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Holland Meets With Verbeek, Ducks GM - Potential Trade Rumblings |
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Last night it was reported that the GM of the Anaheim Ducks, Pat Verbeek was watching the Oilers and Wild game. The Ducks don't play the Oilers until Saturday so it was unlikely the GM flew down to Minnesota just to scout a future opponent. Rumblings heated up more after it was discovered that after the game that Verbeek and Holland had dinner together.
At the bare minimum it can be interpolated that Verbeek and Holland discussed their teams and their individual needs. The Edmonton Oilers are a team that should be in their window to compete for a Stanley Cup while the Ducks are still firmly entrenched in the for lack of a better term, sucking part of a rebuild. Through 29 games this season, the Ducks have just one regulation win and a league worst -53 goal differential.
Today let's take a look at the Ducks roster and see if we can decipher which players Ken Holland and the Edmonton Oilers may be interested in.
John Klingberg: Let's talk about the most obvious name on the list first. It was well reported in the summer that the Oilers were in talks with the Klingberg camp to the degree where there was nearly a deal in place where the Montreal Canadiens would sign Klingberg and then trade him to Edmonton at half retained salary. That never occurred but it would not shock me to know Klingberg remains on Edmonton's radar.
Not that I believe that is a smart call. Klingberg has the second worst GF% at 5 on 5 among all Ducks defenders that have played at least 200 minutes at 5 on 5, being outscored 11-24 when he is on the ice. Even worse, Klingberg, a supposed offensive player has been on the ice for the 5th most goals among Ducks defenders this year. The Oilers need to stop simply trying to outscore their deficiencies and Klingberg has been bad at both ends of the ice. Also, Klingberg is a right shot and Edmonton is in far more need of a lefty.
The big asterisk here is that the whole Ducks team is awful and Klingberg could look much better on a stronger team but his overall skillset with the likes of Barrie, Bouchard, and Nurse on the roster already doesn't give Edmonton much new.
Maxime Comtois: Comtois may fall into a similar category as Puljujarvi in Edmonton. Comtois, now 23 years old was a highly touted prospect who came into the NHL with the belief he could be a legit top six forward. His best season was in 20/21 with 33 points and 16 goals in 55 games but has failed to come close to that mark again. This season he has 5 goals and no assists in 18 games. Comtois is also set to be an RFA at the end of this season with his current cap hit just a hair over 2 million.
Would both teams consider swapping underperforming pending RFA's? The Ducks have a lack of right shot options for their roster and Puljujarvi could easily fit into their current top six. Edmonton meanwhile does need more depth scoring but when healthy this roster already has an abundance of talent on the LW. I could see Comtois being a useful player but it wouldn't really be addressing a key roster need.
Dmitri Kulikov: Here is one that would be of interest to me. Oiler fans got to know Kulikov briefly in 20/21 when he was signed as a deadline acquisition. Like Klingberg, it's difficult to judge Kulikov in respect to how awful the Ducks as a whole have been this season. Kulikov has played the second most minutes at 5 on 5 for the Ducks, mainly with Cam Fowler. Kulikov has been on the ice for the most goals (21) and for the most goals against (31) but he also plays the most against the toughest competition.
One promising stat is looking at how top defenseman Cam Fowler has done with and without Kulikov. Fowler has played 344 minutes away from Kulikov, going 6-15 in goals in that time. In the 194 minutes they have played together the duo has gone 6-9. Kulikov has certainly helped to at least stabilize Fowler, while also playing on his off side; another useful ability. Last season with the Wild, Kulikov logged the second most minutes behind Jonas Brodin. In that time Kulikov went 64-41 at 5 on 5 while on the ice.
A quick reminder of what he was able to do in his brief time in Edmonton. In the 10 games Kulikov played in the Oilers went 7-5 at 5 on 5. A GF% of 58.33%. That was the second highest GF% on the team that season behind only Leon Draisaitl. Darnell Nurse in 56 games played for Edmonton went 71-56 with a GF% of 55.91%.
The Edmonton Oilers need someone on the blueline who can play steady, responsible hockey, doesn't get caught out of position and can protect their own zone well. Dmitri Kulikov could absolutely fit that bill for Edmonton. Kulikov is 32 years old on the last year of his deal which pays 2.25 million. Kulikov will not be signing again with the Ducks in Free Agency so it's of the best interest to the Ducks to secure the best possible price for him. If the Oilers could move Jesse Puljujarvi along with a second or third round pick for the defender that would free up some cap space for Edmonton and address a big hole on the blue line.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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