News and Blog Report: Training camp & Preseason News & Notes

[McTonyBrar]

My head is spinning. How has Gleason been waived but not Josh Brown?

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

My head is spinning. How has Gleason been waived but not Josh Brown?

3 year deals and nonsense.



Good news.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Or, much more likely, Edmonton's management looked at Desharnais moving on and simply got caught in the age old trap of thinking it's better for your #6 to be huge instead of skilled.

Josh Brown and his agent must think they struck gold. Probably would have been lucky to even get a one way NHL offer from anyone else.

This is a strong information based decision making executive leadership group that extends to their coaching staff. Brown was a day 1 signing so very clear he was a pro-active target for end of roster depth as a 7th D. Depth chart changed on August 12 so now he's auditioning for 3RD while the organization is trying to mitigate some loss of three bigger body right d penalty kill options.

The donut hole is at 2RD which is harder to fill than many anticipate. If/when the Oilers fill that big role all the depth move down one slot where they were likely envisioned to be. Brown gets job security at very good NHL money with quite likely a very clear outline of his utility to move freely between Edmonton and Bakersfield. He's possibly a PTO guy if not sold the financial security vision and plan in Edmonton.

 

[Oilhawks]

My head is spinning. How has Gleason been waived but not Josh Brown?

Because big and right shot

 

[bone]

My head is spinning. How has Gleason been waived but not Josh Brown?

I'm thinking any of the cap gymnastics they have to play to maximize LTIR for Kane work better with him on the Day 1 roster. If he's still here Day 5 or 6 while still looking like he has so far, then I'm concerned.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Because big and right shot

Behind right handed isn't a skill, and despite being tall, he's not strong and don't win physical battles.

Josh Brown is, sincerely, bad at all facets of hockey.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Yes you are if you demote players afterwards.

All this triggers is setting the ACSL at exactly the cap the moment you assign him to LTIR. If the team gets the cap number below $88M at any point in the season (including Kane's hit) they accrue that amount. This essentially would give them the flexibility to deal with any injury in the season as just a regular IR assignment until they either activate Kane or make a trade essentially banishing him until the playoffs.

If they put Kane onto LTIR at any other point when their cap number is different (say 87.6M). Then they'd only accrue space when below $87.6. That's why it’s almost most advantageous to get as close to the real cap number before moving a player from IR to LTIR.

I think what you are suggesting is like what happens (though the players coming and going and the required Dermott hit might be different)

I have two questions though, if they put Kane on ltir, they have to leave him there for 24 days (I believe) meaning they can’t accrue cap for that first month basically. Is that correct?

Second, I know they can retroactively put a player on ltir but can they put him on ltir, take him off without him being ready to play and then put him on again later on down the road if need be even though it’s the same injury that he had not come back from yet?

 

[oXo Cube]

This is a strong information based decision making executive leadership group that extends to their coaching staff. Brown was a day 1 signing so very clear he was a pro-active target for end of roster depth as a 7th D. Depth chart changed on August 12 so now he's auditioning for 3RD while the organization is trying to mitigate some loss of three bigger body right d penalty kill options.

The donut hole is at 2RD which is harder to fill than many anticipate. If/when the Oilers fill that big role all the depth move down one slot where they were likely envisioned to be. Brown gets job security at very good NHL money with quite likely a very clear outline of his utility to move freely between Edmonton and Bakersfield. He's possibly a PTO guy if sold the financial security vision and plan in Edmonton.

Look man I hope you're right, but rather than all of these mental gymnastics I think the guy was signed to a term contract and given an extended run in the #6 role above multiple camp hopefuls who have considerably outplayed him is simply because the Oilers, for whatever reason, just really like him.

And that's not the end of the world. Not every move has to be a homerun and it's definitely not an accident that the cap hit is buryable.

 

[McAsuno]

Behind right handed isn't a skill, and despite being tall, he's not strong and don't win physical battles.

Josh Brown is, sincerely, bad at all facets of hockey.

He's actually so bad that I don't even think he would be able to play on the DOD Oilers defense. No way in hell should he even be a regular on a team that's contending for a cup.

 

[McShogun99]

This board doesn't want to hear it but the Oilers didn't give him a 3 year contract because they saw him as a Bakersfield option.

He's going to get a real run in Edmonton whether he deserves that or not.

I think they wanted a big, crease clearing Dman to make up for the loss of VD and he was the cheapest option available.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Look man I hope you're right, but rather than all of these mental gymnastics I think the guy was signed to a term contract and given an extended run in the #6 role above multiple camp hopefuls who have considerably outplayed him is simply because the Oilers, for whatever reason, just really like him.

And that's not the end of the world. Not every move has to be a homerun and it's definitely not an accident that the cap hit is buryable.

I actually think it's pretty clear. And a really good organizational strategy to bulk up their blueline depth in the off-season through 'free' burialable contracts. No assets expended and money is below the threshold where Brown and Stetcher can be moved up and down. Keep your limited draft collateral for a big move and buying retention/potentially double retention.

Like I said, the NHL roster and depth chart envisioned changed after August 12 so now they are giving a long look at Brown as a very specific 3RD PK guy whose physical play style and limited skill set will tilt heavily to defensive zone starts. Choosing to move Ceci has created (regular season) uncertainty at 2RD with big PK minutes and heavy d-zone start deployment. There's trying to replace 2RD with a different player type in Emberton while the top PK work replacement for Ceci is being figured out with several guys including Brown rotating through in training camp.

Eventually though I fully expect the Oilers upgrade at 2RD with Emberton moving into a more realistic 3RD growth role, Stetcher and Brown slotting into 7-8 organizational depth roles imagined with their pre-deadline signings with term deals to mitigate waiver threats. Cheap way to build up critical organizational depth.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

He's actually so bad that I don't even think he would be able to play on the DOD Oilers defense. No way in hell should he even be a regular on a team that's contending for a cup.

