<p>The Jesse Puljujarvi trade winds continue to blow.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And on Friday, <em>Sportsnet&#8217;s </em>Elliotte Friedman the Edmonton Oilers are still exploring trade avenues.</p>
<blockquote><p>Friedman: &#8220;They want to move him for a pick. it&#8217;s hard right now because the teams that are at the cap, or close to the cap who are interested in him, they didn&#8217;t want to do that. I think there was at least one deal out there. Edmonton was talking to a team, and were told they had to take a player back who has a salary, a decent salary. Edmonton is like &#8216;we can&#8217;t do that,&#8217; and if you trade with some of these other teams, you know you have to attach something with it. I think Edmonton&#8217;s a bit stuck there right now. I think there is people interested in Puljujarvi, it&#8217;s they don&#8217;t like the trade they&#8217;re going to have to make. i still think they&#8217;d like to do some things.&#8221;</p>
<p>Jeff Marek: &#8220;I&#8217;m very much of the belief that the Oilers like him, but they just don&#8217;t like him at the number the arbitrator is going to give him.&#8221;</p>
<p>Friedman: &#8220;I agree with that. I think they want to move him to create space, but the problem is not that they can&#8217;t move him, the problem is they can&#8217;t do it to create space.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The biggest issue here seems to be the arbitration case, rather than the Oilers disliking the player. Money continues to be an issue for Edmonton and it&#8217;s hard not to look at contracts like Warren Foegele ($2.75m) and Tyson Barrie ($4.5m) and think that money could be better used elsewhere.</p>
<h1>World Juniors</h1>
<p>We&#8217;re now just days away from Team Canada&#8217;s World Junior camp kicking off, but we may not see any Oilers there.</p>
<p>While the only one eligible would be 2021 first-round pick Xavier Bourgault, it sounds like he might not be playing.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3426658/2022/07/15/edmonton-oilers-reid-schaefer-xavier-bourgault/"><em>The Athletic&#8217;s</em></a> Daniel Nugent-Bowman, Bourgault is still battling a core/oblique injury he suffered in the final weeks of the QMJHL season. He played through it as Shawinigan made a Memorial Cup run.</p>
<p>As DNB noted, Bourgault, who trains with Andy O&#8217;Brien in Montreal (Sidney Crosby&#8217;s trainer), has a top goal in mind of turning pro in the fall.</p>
<p>2021 3rd round pick Luca Munzenberger, meanwhile, will be there for Team Germany.</p>
<h1>Marner opens up on carjacking</h1>
<p>It was a scary time for Mitch Marner after the Toronto Maple Leafs season ended. Days after the season ended, Marner and his fiancee were carjacked at gunpoint after seeing a movie.</p>
<p>Three people armed with handguns and a knife took off with Marner&#8217;s Range Rover.</p>
<p>“It was definitely a crazy day. Lucky enough none of us were hurt. Me and my fiancée (Stephanie LaChance) were perfectly OK coming out of it. So, that&#8217;s all that really matters in the end,” Marner said Thursday, as transcribed by <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/mitch-marner-opens-up-about-carjacking-i-dont-think-the-fear-hits-you-until-after/"><em>Sportsnet</em></a>.</p>
<p>“But it definitely does affect you mentally. It definitely does come into your mind for a couple of weeks straight there. Just kind of hits you back and forth driving a car or something like that. So, we were lucky enough to have people around that we can talk to and have these stories to tell and get feedback. So, definitely mental health is something important to me and my family — and something that we really take serious.”</p>
<h1>Will Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews ask for a trade?</h1>
<p>Rumours have swirled about the two Blackhawks staples and their future. The club has dismantled the roster trading top players in Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach at the draft.</p>
<p>GM Kyle Davidson has said he&#8217;s spoken with the pair, but is unsure of their future.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think that&#8217;s probably more of a question for them, but I felt the meeting went well and open dialogue both ways,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/chicago-blackhawks-gm-unsure-if-patrick-kane-jonathan-toews-buying-into-rebuild/c-334984546">Davidson said Thursday</a>. &#8220;It was a healthy process, so, they&#8217;re both here and chatting with them and keeping that communication open.</p>
<p>&#8220;I thought it was healthy, open communication, open dialogue as it has been in the past. It was necessary, I felt. It&#8217;s never easy losing great players and great friends off the team. So, it was important that we sat down.&#8221;</p>
<h2><a href="https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/2021-22/tickets?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=WorldJuniors2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE WORLD JUNIORS</a></h2>
<h2><a href="https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/2021-22/tickets?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=WorldJuniors2022" rel="external noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-118478 jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled" src="https://i2.wp.com/publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WJC2022StaticTCMR_960x540.png?resize=950%2C540&amp;ssl=1" sizes="(max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px" srcset="https://i2.wp.com/publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WJC2022StaticTCMR_960x540.png?w=950&amp;ssl=1 950w, https://i2.wp.com/publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WJC2022StaticTCMR_960x540.png?resize=300%2C171&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WJC2022StaticTCMR_960x540.png?resize=768%2C437&amp;ssl=1 768w" alt="" width="894" height="508" data-lazy-loaded="1" /></a></h2>
<p>Want to watch the next generation of hockey stars before they make the show? The World Junior Championship is coming to Edmonton and this is your call to grab tickets! <a href="https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/2021-22/tickets?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=WorldJuniors2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">Get your tickets here.</a></p>
<hr />
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i><a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.</span></i></p>

The Jesse Puljujarvi trade winds continue to blow.



