offense will come.
- MaximumBone

Agreed. Nylander would be a great asset for this team, but at what cost?

If it means trading away one of our top defenders, I'd be iffy about such a deal.

Extremely confident

Back to back 61pt seasons before the age of 22, with strong possession numbers, solid defensively, and a lethal shot.

He’s immediately our 3rd most talented player.


Dude changes the oilers significantly overnight
- HB77

That, he would, but I'm 99% sure Toronto would want a player like Nurse or perhaps Larsson going back their way. Maybe even more. In other words, chances are that they want a damn good defender going back their way considering their defensive lineup.

Yes we did!

It was a lot of fun to be honest. Coming home and watching us kick ass on the tube made so many of my days. Watching our young prospects excel into NHL caliber players, with even more in the pipeline makes me happy and sleep easy at night. I’m very stoked about our future! How about you?

Does your team make you sleep better at night?

I think we all know the answer to that..
- Flamin_Irishmin

Did u miss the part about jonny saying oh well to a collapsed season. True leadership that is. Then the other invisible boys monahan and lol tchchuk. Did u catch the game bouchard had the other night and his recent d man of the year award? Didnt think u did. I guess coming home to watch your team play reg season warriors and have more points than oilers must be something when u set the bar as low as flames fans always do.

Tyler Benson is not a top 6 forward! Put down the pipe.
- K-man25

Where there u have it from a flames fan... most be worth something. Beauty of it is if they play with mcdavid or drai they dont have to be ovie to have success. Kid was on fire in his first ahl season injury free in a long time. His development was hurt along the way.

Tyler Benson is not a top 6 forward! Put down the pipe.
- K-man25

Shouldn’t we wait until Benson (a PPG forward in the AHL) plays a full NHL season before we decide what he is, and what he is not?