Picking up a puck-mover could cost Oilers Klefbom
If Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is looking to change the dynamic of his team and defenceman Oscar Klefbom is one of their few bargaining chips, what does that mean?
Does Chiarelli look at another left-shot defenceman like Torey Krug from his old Boston team, who has made his bones as a puckmoving power-play point guy, or maybe Buffalo Sabres right-shot defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen, who would help balance the rightleft defence situation?
None of these players are being shopped, but their general managers are certainly listening to lots of calls with the NHL draft in Dallas looming, and Chiarelli knows Krug better than anybody.
The Bruins are looking to get bigger on defence and Krug’s modified no-trade clause kicks in before the 2018-19 season, so maybe there is an impetus to trade him.
The Oilers might not be on his preferred destination list, though.
Krug, 27, had 59 points and 14 goals last year after 51 points the year before, although the Bruins probably feel Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk can pick up his offence.
The negative with Krug, who broke his ankle slamming into the boards in the playoffs, is he shoots left and the Oilers still have Darnell Nurse, Kris Russell and Andrej Sekera in that boat. He’s not bad defensively, but he is 5-foot-9 and 186 pounds. He’s not a top-pairing guy, but he’s in the top-four category. He also is an unrestricted free agent in two years and makes $1.1 million more than Klefbom’s efficient $4.1 million, so they would be adding salary. But Krug has 110 points his last two seasons and could be a first power play guy.
As for Ristolainen, sources in Buffalo say the Sabres would listen to offers for anyone except Jack Eichel and 2017 first-round centre Casey Mittelstadt.
The Sabres aren’t in love with Ristolainen, unlike a couple of years ago, but the problem with trading him is he’s their best rightshot defenceman by a mile (Zach Bogosian’s play has really dropped off ) and they don’t have a lot coming.
That said, the left-shot Rasmus Dahlin, who’ll go first in the draft to Buffalo, says he can play either left or right and certainly has done so on the power play in Sweden.
Ristolainen, 23, a first-round pick in 2013, has four years left at $5.4 million before he’s an unrestricted free agent. Klefbom, 24, a first-round pick in 2011, has five years remaining at $4.1 million before he’s a UFA.
Ristolainen has played 346 games, Klefbom 267, including playoffs. Ristolainen is better offensively, but not as good without the puck. He’s a minus-102 in his NHL career, partly because he’s been on a bad team year after year and he’s played too many minutes against top opposing lines at too young of an age.
Klefbom, who had a terrific 2016-17 season but struggled this past season because of shoulder issues that sent him to the body shop for repairs at season’s end, is minus-36 in his Oilers career.
But Ristolainen makes $1.3 million a year more than Klefbom and the Oilers could be looking to save money on the back end, not increase it, especially if they want to sign Nurse to a long-term deal after what could be a two-year bridge deal this summer when his contract is up.
The other possible move for the Oilers is Zack Kassian, who makes too much ($1.95 million) to be a fourth-line winger. In a lot of ways, Kassian should be a clone of Capitals forward Tom Wilson. Both wingers hit and disturb and have people screaming at them. Both have fair hands and Kassian is a better skater, but Wilson’s game has evolved to where he’s playing with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov on Washington’s top line. He had 14 goals and 35 points in the regular season and five goals and 14 points in the playoffs.
Kassian found himself with Daniel and Henrik Sedin in Vancouver for a bit, but with the Oilers he has 17 goals in 189 games over three seasons.
Maybe he gets to where Wilson is, maybe he doesn’t.
ON THE BENCH: The Oilers definitely need a top-six winger in free agency and it’s either Michael Grabner or Thomas Vanek. Vanek, 34, would be more of a one-year placeholder on the top two lines for Kailer Yamamoto. Grabner would probably need a three-year contract because he’s only 30. Vanek has better hands, while Grabner is one of the NHL’s top five skaters.