Rumour Roundup: Multiple teams are interested in Jesse Puljujarvi, Oilers are scouting the Blue Jackets, and more
1 year ago
This will be an Oiler-centric rumour roundup!
Quite a few rumours have surfaced since our last rumour roundup on Sunday. This includes a bunch of teams interested in Jesse Puljujärvi, a player who the Oilers are looking at in return for Puljujärvi, and the Oilers asking about an Arizona defenceman.
Let’s begin…
Teams are interested in Puljujarvi:
The former fourth-overall draft pick will likely be on the move before the trade deadline.
Per Frank Servalli, teams like the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues, a team with cap space, or a team that the Oilers wish to trade with could receive the 24-year-old right winger.
This season, Puljujärvi has just four goals and six assists in the 49 games that he’s played. What’s more is that he’s spent a significant amount of time with the Oilers big guns, playing 186:31 minutes with Connor McDavid (the highest time on ice with any forward for Puljujärvi) and 155:49 minutes with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the second most amount of time with a forward.
Furthermore, Puljujärvi’s goal share stats have taken a hit in the 2022-23 season, as he went from a 64.6 goal share percentage to a 38.1 goal share percentage. The 24-year-old right wing is making $3 million in 2022-23, before becoming a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
St. Louis, one of the teams looking at Puljujärvi, has a player that the Oilers are interested in…
Oilers are looking at Noel Acciari:
Per Elliot Friedman in his 32 Thoughts article, the Oilers are interested in right-shot centre\Noel Acciari of the St. Louis Blues.
The 31-year-old has played 51 games with the Blues this season, scoring 10 goals and adding eight assists. His career high came back in 2019-20, when he scored an impressive 20 goals and seven assists in 66 games, which is his current career high.
This season, Acciari has a 40-goal share percentage, and a 47.6 expected goal share percentage. So in terms of advanced statistics, he’s a little bit of a downgrade compared to Puljujärvi.
Acciari is making $1,250,000 on the season and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. This isn’t the first right-shot centre the Oilers have shown interest in, as they’ve also been rumoured to be interested in the Arizona Coyotes’ Nick Bjugstad.
Speaking of the Coyotes…
Edmonton has shown interest in Shayne Gostisbehere:
This rumour also comes from Elliot Friedman on 32 Thoughts.
The stretch from being interested in Columbus’ Vladislav Gavrikov to Shayne Gostisbehere is fascinating. One is your prototypical defensive defenceman who doesn’t get on the score sheet often but is hard to play against. Gostisbehere on the other hand is somewhat similar to current Oiler Tyson Barrie
The 29-year-old left-shot defenceman has had a bit of a career renaissance since joining the Yotes, scoring nine goals and adding 20 assists in the 48 games he’s played with the team from the desert. Last season, he scored 14 goals and 37 assists in 82 games, for his second-best season in terms of points, and the best since 2017-18.
Gostisbehere has played 837:36 minutes, the most on the Coyotes, and had a 46.7 goal share percentage, and a 43 expected goal share percentage. It’s unlikely that the 29-year-old would see first-pairing minutes on the Oilers. He would slot in nicely on the second pairing, but for the love of God, please do not pair him with Tyson Barrie.
The man they call “Ghost Bear” is in the final year of his deal, making $4,500,000. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. It’s also worth noting that Gostisbehere is out for around 3-5 weeks with an upper-body injury.
Other notes:
Oilers are scouting Columbus… again:
Per OilersAcess on Twitter, Edmonton recently scouted another Columbus game. They’ve been linked to left-shot defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov in recent weeks, and the Blue Jackets are apparently looking for a first-round pick and more for the 27-year-old. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but Columbus is allowing other teams to speak to him.
Bo Horvat traded to the Islanders:
This one came out of nowhere. On Monday, the Canucks traded captain Bo Horvat to the islanders for Anthony Beauvillier, a prospect in Aatu Raty, and a protected 2023 first-round pick. If the Islanders miss the playoffs (they currently sit on the outside looking in), there’s a good chance that the 2023 pick becomes a 2024 pick, as it’s top-12 protected. Could a Jonathan Toews trade look somewhat similar to this?
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