Monday Musings: Centre Options

A two-week break has me refreshed and fired up for the next two sporting months. September and October are wonderful if you are a sports fan. The CFL season heats up, baseball races to the playoffs, while the NFL, NHL and NBA get going. It’s freaking awesome.

This year, the World Cup will wet the appetite of hockey fans earlier than usual and NHL training camps are a mere 25 days away. There are still many unsigned UFAs, and NHL teams will announce late signings and/or PTOs in the coming weeks.

Much of the off-season focus has been on the Oilers’ right defence, and I expect Peter Chiarelli to add another RD before training camp, but I also expect they will bring in a centre on a tryout contract as well.

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are all playing in the World Cup of Hockey. Barring a major upset they won’t miss much of the pre-season, but their appearance in the tourney means Chiarelli and Todd McLellan will likely opt to play them in fewer preseason games than usual. Having another veteran centre will help for training camp numbers, but I also believe they would like another option down the middle in case McLellan wants to play Draisaitl on the wing.

There are some interesting free agent centre options.

I saw Shawn Horcoff’s name surface last week, but after a few text messages today I’d say his appearance in Edmonton would be a major surprise. I’ve always been a fan of Horcoff, and I believe he still has value and a team will sign him. He’s 37 and will want to sign with a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. I could see him being just as productive as Matt Cullen was with Pittsburgh last year. Horcoff can play a checking role, but he still has enough offensive instincts to chip in at key times in a season.

I don’t see him coming here, but some other centres are intriguing, at least on a PTO in camp.

Ideally it would be a right-shot centre, but it doesn’t have to be. Are there any right-shot centres who stand out?

Jarret Stoll is a dominant faceoff guy. He can kill penalties and could be a right-shot option on the point on the second PP unit. He didn’t play on the PP last year in Minnesota, but he played 1:02/game with the Kings in 2014/2015. He’s played in the Pacific division in 11 of his 12 NHL seasons, and would be comfortable with the style of play. He’s 34 and has played 872 regular season games and 97 playoff games. He’s won two Cups and would bring some needed experience down the middle.

Stephen Gionta. He’s a small, checking centre who was the Devils’ fourth or fifth PK forward the past few seasons. He’s really tiny however, at 5’7, 175 pounds, and I’d be surprised if Chiarelli added a guy that small who isn’t an offensive player. He’s 32 and after six seasons in the AHL he finally became a regular with the Devils in 2012. I’d shy away from him.

Cody Hodgson is only 25 years young. The 10th overall pick in 2008 looked like he was going to be a solid player in 2012, when he scored 15-19-34 in 48 games for the Sabres and then tallied 20-24-44 in 72 games in 2013/2014, but the past two seasons he’s fallen off a cliff tallying only 9-12-21 in 117 games between Buffalo and Nashville. He’s now a reclamation project, but his 11 points in 14 AHL games last year show he still has offensive capabilities. He isn’t great defensively, and with his offense disappearing it is hard to see what he could add. Maybe last season demotion to the AHL lit a fire in him, and he’ll be more determined. A PTO has no-risk, so maybe a team will offer him one. I don’t see Edmonton as a great fit.

Tyler Kennedy is 32. He’s played 527 games and another 79 in the post-season. He was a solid contributor in Pittsburgh when they won the Cup in 2009. He played there for six seasons before stops in San Jose and Long Island. He played 50 games for the Devils last year and produced 16 points. He is listed as a centre, but he is really a winger, as he’s only taken more than 90 faceoffs in as season once. He isn’t an option in my eyes.

Stoll is the only one I’d consider bringing to camp.

Paul Gaustad dominates in the faceoff dot, is a solid PK guy, but is only a fourth centre at EV. He won’t produce much offence. He gets out shot a lot at EV, but despite that he doesn’t get scored on very much. Part of that could be to the Predators great defence and goaltending though. He’s huge at 6’5″ and 227 pounds, but he’s an average skater at best. I don’t see him being in a position where he could play more than fourth line minutes, and that could scare off some teams.

David Legwand is 35 years old. He didn’t want to play in the west when he was a UFA a few years ago, but beggers can’t be choosers and if he really wants to play then he might consider playing in the west again. He was a fourth liner at EV in Buffalo last year, playing only 7:30/game, but he played the most PK minutes of all their centres, 2:25/game. I’d be surprised if either side had any interest in him coming to Edmonton.

Mike Richards. He’s only 31 years old. He isn’t the player he was a few years ago, but he didn’t look out of place in Washington last season. He didn’t produce much offence, but he didn’t give up much defensively either. He would be a reliable, but not flashy veteran. He’d likely look at a playoff contender first, but I’d gladly sign him to a PTO and see what he has to offer.

No one should expect massive offensive contributions from any of these players, but the Oilers don’t have a lot of experience down the middle, and adding a veteran in training camp and during the preseason makes sense to me. Just practising against Stoll and Gaustad in the faceoff dot for three weeks of the preseason could be a huge boost for RNH, Draisaitl and McDavid.

I won’t be surprised if the Oilers sign a centre to a PTO before training camp begins with medicals on September 22nd.