Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | Broberg, Holloway and Ceci are Gone, Do We Add Another D Before Camp?

[Stud Muffin]

Do we really need three bottom pairing guys from the Arizona Coyotes fighting it out to play on our bottom pair?

 

[alphahelix]

He had less then 100 NHL games when he was Ottawa, he’s coming up on 300 now so experience for one. Second, both Ottawa and Arizona are terrible teams, Edmonton is a much better team, much better defensively and he would be playing with a consistent partner in Kulak who is a very strong 3rd pairing defender himself.

I don’t think there will be much of a difference between the results he brings vs what Desharnais did in the same role.

We trusted Desharnais against elites on the PK and D zone faceoffs, sometimes pairing him with Nurse to take on heavies.

Will we be able to trust Josh Brown against elites? I’m guessing no

 

[Dazed and Confused]

In TO Dermott played on both sides. While primarily the third pairing LHD he played up the roster on the right side with guys like Rielly and Gardiner and actually held his own more often than not. I suspect the fact that he could fill in on either side has value for a 7th defenseman. It allows you to avoid having to add another body to the roster if there is a very short term injury.

At one point I think expectations for Dermott in TO were fairly high. They thought they had a legitimate NHL level defensive defenseman.

The other thing to consider is that if the Oilers do at some point make a push for a legitimate top 4 RHD it might mean moving Kulak to find additional cap space. If you had Dermott at league minimum fill his spot that is almost 2 million in additional cap space and at least you have a fairly steady NHL defender to slot into that role.

Yeah I remember Leaf fans being high on him in the late 2010s.

He's a bit McLeod-ish, where his skating makes him noticeable and he rarely makes an outright mistake. But watch him play 30 games and you start to notice he doesn't really create a lot of positives either.
He worked well next to Reilly and Gardiner because he let them do there their thing without having to worry about him (On that note, he might actually be a decent fit next to Nurse ), but when he was tasked to do more by himself, he just continued to look bland and unable to move the needle.


He skates well, can retrieve the puck and not s**t his pants making a clean breakout pass, and won't be the cause of a 5 alarm defensive breakdown. But that's also all he'll do; he won't drive the play, nor can he shut down / derail high-end opposition. He'll do a decent job shadowing/keeping guys to the outside, but they'll also never be under threat of losing the puck due to him.

 

[CupofOil]

Just looked at 2025 free agency for 4C and RD. There ain't much out there. Would Dvorak from habs be a good 4 c? And Savard is probably the best RD as well which is scary! Habs fans would want so much for those two players lol.
Ceci back at 50 percent to be bottom pair may be 2nd best option.. gross.

Free Agency isn't where they're going to find the answer at RHD and it's not going to happen now or early in the season and the Oilers can't add a guy like that anyway until they accrue enough cap space.
It will be when the trade market opens up and some shake loose which is impossible to project right now as we don't know who will be sellers closer to the deadline or which teams trade a guy due to depth or contract situation, unhappiness with role etc.

Point being, we need to let the market flesh out before determining who is going to be available, the market is always shifting like Ekholm for instance who we had no idea was available until the literal days leading up to the trade.

 

[CupofOil]

I do get the argument for the left side. After Kulak, all we have is Ben Gleason I think. So yeah I've been very blind to that fact and Dermott does help us on that front at least in the preseason.

What I'm worried about is the right side. I hope we still have a plan to get someone to play there. I'm not saying Stecher wouldn't be a good #6 but wouldn't you feel more safer with one of Schultz or Shattenkirk?

They're the same level of player in 2024. It's not worth getting worked up about. These are camp bodies/bottom of the roster players, all of them.

I actually prefer none of them, I'd prefer a younger option like Lindstrom. Somebody at least with some upside and more importantly young legs. They have enough old war horses on this roster as is.
Dermott is fairly young still but he's clearly a fringe guy at best.

 

[MessierII]

Some guys with two years left include

Gudbranson
Gudas
Murphy

 

[SupremeTeam16]

We trusted Desharnais against elites on the PK and D zone faceoffs, sometimes pairing him with Nurse to take on heavies.

Will we be able to trust Josh Brown against elites? I’m guessing no.

Will he able to to do it regularly for 18 minutes a night? I wouldn’t expect that. But like Desharnais, I think he’ll be able to hold himself above water situationally against better competition. You have to consider the team around him, he’s always played on awful teams and I’d wager he will look better on good team with more quality teammates and better structure.

Maybe he doesn’t show well and he’s caught in the numbers game and with his cap hit ends up the odd man out but I think he brings a lot of the same qualities Desharnais did and that’s why they signed him. In a better situation I think it’s fair to consider that he could show better.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Some guys with two years left include

Gudbranson
Gudas
Murphy

Gudas is about to be named Captain and actively signed in Anaheim so he didn't have to play serious playoff hockey again.

Gudbranson is interesting, I don't know that he brings enough.

