I woke this morning not knowing at all what was going to transpire. After the events of the last 48 hours I am no longer capable of telling myself that “Chiarelli wouldn’t do that.” You can now convince me that any trade or signing is possible. We know that Edmonton is now capable of accepting any deal for one of their star players that even the most delusional poster can think of.
We are waiting, of course, for Milan Lucic to sign his deal. If it isn’t with the Oilers then the club traded Hall for a complementary defensive defenseman, didn’t fix the need to find offense from the blueline 5v5 or on the top power play unit AND there’s now no replacement for Hall. Not that Lucic could replace Hall.
Speculation about Lucic’s deal went from him potentially taking some form of a “discount” to get term in Edmonton to $6 million over 6 years to a max 7 year contract at more than anyone else can offer. We wait to find out what the deal is or if he even signs in Edmonton.
The rumours around Edmonton now are that the club wont be pursuing Jason Demers now that they have Larsson. Without getting too far deep into the fact that they should have chosen Demers for money over Larsson for Hall, now that the mistake has already been made, it makes sense to push for Barrie.
Larsson doesn’t help the Oilers defense improve offensively. They were among the worst bluelines in the NHL for contributions to offense, and Larsson doesn’t help that. He’s a defensive defenseman with no history of being impactful in the offensive zone. With regular zone-starts, matchups, and Edmonton’s forwards he should add hopefully something in the 30 point range over 82 games. That’s acceptable if he’s doing his job defensively, but it doesn’t move the dial much and he won’t be a PP option.
Tyson Barrie, on the other hand, is one of the best offensive defenders in the NHL and should actually help a team like Edmonton who are looking for someone to take big offensive minutes. He also has a history of playing more per night than Larsson.
Barrie is going to cost the Oilers something and they already wasted their best asset not named McDavid. I don’t know what it takes to get anything done, but realistically if Larsson required Hall then I don’t think Edmonton has enough for Barrie. Some suggest Nuge, some suggest Eberle. The Avs have money invested in a number of centers already, maybe they want a RW. Maybe they would have accepted Hall and now this deal will never happen.
Like I said before, my handle on the market is completely broken.
If RNH goes for Barrie then the Oilers need a 3C, so we can keep our eye out for that as well.
I’ll update this post when we have info.
Happy Canada Day, everybody. Hopefully this team wont let you down today.
UPDATES
10:02 - Milan Lucic is an Oiler as per LeBrun. Contract details to come
10:12 - Lucic deal is confirmed by multiple insiders at $6M per year over 7 years
10:32 - With the Wild signing Eric Staal and getting their center, hopefully we can put to bed the RNH for Dumba rumours. IT'S BARRIE OR BUST FROM HERE ON OUT, BABY!
11:05 - LeBrun reports a full NMC for Lucic and a limited NTC in the final 2 years. Wowzers.
11:15 - Jonas Gustavsson signed by the Oilers to compete for the backup position. He had a .908 sv% in 24 appearances with the Bruins last year.
12:57 - The Avs signed Colborne and now have Duchensne, MacKinnon, Soderberg, and Mitchell with him. Not sure they need another center like RNH. They also just signed Tyutin to a 1 year deal to add to their defense. Maybe an Eberle for Barrie could happen.
1:30 - Oilers agree to a 1 year deal with Mark Fraser as per Dreger. The deal is 2 ways but I have to believe he'll only be using the AHL part. Dude cannot play.
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