Home My Local Perfect player for Oilers? Insiders speculating on Edmonton trading for Flames ace. This in from Oilers insiders Craig MacTavish and Bob Stauffer, talking about what player or players the Edmonton Oilers might target at the 2024 trade deadline. Edmonton is on a 16 game winning streak, igniting Stanley Cup hopes for the Oil, and evidently inspiring folks to think big, as both MacTavish and Stauffer mentioned the possibility of Edmonton bringing in Calgary Flames centre Elias Lindholm. “Bottom six, if you could find one player, we’ve talked about Elias Lindholm in Calgary,” MacTavish said. “He’s got a lot of depth to his game, face-offs, penalty-killing, right-handed, great set-up guy. I mean Calgary has lost four in a row now so they’re going to be more intrigued to be a seller. Would it be hard to send him to Edmonton? But is it impossible? No. But somebody like that, of that ilk.” Stauffer said Calgary is now in a post where it appears they’re heading down an inevitable path to a rebuild. “They are like a guy who is three quarters bald that needs to commit and go totally bald, and it’s not an easy thing to do.” Lindholm would certainly make sense for the Oilers. “If I were to look at the perfect player for the Oilers, on paper, as a forward, Lindholm would be that guy.” “A home run,” MacTavish agreed, saying Calgary might think it’s going to be in the playoffs, but the team is not going to win the Cup. “You can’t let those guys walk out the door for nothing.” Stauffer said he would be prepared to give the Flames two first round picks, or a past first rounder and a coming number one, plus a player off the current roster, such as an Oilers dman. The Flames could then move out Noah Hanifin and also get another first round pick. “Then they can really start things (in a rebuild) with two moves.” Stauffer added, “It could be a total pipe dream that Edmonton would end up getting him. I’m just saying if there would be one guy… You got dig in and go all in to go get him because I think he’s going to be the best forward out there.” MacTavish noted that Colorado or Vancouver might also be in on Lindholm. My take 1. First of all, and let me stress this unless you missed this, this is just trade speculation. You will note Stauffer’s use of the word “pipedream.” At the same time, Stauffer and MacTavish are as insider and insider gets in Edmonton. If there was no air of reality to such a move they wouldn’t bring it up and I would not be writing a post on it. 2. The price for Elias Lindholm would indeed be high, perhaps too high for Oilers GM Ken Holland. If Holland is going to part with a first round pick and a decent NHL player or promising prospect, Holland has said he likes to get a player who will be around for awhile, such as Mattias Ekholm last year. Edmonton gave up a top prospect, 2022 first round pick Reid Schaeffer, and Edmonton’s first rounder in 2023 to get Ekholm, but Ekholm was no rental. He had three more seasons left on his deal. Lindholm’s contract is up this year and it’s unlikely Edmonton will find the cap space to sign the player to a long-term deal. 3. Lindholm is 29 and in the last year of a deal that pays him $4.85 million per season. Edmonton doesn’t have that kind of cap space even for a deadline day acquisition, which is another reason it would make sense for Edmonton to move out a roster player in order to bring in Lindholm. Stauffer talked about moving out a roster d-man to Calgary. Edmonton isn’t moving out Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm or Evan Bouchard for Lindholm. Vincent Desharnais is a bargain on the third-pairing and PK so he’s going nowhere. That leaves Brett Kulak and Cody Ceci. Ceci has another year at $3.25 million on his deal while Kulak has two years at $2.75 million. Both Ceci and Kulak are playing well this year, Ceci hanging in against tough competition and on the PK, Kulak providing excellent work in a more limited bottom-pairing role. Unless Edmonton can find another right shot d-man, it’s hard to image the team would move out Ceci just now. But Kulak? As strong as he’s been, Philip Broberg has reportedly been killing it for Bakersfield in the AHL. Broberg will be cheap in the next few years than Kulak. He’s also a similar player, fast, agile, solid defensively and able to move the puck. I doubt Edmonton would lose much moving out Kulak and bringing in Broberg. Of course, Kulak’s strong play makes him useful to Edmonton, but also to other teams. Calgary could use a player with his ability. It could be that Kulak is finally ready to become a stalwart Top 4 d-man for a few years. He’s blocked in Edmonton by Nurse and Ekholm, but he could reach his full potential in another NHL city. 4. I haven’t done the intensive video review it would take to give a credible opinion on Lindholm’s value. His scoring is down since his break-out 2021-22 season on a line with Matt Tkachuk. He’s got 32 points in 49 games this year. He’s won 55 per cent of his faceoffs the last two seasons. He’s earned Selke votes four times in the past five seasons, finishing second to Boston’s Patrice Bergeron in 2021-22. He strikes me as Calgary’s version of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Perfect player