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Coburn, Horcoff, Emery, Draft Thoughts |
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A few random notes for you folks this Tuesday evening...
Braydon Coburn
The Flyers opened up cap room by buying out Briere and Brzygalov. If you're a Flyers fan, that's the good news. The bad? They now have no goaltender.
Rumors are swirling that the Flyers could be interested in Roberto Luongo. Philly management is just insane enough for this move to make sense. They could get Luongo for free (or close to it)...But the problem is, if they add Luongo, there they are, back over the cap again.
One potential solution is to deal a bigger contract. Braydon Coburn was mentioned as a player with a high cap hit ($4.5mil) that the Oilers could be interested in. I blogged that Coburn wouldn't come to Edmonton. Apparently, I am wrong. Coburn, who has a modified NTC, has Edmonton on his list of teams he'd accept a trade to. I know, I know...I'm shocked too.
When I say Coburn wouldn't accept a deal to Edmonton, I was speaking from history and experience. So I was shocked to learn Edmonton is on his list.
This is not to say the Flyers would move him. I can look at the roster and find a number of guys I'd want to deal before letting Coburn go. All I am saying here is, the Oilers would be interested if he was being shopped, and Coburn would be willing to come to Edmonton. The rest is in Homer's hands.
Ray Emery
Sticking with the Oilers/Flyers theme, according to Darren Dreger, Ray Emery could go to Edmonton or Philadelphia. I mentioned the Oilers part of this about three days ago. I think the Flyers are after bigger fish. Emery to the Oilers is a real possibility. Makes sense to both parties, too.
Shawn Horcoff
Mark Spector put up a tweet today saying Horcoff will not be bought out. Hmmm...How much should I comment on this?
Spec knows more than I do about most things (hockey, mathematics, yoga, etc), so I'm not going to argue with him. The one thing I will say is until July 1, Horcoff has a No Movement Clause, so he can decide where he wants to go. After July 1, the Oilers will have more options. I think they'd have up until July 4 to buy him out if they really wanted to.
Da Draft
My spidey-sense went off about five minutes after TSN's Bob McKenzie announced his draft rankings. As you know, Bobbie Mac's list is different than, let's say, Craig Button's list. Button lists players according to what he thinks. McKenzie's list polls a number of NHL scouts, and lists players according to their average rankings. So in a way, his list should be more accurate to what happens at the draft.
However...
Okay, Valeri Nishushkin. If McKenzie would have him higher than sixth, I would say it's certain he won't be on the board when the Oilers go to use their 7th pick.
My gut told me after hearing McKenzie's list that the draft is going to go something like this:
1. Colorado - Nathan MacKinnon
2. Florida Panthers - Seth Jones
3. Tampa Bay Lightning - Jonathan Drouin
4. Nashville Predators - Aleksander Barkov
5. Carolina Hurricanes - Elias Lindholm
Which brings us to #6, Calgary. The Flames are terrible at center. Terrible. Awful. Horrifying. So if they have the choice between Sean Monahan and Nishushkin, which way are they are they going to go?
Monahan.
I disagree with most people's belief that the Oilers will be choosing between Darnell Nurse and Nishushkin. I think Rasmus Ristolainen is the better prospect than Nurse. If there's a choice to be made, it will be between Nishushkin and Ristolainen.
The Oilers, obviously, will take the Russian. Why? Big winger. Play him with Yakupov. Many wins to follow. Everyone's happy.
And Finally, the MacT Presser
Oilers GM hosted might well have been the most pointless news conference in history Tuesday afternoon. He announced that he was leaving for the draft. Shocker!
Look, the Oilers aren't going to move Ales Hemsky at the draft unless a ridiculous offer falls from the sky. They would have moved Hemsky already if they could of. Ditto Horcoff. The Oilers may make deals at the draft...MacT made it sound like those 2nd round picks could certainly be shifted for immediate help. The Oilers also have a stack of deadwood to rid themselves of, and will do so for 7th round picks if they must.
If the Oilers are going to make a significant deal at the draft, it will either be for someone like a Braydon Coburn or it will be a trade down of their 7th overall pick. In the case of Coburn, the Oilers could offer up Ladislav Smid or next year's 1st round pick. I can't see them moving Jeff Petry, Oscar Klefbom or Justin Schultz. Nick Schultz wouldn't have enough value, and Anton Belov might be gold at $1.5mil per season. Maybe the Oilers offer up Magnus Paajarvi for Coburn, especially if they end up drafting Nichushkin? That's just crazy enough to make sense.
Hey, there's your rumor for the day: Let's say Paajarvi and, oh, Martin Marincin for Braydon Coburn. Run with it.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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