Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
- Sep 13, 2004
- 86,808
- 36,292
Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | Post Free Agent Frenzy, Will JJ Show His Pimp Hand Again to Upgrade the Defense?
- Thread starter Bryanbryoil
- Start date
Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
- Sep 13, 2004
- 86,808
- 36,292
I figured why lock it when good stuff kept happening!
I don't think they're willing to platoon Broberg at this point. It's likely FT duty here. As such, that creates a logjam of LHD. That's the only reason I can see them wanting to trade Kulak. He is a good skater, and proved a good, reliable defender overall in the playoffs. He allegedly was not comfortable playing the right side as a LH shot, and I don't know if they want to keep playing Broberg on his off side either (put the guy in the best position to succeed i.e. the left side so he's not turning into the boards on the backhand for instance).
Pagnotta said he had heard both Kulak's and Ceci's names out there. They can't get rid of both and not replace the minutes with someone reliable, so assuming Jackson is looking to make a trade for an established D (or at least someone with some NHL experience) and likely not just a prospect on the cusp as with Savoie. I'd like them to move on from Ceci at this point but that won't solve the imbalance of LH guys. I'm hoping they find a way to keep Kulak and get rid of Ceci but that depends I guess. No idea how Broberg feels playing his weak side but he did switch up quite a bit in BAK allegedly.
It's not a bad problem to have, with a young D now pushing to be FT against top competition but again depends on what the deployment or desired deployment is. I also don't know which poor bastard will be saddled with Nurse and his woeful defending. Will he bounce back? Or has his game regressed so badly and declines or stays at the same terrible water mark? That stupid contract of his.. damn.
Pagnotta said he had heard both Kulak's and Ceci's names out there. They can't get rid of both and not replace the minutes with someone reliable, so assuming Jackson is looking to make a trade for an established D (or at least someone with some NHL experience) and likely not just a prospect on the cusp as with Savoie. I'd like them to move on from Ceci at this point but that won't solve the imbalance of LH guys. I'm hoping they find a way to keep Kulak and get rid of Ceci but that depends I guess. No idea how Broberg feels playing his weak side but he did switch up quite a bit in BAK allegedly.
It's not a bad problem to have, with a young D now pushing to be FT against top competition but again depends on what the deployment or desired deployment is. I also don't know which poor bastard will be saddled with Nurse and his woeful defending. Will he bounce back? Or has his game regressed so badly and declines or stays at the same terrible water mark? That stupid contract of his.. damn.
I'm not convinced Pagnotta actually knows anything Oilers related. He just seems to make stuff up.
I kind of get the sense he throws a lot up against the wall to see what sticks. However we have heard that Jackson is still working on the D so there is some merit to the rumours, just not sure about Kulak's name. I think he's fine at his price point (he's ~$500000 less than Ceci).
Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
- Sep 13, 2004
- 86,808
- 36,292
I could see Kulak and Ceci being shopped. Personally I'd like to see Broberg in a 3rd pairing role where he can really thrive and then find a steadying influence for Nurse for the 2nd pairing.
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-?
Broberg-Boqvist (if we can add him)/Stetcher/Brown
Stetcher/Brown
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-?
Broberg-Boqvist (if we can add him)/Stetcher/Brown
Stetcher/Brown
That's quite a few minutes to have to fill up though, and they would have to trust Stecher and Brown. I'm not a big fan of Brown as a defender but.. they did sign him. Stecher still a bit of an unknown quantity given his lack of playing time here.
Boqvist still unsigned huh? Must have some pretty big warts in his game, considering he's still relatively young and inexpensive.
Ritchie Valens
Registered User
- Sep 24, 2007
- 29,802
- 42,895
In honour of the thread title because I have nothing else of importance to contribute:
Broberg Speed
Registered User
- Oct 23, 2020
- 7,550
- 5,144
I think Ceci and Kulak will both be shipped out. One will go for a defenseman prospect that's close to making the jump with a salary of 1M-1.5M. This player is likely waiver eligible. The other will have some picks and prospects attached for a much needed upgrade on RD.
Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
- Sep 13, 2004
- 86,808
- 36,292
The only reason that it'd make sense to move both guys out would be to get a legit 2nd pair guy to pair with Nurse to try and stop the bleeding there. Think a RH lesser version of Ekholm IMO. If we just move one of them out then we might see Broberg and Nurse continuing to play together.
Anybody and Nurse is going to a be disaster unless he pulls back and tightens up his defending somewhat. He definitely needs someone who can skate and pass / transport the puck up quickly. I'm still not sure what Ceci brings in trade return. RHD is about the only plus going there, so maybe a small market for a vet right shot guy. Kulak would bring a better return but again I'd rather keep him personally. But there's definitely a case to be made as you noted man.
With respect to the Flames wanting to offersheet both Holloway and Broberg, although they dont have their 1st round pick or 3rd round pick this year.
Gregor and Seravalli talked about it today and Frank said he doesn't understand why more teams don't offer sheet. He mentioned anaheim as well but they don't even have a 2nd round pick to do it.
Calgary could only do one offer sheet at a time and it would be their 2nd round pick which is going to be a pretty high 2nd rounder. With a 2nd round pick, the offer would have to be between 2.29 - 4.58.
If they do offer sheet, you would have to think it would be at near the max (4.5) or else the Oilers would match. I wouldn't blame the player either as that would be a big pay day.
The real question is how many years would they offer? If it's high (like 6 years) you would think that they would probably match, although it might cause problems with Bouchard down the line.
Gregor and Seravalli talked about it today and Frank said he doesn't understand why more teams don't offer sheet. He mentioned anaheim as well but they don't even have a 2nd round pick to do it.
Calgary could only do one offer sheet at a time and it would be their 2nd round pick which is going to be a pretty high 2nd rounder. With a 2nd round pick, the offer would have to be between 2.29 - 4.58.
If they do offer sheet, you would have to think it would be at near the max (4.5) or else the Oilers would match. I wouldn't blame the player either as that would be a big pay day.
The real question is how many years would they offer? If it's high (like 6 years) you would think that they would probably match, although it might cause problems with Bouchard down the line.
I can't see them doing it. The last offer sheet was Kotkaniemi in '21 which was not matched, and Aho a couple years before that (which CAR did match). Eye for an eye bit of business there between the two teams. GMs seem extremely reluctant to use it (presumably because it messes up the relationships around the league, screwing with other organizations' caps). They aren't going to offer our two RFAs north of $5 million and stuff below that would likely be matched by Jackson (and probably royally piss the front office off).
The NHL is still built on having good relationships amongst the front offices and not quite as mercenary as other leagues are. It would certainly be something if they did do it though.
JJ has been aggressive, and it's entirely possible that both Ceci/Kulak are on the block to make a real second pairing right defenseman upgrade possible. We're so used to Oiler GMs doing nothing but salary dumps and making do with what they already have while doing the bare minimum to get under the cap, it almost feels implausible that something bigger might be in the works.
Only problem is that the defensemen that fit in that 2nd pairing RD role within the range of salary opened up by moving those two players is rather small(and even smaller when you start filtering for top 4 D), and the majority of them come with NTC and NMCs. Who knows though, maybe we'll wake up in the next few weeks to something out of left field like the Oilers acquiring Carlos out of Boston or something. No one saw a probable salary dump in Mcleod going for a top prospect, so maybe JJ has some more tricks up his sleeve.
Only problem is that the defensemen that fit in that 2nd pairing RD role within the range of salary opened up by moving those two players is rather small(and even smaller when you start filtering for top 4 D), and the majority of them come with NTC and NMCs. Who knows though, maybe we'll wake up in the next few weeks to something out of left field like the Oilers acquiring Carlos out of Boston or something. No one saw a probable salary dump in Mcleod going for a top prospect, so maybe JJ has some more tricks up his sleeve.
Last edited:
Well taking a quick look at the caps around the league, both the Sharks and Columbus have cap space and probably could use a RD. Not seeing anything enticing from either of their rosters though. It's a shame we lost Kesselring, he's a RHD and would be the exact type of cost controlled, emerging D they could plug in. Damn you Holland.