And on Friday, <em>Sportsnet's </em>Elliotte Friedman the Edmonton Oilers are still exploring trade avenues.
<blockquote>Friedman: "They want to move him for a pick. it's hard right now because the teams that are at the cap, or close to the cap who are interested in him, they didn't want to do that. I think there was at least one deal out there. Edmonton was talking to a team, and were told they had to take a player back who has a salary, a decent salary. Edmonton is like 'we can't do that,' and if you trade with some of these other teams, you know you have to attach something with it. I think Edmonton's a bit stuck there right now. I think there is people interested in Puljujarvi, it's they don't like the trade they're going to have to make. i still think they'd like to do some things."

Jeff Marek: "I'm very much of the belief that the Oilers like him, but they just don't like him at the number the arbitrator is going to give him."

Friedman: "I agree with that. I think they want to move him to create space, but the problem is not that they can't move him, the problem is they can't do it to create space."</blockquote>
The biggest issue here seems to be the arbitration case, rather than the Oilers disliking the player. Money continues to be an issue for Edmonton and it's hard not to look at contracts like Warren Foegele ($2.75m) and Tyson Barrie ($4.5m) and think that money could be better used elsewhere.
<h1>World Juniors</h1>
We're now just days away from Team Canada's World Junior camp kicking off, but we may not see any Oilers there.

While the only one eligible would be 2021 first-round pick Xavier Bourgault, it sounds like he might not be playing.

According to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3426658/2022/07/15/edmonton-oilers-reid-schaefer-xavier-bourgault/"><em>The Athletic's</em></a> Daniel Nugent-Bowman, Bourgault is still battling a core/oblique injury he suffered in the final weeks of the QMJHL season. He played through it as Shawinigan made a Memorial Cup run.

As DNB noted, Bourgault, who trains with Andy O'Brien in Montreal (Sidney Crosby's trainer), has a top goal in mind of turning pro in the fall.

2021 3rd round pick Luca Munzenberger, meanwhile, will be there for Team Germany.
<h1>Marner opens up on carjacking</h1>
It was a scary time for Mitch Marner after the Toronto Maple Leafs season ended. Days after the season ended, Marner and his fiancee were carjacked at gunpoint after seeing a movie.

Three people armed with handguns and a knife took off with Marner's Range Rover.

“It was definitely a crazy day. Lucky enough none of us were hurt. Me and my fiancée (Stephanie LaChance) were perfectly OK coming out of it. So, that's all that really matters in the end,” Marner said Thursday, as transcribed by <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/mitch-marner-opens-up-about-carjacking-i-dont-think-the-fear-hits-you-until-after/"><em>Sportsnet</em></a>.

“But it definitely does affect you mentally. It definitely does come into your mind for a couple of weeks straight there. Just kind of hits you back and forth driving a car or something like that. So, we were lucky enough to have people around that we can talk to and have these stories to tell and get feedback. So, definitely mental health is something important to me and my family — and something that we really take serious.”
<h1>Will Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews ask for a trade?</h1>
Rumours have swirled about the two Blackhawks staples and their future. The club has dismantled the roster trading top players in Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach at the draft.

GM Kyle Davidson has said he's spoken with the pair, but is unsure of their future.

"I think that's probably more of a question for them, but I felt the meeting went well and open dialogue both ways," <a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/chicago-blackhawks-gm-unsure-if-patrick-kane-jonathan-toews-buying-into-rebuild/c-334984546">Davidson said Thursday</a>. "It was a healthy process, so, they're both here and chatting with them and keeping that communication open.

"I thought it was healthy, open communication, open dialogue as it has been in the past. It was necessary, I felt. It's never easy losing great players and great friends off the team. So, it was important that we sat down."
<h2><a href="https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/2021-22/tickets?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=WorldJuniors2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE WORLD JUNIORS</a></h2>
<h2><a href="https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/2021-22/tickets?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=WorldJuniors2022" rel="external noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-118478 jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled" src="https://i2.wp.com/publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WJC2022StaticTCMR_960x540.png?resize=950%2C540&amp;ssl=1" sizes="(max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px" srcset="https://i2.wp.com/publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WJC2022StaticTCMR_960x540.png?w=950&amp;ssl=1 950w, https://i2.wp.com/publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WJC2022StaticTCMR_960x540.png?resize=300%2C171&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WJC2022StaticTCMR_960x540.png?resize=768%2C437&amp;ssl=1 768w" alt="" width="894" height="508" data-lazy-loaded="1" /></a></h2>
Want to watch the next generation of hockey stars before they make the show? The World Junior Championship is coming to Edmonton and this is your call to grab tickets! <a href="https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/2021-22/tickets?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=partner&amp;utm_campaign=WorldJuniors2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">Get your tickets here.</a>

<hr />

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i><a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.</span></i>

Recent articles from Zach Laing

Breaking News