I mean he reminds me of some of those guys, but yeah, I get toughness, but he doesn't even display that.

They had to move on from Vinny, but Vinny is MORE than twice the player he is.

 

[brentashton]

Like I get they might be "worried" about toughness, but Josh Brown is just awful, all around.

Yup. I’d rather be a “not tough team” that can keep the puck out of the net.

This board doesn't want to hear it but the Oilers didn't give him a 3 year contract because they saw him as a Bakersfield option.

He's going to get a real run in Edmonton whether he deserves that or not.

You have to hope this new management team can be open to recognize when a decision made is in error and be able to quickly pivot towards improvement.

He might start the season because of the initial contract commitment but if his play is still missing on 3 cylinders by the end of November toy have to think it will stop. Only under old regimes would error upon error be allowed to compound. Surely JJ and Bowman are smarter than that.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Yup. I’d rather be a “not tough team” that can keep the puck out of the net.

Like at least a guy like Gazdic was legit tough and Steve McIntyre was terrifying, but Josh isn't that and is bad. This contract makes absolutely no sense in any context.

 

[brentashton]

Not what I would ice but the opening night roster is going to be:

RNH - McDavid - Hyman
Skinner - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
Janmark - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Ryan - Perry
Lavoie

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Emberson
Kulak - Brown
Stetcher

Skinner
Pickard

Honestly not sure if any of the guys trying to make the team out of camp were even given a real serious look other than Lavoie and even that is mostly just because they don't want to waive him.

Isn't Kane the 13th forward, given his situation?

 

[K1984]

Delia, Pedersen, Hamblin and Akey make perfect sense. Tough for Kemp, but I think we might see him this year. Gleason is rough, I don't really understand this after last night's game.

Hamblin is a bit of a let down for me. I was a big fan of his game when he was here last year, and I thought with that experience under his belt that he would be a guy that would at the bare minimum force some difficult decisions with his camp performance. His performance was forgettable if it was even noticeable to begin with. Last night I didn't even realize he was playing until later in the evening.

Philp basically has done what I expected Hamblin to do in this camp.

 

[oXo Cube]

Isn't Kane the 13th forward, given his situation?

He's the 14th forward, but I didn't bother to write him down for obvious reasons.

 

[McAsuno]

I mean he reminds me of some of those guys, but yeah, I get toughness, but he doesn't even display that.

They had to move on from Vinny, but Vinny is MORE than twice the player he is.

Vinny had his weaknesses and it showed in during the playoffs, but I'd take him over Brown any single day. There was this one specific shift in the 3rd period last night about Brown where I was like are you actually that dumb? He got the puck in the oilers own end after the nucks turned it over, and just slapped the puck away without looking to anybody, and the nucks player happily grabbed it. Kulak's expression looked like WTF too.

Guy looks like a beer leaguer out there, and I've seen better beer league players lmao. Get this plug off the damn team.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Vinny had his weaknesses and it showed in during the playoffs, but I'd take him over Brown any single day. There was this one specific shift in the 3rd period last night about Brown where I was like are you actually that dumb? He got the puck in the oilers own end after the nucks turned it over, and just slapped the puck away without looking to anybody, and the nucks player happily grabbed it. Kulak's expression looked like WTF too.

Guy looks like a beer leaguer out there, and I've seen better beer league players lmao. Get this plug off the damn team.

His passing, was like the old school 90s style grenades from meat that could barely play.

 

[McAsuno]

His passing, was like the old school 90s style grenades from meat that could barely play.

Both the eye test and advanced stats shows he's hot garbage lmao. Good god. He would make Nikita Nikitin look like a defensive juggernaut.

 

[VainGretzky]

I think Lavoie is making the team

 

[bone]

I think what you are suggesting is like what happens (though the players coming and going and the required Dermott hit might be different)

I have two questions though, if they put Kane on ltir, they have to leave him there for 24 days (I believe) meaning they can’t accrue cap for that first month basically. Is that correct?

Second, I know they can retroactively put a player on ltir but can they put him on ltir, take him off without him being ready to play and then put him on again later on down the road if need be even though it’s the same injury that he had not come back from yet?

I'm not sure about any specific timeline before the time they can accrue. I don't think that matters, but I'm not 100% certain.

The 24 days only matters as a minimum time they they need to be assigned to LTIR in order to access any relief.

Second part, I'm not really sure, but I don't think there's a scenario that's ever occured where someone comes off LTIR mid-season and without ever playing a game returning to LTIR. I can't envision a scenario where that would become advantageous.

 

[VeteranPresence]

I was happy to defend the Brown signing when it looked like he was going to be a #8/Black Ace with a contract that no other team was going to claim as insurance, but 1) he's been so horrific there is no value in him ever being on the big club 2) we're keeping him up (at least right now) over someone who can actually play hockey in Ben Gleason. Really not understanding where Bowman/Jackson are getting the idea this guy is a must-have on a contender.

 

[unicornBLOOD]

He's actually so bad that I don't even think he would be able to play on the DOD Oilers defence. No way in hell should he even be a regular on a team that's contending for a cup.

i doubt that he will be for long. Either they fill the hole at 2nd paring RD via trade, and/or Brown struggles enough to get demoted. If his play in the preseason is a preview of what to expect from him in the regular season, he won't last long.

 

[unicornBLOOD]

I think Lavoie is making the team

I hope he does, I think he could be a really nice fit on a 3rd line with Henrik and Connor Brown. In tight games, when trying to hold a lead, Janmark could move up and take his place, if need be. Lavoie is big and can shoot, he would add a nice element to that 3rd line.