Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | What Do Our RFA's Sign For Edition

[Zerotonine]

Woof that’s an ugly contract

It's not 2.35 AAV lolol it's league minimum contract

 

[mkatcherin00]

I'll take McLeod over Kostin. Kostin's defending is terrible

mcLeod is literally so scared to go into board battles and keep possession. Win the puck battle. Those guys will never win sh** with you unless he has at least 2 strong guys on his line.

 

[Oilhawks]

It's not 2.35 AAV lolol it's league minimum contract

Slightly less ugly. You don’t give term to replacement level guys like MacEwan, even if “truculence”

Also wtf is with this trend of reporting contracts with the total and not the AAV?

 

[McShogun99]

Why not?.. He was one of our best players in the Vegas series and he's poised for a breakout year. Nick was brought in for depth and help on faceoffs. Your tweet won't age well lol

90% of my posts never age well. I'm still waiting for Reinhart to breakout.....

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Why not?.. He was one of our best players in the Vegas series and he's poised for a breakout year. Nick was brought in for depth and help on faceoffs. Your tweet won't age well lol

Yeah getting him signed to a 2 year deal under $2M before he breaks out is ideal. If he's healthy this year he could be a 40 point 3rd line player. His line with Foegele and Ryan was really gelling in the playoffs and if they could carry forward that success this coming year then the Oilers could finally have a legit 3rd line that outscores the opposition.

I think Holloway will get time with McLeod this year too and that could be 2/3 of a really dynamic line. If Lavoie, Bourgault or Tullio could surprise and slot in at RW with those two at some point this year then the Oilers' bottom six depth scoring could be pretty decent. It's an optimistic thought but the potential is there.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

I am not sure where he fits in as a LW to be honest unless we are hellbent on RNH as 3c and Hyman on RW pushing Foegele up I guess which I highly doubt.

We need RW depth or a 3/4C as the final forward piece.

D is definitively a trade for a RHD at some point to help.

IMO Zadina is more of a RW than a LW, he likes being on his off wing to open himself up for his shot, his best work is generally him coming in as the late guy and trying to pick a corner.

I was really high on Zadina in his draft year, but just watching bits of him in Detroit it's clear he had a substantial number of things to work on chief among them being stronger along the wall, I wouldn't mind signing him to a cheap contract just for the internal competition, but I don't see him making our roster, although I do like him more than Lavoie who I also don't see making our roster.

 

[McDNicks17]

There is a player there.

Seems like he has a little Puljujarvi in him with that finishing.

6% shooting percentage over a 150+ game sample size. That's like Kris Russell or Brett Kulak levels of scoring ability.

 

[mkatcherin00]

I've been going through the free agent signings some teams have made..

After seeing Detroit sign Justin Holl for that contract, I am really happy to have Cody Ceci right now at 2 years 3.25 million cap hit

That's all fine and dandy, but he needs to play lower.

 

[belair]

The team fit is absolutely there. What I posted is the player's perspective. He walked away from $4 million for greater certainty and situation to succeed as the high skill producer he was drafted as. That's not fighting for a 3W roster on a largely constructed roster.

I think I've heard of the kid from Pardubice. That's irrelevant to Zadina's situation of fighting to establish himself as an NHL skill player who's paid a $4 million price tag to find the best landing spot to redeem his career and significant lost career earnings. Like I posted, I love reclamation projects, especially high pedigree ones.

While I agree with you on the logic, I'm really fighting with the idea of what the player really wants using this method of finding a new home. Garbage points aren't necessarily going to establish him as a player in this league IMO.

Assume he goes to a team like Chicago and gets some playing time next to Bedard or whomever playing a scoring oriented role. What does that really do for his career? He still likely has those same question marks about his ability to individually contribute and now he's more or less earned the opportunity to ask for that inflated contract again. At that point he's essentially in the same spot he was in in Detroit, isn't he?

Things weren't working for him there because they were consistently a poor team and they were adding players ahead of him year after year. Bad teams strive to get better. So the prospects that fall behind have a much harder time gaining that ground back.

In Edmonton how different would it be from, say, Colorado taking a chance with Nichushkin? Cap teams that are spending futures every year to be competitive are looking for that type of cheap depth. It gives a player an opportunity to earn a defined role. And when that player finds individual success that goes along with team success, I'd argue that that player is likely viewed in much higher regard than one that is simply putting up empty points.

Seems like he has a little Puljujarvi in him with that finishing.

