Weekly Rumours – Expect a Quiet Few Months for Ken Holland
3 years ago
The Oilers made news this week, signing forward Dominik Kahun to a one-year contract worth under $1 million. If you’ve been reading this blog every week or listening to any of the Oilersnation podcasts, then you’ll know that I’m a big fan of this move. It’s a low-risk, high upside signing and if it goes well, it could go down as one of Hollands best moves as GM of the Oilers.
As for what’s next for the Oilers? I actually wouldn’t be surprised if this was the last big move Holland makes this offseason.
Even with William Lagesson signing a one-year deal yesterday, I could maybe see him bringing in a depth defenseman for around league minimum, or on a two-way deal. I could also see a scenario where they circle back to Riley Sheahan. If the league is going to allow teams to carry a ‘taxi squad’ similar to what Major League Baseball allowed teams to do this past season, then bringing back Sheahan would make sense.
Aside from maybe a small move or two like that, I think we can expect a pretty quiet few months from the Oilers. Outside of Edmonton, there are still some teams that need to make some moves before the season eventually begins.
THE JETS & LAINE
Feb 18, 2020; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine (29) takes a shot on the Los Angeles Kings net during the third period at Bell MTS Place. Mandatory Credit: Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The @Patrik Laine rumours have quieted a little bit over the last few weeks and recently, Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet wrote that unless the Jets are blown away by a trade offer, he fully expects Laine to report to training camp.
I don’t think this means that a Laine trade is never going to happen, it just won’t happen this offseason. Considering the fact that Laine is an RFA at the end of next season, I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear his name in trade talks pretty consistently for the next year. It just doesn’t sound like these two sides are going to be a long-term fit.
The Jets are still going to have to make some moves before next season starts. As it sits right now, the Jets have a full 23-man roster but are $722k over the cap (via PuckPedia) and still need to re-sign Jack Roslovic. Now, there has been plenty of trade talk surrounding Roslovic and the simplest way to solve their cap crunch would be to deal Roslovic for a player who makes under $1 million or is on an ELC, but it would be hard to win a trade where you do that.
It’s not a lock that Roslovic gets traded, but it’s still a possibility. If they don’t move him, they’ll need to find a way to move out some money if they want to sign him.
ISLANDERS NEED TO CLEAR SPACE
Yesterday, the New York Islanders signed defenseman @Ryan Pulock to a two-year deal with a cap hit of $5 million. That move leaves them with just $3 million in cap space and 22 players signed (via PuckPedia). That is not going to be enough space for them to sign RFA Matt Barzal.
On a bridge deal, Barzal is easily worth more than $6 million a season, so the Islanders are going to have to move out some money. I’m sure they’d love to on from Andrew Ladd and Johnny Boychuk, who make a combined $11.5 million, but that’s just not going to happen unless they’re willing to part with some significant future assets in the deal.
They have three forwards making between $3-3.5 million. If they move one of Casey Cizikas, Leo Komarov, or Cal Clutterbuck, then they should have enough money to get a deal done with Barzal, but it will still be tight.
QUICK NOTES
- Hart Levine from PuckPedia recently did an interview on TSN 1260 and talked about how the contract negotiations between the St. Louis Blues and Vince Dunn could have an effect on Ethan Bear’s next deal with the Oilers, similar to how the Josh Morrisey deal in Winnipeg had an effect on Darnell Nurse’s last contract with the Oilers. Something to keep an eye on from an Oilers perspective.
- The longer we go without the Tampa Bay Lightning making a move, the more interesting things get. They absolutely need to clear out cap space and it’s going to be hard for them to do it. As of right now, it sounds like the most likely move involves packaging a future asset with @Tyler Johnson and his $5 million cap hit.
- Still quiet on the @Mike Hoffman front, with the reports still being that he wants a one-year deal worth around $6 million. Nashville would be a very interesting fit and they’re reportedly interested.
- There was some talk this week that the NHL and NHLPA are targeting January 1st as a potential date for training camps to open. That would likely mean that we aren’t getting regular-season games until close to the end of January. If that plays out, I would say it’s highly unlikely that they get 82 games in. My best guess right now is a 50-60 game regular season.
Recent articles from Tyler Yaremchuk