Murphy is a guy I've always liked, but I wonder if he's as good as he seemed to show back in Arizona.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Free Agency isn't where they're going to find the answer at RHD and it's not going to happen now or early in the season and the Oilers can't add a guy like that anyway until they accrue enough cap space.
It will be when the trade market opens up and some shake loose which is impossible to project right now as we don't know who will be sellers closer to the deadline or which teams trade a guy due to depth or contract situation, unhappiness with role etc.

Point being, we need to let the market flesh out before determining who is going to be available, the market is always shifting like Ekholm for instance who we had no idea was available until the literal days leading up to the trade.

Pro scouting is going to be key, along with understanding the role you need to fill and the skillsets best suited for that role. Sure another Ekholm would be nice but I don’t think that’s realistic, I think it’s going to be about finding a guy who’s maybe more of an unknown but who’s going to be able to grow in that role because he’s suited to it and I think Emberson is their first shot at that.

A good comparison to what the Oilers should try and emulate is Florida signing Niko Mikkola. Bottom pairing guy who was a depth rental for the Rangers, had about 170 games over 3 season with Blues and Rags averaging about 16 mins a night (Rangers used him a bit more) but he had good tools for the role Panthers needed to fill, signed him to a 3 year deal with a reasonable cap hit and the guy basically stepped into their top 4 and looked great.

We need to find our Mikkola and they are out there, I’d keep an eye on Will Borgen. 27 years old with just over 200 NHL games, average ice time and QoC has been edging upwards the last two seasons, I think there’s a good chance he could be ready for more in the right situation but he’s going to be stuck behind Montur and Larsson. Could be a target.

 

[joestevens29]

Pro scouting is going to be key, along with understanding the role you need to fill and the skillsets best suited for that role. Sure another Ekholm would be nice but I don’t think that’s realistic, I think it’s going to be about finding a guy who’s maybe more of an unknown but who’s going to be able to grow in that role because he’s suited to it and I think Emberson is their first shot at that.

A good comparison to what the Oilers should try and emulate is Florida signing Niko Mikkola. Bottom pairing guy who was a depth rental for the Rangers, had about 170 games over 3 season with Blues and Rags averaging about 16 mins a night (Rangers used him a bit more) but he had good tools for the role Panthers needed to fill, signed him to a 3 year deal with a reasonable cap hit and the guy basically stepped into their top 4 and looked great.

We need to find our Mikkola and they are out there, I’d keep an eye on Will Borgen. 27 years old with just over 200 NHL games, average ice time and QoC has been edging upwards the last two seasons, I think there’s a good chance he could be ready for more in the right situation but he’s going to be stuck behind Montur and Larsson. Could be a target.

Seems to be what they are trying with Emberson. Even Fischer to a lesser degree.

Pretty much outside the box thinking at this point. Hopefully your pro scouts find something along the way, instead of waiting for something to fall into our laps

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Seems to be what they are trying with Emberson. Even Fischer to a lesser degree.

Pretty much outside the box thinking at this point. Hopefully your pro scouts find something along the way, instead of waiting for something to fall into our laps

Honestly, the Oilers need just enough for the season, they can look to improve later when they get closer to the deadline/playoffs.

It's not ideal, but it should be fine.
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Yamo to Utah on a PTO.

 

[ottawah]

I don't have high, high hopes for him, but I agree that he's likely to be better than people think.

I think you're right that this is a case of almost nobody watching him for any amount of time, but they saw a 0% on a chart and determined that he was the worst player in the NHL.

I watched him. It was not pretty. He does bring a physicality element, and thats about it.

 

[Soundwave]

Pro scouting is going to be key, along with understanding the role you need to fill and the skillsets best suited for that role. Sure another Ekholm would be nice but I don’t think that’s realistic, I think it’s going to be about finding a guy who’s maybe more of an unknown but who’s going to be able to grow in that role because he’s suited to it and I think Emberson is their first shot at that.

A good comparison to what the Oilers should try and emulate is Florida signing Niko Mikkola. Bottom pairing guy who was a depth rental for the Rangers, had about 170 games over 3 season with Blues and Rags averaging about 16 mins a night (Rangers used him a bit more) but he had good tools for the role Panthers needed to fill, signed him to a 3 year deal with a reasonable cap hit and the guy basically stepped into their top 4 and looked great.

We need to find our Mikkola and they are out there, I’d keep an eye on Will Borgen. 27 years old with just over 200 NHL games, average ice time and QoC has been edging upwards the last two seasons, I think there’s a good chance he could be ready for more in the right situation but he’s going to be stuck behind Montur and Larsson. Could be a target.

Florida's pro scouting is fantastic. Most of their team is not even internally drafted/developed. They buy low on a lot of players and hit pay dirt. This team should honestly take a good, hard look at how they operate.

 

[Fourier]

Yeah I remember Leaf fans being high on him in the late 2010s.