6% shooting percentage over a 150+ game sample size. That's like Kris Russell or Brett Kulak levels of scoring ability.

Who's been setting him up? The low shooting percentage is concerning, but Detroit doesn't seem like the kind of team that's been getting a ton of Grade A shot opportunities over the COVID years.

 

[McTonyBrar]

mcLeod is literally so scared to go into board battles and keep possession. Win the puck battle. Those guys will never win sh** with you unless he has at least 2 strong guys on his line.

I'll take McLeod because of the skill and hockey IQ. His wingers can be strong while he can be smart.

Yeah getting him signed to a 2 year deal under $2M before he breaks out is ideal. If he's healthy this year he could be a 40 point 3rd line player. His line with Foegele and Ryan was really gelling in the playoffs and if they could carry forward that success this coming year then the Oilers could finally have a legit 3rd line that outscores the opposition.

I think Holloway will get time with McLeod this year too and that could be 2/3 of a really dynamic line. If Lavoie, Bourgault or Tullio could surprise and slot in at RW with those two at some point this year then the Oilers' bottom six depth scoring could be pretty decent. It's an optimistic thought but the potential is there.

Based on when McLeod and Holloway played together, they showed good chemistry. Get Foegele, or someone we sign that's physical with them, and it may just work. Maybe sign Zadina?

 

[Heavy Dee]

Gurianov is a left shot but like a lot of Russian wingers it looks like he prefers to play RW. So that could work.

If you wanted to run a deeper lineup to try and exploit some matchup issues for example, maybe you could do like

Kane McDavid Brown
Foegele Draisaitl Gurianov
Holloway RNH Hyman
McLeod Ryan Janmark

If Drai has some chemistry with him. Not saying you run this lineup all the time, just could be useful to have a setup where RNH + Hyman could theoretically exploit an opponent that's hyper fixated on stopping McDavid/Drai's lines.

They aren't playing McLeod 4LW. Holland said as much.

 

[Stealth1616]

The ending of that Kopitar extension doesn’t look great from a signing Drai/McDavid perspective.

LA will have a centre position looking to be filled

 

[McTonyBrar]

Seems like he has a little Puljujarvi in him with that finishing.

6% shooting percentage over a 150+ game sample size. That's like Kris Russell or Brett Kulak levels of scoring ability.

I think Zadina is a better skater than Bambi tbh. Scoring ability is the same I agree

 

[McDNicks17]

Who's been setting him up? The low shooting percentage is concerning, but Detroit doesn't seem like the kind of team that's been getting a ton of Grade A shot opportunities over the COVID years.

He hasn't been playing with world beaters, but his most common linemates are Suter, Larkin, Fabbri, Rasmussen, Veleno and Namestnikov. Not terrible. Lots of minutes with Hronek and Seider too.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Some defensive stats over the past 3 seasons:

GA/60 relative at 5v5 over the past 3 regular seasons:

Zach Aston-Reese -.60
Jesper Boqvist -.53
Holloway -.46
Devin Shore -.42
Brendan Lemieux -.35
McLeod -.33
Austin Watson -.31
Tyler Motte -.31
Filip Zadina -.30
Pius Suter -.26
Derek Ryan -.22
Yamamoto -.20
Zack MacEwen -.20
Denis Gurianov -.11
Foegele -.10
Noah Gregor +.02
Kostin +.02
RNH +.04
E Kane +.06
Caggiula +.08
Janmark +.16
McDavid +.17
Maxime Comtois +.23
Draisaitl +.27
Lane Pederson +.35
Connor Brown +.43
Hyman +.48
Greg McKegg +1.22
Brad Malone +1.68


Desharnais -.83
Ekholm -.30
Kulak -.11
Niemelainen 0
Cam Dineen +.04
Ceci +.10
Nurse +.24
Bouchard +.25
Broberg +.95

 

[Oilhawks]

The ending of that Kopitar extension doesn’t look great from a signing Drai/McDavid perspective.

LA will have a centre position looking to be filled

Baseless alarmism, IMO. If LA looks like shut this year it would make it even more so (doubt either chase the money to that degree).

 

[Fourier]

If Zadina is willing to sign for under $850K its a no brainer. If he does not make it and is waived he probably gets claimed. If he makes it all the better.

He scored at a reasonable rate playing with Larkin. Nit so much with Suter.

 

[Broberg Speed]

I'll take McLeod because of the skill and hockey IQ. His wingers can be strong while he can be smart.



