Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | Does Bowman Make His Mark on the Team Before Training Camp?

[Soundwave]

I was talking about trading Kulak specifically. Us losing the upside of these younger, cost efficient players is going to have a negative impact on this team's ability to eventually replace its aging vets.

This team is going to have to find a way to add guys in their mid 20s who fit some of these longer term needs.

Gonna have to take flyers on players like Boqvist, Valimaki, Kostin, Podkolzine ... players like that when they pop up on the market for peanuts.

Our own internal drafting at this point likely isn't going to yield much for the forseeable window, our next 1st is 2026, that player probably won't be ready to significantly contribute until 2029 at the earliest, that pick is probably a goner at this year's deadline anyway.

Can't rely on drafting anymore, the Oilers had a window to do that in (2015-2023) and they largely blew it, even if they hit pay dirt on a fluke pick in the 3rd/4th round at this point, again you're probably waiting until 2029 or 2030 for such a player to really be a big contributor most likely.

 

[BarDownBobo]

I like the idea of us farming for a young mainstay to recoup the loss of Broberg. Giving a real opportunity can trigger accelerated development like when Bouchard got promoted and got to play with Ekholm

The issue is that last season proved to us that having any handicap to short term success is a bad idea. In particular seeing that Nurse-Lindstrom pairing stands out. Having said that, Nurse seemed better with Broberg than Ceci. It's a small sample but maybe shows that Nurse responds to a skillset moreso than a steady veteran who isn't a great skater.

I agree with this, but I’d personally take it even a step further. At least to start the year I’d like to see them split the Ekholm-Bouchard pairing up. Pair Nurse with Bouchard, see if that can ignite his game while also testing to see if Bouchard can pull the weight and carry a pairing himself. If he’s unable to do that we want to know now before they decide to lock him into a huge money contract. Bring in a younger, possibly high upside guy to pair with Ekholm and see if he can work his magic again. Lindstrom is definitely an intriguing option here and one that would be completely free, the other guy I’d look at is Soderstrom out of Utah who seems like he’s been passed over with the moves they’ve made this summer. Then for the third pairing you ideally want to run with Kulak-Emberson, but you’ve also got Stecher and his almost 500 games of experience as a backup option. To me that defense is good enough to get them to the deadline where you can see who’s developed and what you might need to look for in a trade.

 

[MessierII]

I agree with this, but I’d personally take it even a step further. At least to start the year I’d like to see them split the Ekholm-Bouchard pairing up. Pair Nurse with Bouchard

Couldn’t disagree with this more. Ekholm and Bouchard might be the best pairing in the league. Definitely up there.

 

[BarDownBobo]

Couldn’t disagree with this more. Ekholm and Bouchard might be the best pairing in the league. Definitely up there.

I accidentally hit the post button too soon on my phone here, that post is edited with my reasoning now.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

If Derek Ryan is our opening day 4C that would be a fail in my eyes.

Ryan is fine, likely he’ll be splitting time with Hamblin or I’d love to see Philp pick up where he left off even if it’s later in the year. The other thing is we are so deep we can afford to cycle Mcdavid and Drai out on the 4th line a few times a game like they’ve done a lot in the past.

they can always bring someone else on as well.

 

[Soundwave]

If you want to go with a younger lineup you can go with

Skinner McDavid Hyman
Podkolzin Draisaitl Arvidsson
RNH Henrique Savoie/Lavoie
Janmark Hamblin Brown

There's no law that says Perry or Ryan must play.

 

[MessierII]

If Derek Ryan is our opening day 4C that would be a fail in my eyes.

Our forwards are the best in the NHL by far when healthy.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I accidentally hit the post button too soon on my phone here, that post is edited with my reasoning now.

You're reasoning being to bring in an unknown to play on our 2nd pair in a year we're trying to win the Cup? Not naming Makar how many cup winning teams have a rookie defenseman in their top-4?

 

[CanadasTeam99]

I don't give a rats ass about broberg and he could flounder next year, but what is this I read about him playing the last 2 reg season games against shit teams and that is what made him OS eligible?

Which turd in the Oilers org has the job of watching for that?