for Oilers? Insiders speculating on Edmonton trading for Flames ace. This in from Oilers insiders Craig MacTavish and Bob Stauffer, talking about what player or players the Edmonton Oilers might target at the 2024 trade deadline. Edmonton is on a 16 game winning streak, igniting Stanley Cup hopes for the Oil, and evidently inspiring folks to think big, as both MacTavish and Stauffer mentioned the possibility of Edmonton bringing in Calgary Flames centre Elias Lindholm. “Bottom six, if you could find one player, we’ve talked about Elias Lindholm in Calgary,” MacTavish said. “He’s got a lot of depth to his game, face-offs, penalty-killing, right-handed, great set-up guy. I mean Calgary has lost four in a row now so they’re going to be more intrigued to be a seller. Would it be hard to send him to Edmonton? But is it impossible? No. But somebody like that, of that ilk.” Stauffer said Calgary is now in a post where it appears they’re heading down an inevitable path to a rebuild. “They are like a guy who is three quarters bald that needs to commit and go totally bald, and it’s not an easy thing to do.” Lindholm would certainly make sense for the Oilers. “If I were to look at the perfect player for the Oilers, on paper, as a forward, Lindholm would be that guy.” “A home run,” MacTavish agreed, saying Calgary might think it’s going to be in the playoffs, but the team is not going to win the Cup. “You can’t let those guys walk out the door for nothing.” Stauffer said he would be prepared to give the Flames two first round picks, or a past first rounder and a coming number one, plus a player off the current roster, such as an Oilers dman. The Flames could then move out Noah Hanifin and also get another first round pick. “Then they can really start things (in a rebuild) with two moves.” Stauffer added, “It could be a total pipe dream that Edmonton would end up getting him. I’m just saying if there would be one guy… You got dig in and go all in to go get him because I think he’s going to be the best forward out there.” MacTavish noted that Colorado or Vancouver might also be in on Lindholm. My take 1. First of all, and let me stress this unless you missed this, this is just trade speculation. You will note Stauffer’s use of the word “pipedream.” At the same time, Stauffer and MacTavish are as insider and insider gets in Edmonton. If there was no air of reality to such a move they wouldn’t bring it up and I would not be writing a post on it. 2. The price for Elias Lindholm would indeed be high, perhaps too high for Oilers GM Ken Holland. If Holland is going to part with a first round pick and a decent NHL player or promising prospect, Holland has said he likes to get a player who will be around for awhile, such as Mattias Ekholm last year. Edmonton gave up a top prospect, 2022 first round pick Reid Schaeffer, and Edmonton’s first rounder in 2023 to get Ekholm, but Ekholm was no rental. He had three more seasons left on his deal. Lindholm’s contract is up this year and it’s unlikely Edmonton will find the cap space to sign the player to a long-term deal. 3. Lindholm is 29 and in the last year of a deal that pays him $4.85 million per season. Edmonton doesn’t have that kind of cap space even for a deadline day acquisition, which is another reason it would make sense for Edmonton to move out a roster player in order to bring in Lindholm. Stauffer talked about moving out a roster d-man to Calgary. Edmonton isn’t moving out Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm or Evan Bouchard for Lindholm. Vincent Desharnais is a bargain on the third-pairing and PK so he’s going nowhere. That leaves Brett Kulak and Cody Ceci. Ceci has another year at $3.25 million on his deal while Kulak has two years at $2.75 million. Both Ceci and Kulak are playing well this year, Ceci hanging in against tough competition and on the PK, Kulak providing excellent work in a more limited bottom-pairing role. Unless Edmonton can find another right shot d-man, it’s hard to image the team would move out Ceci just now. But Kulak? As strong as he’s been, Philip Broberg has reportedly been killing it for Bakersfield in the AHL. Broberg will be cheap in the next few years than Kulak. He’s also a similar player, fast, agile, solid defensively and able to move the puck. I doubt Edmonton would lose much moving out Kulak and bringing in Broberg. Of course, Kulak’s strong play makes him useful to Edmonton, but also to other teams. Calgary could use a player with his ability. It could be that Kulak is finally ready to become a stalwart Top 4 d-man for a few years. He’s blocked in Edmonton by Nurse and Ekholm, but he could reach his full potential in another NHL city. 4. I haven’t done the intensive video review it would take to give a credible opinion on Lindholm’s value. His scoring is down since his break-out 2021-22 season on a line with Matt Tkachuk. He’s got 32 points in 49 games this year. He’s won 55 per cent of his faceoffs the last two seasons. He’s earned Selke votes four times in the past five seasons, finishing second to Boston’s Patrice Bergeron in 2021-22. He strikes me as Calgary’s version of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Maxwell Abellard Jan 30, 2024 comments off

