Sean Maloughney: Look For Edmonton To Still Make Moves - Just Not Right Away

First.

No offense but trading Bouchard is bad.

Trading Bouchard AND a first rounder is doubly bad.

The name of the game is call win the Stanley Cup. The way you win the game is having as many premium players on small contracts as possible. ELC contracts or bridge contracts just after ELC...

And you want to trade not one but 2 premium assets for one, albeit great, LEFT shooting defenseman for premium assets and premium cap hit. An area we are very flush in even with Klefbom gone. Bouchard is our only RD prospect and you want to trade him for a LD.

Nurse, Russell, Jones, Laggesson, Samourukov, and Broberg and you want to trade Bouchard for a LD...

RD: Berrie (1 year deal where if it goes well he gets paid more than we can afford), Larsson (1 year UFA and not that great, Bear (awesome), and then Bouchard (could be every bit as good as Serg for a fraction of the price).

I pray Holland isn't even thinking in the same direction that you are.

Would trading Klef and his LTIR cap space make sense? Downside is he is cost controlled if/when he returns but that is another season away or so

It’s an opportunity to perhaps take back a contract that fulfills a need while creating real cap space not LTIR.

What about Corey Perry as a cheap option that can plug into the top 6 whenever needed?

Also you forget Smith's bonuses eat up 500k of that 700k space. Also if Bouchard makes the team he has some bonuses. Not sure if there are any other bonuses either.

Not to mention leaving space for moves.

Not to mention the cap penalty from last year.

Holland even gave Smith a non trade clause so he doesn't intend to move a goalie... Something he should have left open.

Any move Holland makes will be minor and the main thing will be a RD call up option from the minors other than Bouchard for depth of the position.

I was really hoping we could get Benning back and by not doing so it leaves the right side fairly shallow.

I don’t know why Oiler fans are so darn cocky. Yes. The Oilers have two of the top five forwards in the league but how confident can you be when Tyler Ennis, Yamamoto and Puljujarvi are in their top six. Ennis has been bouncing around the league for the last 3-4 years. The other two are unproven at best.
Oiler fans will be looking to trade Barrie by game 10 once the get a view of his soft and careless D zone play. The sight of him blowing the zone early in an attempt to pad his stats for free agency will get frustrating very quickly
A goalie duo of the Finn and Smith would be okay if you are looking to win a Calder Cup

I think duclair would probably be a good fit and as days pass a 1 year deal for him should be cheaper. Especially considering like Barrie he may be able to bet on a pay day after mcdavid inflates his point totals.

Only two questions I would have are: what was the deal Ottawa offered that he walked away from and how good is his relationship with Tippett from their previous time in Arizona?

I don’t know why Oiler fans are so darn cocky. Yes. The Oilers have two of the top five forwards in the league but how confident can you be when Tyler Ennis, Yamamoto and Puljujarvi are in their top six. Ennis has been bouncing around the league for the last 3-4 years. The other two are unproven at best.
Oiler fans will be looking to trade Barrie by game 10 once the get a view of his soft and careless D zone play. The sight of him blowing the zone early in an attempt to pad his stats for free agency will get frustrating very quickly
A goalie duo of the Finn and Smith would be okay if you are looking to win a Calder Cup
- BernardShakey

Oh please, mighty Toronto fan who is so audacious as to to call the fans of other teams "cocky," please do tell us the secret of winning and creating a winning hockey club! Is the GM and coach from '67 or beyond available to give us some insight? Thank you for sharing such a unique and unheard opinion that a player who has had one bad season playing with the mighty Toronto Maple Leafs can't POSSIBLY perform well anywhere else! (In case it's not obvious, please insert sarcasm!)

With his 4 million cap hit, but 1.5 million salary, Russell could probably be moved to a team looking to make the cap floor but save $$ (looking at you, Ottawa). Problem is, the return would be peanuts and the defensive ranks are thin with Klefbom injury and Benning departed. Too much may be asked of Bear and Jones already this season and rushing Bouchard or Broberg shouldn't be the answer.

I would totally include Bouchard to acquire an established (young) defender like Sergachev.