I know Kenny probably drank some Nyquil the whole 5 years. Did he have some nepo hire who should have known this?

Which dumtard didn't know this?

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Anyone else not want Barrie? I'd rather give that Lindstrom guy a shot. He seems like he has potential, just have Nurse do the puck moving.

Barrie might be fine in a 3rd pairing role but is he much of an upgrade on our other RHD not named Bouchard? Justin Schultz is the guy that I'd want to bring back on D if anyone.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

I don't give a rats ass about broberg and he could flounder next year, but what is this I read about him playing the last 2 reg season games against shit teams and that is what made him OS eligible?

Which turd in the Oilers org has the job of watching for that?

I know Kenny probably drank some Nyquil the whole 5 years. Did he have some nepo hire who should have known this?

Which dumtard didn't know this?

That ended up being false

 

[Spawn]

With Emberson and Stetcher I don’t really see the point of signing any of these fringe guys anymore. Schultz, Barrie, Lindstrom etc. We don’t need more maybes. If we're adding a RHD it needs to be someone that is legitimate top 4 guy. Otherwise it just feels like a bit of a waste of time.

Barrie might be fine in a 3rd pairing role but is he much of an upgrade on our other RHD not named Bouchard? Justin Schultz is the guy that I'd want to bring back on D if anyone.

And Justin Schultz is better? He had a miserable season as Seattles 6/7 dman and is 34 years old.

 

[Paralyzer]

Imagine if we had just traded Broberg at the draft/ FA. Chychrun + could have likely been had given what he went for. Opportunity wasted.

You mean get the guy who had issues with 2 teams he's been on already? I'd pass on chychrun. He isn't as good as people pin him to be.

 

[Fourier]

Gonna have to take flyers on players like Boqvist, Valimaki, Kostin, Podkolzine ... players like that when they pop up on the market for peanuts.

Our own internal drafting at this point likely isn't going to yield much for the forseeable window, our next 1st is 2026, that player probably won't be ready to significantly contribute until 2029 at the earliest, that pick is probably a goner at this year's deadline anyway.

Can't rely on drafting anymore, the Oilers had a window to do that in (2015-2023) and they largely blew it, even if they hit pay dirt on a fluke pick in the 3rd/4th round at this point, again you're probably waiting until 2029 or 2030 for such a player to really be a big contributor most likely.

And I will add, scour the undrafted market from the CHL, NCAA and in Europe.

 

[Fourier]

I like our goalie depth but Vinni is like 5 years away. Ungar is like 3-4 years ago and may never turn out. Rodrigue could be ready as soon as next year. Askarov would be ready next year but he could also be the best of the bunch. For a 2nd it could be worthwhile. That's what we used on Vinni. But I wouldn't send a 1st for Askarov tho.

If Nashville would accept a 2nd for Askarov he'd be gone already. I just don't see them at that place right now.

 

[ottawah]

Anyone else not want Barrie? I'd rather give that Lindstrom guy a shot. He seems like he has potential, just have Nurse do the puck moving.

Perhaps but only as third pairing and whatever offensive minutes are left after bouchard (10-12 a game). He cannot play in situations which are defensive in nature unless you are tanking for #1.

 

[Fourier]

Or trade Kulak last summer and give Broberg the runway to earn a healthy raise on his natural side. He was upset that the organization never showed that he was in their immediate plans. You can't really argue that. He wasn't going to be a top four defenseman here for a long while.

This is just proof that overcooking your prospects can also have a bad outcome. This is an organization that was heavily criticized for rushing its prospects for many years.

If there was a way to avoid losing Broberg it was probably dealing Kulak last year. But at the time that would have been a very risky move. Kulak was a solid third pair vet who seemed to stabilize things for Vinny. Imagine the blowback after the start they had last year if a pair of rookies were getting decimated with no internal replacement.

I actually agree with your last statement. It's a balancing act but you need to know what you have before you are forced to go one way or another. The next in line here is Lavoie. Certainly a less important prospect but a guy who I think could be a terrific internal add if he ever reached his full potential. The Oilers can now afford to see what they have in him. If they waive him, I think someone will take a shot.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

With Emberson and Stetcher I don’t really see the point of signing any of these fringe guys anymore. Schultz, Barrie, Lindstrom etc. We don’t need more maybes. If we're adding a RHD it needs to be someone that is legitimate top 4 guy. Otherwise it just feels like a bit of a waste of time.