I would add that the offer sheet is a two party situation, the player has to be also willing and interested. In this case you are signing a contract on to a full, full rebuild with the flames. I don’t know what I would value in that situation, it’s hard to say but no matter what you would be making more money than you ever have had and in on scenario you have a real chance at a cup and in other, likely missing the playoffs for the contract.
TopShelfGloveSide
Registered User
- Dec 10, 2018
- 19,257
- 27,619
I assume GMs don’t usually offer sheet RFAs much because they don’t want other teams sniffing around their RFAs. An unspoken agreement type of thing.
Honestly we should consider offer sheets if there is any young studs with our teams age.
Obviously need the proper picks. I think jiricek out of Columbus would be a great target
Obviously need the proper picks. I think jiricek out of Columbus would be a great target
Jimmi McJenkins
Sometimes miracles
I'm pretty sure he's still under contract, but this is a very interesting idea. Jemery Swayman and (if you still can) Braden Scheider would be a very interesting target
He is I like him as a trade target as Columbus and him were rocky last year and it sounds like he has decent potential to become a top pair RHD.
But yes still under contract.
We don’t have that many RFAs that are crazy attractive and I prefer the bird in hand approach with already developed players than our drafting. Obviously lots of players out there just are easy matches but there is one or two a year who are quite interesting pending we have the cap flexibility or can make it
I don't believe that. Teams had no problems with poaching players from vulnerable teams prior to the CBA, Edmonton got raided a few times. The current offersheet model makes it too difficult to effectively steal players, it isn't worth the effort. If the player is any good, teams will just match the contract and worry about the fallout later, as we saw even with the biggest offersheet poison pill contract ever put to paper(Shea Weber/Philly 2013 or so).
The lone instance of an attempt at retribution over an offersheet just turned into a hilarious self-own on the part of Carolina too, especially considering Montreal did Carolina a favor by signing Aho to the offersheet in the first place since it didn't have any poison pill attributes attached to it(aka, it was just market value for the player).
To your point...has there ever been a scenario where signing an offer sheet has truly benefited a player's career arc (outside of the $$$)?
If Dustin Penner stays in Anaheim, he probably gets some higher career point-totals and maybe ends up in the same conversation as Getzlaf and Perry. Instead, he goes to Edmonton and becomes a key whipping boy of the Decade of Darkness (outside of his 68-point outlier in 2009-10).
Similar story with Kotkaniemi. Could've been at the center of a youth movement with Suzuki and Caufield in Montreal. But he went for the massive payday from the Canes, and his stock has been stuck in freefall ever since.
SupremeTeam16
5-14-6-1
I don’t think Kulak is available unless someone makes an attractive offer. He’s signed at a decent hit for 2 more season, can play both sides can play more minutes in stints.
Ceci is a harder read. It’s hard to know if there’s a definitive upgrade available right now that we could fit in cap wise and trading him without bringing in someone else could be a risk if Broberg isn’t ready for that second pairing spot or if he struggles on the right side and needs to move back to LD. I’d say they probably hang onto Ceci until they get into the season so they can get evaluate guys like Broberg, Brown and Stetcher, while also seeing how the market for an upgrade develops. The only thing I think changes that is if they absolutely need to make cap space or if someone offers a deal for Ceci that makes it worth gambling on Broberg, Kulak, Stetcher, Brown can handle the 4/5/6 spots. Dealing him would be a proactive move similar to McLeod. Move a guy who’s not critical and who’s due a raise and get value for him while clearing some cap space.
I don’t think Kane is going anywhere except on ltir. He’s got a full nmc and I think he wants to be here for another run.
I agree when you are talking as a whole. It takes power away from general managers and gives it to the players. If it was common place, RFAs would end up getting paid and GMs wouldn't be able to keep/squeeze their own prospects.
Having said that Calgary hates us and they don't exactly strike me as smart. They likely don't think about the long term effects and might want the attention.
