Edmonton Oilers

[lobo1969]

Do the Oiler's get Kulikov if Koekkoek was healthy? This pickup doesn't move the needle for me at all but probably no harm in it.

Edit:
I think I found my answer...

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/h...weekes-reports

"And the Cult of Hockey’s Bruce McCurdy: “Kulikov is Russian for Koekkoek.”

[tweetdrivr]

That is a trolling post. But what's an Oilers thread without at least one out of market Dobber member padding the message count with these kinds of posts.

Ditto...

[metaldude26]

Looks like no significant move for the Oilers. Happy that the powder was kept mostly dry. Go get Nuge signed for a reasonable number. Maybe that 1st rounder gets put in play for an upgrade with some term after the expansion draft.

[Axeman33]

Oilers have nothing in the queue as per Rishaug.

[chuckcouples]

Another failed trade deadline for the Edmonton Oilers. They acquired a LD which is by far their deepest position. It's a good thing they are paying Ken Holland $5,000,000 per year.

[Axeman33]

Another failed trade deadline for the Edmonton Oilers. They acquired a LD which is by far their deepest position. It's a good thing they are paying Ken Holland $5,000,000 per year.

Hard to say what was going to happen. We don't know what the asking prices were. Sometimes the trades you don't make are the best ones. Holland said he was looking for cap out/cap in type deals and clearly there wasn't many of those happening.

[Axeman33]

https://twitter.com/OilersNation/sta...104930816?s=19

"No" -Holland when asked if he approached other teams to alleviate cap space as a part of a bigger deal

[chuckcouples]

So Ken Holland is paid $5,000,000 per year yet he readily admits to not even trying to fix the cap problems that he has created. What's he getting paid for then?

[Axeman33]

Holland said in his presser "money was tight, assets was tight". Not many picks this year and clearly doesn't want to move many next year.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a Kulikov fan. The left handed D, short of Nurse aren't great so he wanted to upgrade there. In hind sight, I think I would have rather acquired someone like Del Zotto over Kulikov but I'm not a pro scout. Maybe the ask was too rich on him. We simply don't know and are making assumptions.

[Zorro]

Pretty sure getting a Savard or Oleksiak or Manson would have cost atleast a 1st rounder and maybe Holloway aswell!!

[Axeman33]

Pretty sure getting a Savard or Oleksiak or Manson would have cost atleast a 1st rounder and maybe Holloway aswell!!

Manson and Savard are both right handed shooting Dmen and the Oilers already have too many of them so they were probably never a consideration. I am sure Oleksiak would have been expensive, yes.

I do think Holland helped a situation that needed to be helped. The left handed shooting Dmen on this roster are playing over their heads (Nurse not included). It was definitely a need. Jones and Laggesson are not ready and were being sheltered as it was. At least Kulikov can play quality minutes in a shutdown role and is experienced enough to get them through this.

As an Oilers fan, I was hoping for more help (right handed shooting center who can win draws and kill penalties, top six LW, etc) but if the deals weren't there, then they weren't there. I'd rather make no trades than lose trades, or overpay to fill a need at this point. Imagine the outcry if Holland had sent a 3rd to Detroit for Glendening. Yikes!!

Teams had to pay through draft currency to create cap space and unfortunately, a lot of Edmonton's draft capital was spent last year trying to improve their team at last years deadline. Then Covid hit and and it went crap. The assets needed to create space this deadline was already gone. Holland pushed some chips last year and didnt have them this year to use again, or chose not to. Either way, he decided to hold what he had this year. Lets not kid ourselves, Edmonton is a team headed in the right direction but they aren't there yet. They are a competitive team but I dont think many consider them to be Cup contenders yet. Holland is still climbing out of the crap handed to him from the previous regime for the most part. I think the Kassian contract is not helping them and that one is on Holland. The Kosinen, Lucic (now Neal) and Russell contracts are not helping them either.

At this point, Holland will need to look internally for answers. Maybe it's time to bring up a couple of their kids that are absolutely killing the AHL right now. They know they are in the playoffs so why not try out some of the options from the AHL. Their top line in the AHL are all in the top 8 for the scoring leaders in the AHL. Maybe it's time to bring up one of Benson (4th in AHL scoring), Marody (2nd in AHL scoring) or McLeod (8th in AHL scoring) and try them out. Sometimes the answer to your question is right in front of your face and you dont know it.

[metaldude26]

Every McDavid/Draisaitl season is precious so you don't want to miss an opportunity, but:

1. Hall wasn't coming here.

2. Look at the prices for rentals. For all the chatter of it being a buyers market, it became a sellers market, like it always is at the deadline. They could have spent up for an impact guy but would have paid high prices for a rental or a player who essentially becomes a rental when someone else is lost in the expansion draft.

3. I don't believe that their 1st rounder will be directly used to draft a player who helps them win while McDavid and Draisaitl are still on their current contracts. They've got 4 more years with Draisaitl, and 5 more with McDavid. Look at the 2016 draft. Outside of the lottery almost no one is helping their team today.

4. Once we are clear of the expansion draft that pick or prospect it becomes will be used in the trade that lands them a player who helps them win for more than just one run in the McDavid/Draisaitl era. For instance, at that 2016 draft, the Sharks and Leafs used the #29 and #30 picks to trade for their starting goaltender (Martin Jones/Freddie Andersen), and the Blues and Lightning used the prospects they selected at #26 and #27 (Tage Thompson/Brett Howden) in trades for established pieces (Ryan O'Reilly/Ryan McDonagh). There's no saying it will go so swimmingly for the Oilers, but all examples of how that pick could be used at a better time to add a piece for more than one run.

I may be sipping too much Koolaid, but that's why I'm stoked they didn't overspend at this deadline. They're still reliant on the same shaky goaltending tandem that imploded in the Bubble. Not a group I'd indicate as one piece away to where they could be pushing in for rentals.

[chuckcouples]

I can't stand using the expansion draft as an excuse for not going all-in while you have the NHL's greatest player and the reigning MVP. Every team is going to lose one player so the best way to defend against that is to acquire more players and not the opposite. This trade deadline was the time to acquire players since teams were preparing for the expansion draft. The cost of players is going to go up after the expansion draft.

[Axeman33]

I can't stand using the expansion draft as an excuse for not going all-in while you have the NHL's greatest player and the reigning MVP. Every team is going to lose one player so the best way to defend against that is to acquire more players and not the opposite. This trade deadline was the time to acquire players since teams were preparing for the expansion draft. The cost of players is going to go up after the expansion draft.

Holland openly said the expansion draft would not play into his thinking at the trade deadline.

[Shift Disturber]

I feel the frustration of Oiler fans, but if we take Holland at his word that a deal wasn't there then this is not the year to force the issue. One deal would not change the fact that the Oilers are 50/50 against the Jets in round 1, and are unlikely to come out of a 7 game matchup with the Leafs. They already don't have a 2nd or 3rd round pick this year, so it means putting up the 1st for the sake of being done in the 2nd round with no pick until the 4th round. One deal doesn't shore up the bottom 6, add to the shallow D, and fix the shaky goaltending.