Weekly Rumours – More Trade Targets Emerge
2 years ago
We only got one piece of news surrounding the Edmonton Oilers this week, and I’ll get to that in just a second, but we also got some fresh names added to the NHL’s rumour mill. This offseason could be one of the craziest we’ve seen in a long time as teams try to navigate both the expansion draft and a flat cap.
First, we’ll start with the news that Oscar Klefbom will not be exempt from the NHL’s expansion draft. The league identified a handful of players who were granted exemption due to injury. You can find a full list of those players HERE.
So if the Oilers want to ensure that Klefbom is not taken by the Seattle Kraken, they will need to protect him just like they would any other player. I’m not surprised that the NHL didn’t exempt him either. When you look at that list of players, it’s pretty much all players whose careers are over. That might not be the case with Klefbom and if you want to be optimistic, this could be a sign that the 27-year-old defenseman plans on playing again.
The Oilers have about a month to figure out what they want to do with Klefbom. If they keep him protected, that means Caleb Jones is going to be exposed. If they want to risk it, they could leave Klefbom open for the taking and keep the younger option in Jones.
Really, there’s no guarantee that the Kraken are interested in Klefbom considering his injury history and the number of quality defensemen that will be available for them from other organizations. I think there’s a good chance that the Oilers could leave him exposed, keep Jones, and force the Kraken to look at one of their forwards like @Josh Archibald and @Zack Kassian.
That would be the dream scenario for the Oilers. If they can walk away from this expansion draft with the Kraken taking a veteran contract off their hands, that would be huge.
Here are some other big rumours from around the NHL:
A NEW SERAVALLI LIST
One of the NHL’s top insiders, Frank Seravalli, has a new home! He announced this week that he is joining Daily Faceoff. His first article on the site was a look at some of the big trade targets that could be available this offseason.
Of course, the list starts with Sabres Captain @Jack Eichel and continues on to include names like @Johnny Gaudreau, @Seth Jones, @Evander Kane, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. I don’t think the Oilers will be targeting any of those players, but there were a few names on Frank’s list that should be of interest to Ken Holland.
The first name that jumped off the page at me was Connor Garland. The 25-year-old was #4 on Frank’s list and is a pending RFA with arbitration rights. He’s a right-winger, so not a perfect fit for an Oilers team that needs help on the left-side but he may be able to play his off-wing. He’s scored 47 goals in his first 164 career games and shouldn’t cost too much considering the state that the Coyotes are in and the fact that he doesn’t have a contract.
Sam Reinhart, Rickard Rakkell, and Jake Debrusk were all on Frank’s list as well. We’ve discussed those names a handful of times already this summer.
Lower on the list were guys like Vince Dunn, a left-handed defenseman who’s currently with the St. Louis Blues, and Warren Foegle, a left-winger who scored ten goals in 56 games with the Carolina Hurricanes this past season. Both those names would intrigue me if I was Ken Holland.
DOES MATT TKACHUK WANT OUT OF CALGARY?
CALGARY, ALBERTA – JANUARY 11: Matthew Tkachuk #19 of the Calgary Flames skates away after a fight against Zack Kassian #44 of the Edmonton Oilers at Scotiabank Saddledome on January 11, 2020 in Calgary, Canada. (Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHL via Getty Images)
Shane O’Brien, who co-hosts the Steve Kouleas Powerplay Podcast mentioned in one of their recent episodes that Flames forward Matt Tkachuk wants out of Alberta and would prefer to go play for the St. Louis Blues.
Now, O’Brien is a former NHLer, so I’m sure he has some decent sources but it’s worth noting that he’s never really broken any sort of news. There’s a good chance this isn’t going to happen. The other important thing to remember is that even though Tkachuk is an RFA at the end of next season, the Flames will hold his rights and he has no trade protection in his current contract. So if the Flames don’t want to move him, they don’t have to and even if they decide to make a trade, he really has no say in the matter.
Ryan Pinder from Sportsnet 690 in Calgary said he talked to people around the organization about this rumour and they said “In reaching out to some folks around the (Calgary) organization, they described this rumour in two words. The first one being bull. The second one sounding a lot like shirt.”
THE PRICE FOR HAMILTON
Sportsnet’s Luke Fox recently reported that pending UFA defenseman Dougie Hamilton is looking for around $8 million per season on his next deal, citing Alex Pietrangelo’s long-term deal that pays him $8.8 million per year as a comparable. I don’t think it’s crazy to imagine a scenario where Hamilton gets that kind of money but we’re in a flat cap world so I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if his AAV is closer to $7 million.
Chris Johnston, also of Sportsnet, says that Hamilton’s agent JP Barry has already had conversations with multiple teams regarding the 28-year-old defenseman. It sounds like he could get scooped up well before free agency.
QUICK NOTES
- O’Brien mentioned that he believes Vlad Tarasenko’s time in St. Louis could be coming to an end. The 29-year-old is a goal-scoring machine when he’s healthy and has two more years on a deal that carries a cap hit of $7.5 million. He also has a full NTC. The contract is not great and the injury concerns will really hurt his value.
- Sam Carchidi from the Philadelphia Inquirer says that the team is looking to acquire defenseman and goaltending this summer. Carchidi went on to name almost every free agent at those positions as names that the Flyers could have their eyes on. It could be a busy summer for GM Chuck Fletcher.
- The Bruins will likely be interested in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, just as they were last summer.
- Mike Johnston recently listed off teams that could be fits when it comes to a sign-and-trade for Dougie Hamilton. He mentioned the Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken, Philadelphia Flyers, and Edmonton Oilers. I was surprised to see the Oilers on this list. I don’t think they’ll go hard after Hamilton.
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