And Justin Schultz is better? He had a miserable season as Seattles 6/7 dman and is 34 years old.

Kind of impressive that he had a miserable season and still manage to outscore over half our dmen despite being on a team that scored 80 less goals.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

With Emberson and Stetcher I don’t really see the point of signing any of these fringe guys anymore. Schultz, Barrie, Lindstrom etc. We don’t need more maybes. If we're adding a RHD it needs to be someone that is legitimate top 4 guy. Otherwise it just feels like a bit of a waste of time.


And Justin Schultz is better? He had a miserable season as Seattles 6/7 dman and is 34 years old.

Keep in mind by the deadline we will have someone much better on the 2nd pair. I'm all for a PTO, especially if Stetcher comes into camp too slow after his injury.

Barrie or Schultz could be an okay placeholder until the deadline, and also offer an option on the PP if Bouch gets injured.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

Couldn’t disagree with this more. Ekholm and Bouchard might be the best pairing in the league. Definitely up there.

Do you really wanna pay bouchard based off play with a player that'll be gone most likely when that contract is in it's infancy? If he flails paired with nurse at least that gives the oilers a little bit of leverage.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I agree with this, but I’d personally take it even a step further. At least to start the year I’d like to see them split the Ekholm-Bouchard pairing up. Pair Nurse with Bouchard, see if that can ignite his game while also testing to see if Bouchard can pull the weight and carry a pairing himself. If he’s unable to do that we want to know now before they decide to lock him into a huge money contract. Bring in a younger, possibly high upside guy to pair with Ekholm and see if he can work his magic again. Lindstrom is definitely an intriguing option here and one that would be completely free, the other guy I’d look at is Soderstrom out of Utah who seems like he’s been passed over with the moves they’ve made this summer. Then for the third pairing you ideally want to run with Kulak-Emberson, but you’ve also got Stecher and his almost 500 games of experience as a backup option. To me that defense is good enough to get them to the deadline where you can see who’s developed and what you might need to look for in a trade.

I don't hate breaking up Ekholm and Bouchard (though I'm hardly a fan of the idea), but I don't like the idea of Bouchard (or even Ekholm) with Nurse. Imo the big thing Nurse needs next to him is speed. As weird as it sounds, I think you'd get more mileage out of Nurse-Kulak than you would out of Nurse-Bouchard/Ekholm.


Still we've seen Kulak-Bouchard play well together, Ekholm and Emberson could also be a quality shutdown pairing, and that would leave Nurse with Stecher which is a combo I like too.

Ekholm-Emberson
Kulak-Bouchard
Nurse-Stecher

No real top pair, but no clear third one either. I think it's an idea that at least merits a preseason game or two.

 

[Canovin]

If Nashville would accept a 2nd for Askarov he'd be gone already. I just don't see them at that place right now.

The trade request just came out and they're exploring options. Maybe a 2nd and a sweetener

 

[McSuper]

With what cap are we going to trade for a top 4 d before the deadline smarty pants? Lol

4.4 million at the deadline and if retained that jumps up to 8.8. Also if it is a trade you know you cap send cap back or send a couple of 1 million dollar players down.

 

[Fourier]

The trade request just came out and they're exploring options. Maybe a 2nd and a sweetener

Askarov would be a great add but I think that Nashville will want an actual warm body if they move him. Probably a young prospect with similar upside. That second from the Oilers would at best be around a 45th or so pick assuming it was St. Louis' pick (the Oilers don't have their 2nd). Even though goalies don't get a lot in return he is still a guy many would see as a top end goalie prospect. A mid second is not much of a return at this point. Of course things may change. Askarov may force their hand and the return may be less than expected. I just don't see that being the case right now.

 

[alphahelix]

The oilers defence is in a desperate situation and that’s perfectly healthy with all hands on deck.

Oilers need a big trade now.