Bonus material
Duncan Keith part 2
We received more information about the Duncan Keith trade late yesterday. Middling prospect Tim Soderlund is coming here from Chicago as well as Keith. Courtesy of Dobber Prospects, here’s his scouting report:
"“Söderlund projects as a bottom-six forward that should see time on the penalty kill where he can put his speed and never-ending energy to best use. Söderlund can also be used on defence in a pinch.”"
I can live with a guy who sounds like a slightly upgraded version of Juhjar Khaira. His numbers right now aren’t much to write home about, but at 23 there’s still time for him to grow. Also, Bakersfield has champion pedigree in the AHL right now, so that’s important and should only make Soderlund a better player.
The 3rd round pick is conditional as well – if the Oilers make it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2022 and Duncan Keith is top 4 in playoff TOI amongst the D corps, then the 3rd rounder gets upgraded to a 2nd round pick.
Also, it’s worth viewing the post-trade press conference Ken Holland had after the trade was announced. Holland was point-blank asked why he didn’t retain salary in this trade, his reply was that Bowman would’ve upped his asking price if he did.
Holland was also asked why he didn’t take a harder approach in dealing with Bowman, and he said he didn’t want to burn his bridges with him and “smoke him” I think is how he referred to it. Fair enough, but IMO this concern is overblown.
After all, it’s not like the Oilers and Hawks make lots of trades with each other. Before this trade the last trade I can remember the Oilers and Hawks making was when the Oilers traded Boris Mironov to Chicago – and that was over 20 years ago.
IMO this is truly a missed opportunity by Holland, seeing as how he had all the leverage here. The perfect storm doesn’t come along very often, so you have to take advantage of it while you can. If Bowman is petty enough to stop taking Holland’s calls just because Holland did his job right, then that’s not our problem that’s his problem.
NHL GMs need to have short memories – you don’t think if Bowman was interested in an Oilers player that he would put his bruised ego aside and pick up the phone to call Holland? Besides, if it’s another 20 years between trades, Bowman will likely be long gone anyway.
Keith is the centerpiece of this trade so a lot of its success or failure will hinge on his performance over the next two seasons. Like many others I’m disappointed Holland didn’t demand Bowman retain salary because the pieces involved didn’t have to change – Bowman had literally no leverage. When the player has demanded a trade, to one region of the league, to four teams, two of which reject you right away and the other one is an expansion team, that leaves only one option. If Bowman is overvaluing the player, that’s his problem, not ours. That doesn’t mean you have to enable his insanity.
More bonus material
The Oilers are rumored to be targeting Zach Hyman for their left-wing void next to Connor Mcdavid. That’s all well and good, provided the contract is decent. After all, they now only have $11 million and change in cap space left, and they still have to re-sign Adam Larsson, Kailer Yamamoto, Mike Smith, and Juhjar Khaira, plus whatever other depth guys he wants to bring back from last year.
Not to mention that two seasons from now they’ll need cap space to re-sign Darnell Nurse, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Ethan Bear – not to mention they need to get younger at goalie which is going to take some cap space as well. Hyman is only starting from the $2.25 million he made last season, but if there’s a bidding war that could get ugly very quickly. Taylor Hall is rumored to be considered for the spot as well, and that’s going to cost a lot more.
This is going to be Ken Holland’s best chance to remake the roster in his image until the cap starts going back up again. He better make it a good one.