Kukla's Korner Hockey
Category: Edmonton-Oilers
Trying To Move Ales Hemsky
by Paul on 05/20/13 at 01:52 PM ET
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from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,
Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish simply isn’t going to pay $5 million a season for a second-line player who has world-class ability.
Although Hemsky goes into traffic, gets hurt and plays hurt — both admirable traits — the Oilers can find better ways to spend his salary. They need bigger forwards, even if they don’t have Hemsky’s skill set, which, apart from his first two seasons, has made him pretty close to a point-a-game NHLer.
The problem is that Hemsky has missed 118 games the past four seasons — a red flag for other teams who like healthier players on their roster.
Can the Oilers get anything substantial for Hemsky these days?
“I don’t think there’s a market for him … I shouldn’t say there’s no market,” said former NHL general Craig Button, who now works for TSN. “But the salary cap is coming down to $64.3 million. He makes $5 million for one more year. Would the Oilers pick up half of that to trade him, 50-50 (with another team)? That would still free up $2.5 million in cap space for the Oilers.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: ales+hemsky
Some Non-Playoff Teams Related Tweets
by Paul on 04/29/13 at 01:40 PM ET
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Filed in: NHL Teams, Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Edmonton Up 6-0 On Minnesota After 2 Periods
by Paul on 04/26/13 at 09:42 PM ET
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I think the Wild TV crew is getting tired of calling Edmonton goals.
The first by Corey Potter 27 seconds in to the game...
Fast foward to the middle of the 2nd period, Nail Yakupov makes it 5-0 Edmonton...
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
TiqIQ Ticket Preview: Canucks @ Oilers
by Paul on 04/26/13 at 07:00 PM ET
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By Eli Epstein, TiqIQ
To close out the 2012-2013 NHL season in Western Canada, rival teams the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers will collide at Rexall Place in Edmonton Saturday night to put one last exclamation point on the shortened campaign.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
If You Are Rooting For The Oilers Tonight Against The Wild
by Paul on 04/26/13 at 12:46 PM ET
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from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,
The chances of the Oilers actually digging in and beating the Wild in Minny are slender, to say the least, where they’ve only lost 19 of the last 20 to the Wild, outscoring the Oilers 69-32. Yeah, 19 of 20. Where Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom is 17-0 against them at the Xcel Energy Center, with a 1.34 average, a .948 save percentage and only twice has he surrendered more than two goals. Backstrom always looks like a cross between Glenn Hall and Marty Brodeur against the Oilers in Minny.
One sliver of hope for the Oilers? The Wild, currently eighth (53 points, tied with Columbus but with more seasonal victories), have scored six goals in its last six games at home. And the Oilers have the eighth best road record in the West, where they’ve won more games (9) than at home.
more on the Oilers...
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Do You Consider This A Dive By Yakupov?
by Paul on 04/25/13 at 09:54 AM ET
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Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: nail+yakupov
Tired Of Losing In Edmonton
by Paul on 04/23/13 at 11:49 AM ET
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from David Staples of The Cult Of Hockey,
There’s been a certain charm around the Edmonton Oilers tanking these past three seasons, the thought that better times were on the way, the notion that the Oilers were being smart with the tanking, finding the best and quickest route to bringing in premier talent to this NHL wasteland.
Today, much of that charm is lost. Tanking feels like another word for losing big, losing bad, losing forever.
This franchise doesn’t have that Chicago in 2009 or Pittsburgh in 2006 feel to it, does it? It’s got more of that Kim Campbell in 1993 feel to it.
Right now with the Oilers ranked 25th overall in the NHL and dropping fast, my head still says, “Might as well tank again.” My heart says it can’t take it any more.
Just win Oilers. Enough with the losing.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Video- Hit Of the Night Goes To Francois Beauchemin
by Paul on 04/23/13 at 07:55 AM ET
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Francois Beauchemin of the Anaheim Ducks rocks Teemu Hartikainen of the Edmonton Oilers.
Good, clean, hard hit, a joy to watch.
Video via Sportsnet, hit at the :15 second mark.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: francois+beauchemin
How To Imrove The Oilers
by Paul on 04/22/13 at 09:26 PM ET
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Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Oilers answered some email today...
Q: (1) Trade the Oilers’ first draft pick at the entry draft in Newark, N.J., on June 30, trade both rookie Nail Yakupov and veteran winger Ales Hemsky, if required, to get the first overall pick Seth Jones; (2) try to sign David Clarkson of the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins winger Nathan Horton, even though he’s had injury problems; (3) try to sign Bruins goalie Anton Khudobin to give Edmonton’s No. 1 Devan Dubnyk some competition.
A: If the Florida Panthers, the worst team in the NHL right now, win the draft lottery and get first pick on June 30, the Oilers would be dealing with everybody else. I’m sure the Panthers would listen to an Oilers pitch if Yakupov was included since he plays like Pavel Bure and the Panthers used to have Bure on their roster. But the Panthers would not listen if the Oilers’ first-round pick was past No. 6 because they would have to get a defenceman...
Every team is looking at Clarkson, a younger version of New York Rangers winger Ryane Clowe. But he’s born and bred a Devil, and he’s playing for Pete DeBoer, his former junior coach. I don’t see him leaving New Jersey. Horton is a possibility since the Bruins likely aren’t going to re-sign him unless he takes a healthy pay cut from his current $4 million a season. But Horton hasn’t been the same player since his bad concussion in the 2011 playoffs. Buyer beware.
The Bruins seem to feel that Swede Niklas Svedberg, the American Hockey League’s top goalie playing for the Providence Bruins, can make the jump to back up Tuukka Rask in Boston next season. This would mean Khudobin, a Russian, would be on the market....
more Edmontno related questions...
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Will Edmonton Trade One Of Their Young Guns?
by Paul on 04/16/13 at 07:33 PM ET
Comments (2)
from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,
New Edmonton Oilers GM Craig MacTavish said Monday he’s up for a bold move (trade), which to me would mean dealing of one of their kids: Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz or Nail Yakupov but not, say, Sam Gagner, even if Gagner is almost a point-a-game player this season.
But I would say Hall, RNH and Schultz are untouchable.
The other two wingers Eberle and Yakupov are close to it unless one of the NHL’s top two or three defencemen Shea Weber is in the picture. Eberle isn’t having a good statistical season (28 points, 12 goals) after 34 goals and 76 points last year, but he’s a one-shot scorer, and there aren’t many of those in the NHL. He starts a six-year, $36 million contract next season.
added 8:04pm,
from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
About Kukla's Korner Hockey
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.
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