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Weekly Rumours – Waivers and Trade Talk
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Tyler Yaremchuk
Oct 3, 2019, 11:45 EDTUpdated: Oct 3, 2019, 11:49 EDT
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Earlier this week we saw a flurry of players hit the waiver wire and some of them really surprised me. I was not expecting to see @Josh Ho-Sang, @Thomas Hickey, @Daniel Sprong, @Casey DeSmith, or @Sven Baertschi offered up for free but they all managed to clear through waivers.
It’s important to remember that a lot of teams are creeping close to that 50 contract limit (21 teams have 46 or more) so for a team to take on a player, they have to be sure that they have room for them on their 23-man roster and feel comfortable going one step closer to the 50-contract limit.
With that being said, I could definitely see some trades happening with some of these players within the next few weeks. Maybe you attach a late-round pick to a player on a two-way deal to bring in someone like Josh Ho-Sang or Daniel Sprong, assuming the Islanders and Ducks are looking to just get rid of those players.
I would also bet that we see a couple of goalies moved in the next few weeks. Casey DeSmith will likely want a new home after being sent down to the AHL by Pittsburgh. He’s a very good NHL backup in my mind. There’s also the Coyotes, who currently have four capable goaltenders in their system in Antti Raanta, Darcy Kuemper, Eric Comrie, and Adin Hill. The Avalanche are reportedly in the market for a goaltender and is a team to keep an eye on.
The goaltending market seems quiet for now but all it takes is one or injuries to happen for us to start seeing some major movement.

ALL QUIET ON THE JP FRONT

Elliotte Friedman had a handful of Oilers notes in his weekly ‘31 Thoughts’ blog. Most of them were about @Connor McDavid or Ken Holland but there was one nugget of info on @Jesse Puljujarvi. 
Basically, Friedman says that there’s nothing new on the Puljujarvi front and Ken Holland isn’t expecting there to be a deal anytime soon. He listed off names like @Klim Kostin, @Alexander Volkov, and @Julien Gauthier but that’s hardly news. We’ve been hearing those three thrown around for a while now.
I’m not expecting there to be any sort of Puljujarvi move until next summer. I just can’t see a team wanting to give up an asset for a player who is currently overseas. I expect there to simply be less and less talk about Puljujarvi as the year goes on and things will heat up at the draft.

QUICK NOTES

  • The Ottawa Senators started their season with pending UFA JG Pageau on the fourth line. This is a guy I would love to see the Oilers go after. He makes over $3 million for this season, so a contract would have to go out, but he would be a perfect fit on their third line. He has some solid offensive upside but can also kill penalties. I don’t think he’s available right now, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
  • Colin Stephenson of Newsday Sports in New York reported that the Rangers and pending UFA Chris Kreider. The 28-year-old winger has a combination of speed and skill that would fit really well into the Oilers top six but considering his cap hit for this season ($4.6m) and the fact he’s a free agent at the end of the year, I don’t see how this is a fit for the Oilers from a trade perspective. He’ll cost a lot to acquire and a lot to resign next summer. 
  • One Rangers forward that I could see the Oilers having interest in is Vlad Namestnikov. The 26-year-old can play both centre and the wing. He had a down year in 18/19, scoring just 11 goals, but he once had 20 goals in 62 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning. A deal would have to involve the Rangers keeping half of his money, which would be a big ask, but I think he could fit in well in Edmonton. Of course, if they aren’t pushing for the playoffs, it probably just makes more sense to wait until the summer and try to sign him as a UFA. 
  • Bob McKenzie mentioned the other day that Taylor Hall has given his agent the ‘green light’ to begin talking extension with Devils GM Ray Shero. This doesn’t surprise me at all. Word is that Hall likes it in New Jersey and Shero has quickly built a very interersting team around Hall. Having a pair of first overall picks in Jack Hughes and Nico Hishcier helps as well. I bet a deal gets done well before the upcoming trade deadline.
  • Elliotte Friedman also added that the New Jersey Devis looked at Panthers defenseman @Mark Pysyk. He’s a guy that I thought the Oilers might have had interest in over the summer. He’s 27-years-old, shoots right, and makes $2.7 million. He’s not a puck moving defenseman, but he’s very capable of being a good shutdown option. Based on the emergence of @Ethan Bear and the presence of @Joel Persson, I would assume that the Oilers aren’t interested in adding a depth piece to the right-side of their defence.

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