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Cult of Hockey

Published Jan 29, 2024 • Last updated 8 hours ago • 6 minute read

Elias Lindholm (28) of the Calgary Flames loses an edge while chasing the puck against Dylan Holloway (55) of the Edmonton Oilers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Jan. 20, 2024, in Calgary. Photo by Derek Leung /Getty Images

This in from Oilers insiders Craig MacTavish and Bob Stauffer, the two talking about what player or players the Edmonton Oilers might target at the 2024 trade deadline.

Edmonton is on a 16-game winning streak, igniting Stanley Cup hopes for the Oil, and evidently inspiring folks to think big, as both MacTavish and Stauffer mentioned the possibility of Edmonton bringing in Calgary Flames centre Elias Lindholm.

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“Bottom six, if you could find one player, we’ve talked about Elias Lindholm in Calgary,” MacTavish said. “He’s got a lot of depth to his game, face-offs, penalty-killing, right-handed, great set-up guy. I mean Calgary has lost four in a row now so they’re going to be more intrigued to be a seller. Would it be hard to send him to Edmonton? Yes. But is it impossible? No.”

Stauffer said Calgary is now at a point where it appears the team is heading down an inevitable path to a rebuild. “They are like a guy who is three quarters bald that needs to commit and go totally bald, and it’s not an easy thing to do.”

Lindholm would certainly make sense for the Oilers, Stauffer said. “If I were to look at the perfect player for the Oilers, on paper, as a forward, Lindholm would be that guy.”

“A home run,” MacTavish agreed, saying Calgary might think it’s going to be in the playoffs, but the team is not going to win the Cup. “You can’t let those guys walk out the door for nothing.”

Stauffer said he would be prepared to give the Flames two first round picks, or a past first rounder and a coming first rounder, plus a player off the current roster, such as an Oilers d-man. The Flames could then move out Noah Hanifin and also get another first round pick. “Then they can really start things (in a rebuild) with two moves.”

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Stauffer added, “It could be a total pipe dream that Edmonton would end up getting him. I’m just saying if there would be one guy… You got dig in and go all in to go get him because I think he’s going to be the best forward out there.”

MacTavish noted that Colorado or Vancouver might also be in on Lindholm.

Frank Seravalli also told Stauffer he’s “very sure” that Lindholm will be traded, with the ask being a first-round pick and multiple pieces, such as a ready made roster player.

Seravalli wondered if Lindholm would be overkill for the Oilers and they might be better off with a Sean Monahan or an Adam Henrique.

My take

1. First of all, and let me stress this unless you missed this, this is just trade speculation. You will note Stauffer’s use of the word “pipedream.”

At the same time, Stauffer and MacTavish are as insider and insider gets in Edmonton. If there was no air of reality to such a move they wouldn’t bring it up and I would not be writing a post on it.

