Oilers To Trade Jesse Puljujarvi To The Anaheim Ducks?

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It’s no secret that the Bison King has largely struggled this season both offensively and defensively, putting up only 2-6-8 in 36 games and sharing the dubious honour of worst +/- on the team with Evan Bouchard at -12. Largely due to injury he’s had a significant amount of time on the first line and second PP unit. The one good thing that JP seems to do is play physical – he’s using his 6’4″ 201 lb frame to lead the Oilers in hits with 74. Klim Kostin is his next closest competitor with 60, a long way off.

Word leaked out a couple of weeks ago that Ducks GM Pat Verbeek was scouting multiple Oilers games and word has it he’s interested in the Bison King.

No updates since then so whether he’s lost interest or is working on a deal, perhaps closer to the trade deadline, remains to be seen. The Ducks have the third most cap space of any NHL team right now – almost $24 million – so they’ve got ample cap space to trade for JP.

There’s no question he needs a change of scenery right now – having played up and down the lineup and publicly admitting he’s lost his confidence.

If I had to venture a guess I’d say that Holland may be waiting to see if Anaheim stays in last place in the division and won’t be a threat to the Oiler’s playoff aspirations. You have to be very careful when dealing with division rivals as you could easily get burned.

But I could see the attraction in Anaheim. They’re the lowest-scoring team in the division right now and JP is only signed for this season and that’s it. They could take him for a short-term flyer and see if a change of scenery helps him – which of course hasn’t happened yet as JP has only played for the Oilers as far as his NHL time goes. They can’t possibly do any worse so they have nothing to lose and a lot to gain if he can realize his upside in Anaheim. They’re also hurting right now on the injury front, with no less than six regulars on IR.

What could the Oilers be asking for in return? It’s hard to say because there are so many possibilities. JP won’t command a lot in trade, so it could be for, say, a third or fourth-round pick in next year’s draft. Or if Holland decides to go the warm body route, maybe he picks up a cheap blueliner from Anaheim like Nathan Beaulieu or Urho Vaakanainen, or perhaps he re-acquires Dmitry Kulikov in a deadline deal as he wouldn’t have a lot of salary left by that time and plays him in the bottom pairing – he can play either side.

Or maybe he goes for cheap forward help – Sam Carrick or Brett Leason maybe? Or maybe he tries for another Klim Kostin situation and tries to grab a prospect.

Whatever it is, unless the Bison King has a heck of a second half don’t expect much back in trade for him.

Mandatory Credit: Dan MacMedan-USA TODAY NETWORK /

Ryan Reynolds is seriously interested in buying the Ottawa Senators

Earlier in the month NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman confirmed that actor Ryan Reynolds is interested in buying the Ottawa Senators. Reynolds grew up in Ottawa hence his attachment to the city. He isn’t wealthy enough to buy them on his own so he’s just looking at getting a group together.

Reynolds already owns a Welsh football team so he has experience in sports ownership. IMO Reynolds would be a welcome change as an owner from legendary meddler and cheapskate Eugene Melnyk because his acting career and other business interests would force him into a hands-off approach, while at the same time he can give the Sens exposure and marketing, probably some great social media content too.

I hope he can pull it off. Good luck to him, if he can help properly fund the Sens player payroll and Tim Stutzle develops fully then I could see him and Dr. Drai having some pretty good battles on the ice when the Oilers and Sens play each other.

Boston Bruins cut ties with human garbage Mitchell Miller

A couple of months ago the Bruins embarrassed the league by signing prospect Mitchell Miller as a free agent – yup, the very same Mitchell Miller that the Arizona Coyotes drafted in 2020 in the first round only to cut ties with him after they heard about his past as a bully – which, among other things, included giving the “gift” of a lollipop that had been soaked in water from a urinal to a black disabled classmate.

Unsurprisingly, there was just as much of a public outcry as there was when the Coyotes drafted him. The Bruins have since rescinded the offer to Miller, but the question remains why did they think it would be acceptable to offer a contract to Miller in the first place? Talk about being tone-deaf, they obviously didn’t learn from the Coyotes mistake – but unlike the Coyotes Miller’s bullying past was fully public knowledge by this point. There was no excuse for the Bruins to do what they did, this was just a bad decision pure and simple. It’s clownish actions by NHL GMs like this that cause the NHL to look so amateurish at times. The last thing the NHL needs is to be like the NFL and employ wife beaters, drug users, and entitled misbehaving Karens as players.

Why didn’t they ban this kid for life from any participation with any NHL franchises as soon as the Coyotes cut ties with him in 2020? The league is partially at fault here too – if they had done that, the Bruins wouldn’t have been able to even offer him a contract.

How embarrassing for the Bruins franchise. At least the Oilers weren’t stupid enough to go after Miller.

Olivier Rodrigue

Goalie prospect Olivier Rodrigue might be starting to turn a corner in his pro career. He’s followed a similar path to Stuart Skinner as he largely struggled in Bakersfield and ECHL Wichita since he was drafted in the second round in 2018 but this season had a peak sv% of .920 which although it has dipped to .911 is still impressive for a player who couldn’t even crack the .900 mark his first two pro seasons. He’s currently tied for 15th in the AHL in sv% with that said .911 mark and is 29th in the AHL in sv% with 2.98.

Good thing too as since the start of the season Rodrigue has grabbed the starter’s job away from the struggling Calvin Pickard much like Skinner has that job now with the Oilers since Campbell has struggled.

If Rodrigue can build on this season over the next couple of years he’ll put himself in the conversation for an NHL spot and muddy the goaltending waters here in Edmonton even more.

His stats aren’t as impressive as Skinner’s were in his latter days in the minors, but if Rodrigue can follow the same development trajectory then he’s in good shape for the future.

Pro rookie free agent signing Ryan Fanti has also struggled in minimal time in Bakersfield and I can’t seem to find out if he’s playing for new ECHL affiliate Fort Wayne or in Bakersfield right now.

Reid Schaefer selected for Team Canada world junior team

Congratulations to last year’s first-round pick Reid Schaefer who was selected for Canada’s world juniors team. This will be a great feather in his cap. It’s hard to say what’s happening with him now – he’s 19 and in his fourth season of junior with the Seattle Thunderbirds. He could go back to junior as an overager or he could turn pro in Bakersfield after this season. Perhaps this tournament might determine his fate one way or the other for next season.

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