Based on when McLeod and Holloway played together, they showed good chemistry. Get Foegele, or someone we sign that's physical with them, and it may just work. Maybe sign Zadina?

McLeod isn't a notably skilled hockey player. McLeod isn't a high hockey IQ player either. He's fast.

 

[Stealth1616]

Baseless alarmism, IMO. If LA looks like shut this year it would make it even more so (doubt either chase the money to that degree).

Not saying it’s reason for alarm but the lower amount of suitors the better. Regardless I would hope the situation would be resolved prior to them hitting free agency (signed or traded)

Like it or not each players wife/girlfriend will have a say in where they play next. They both strike me as the type to enjoy LA lifestyle

 

[Zerotonine]

That Kopitar extension kinda worries me. Signs 2 year extension that expires the same year Draisaitl contract expires. Not to mention there was talk of drai going to LA. I mean his gf is an actress. Im having flashbacks , this is looking all to familiar

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

While I agree with you on the logic, I'm really fighting with the idea of what the player really wants using this method of finding a new home. Garbage points aren't necessarily going to establish him as a player in this league IMO.

Assume he goes to a team like Chicago and gets some playing time next to Bedard or whomever playing a scoring oriented role. What does that really do for his career? He still likely has those same question marks about his ability to individually contribute and now he's more or less earned the opportunity to ask for that inflated contract again. At that point he's essentially in the same spot he was in in Detroit, isn't he?

Things weren't working for him there because they were consistently a poor team and they were adding players ahead of him year after year. Bad teams strive to get better. So the prospects that fall behind have a much harder time gaining that ground back.

In Edmonton how different would it be from, say, Colorado taking a chance with Nichushkin? Cap teams that are spending futures every year to be competitive are looking for that type of cheap depth. It gives a player an opportunity to earn a defined role. And when that player finds individual success that goes along with team success, I'd argue that that player is likely viewed in much higher regard than one that is simply putting up empty points.


Who's been setting him up? The low shooting percentage is concerning, but Detroit doesn't seem like the kind of team that's been getting a ton of Grade A shot opportunities over the COVID years.

You don't have to sell me on the player or the prospective team reclamation buy-low on a high pedigree draft pick. I get it and I've said I love reclamation projects ... especially first round do-overs.

Zadina burned $4.6 million of guaranteed dough to choose his next employer. He needs a highly favourable, essentially strong likelihood of top six ice-time and runway to prove himself. Following which, he has to hope to have a path to earn back loss career earnings of $4.6 million on this high risk bet on himself. Former NHL first round picks get more mulligans than most players. But hard reality is that the average NHL career is short.

We can argue endless about the player's prospective landing spots and pros and cons of them. It's now in his hands to choose and Edmonton's prospective onboarding is a camp battle for 3W and extreme value deal. Relative to Chicago or a lot of the field of options that's a fairly risky proposition for a player who needs quality ice-time minutes to showcase the scoring skills that made him a top ten draft pick.

Yamamoto was bought out for contract cost reasons. This guy walked away from a fortune. Can't see him settling for a low opportunity, low pay option when his career future is on the line. We wait and see. Zadina now chooses his destiny.

 

[dem]

That Kopitar extension kinda worries me. Signs 2 year extension that expires the same year Draisaitl contract expires. Not to mention there was talk of drai going to LA. I mean his gf is an actress. Im having flashbacks , this is looking all to familiar

Kopitar actually expires after Draisaitl.

But right on time for McDavid.

 

[Oilhawks]

Not saying it’s reason for alarm but the lower amount of suitors the better. Regardless I would hope the situation would be resolved prior to them hitting free agency (signed or traded)

Like it or not each players wife/girlfriend will have a say in where they play next. They both strike me as the type to enjoy LA lifestyle

I think Connor wants to win above all else. He’s not going to play for free but I don’t see him jumping ship for lifestyle. He has time for that later. Leon I’m less certain of, especially since he’s driven and might see the opportunity to “be the guy” on another team.

 

[FlameChampion]

That Kopitar extension kinda worries me. Signs 2 year extension that expires the same year Draisaitl contract expires. Not to mention there was talk of drai going to LA. I mean his gf is an actress. Im having flashbacks , this is looking all to familiar

Nah because Kopitar still has 1 year left. Kopitar has 3 years. Draisaitl 2. They dont expire at the same time.

 

[McDoused]

I could see Zadina sign here. He would be one injury away from playing with McDrai.