Elliotte Friedman spoke during his 32 Thoughts podcast this morning about a number of teams, including the Edmonton Oilers. Friedman stated that it was his belief that the Oilers had indeed swung big on both Patrick Kane and Erik Karlsson but it is not looking promising on either front. Patrick Kane looks destined to go to the Rangers and there are no new developments on the Karlsson situation.
The other comment Friedman made was that he now thinks that Ken Holland is "playing cards" and hoping to wait some teams out and make a deal when another team is desperate to gain assets.
That certainly could work but there is also a very high chance at that blowing up in Edmonton's face. Over the past few days here are the adds that other top teams around the league have made.
New Jersey Devils: Timo Meier Tampa Bay Lightning: Tanner Jeannot New York Rangers: Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrick Kane (most likely) Boston Bruins: Garnet Hathaway, Dmitri Orlov Toronto Maple Leafs: Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari Winnipeg Jets: Nino Niederreiter Colorado Avalanche: Jack Johnson Vegas Golden Knights: Ivan Barbashev Dallas Stars: Evgeni Dadonov New York Islanders: Bo Horvat Seattle Kraken: Jaycob Megna
7 of the 9 teams ahead of the Oilers in the standings have already made moves. On the weekend we saw the Oilers play brutal hockey and go down 4-0 against the Columbus Blue Jackets and then watch as Connor McDavid nearly single handedly won the game for the Oilers before ultimately more mistakes cost them the game. I will continue to hammer this point home until something happens; just adding depth and not spending assets to make a big add right now is a massive mistake.
This is the window to win. Connor McDavid is in his prime. There are really good things to like about this roster but a few key holes are causing this team to make the same mistakes over and over. I think that the Lightning MASSIVELY overpaid for Tanner Jeannot... that being said, the Lightning recognize that their own window is closing and are trying to improve the roster now and worry about the future in the future.
Ken Holland is indeed "playing cards" but the question remains on whether he is playing poker... or Go Fish.
---
As I was writing this Darren Dreger brought up that Edmonton was talking to the Predators about Ekholm and the Canadiens about Edmundson. The former I would have a ton of time for, the latter I wouldn't give the time of day to.
Ekholm would fit the bill if the Oilers are looking for a puck moving defender. The 32 year old plays the left side but can also play the right side, is strong at both ends of the ice, is tenacious when retrieving the puck and despite being 32 has remained very healthy throughout his NHL career. Ekholm would be an excellent option on the second pairing, could take minutes away from Nurse and provide much needed stability to the Oilers blueline.
Edmundson does none of those things. Despite being 6'5 and 221lbs, Edmundson isn't overly physical, averaging less than 2 hits a game but blocks a ton of shots... mostly because the puck always seems to be in his end when he is on the ice. Even on a terrible defensive team, Edmundson is brutal compared to his teammates. Edmundson's 64 hits would rank 11th on the Oilers, just three more than Marcus Niemelainen who has played only 23 games this season.
Ekholm has three years remaining at 6.5 million, Edmundson has one year remaining at 3.5 million. There is risk with Ekholm but he would be a vast upgrade still than Edmundson or Gostisbhere or that level of addition.
Chychrun or Karlsson would still be the best addition in my opinion but Ekholm would still provide a strong veteran player that is a good to really good top 4 option.
---
Tonight Edmonton will see first hand why they need to make more additions when they face off against the best team in the NHL in the Boston Bruins. If the Oil make the level of mistakes that they have in the past few weeks this game will get one sided very quickly.
Skinner is expected to start and once more is the starter in Edmonton barring something catastrophic. Jack Campbell might not have a regulation loss in his last 11 games but that is a highly misleading stat. He has been a large reason why Edmonton have lost the games they have in this stretch and even in the wins I wouldn't say he was the difference maker in many of them. Edmonton has to hope Skinner is ready to be the guy moving forward otherwise they will be looking at a quick round 1 exit.
Thanks for reading.