Short Form Edmonton Oilers News Updates
There has been plenty of news and updates around the NHL, including lots of this news regarding the Oilers or ex-Oilers.
With Kris Knoblauch not inclined to play seven d-man and the Oilers rolling, Philip Broberg needed some at-bats, so the team sent him down to Bakersfield to get more ice time and stay sharp. In his place, the team has called up Ben Gleason, who has put up 2-7-9 in 14 games in Bakersfield with a +5 and has earned a call-up. I don’t expect Gleason to play very much, maybe even not get into a game at all. Gleason has only played four NHL games, and that was in the 2018-19 season for Dallas.
Ex-Oiler Ethan Bear is healthy again
Ethan Bear played last season in Vancouver and ended up needing shoulder surgery due to injury. He is now back from that shoulder surgery that has kept him out of NHL lineups (his contract with the Canucks was up after last season) and is ready to sign on with a new team barring passing a medical exam.
Predictably some were saying the Oilers should bring Bear back. However, even though the right defence is pretty entrenched right now with Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard, and Vincent Desharnais with multiple guys up for the extra spot, they just don’t have the cap space to sign him. So not only are the Oilers lacking cap space, but there’s nowhere to play him that wouldn’t see him sit for long periods of the season and underutilize him. That’s not fair to the player.
In any event, it looks like Bear’s about to sign with the Capitals.
Corey Perry to the Oilers?
Supposedly Ken Holland is kicking tires on Corey Perry coming to the Oilers. I can’t see it unless we have at least two major injuries in the bottom six, which means two guys are gone for the season and we need replacements for them – not to mention the Oilers could pay him with LTIR cap space.
An amusing rumour that Perry was sleeping with Connor Bedard’s mom circulated around the internet for a while, and he looked to the team to do something about it. However, this was later quashed by Bedard himself. It appears the whole “drunken brawl with an employee” speculation might not have been just a cover story after all.
Assistant coach Paul Coffey
It looks like Paul Coffey, who came into the position after Jay Woodcroft (and Dave Manson) were fired earlier this season with next to no coaching experience, has done a better job in the position than many, including me, anticipated. You can’t blame us when the guy has a very small track record as a coach.
You can get some more details here. At the age of 62 and with an already cushy job as an advisor to the management group, I get the impression this is nothing more than an interim job for him. Word is that it’s hard to find an assistant coach mid-season, so Coffey is just minding the store for now and in the offseason Knoblauch will hire his own guy.
But if Coffey is this popular as an assistant coach, it also wouldn’t surprise me if the interim tag was taken off and he takes over permanently as an assistant coach (until Knoblauch gets fired, of course).
Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard secure their first-ever NHL award nominations
Congratulations to Zach Hyman and Bouchard, these nominations are well deserved. Considering the other names on the list I’d be very surprised if either guy won, but still it’s a great honor just to be nominated.
Hyman currently leads the Oilers in goal scoring with 17 goals (!) and 29 points (fourth on the team) in 26 games. He’s doing this with a shooting percentage that is currently 4.8 percent above his career average, so don’t expect this to become a new normal for him. By the way, he’s currently on pace for 54 goals, which would easily be a career-high for him as his current best is 36 from last season.
Bouchard is absolutely killing it as well, as he’s currently third amongst blueliners for points in the league this season with 8-24-32 in 27 games. Only Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar are ahead of him.
It would be funny especially to see Hyman win, as the heads of all Maple Laffs fans would instantly and collectively explode.
In less surprising news, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are both in the running for the Art Ross trophy too.
Salary cap set to rise by $4.2 million next season
This will help the Oilers a little bit, but not a whole lot as most of that will be taken up by Connor Brown’s bonus of $3.225 million. Not to mention that new contracts will be needed for Brown, Desharnais, Warren Foegele, Mattias Janmark, James Hamblin, Adam Erne, Sam Gagner, Calvin Pickard, and Dylan Holloway.
None of those players will demand a lot of money by themselves, but collectively it’s death by 1000 cuts. If I had to guess, they won’t bring Erne back next season and will probably try to shave some cap off of Foegele’s next contract by giving him more term. Brown may or may not return next season but one thing’s for sure – he’ll still be cheap scoring help if they do bring him back.
I could see the team trying to bring everyone else on the list back.
It’s also worth noting the Oilers will need to keep an eye on the future, as McDavid needs a new contract two seasons after this one and Draisaitl the season after next. You know neither of those will be cheap, but they have to be done because the Oilers can’t lose either of those guys.
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Ex-Oiler Jesse Puljujarvi joins the Pens on a free-agent tryout
Remember this guy? Well, the Penguins have a lot of injuries in their forward group right now, so they needed some help. Jesse Puljujarvi as of Dec. 10 got signed to a free agent tryout by the Pens to see if he is up to the job. I didn’t even know this was a thing, but, in this situation, the Pens are obligated to pay his expenses for 10 days, after which time they must make a decision on him.
Puljujarvi was traded to Carolina at last season’s deadline, where he got a hip injury he’s been rehabbing for the entire offseason and the first half of this season. We’ll see what the Pens do in the near future when this is up.
Ex-Oiler prospect Michael Kesselring making a name for himself in Arizona
It appears Michael Kesselring might be on the verge of making the NHL. Kesselring was traded to the Coyotes at last season’s trade deadline in exchange for renting Nick Bjugstad, who went on to re-sign with Arizona this past offseason.
Anyway, Kesselring who hadn’t put up any offence for the Coyotes’s farm team this season but did put up seven points in 10 games last season, was called up as an injury fill-in and has apparently been killing it. He’s 1-5-6 in 13 games with a +2, which means it will be tough for the Coyotes to send him back down once those guys come back.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens once the injured guys are ready to come back.
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90s Ex-Oiler Drew Bannister named interim Blues head coach
With the Blues struggling in sixth place in the Central division, they’ve fired Craig Berube and promoted their farm team coach to interim head coach. Drew Bannister had previously played 35 games for the Oilers between 1996 and 1998.
Bannister started his coaching career immediately after his playing career wrapped up in the 2011-12 season, which ended for him in the German pro leagues. He’s paid his dues in the OHL and the AHL since then until he got his NHL shot now. Good on him – good luck, except of course when they play the Oilers.