I don’t know why Oiler fans are so darn cocky. Yes. The Oilers have two of the top five forwards in the league but how confident can you be when Tyler Ennis, Yamamoto and Puljujarvi are in their top six. Ennis has been bouncing around the league for the last 3-4 years. The other two are unproven at best.
Oiler fans will be looking to trade Barrie by game 10 once the get a view of his soft and careless D zone play. The sight of him blowing the zone early in an attempt to pad his stats for free agency will get frustrating very quickly
A goalie duo of the Finn and Smith would be okay if you are looking to win a Calder Cup
- BernardShakey

Wait are you saying Yam isn't a top 6 player? The same Yam who scored a point per game last year (26 points in 27 games) you know, playing in our top 6? Are you saying that Jesse Pulu who currently has 5 goals and 2 assists in just 4 games this year doesn't have the potential to play in the top 6? Those two Calder Cup goalies you refer to took us to 2nd place in the pacific last year. Educate yourself before you open your mouth.

Bouchard + a first is a huge overpayment to a team in serious cap trouble. Look at all the other trades for teams in cap hell right now. Nate Schmidt is worth far more than a 3rd rounder, he's a top pairing D, at least top 3 even on teams stacked on defence. And trading Bouchard isn't a good answer at all. He and Bear are the next 10 years on the top 4 right side and he's cost controlled for several years during the flat cap while you have several other players to extend and have a lot invested in the top players and still need to upgrade goaltending in the next few seasons.

Offer Samorukov and if they don't take that, move on. Maybe Samorukov and a 3rd rounder if you get in a bidding war. Lightning are in serious cap trouble and vulnerable to offer sheets. They may be happy to get another young Russian defender with promise who is cost controlled for several years in return. Dont give up a future top 4 RD PLUS a 1st rounder to add to a left side that already has lots of players to fill the role. As great as Sergachev is, and would be amazing to have on the team, that is a bad trade proposal considering the situation.

Oh please, mighty Toronto fan who is so audacious as to to call the fans of other teams "cocky," please do tell us the secret of winning and creating a winning hockey club! Is the GM and coach from '67 or beyond available to give us some insight? Thank you for sharing such a unique and unheard opinion that a player who has had one bad season playing with the mighty Toronto Maple Leafs can't POSSIBLY perform well anywhere else! (In case it's not obvious, please insert sarcasm!)
- Quillanrocks

Leafs aren’t close to a Cup. D is not good enough. Poor mix of forwards. Yes 1967. But that doesn’t change the grim facts that the Oilers have little depth and poor goaltending. Ah yes. The Cups that Edmonton won 30-40 years ago still provide great comfort. Enjoy living in fantasy land

Hypothetically speaking, with the Oilers lack of RH D next season (Larsson and Barrie both set to be UFA), wouldn’t it make more sense to move Broberg rather than Bouchard?

Furthermore, I’m not cool with dishing a 1st round prospect AND a 1st round pick. Tampa is bent over a barrel cap wise right now, and I don’t think the Oilers (or anyone else for that matter) should grant them the courtesy of using lube.

After putting Klefbom on LTIR wouldn't there be enough space to sign Hoffman? It would finally give Mcdavid a real winger. The top six would then have Hoffman- Mcdavid- Kassian and then Nuge-Draisaitl- Yamomoto.

After putting Klefbom on LTIR wouldn't there be enough space to sign Hoffman? It would finally give Mcdavid a real winger. The top six would then have Hoffman- Mcdavid- Kassian and then Nuge-Draisaitl- Yamomoto.
- jryan88

Hoffman? Perhaps.

Hoffman AND Bear? No.

Leafs aren’t close to a Cup. D is not good enough. Poor mix of forwards. Yes 1967. But that doesn’t change the grim facts that the Oilers have little depth and poor goaltending. Ah yes. The Cups that Edmonton won 30-40 years ago still provide great comfort. Enjoy living in fantasy land
- BernardShakey

Dude, I'm not trying to defend the Oilers. I'm a Jets fan. Zero cups! But you ranted about another teams' fans being "cocky" and I found that quite rich coming from a Leafs fan--a team that is the center of the media-wave universe but has done little to warrant it. Forget the cups. If you want recency bias, the Oilers have won a playoff round more recently than your Leafs group. Is that better?!! Sure, you've actually made it into the playoffs the last few years. You've got those cocky Oilers beat there!