He's a bit McLeod-ish, where his skating makes him noticeable and he rarely makes an outright mistake. But watch him play 30 games and you start to notice he doesn't really create a lot of positives either.
He worked well next to Reilly and Gardiner because he let them do there their thing without having to worry about him (On that note, he might actually be a decent fit next to Nurse ), but when he was tasked to do more by himself, he just continued to look bland and unable to move the needle.


He skates well, can retrieve the puck and not s**t his pants making a clean breakout pass, and won't be the cause of a 5 alarm defensive breakdown. But that's also all he'll do; he won't drive the play, nor can he shut down / derail high-end opposition. He'll do a decent job shadowing/keeping guys to the outside, but they'll also never be under threat of losing the puck due to him.

In all honesty though if you get a guy on a PTO and eventually at minimum salary and it ends up that you don't notice him that is probably a win.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Seems to be what they are trying with Emberson. Even Fischer to a lesser degree.

Pretty much outside the box thinking at this point. Hopefully your pro scouts find something along the way, instead of waiting for something to fall into our laps

Oilers are stacked with third pairing right shot options with Emberson who likely gets some trial time at 2RD and the collect 'em all Arizona blueline castoffs, Stetcher, Brown, and now Dermott.

The hole is an NHL proven middle pair guy which seems why names like Schulz and Shattenkirk seem to be floating around. The issue is potentially a desire for a team show me PTO and established player desire for contract certainty. It's also the most likely trade deadline area of weakness to be addressed so real question whether to clog it up further right now with a veteran established guy.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Seems to be what they are trying with Emberson. Even Fischer to a lesser degree.

Pretty much outside the box thinking at this point. Hopefully your pro scouts find something along the way, instead of waiting for something to fall into our laps

Emberson could turn out to be a good bet, Fischer is likely still a few years off.

I think Emberson is the only option on the roster currently that they feel could potentially fill that #4 spot full time but his sample size is small so I’m sure the plan is to work with him and get a good look at him in that role during the first half of the season. Stetcher

Florida's pro scouting is fantastic. Most of their team is not even internally drafted/developed. They buy low on a lot of players and hit pay dirt. This team should honestly take a good, hard look at how they operate.

Agreed, the only drafted players on their roster I believe are Ekblad, Barkov and Lundell.

They have been great at identifying undervalued or miscast players like Reinhart, Mikkola, Forsling, Verhaeghe, Montour. It starts with understanding the role you need to fill and then targeting players with the requisite skill set to grow in a well defined role. Won’t surprise me at all to see Boqvist all of a sudden start looking more in line with his draft position.

It doesn’t hurt either when you’re an attractive locale like Florida is.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

As an Oiler hater.. I must admit. Gudas would make a difference. Exactly what the Oilers need. Oilers should never have let Kulikov go. Could have signed him cheap with term years ago. Not too flashy but solid.

Guas would be a massive get for us. Kulikov was rubbish when here.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Some guys with two years left include

Gudbranson
Gudas
Murphy

Gudas would be a great get with hard ice defending and physical mean play. Think his disciplined goal suppression play would complement Nurse well. Maybe help activate Nurse's puck transportation and o-zone attack ability with a guy who has strong instincts for safe positioning.

Curious what Bowman thinks about Murphy. Fairly generic defender but can skate and log big minutes. Hawks have added veteran free agents on their d-corp which might bump him down.

Hard to say what who will shake out at trade deadline. Rumours and speculation about Ekholm moving floated for seasons and eventually the right moment occurred to move him with Nashville organization at a point of transition. But this is an obvious position area of weakness (as it has been for several years).

 

[VeteranPresence]

Some guys with two years left include

Gudbranson
Gudas
Murphy

Murphy's the only one of them I'd have any time for. Even then he's a deadline add at best and I am not sure we have the pieces anymore to outbid teams for his services now that we're missing Holloway, Broberg, and our 2025 1st. Hopefully O'Reilly has a big year and the Hawks decide a D+1 prospect is a better fit for their timeline than a 20s pick in what looks to be a loaded draft.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

The Oilers hired some guys. woot.

 

[VeteranPresence]

The Oilers hired some guys. woot.

A Salmelainen in Edmonton? I thought it was 2024, not 2004.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

A Salmelainen in Edmonton? I thought it was 2024, not 2004.

He's apparently Tony's brother.

 

[VainGretzky]

Gagner on PTO to Carolina. Still chasing a cup

The oldest 35-year-old to ever lace them up how long he has been in the league you would think he was in his mid 40's by now

 

[joestevens29]

The Oilers hired some guys. woot.

I thought we had a mental coach already. A pretty famous one?

I do like getting some european guys in the mix though. When you have a damn near unlimited budget really should be scouting all over the place

 

[Shathar]

Edmonton signed an alien to a PTO!
From planet Caput Gigantus