Edmonton Oilers: Grading Three Of The Team’s Offseason Moves
The Edmonton Oilers have made multiple moves this offseason. Most of which have had plenty of backlash from fans around the city, and around the league. Today, I’ll analyze three of the moves they made, grade them, and give an overall recap of my thoughts regarding the move. Have they become a better team now? I don’t think so.
Trading Caleb Jones, Acquiring Duncan Keith. Grade: B-
Duncan Keith trade rumors began to fly shortly after the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Keith had expressed interest in playing somewhere closer to his family and began working with the Blackhawks organization to execute a trade. His son Colton, who lives in Penticton, BC. was the main reason behind his desire to leave Chicago, and The Edmonton Oilers immediately became a candidate.
When Oilers fans began to hear the rumblings of the 38-year old defenseman coming to town, they were conflicted, but everyone agreed that some sort of salary retention on Chicago’s part should be involved, and they all were seemingly against trading any young prospects, or high draft picks. The Oilers ended up trading Caleb Jones, and a conditional draft pick in 2022, in exchange for Duncan Keith and Tim Soderlund, with no retention on Duncan Keith’s $5.538M salary over the next two seasons.
Duncan Keith is an amazing addition when it comes to veteran leadership, and being a three-time Stanley Cup Champion, he will be great in the locker room for the younger guys. I do believe the Oilers overpaid. Caleb Jones may not have been in our lineup regardless of the rest of our moves, but he’s a 24-year-old defenseman, with plenty of room to improve, we could have gotten a more valuable asset for him, not a defenseman that’s outside of his prime, and only has, at most, 3-4 years left in him. If there was a bit of salary retention, whether it was 25% or 50%, I would’ve graded this a little higher, as I personally believe Keith will have a bounce-back season.
Not Re-Signing Jujhar Khaira. Grade: C
Jujhar Khaira wasn’t given a new offer from Edmonton this offseason, and Chicago ended up picking him up for a very cheap price tag. The gritty depth forward is coming off of a below-average season with the Oilers, he put up 3 goals and 8 assists for 11 points, and added 42 penalty minutes, according to NHL.Com.
I wasn’t pleased when I learned Khaira wasn’t coming back to the Oilers, he is solid forward depth, and brings grittiness to the lineup night in, and night out. The one thing that makes letting him walk smart, is the injury issues he has started to deal with. Khaira got leveled in a fight last season, and since then has been dealing with concussions, and hasn’t seemed like the same player he was when he first got to Edmonton. Maybe Khaira will crack the Blackhawks lineup next season and bring them the same grittiness he brought Edmonton, or maybe the injuries will come back to haunt Chicago, but for the money, they signed him for, it’s low risk, high reward. Ultimately, the Oilers may have dodged a bullet, maybe they’ll regret their decision. Time will tell.
Keeping Mikko Koskinen. Grade: F
Mikko Koskinen allowed 4 goals on 3 shots, that was the big joke between my friends and I when the shot clock hadn’t updated yet, but allowing 4 goals on 4 shots, in what was supposed to be a bounce-back game, is not something anybody was proud of. Koskinen is still a solid backup goaltender, but he needs a fresh start. Whether it’s sending him to Columbus in the rumored deal for Korpisalo, or buying him out and letting him choose where he goes, he needs somewhere new, to restart his career.
The Oilers have Skinner, who just re-signed, and Konovalov who is an incredibly promising prospect, both trying to earn their spot in the rotation for when Mike Smith retires, but Koskinen is not the guy I’d want the young guys learning from, he needs to be dealt somewhere, to anyone that will take him.