These two aren’t the first to bring up Lindholm either. The Cult’s Kurt Leavins mentioned this same possibility in his most recent 9 Things column: “Calgary’s Elias Lindholm is tantalizing two-way option. Lindholm has decent size, particularly good offensive skill, is a career 53% on the dot but is also pricey at $4.85m (expiring UFA). Colton Sissons in Nashville is close to Lindholm’s size although not as dangerous with the puck. He is also a career 53% on faceoffs, good defensively and comes with a more affordable $2.8m price tag (with 2+ of term remaining). Then there is Nic Dowd in Washington, comparable in size to the other two, less punch on offence, a 52% faceoff man, excellent on the PK and at a relative bargain of $1.3m (1 year left). If you can afford Lindholm, he is an impact player. I am not 100% the others are automatically better than what the Oilers already have. We will see.”

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2. The price for Elias Lindholm would indeed be high, perhaps too high for Oilers GM Ken Holland. If Holland is going to part with major player assets at the trade deadline, he has made clear he likes to get a player who will be around for awhile, such as Mattias Ekholm last year.

Edmonton gave up a top prospect (2022 first round pick Reid Schaeffer) and Edmonton’s first rounder in 2023 to get Ekholm, but Ekholm was no rental. He had three more seasons left on his deal. Lindholm’s contract is up this year and it’s unlikely Edmonton will find the cap space to sign the player to a long-term deal.

3. Lindholm is 29 and in the last year of a deal that pays him $4.85 million per season. Edmonton doesn’t have enough cap space to bring him in for the rest of the season, which is another reason it would make sense for Edmonton to move out a roster player in order to bring in Lindholm. Stauffer talked about moving out a roster d-man to Calgary. Edmonton isn’t moving out Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm or Evan Bouchard for Lindholm. Vincent Desharnais is a bargain on the third-pairing and PK so he’s going nowhere. That leaves Brett Kulak and Cody Ceci.

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Ceci has another year at $3.25 million on his deal while Kulak has two years at $2.75 million.

Both Ceci and Kulak are playing well this year, Ceci hanging in against tough competition and on the PK, Kulak providing excellent work in a more limited bottom-pairing role. Unless Edmonton can find another right shot d-man, it’s hard to imagine the team would move out Ceci just now. But Kulak? As strong as Kulak has been, Philip Broberg has also reportedly been killing it for Bakersfield in the AHL. Broberg will be cheaper against the salary cap in the next few years than Kulak. He’s also a similar player: fast, agile, solid defensively and able to move the puck. I doubt Edmonton would lose much moving out Kulak and bringing in Broberg.

Kulak’s strong play makes him useful to Edmonton, but also to other teams. Calgary could use a player with his ability. It could be that Kulak is finally ready to become a stalwart Top 4 d-man for a few years. He’s blocked in Edmonton by Nurse and Ekholm, but he could reach his full potential in another NHL city.

4. I haven’t done the intensive video review it would take to give a credible opinion on Lindholm’s value. His scoring is down since his break-out 2021-22 season on a line with Matt Tkachuk. He’s got 32 points in 49 games this year. He’s won 55 per cent of his faceoffs the last two seasons. He’s earned Selke votes four times in the past five seasons, finishing second to Boston’s Patrice Bergeron in 2021-22. He strikes me as Calgary’s version of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

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5. Other teams that are in dire need of a second-line centre might well value Lindholm more than the Oilers. This would lead them to bid higher for the player. At the same time, Edmonton would also be highly motivated to bring in such a player, even if this type of acquisition is somewhat outside the norm for Holland.

As Leon Draisaitl said, it’s Cup or bust for Edmonton this year. Draisaitl’s contract is up after next season. The clock is ticking on both his and McDavid’s second contracts in Edmonton. The time to win is now, which might well push Edmonton to bid highest.

6. If Lindholm can centre the second line, that frees up the Oilers to play Draisaitl with McDavid in the playoffs. A top line of McDavid, Draisaitl and Hyman, with a second line of Lindholm, Nugent-Hopkins and either Warren Foegele, Evander Kane, Ryan McLeod, Corey Perry or Dylan Holloway, would give Edmonton the best forward depth in the NHL.

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People gather near the Alberta legislature on Feb. 5, 2022, in Edmonton to support the trucker convoy that is protesting vaccine mandates. Another convoy is expected to roll through Edmonton this weekend. Photo by Greg Southam /Postmedia, file