It’s McDavid Day in Edmonton and across the globe today! Oiler fans have been preparing for this day since the club unexpectedly won the Draft Lottery. This is our Stanley Cup. This is our Christmas. It’s going to be sunny and 31 degrees outside in the Capital city and it’s smiles all around.
Over the course of the day I will update this post as often as I can and as new developments occur. The Draft is 5pm Mountain Time which means by 5:20 or so we can expect McDavid to get his name called by Peter Chiarelli. Of course the Oilers also own the 16th pick (at least they do while I’m writing this). This morning has been heavy with movement and rumoured movement so we’ll keep an eye on things.
DALLAS EAKINS
Eakins has been hired by San Diego, the Anaheim Ducks AHL club, to be their Head Coach. The Oilers will get absolutely no compensation and they are still on the hook for the 2 years left on his NHL contract although I believe they only need to cover the difference between his 1M per year deal and whatever San Diego pays him.
This, I guess makes him pretty close in line to take over the Ducks should they fire Boudreau, which would be great because the Oilers need all the help they could get to climb the ladder in the West.
GOALTENDING
The biggest situation that is currently ongoing has been the goaltending market going a little bananas. The Oilers have been in on Cam Talbot for a while but the latest information actually has them on the outside of the bidding war.
I guess we should start with the news from the morning that Lehner was traded for the 21st Overall pick and the corpse of David Legwand. That started the day off with crazy prices for bad/unproven goalies. To be clear, I wouldn’t trade BUFFALO’s picks and Cap space to get Lehner in Edmonton. Too many injury concerns. Not good enough in the last couple years to be possibly worth the price the Sabres paid.
So Tim Murray was fleeced and that perhaps empowers Sather just a little bit. For some reason Florida’s name keeps getting mentioned in the Talbot sweepstakes but there is also San Jose, Edmonton, Calgary, and Dallas.
This morning Chiarelli was very clear in his media availability, the Oil were not going to trade the 16th for a Goalie and they were happy to upgrade their Goaltending via trade or Free Agency. In essence the GM said they aren’t worried about exactly which goaltender they were getting just so long as he can stop the puck and there is a cluster of available goalies.
The latest information as of 11:30 this morning is from Darren Dreger who reported that the Rangers have been offered a 1st Round pick for Talbot but they are looking for a better package.
If this is the case then the Oilers need to just walk away. For some reason all is very quiet on the Lack front and I think he is a superior goaltender to Lehner and better than every goalie outside of Talbot, who I do like as a Goaltender. Lack is 2 on my personal list and I would so much rather take a chance on Lack for a 2nd than Talbot for 16 plus.
Keep coming back as news comes out. I will do my best to keep up with whatever comes out.
UPDATES
I'd be surprised if Martin Marincin is still Oiler when draft weekend is over. Lots of teams have sniffed around him last yr.#nhldraft2015
— Jim Matheson (@NHLbyMatty) June 26, 2015The Oilers are trying to upgrade their Defense. If they fail to do that while sending away Marincin then they are going backwards. My default assumption is that MacT is to blame somehow, haha.
Marincin finished the year with the Oilers as their 2nd best Defenseman, behind only Klefbom. There is a lot of dead weight I would want the Oilers to part with before seeing Marincin go. But if he moves and the Oilers upgrade the D then I will at least understand the move.
CGY has fully entered the race to acquire Dougie Hamilton from BOS and may be a top contender to get him. #TSN
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 26, 2015KILL IT WITH FIRE
So Hamilton was traded for the 15th and two 2nd Round picks to the Flames. This is not a Bruins blog, but every single person in the Bruins organization from popcorn vendor to Cam Neely should be fired immediately and replaced by an automated answering phone service. "If you want to engage in trade negotiations, press 1."
I think it stands to reason that if Hamilton hasnt signed a new deal with the Flames before July 1 then the Oilers are definitely obligated to put an Offer Sheet in to the Hamilton camp.
This is such a great deal for the Flames. I absolutely hate them for it.
Boston continues to act like they've been drinking. They Traded Lucic to the Kings who may or may not actually be able to afford him for the 13th and Martin Jones. I have no idea why they wanted Jones.
Does anyone get the impression that Boston is trading pieces to spite the Oilers? No. Me neither...
-As per Lavoie the Oilers were right there for Hamilton. I have seen on Twitter some speculation they wanted Nurse.
-It is now getting widely reported that the Bruins asked for a comparable offer as the Flames PLUS Nurse. This is obviously a case of Boston playing petty games with Chiarelli. It would make no sense for the Oil to make that deal.
-The Edmonton Oilers select Connor McDavid. This is the kind of player that can change the direction of a Franchise. He looked very nervous before the selection.
-Wow. Quite a few players picked ahead of their rankings. Oilers pick should be a beauty.
-Looks like the Oilers are trying to trade for 16!
-THE ISLANDERS TRADE GRIFFIN REINHART TO THE OILERS FOR 16 and 33
-I do not know how I feel about this one. There are a lot of concerns about Reinhart's skating. I am on the fence here. With the Bruins blowing the 15th pick the Oilers had a few very good picks available. The 16th and the 33rd is a steep price to pay for a player who hasn't proven anything.
I know that Reinhart was taken 4th but you have to wonder why the Islanders were so keen to trade him.
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