HOLLAND HAS SEVERAL IRONS IN THE FIRE
Oilers general manager trying to find more depth on both offence, defence for Cup run
Against Pittsburgh Sunday night, coach Kris Knoblauch tested the icy waters by shaking up his defence pairs, playing Vinny Desharnais with Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci with Brett Kulak, giving the Edmonton Oilers a more equal minutes distribution in his three pairs, much like Vegas against the Oilers in the playoffs last spring.
It worked very nicely, thank you, though the Penguins, slow, discombobulated and tired at the end of a road trip, were infield practice.
But he gave the new pairs another go against a much tougher opponent in Boston on Tuesday.
We mention this defence juggling because the cap-squeezed Oilers, who just put Sam Gagner ($775,000) on waivers to get him to Bakersfield on Tuesday with a likely forward or two added at the trade deadline, will also be getting a defenceman at the deadline Friday.
That'll either be a top-six rental or more likely veteran insurance with Philip Broberg (leg, out for a month now) then presumably in a No. 8 role on the playoff depth chart.
They struck out on their aggressive pursuit of Chris Tanev, with, as has been reported, one team offering a firstround draft pick and a player that the Flames batted aside. It might have been the Oilers floating the good soldier Ceci, who has one more year at $3.25 million.
Knoblauch shrugged off the defence moves against Pittsburgh, saying he had done it before.
“Just wanted to change things up a little bit,” said Knoblauch. “Can't exactly give you one reason why.”
All good, but where do they go from here in terms of trades?
Oilers general manager Ken Holland has a quarter of the league's managers on speed dial, talking to them about defence, wingers and centres. He's got several irons in the fire.
He would like a RW for Leon Draisaitl first and, if they can't get that, then a third-line centre. Defence and a fourth-line centre are also objectives.
Tyler Toffoli would fit best as a rental winger with his contract of $4 million with some retention, but Jersey says, for now, he's off-limits because that would be waving a white flag on the playoffs, especially with a new coach in Travis Green.
So let's get back to the defence.
A year ago, Holland stealthily went after Ekholm and got him while Arizona had the younger Jakob Chychrun in play, with a manageable $4.6 million on his contract through 2024-25. Holland scouted Chychrun in his draft year and wasn't a huge fan; he wanted Ekholm's sturdiness and got it.
Habs veteran David Savard, who has a year left at $3.5 million, might be better than Ceci if the Oilers aren't looking for defence insurance, but the Leafs might get him, even if it costs them a first-round draft pick, after losing out on Tanev.
Right-shots Sean Walker and Alex Carrier are also UFAs and available, but they are smaller than Holland likes for a playoff run, and he doesn't think either is a clear upgrade on Ceci.
More likely he's looking at lefty rental Joel Edmundson in Washington if they eat half of his $1.75 million remaining and somebody else takes 25 per cent. Or Nick Seeler in Philly, who makes $800,000 and leads the NHL (184) in blocked shots.
Edmundson's back issues seem behind him because he's playing 16½ minutes a night and he has a Stanley Cup ring in his trophy room from the 2019 St. Louis Blues.
Though the Flyers are down two D now (Jamie Drysdale and Rasmus Ristolainen) and still in a playoff hunt, they're getting several calls on Seeler, a hardscrabble D on an expiring contract and has resurrected a dormant career at 30.
They want to keep him and are trying to resign him, but he might be looking for three times his existing wage.
He is a favourite of Flyers coach John Tortorella, praising his toughness, always a good thing in a playoff grind.
“Biggest warrior I've ever played with,” said Flyers teammate Scott Laughton.
That would be the same Laughton the Oilers are seriously pursuing, too.
Maybe there's a package deal there for Holland- Seeler and Laughton, who could fill a thirdline centre spot in Edmonton.