Edmonton Oilers Offseason Talk: Perry, Kessel, Frederic, Mantha, and More NHL Rumors!
This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and !
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- “Zach Hyman is a lock to play the right side next season and TSN’s Tom Gazolla recently mentioned on “The Oil Stream” podcast that the club expects to re-sign veteran Derek Ryan, who’s best suited at right wing at this point of his career.”
- “Veteran forward Corey Perry has rubbed fans the wrong way with his agitating style of play over the course of his 18 years in the NHL.”
- “The 38-year-old is in the final stages of his career, but over the last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he’s played in 163 out of 164 games, meaning he’s healthy and he scored 12 goals this past regular season.”
- “He earned $2 million last season and because he recorded 15 points less than in 2021-22, I’d imagine he could be signed for a marginally lower cap hit in the $1.2-$1.5 million range per season.
- “Veteran forward Phil Kessel was a player the Oilers were rumoured to be interested in last offseason.”
- “He’s a right-handed shot who’s scored over 400 goals in the NHL, and perhaps there’s interest to play with Connor McDavid before he calls it a career.”
- “Ideally, if the Oilers could sign him for just over $1 million on a one-year contract, he could provide depth scoring on the third line at a low cost. He’s also only one season removed from recording a 52-point campaign with the Arizona Coyotes, with 33 of the 52 points coming at even strength that year.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t foresee Corey Perry coming to Edmonton to finish out his career. I think the Oilers could use that sort of piss and vinegar on the team, not to mention those championship rings he owns, but something just tells me that Toronto, LA, or possibly Colorado might snag him.
As for Kessel, Edmonton was hot on his trail last year but couldn’t make the money work and I really don’t know if they’re going to be able to do it this year either. If given the choice, I’d prefer him over Connor Brown. I like his ability to score more, I like his Stanley Cup experience, his personality is awesome, and I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who needs a lot to be a happy human. Lastly, getting scratched two games into a Cup run would have me feeling bitter and I might be willing to sign with a divisional rival on the cheap to help them win a championship to get my revenge.
- “Ross Colton in Tampa Bay… He only needs to be qualified at $1.25m, but he scored 16-16-32 last year and 22-17-39 the year before. He would get over $3.5m in arbitration.”
- “Maxime Comtois in Anaheim. He needs to be qualified at $2.55m… He’s struggled to stay healthy, but after scoring 16-17-33 in the shortened 2021 season the Ducks were hoping for more than 15 total goals the past two seasons.”
- “Trent Frederic in Boston. He had a solid season scoring 17 goals and 31 points. He’s a physical, robust forward with some skill. He needs to be qualified at $1.15m.”
- “Tyson Jost in Buffalo: He needs to be qualified at $2.25m. The 10th overall pick in 2016 scored seven goals and 22 points in 59 games last season with the Sabres after being acquired from Minnesota.”
- “Christian Fischer in Arizona. They didn’t qualify him last year, when he needed to be qualified at $1.125m, and he’d only scored 5-5-10. They re-signed him on July 11th, to the exact same AAV, so he needs to be qualified at that total again, but he produced 13-14-27 in 2023, so he’d receive a much higher settlement from an arbitrator.”
- “Denis Malgin in Colorado. He needs to be qualified at $825K, and he had a solid campaign scoring 13-8-21 in 65 games split between Toronto and Colorado. In his 42 games in Colorado, he scored 11-6-17, which is very good.”
- “Klim Kostin in Edmonton. Kostin needs to be qualified at $825K. He scored 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games. He also drew quite a few penalties and added a physical component the Oilers needed. He has a great shot. He could get $1.5-$1.8m from an arbitrator, and Edmonton needs to decide if that is a concern.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Of all the players on that list, Frederic, Kostin, and Malgin stand out as players that’d help the Oilers the most. Lots of skill, goal-scoring, and grit there and they’d really help address the lack of depth in Edmonton’s bottom-six. Not only that, but each of them could move up into the top-six in a pinch.
That said, Edmonton has to start developing their own Ross Coltons (Vinnie Desharnais might be considered one) so that they can flip them for future trade or development assets at some point. Right now we’re talking about trading previously drafted 1st rounders like Xavier Bourgault and Philip Broberg.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’m very interested in seeing how Craig Conroy is going to navigate this retool in Calgary. Will he go for futures or the good ol’ hockey trade? Is Mackenzie Weegar still on the block? Might he bring in some toughness like Miles Wood to replace the outgoing Milan Lucic?
Does Anthony Mantha tickle your fancy, Oilers fans? Big guy who can score and doesn’t shy away from the rough stuff… How would that shot release look on McDavid’s wing?
Speaking of wingers, Bob Stauffer was talking about Konecny yesterday on his radio show saying that he’s not sure if the best time for Philly to trade the winger is at the draft but they might be forced into it. Philip Broberg’s name did come up in his chatter too plus the guys at Oilersnation were saying that the Flyers’ head of amateur scouting, who’s from Sweden, might have their eye on Edmonton’s young Swede.
So could Holland bring in Konecny for Broberg, Yamamoto, and a first rounder? Would Foegele be a better inclusion? If I’m Daniel Briere, I’m probably asking for Holloway instead of Yamamoto, but at the same time, I’m tearing my club down to the studs too… So I might not mind betting on potential with Killer.
As it’s been stated time and time again, any money that comes in has to go out at some point too. So it’ll be really intriguing as to how Ken Holland addresses the offseason. Lots of player movement across the league is expected and with the cap expected to go up next summer, I think teams are going to get real creative.