But that's sorta my point. If it makes you feel better pointing out which teams have done a crappier job than the Leafs at building their team, so be it. But what I will add is this: If given the choice of McDavid & Draisaitl (21 million), or Toronto's core of 4 (40.5 million), I would probably go with McDavid and Draisiaitl . . . maybe even without a salary cap! And that's before you consider that the Oilers also have RNH and Yamamoto, who are great complimentary forwards. Lastly, you Leafs peeps really need to stop coming on here to trash on Barrie. I don't think it's so much about how bad he played for the Leafs that you're on here to warn all the poor Edmonton fans; I think you're worried he's going to play well and just how much that will piss you off more!!

Sergachev would be sweet, but not at that price . Would much rather try swing something like Kris Russell and our 1st for Josh Manson.. Manson on a friendly cap hit and signed for 3-4 more years I believe..

Sergachev would be sweet, but not at that price . Would much rather try swing something like Kris Russell and our 1st for Josh Manson.. Manson on a friendly cap hit and signed for 3-4 more years I believe..
- oilpatch

Like Manson also. Not sure he's worth a first round pick, though. . . and with only 1 season left on Russell's deal, also not sure the expense is worth it to get him off the books.

The idea of adding someone with Klef's space is nice...

Except we need to replace him and be cap compliant before day 1. He cant be put on LTIR before the first day of the season, and we must be compliant before clock change to day 1.

There is no additions before space is moved. And need to resign our RFAs too.

The idea of adding someone with Klef's space is nice...

Except we need to replace him and be cap compliant before day 1. He cant be put on LTIR before the first day of the season, and we must be compliant before clock change to day 1.

There is no additions before space is moved. And need to resign our RFAs too.
- wreckage

Oh, and fire Holland ASAP

The idea of adding someone with Klef's space is nice...

Except we need to replace him and be cap compliant before day 1. He cant be put on LTIR before the first day of the season, and we must be compliant before clock change to day 1.

There is no additions before space is moved. And need to resign our RFAs too.
- wreckage

RFAs can come after day 1 and so too can the signing of possible PTOs that might be available. I believe it's still possible to LTIR players in the offseason but there's some differences that make it less appealing than waiting until day 1 of the season. Not clear on what they are exactly, though.

Sergachev would be sweet, but not at that price . Would much rather try swing something like Kris Russell and our 1st for Josh Manson.. Manson on a friendly cap hit and signed for 3-4 more years I believe..
- oilpatch

Peter Chiarelli ?

Wait are you saying Yam isn't a top 6 player? The same Yam who scored a point per game last year (26 points in 27 games) you know, playing in our top 6? Are you saying that Jesse Pulu who currently has 5 goals and 2 assists in just 4 games this year doesn't have the potential to play in the top 6? Those two Calder Cup goalies you refer to took us to 2nd place in the pacific last year. Educate yourself before you open your mouth.
- Leichs

Yamamoto was the lucky recipient of playing with Draisaitl on the 2nd line, when Draisaitl went beast mode. Yes, he had 26 points in 27 games, but 15 of those were assists on mostly Draisaitl goals. And he dried up when the playoffs started.

Give credit where it is due. He performed well playing with the top NHL points producer. On par with how Chaisson or Kassian did with top 6 minutes playing with stars. Doesn't mean he's not good, but don't be crowning him a NHL star yet.

As for Puljujarvi, he was playing in the Finnish league, not the SEL or KHL. Last year he was outscored by noted ECHL star Justin Danforth.

Hypothetically speaking, with the Oilers lack of RH D next season (Larsson and Barrie both set to be UFA), wouldn’t it make more sense to move Broberg rather than Bouchard?

Furthermore, I’m not cool with dishing a 1st round prospect AND a 1st round pick. Tampa is bent over a barrel cap wise right now, and I don’t think the Oilers (or anyone else for that matter) should grant them the courtesy of using lube.
- Wildschwein

I’ve read somewhere that Broberg has already surpassed Bouchard as the Oilers top prospect. What’s your take on that? Any truth to it?

Peter Chiarelli ?
- Reveen

Not sure if you have watched Manson much, but he"s pretty dang solid.. Would improve our D greatly..

We have a mediocre defense at best and it needs improvement now !!! If we head into next season with Nurse as top defender we are fuked again.

You have a better idea ?