After the conclusion of the Edmonton Oilers’ season on Monday at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, the organization held the standard media availability and wind down, custom of teams at the conclusion of their season, where new details emerge about the current state of the organization. Today was no different, with news coming out that none of Edmonton’s injured players need surgery, and that Ken Holland will address his goaltending, but didn’t seem too enthusiastic about forward Jesse Puljujarvi’s expiring contract and arbitration eligibility. Intriguing as those storylines are, there is plenty more as it comes to the Oilers’ offseason to-do list, including the head coach position, forward Evander Kane, and free agent forward Andrei Kuzmenko.
Oilers GM Ken Holland said in his availability that he would love to have head coach Jay Woodcroft back for next season, though he still has to talk to the coach and about their respective plans (link). It’s no surprise that Edmonton would want their coach to return after the impressive stretch he lead the team on after replacing former head coach Dave Tippett in mid-February. At the time of the change, Edmonton was five points out of a playoff spot, but with Woodcroft, the team went 26-9-3, finishing second in the Pacific Division, and of course leading them to the Western Conference Finals. With the availability of a myriad of head coach options, including elite names like Barry Trotz and Bruce Cassidy, it could be tempting for Edmonton to try to upgrade at the position, but after Woodcroft’s success with a group that seemed destined to free-fall down the NHL standings, it would be hard not to try to replicate that success over a full season.
Holland also put forth the same sentiment towards Kane as he had for Woodcroft, saying he would love to have him back next season, but of course he would still need to work that out. Interestingly, the GM added that while Kane played for a $2MM cap hit this year, he doesn’t expect Kane to play for that same number again next year. Given Kane’s excellent performance for the Oilers after signing with them in January, his sensational playoff run, and his apparent chemistry with Edmonton’s stars, it’s clear why Holland would want to re-sign him, but also clear why he does not believe it will be for the same $2MM cap hit. In 43 regular season games, Kane had 22 goals and 17 assists, and followed it up with 13 goals and four assists in 15 playoff games.
Moving from one talented winger the Oilers would like to have to another, The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal tweets that free agent forward Andrei Kuzmenko arrived in Los Angeles today and will begin meeting with teams on his short list. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector adds that Edmonton is among the teams on Kuzmenko’s shortlist. Recall last week, when Thomas Drance reported on Sportsnet that Kuzmenko was going to begin the process of second interviews with teams. Interestingly, considering the circumstances, Kuzmenko shares an agent with Evander Kane in that of Dan Millstein. The similarity won’t necessarily give Edmonton any edge in signing either player since the decision is the player’s, but should give Holland and Millstein a sense of comfort and familiarity if they work on both. As Spector points out, the pitch to Kuzmenko would also be very similar to the one they gave Kane when he had his pick of teams in January: come play with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and build value for the next contract.
Kuzmenko, who has spent his entire professional career in the KHL, doesn’t appear to have the allure that other point-producers on this year’s free agent market seem to have, which could be due in some part to several factors, including but not limited to the political situation in Russia, the fact that the KHL plays at times generally inaccessible to most North American fans, and the up and down results from other KHL free agents who have made the jump to the NHL. These factors aside, the 26-year-old winger is not wanting for production. After a slow start to his career, Kuzmenko has slowly but steadily improved his play year after year, culminating in a dominant 2021-22 for St. Petersburg, where he scored 20 goals to go with 33 assists in 45 games, adding another seven goals and seven assists in 16 playoff games. If Edmonton can secure his services, he should factor as another strong top-six option the organization can give McDavid and Draisaitl to utilize, and should give Kuzmenko an easy opportunity to show off his skillset as well.
the up and down results from other KHL free agents who have made the jump to the NHL.
Sure, some KHL regulars have trouble fitting in to the NHL scene of unpenalized cross-checking from behind, slashing, slew-footing and interference every time they get within ten feet of the net.
Why is it that the most likely coaches to fill open positions are those that have been recently fired? Aren’t there any successful coaches in the junior, college, European, ECHL or AHL ranks that could make the jump to the NHL?
And when a team actually does hire one of those successful coaches, the fans and pundits start whining about Guys Who’ve Never Coached At The NHL Level Before.
It never fails, really. The only organizations that are whine-resistant (not even whine-PROOF) are the reigning Stanley Cup champions, and that’s only until October.
Get a goalie, get a goalie, get a goalie.
If you get a goalie and still lose, such is life.
If you don’t get a goalie, when you lose, you’ll have failed.
Get a goalie.
Extend Mike Smith you say?
@amk1920 – No, my esteemed colleague, @forwhomjoshbelltolled, said, “get a goalie”, and if Ken Holland believes that is his best option, Ken should polish up the old résumé. Mike Smith is unusually fit (for his age and position), but can also be a semi-broken down version of a 1A/1B netminder, who occasionally dabbles in being a riverboat gambler when it comes to puck handling. One thing that many people forget or are unaware of is that Ken “tried” to get better goalies in, but many UFAs don’t appear to have EDM on their list of preferred destinations. He can only do so much with the relatively limited cap space available.
To be clear, my point is not that Mike Smith is bad. It’s that RELYING on a 40 year old goalie is insane.
@forwhomjoshbelltolled – And I agree.
Have you tried: replacing Mike Smith?
I’ll bite: with whom?
The Oilers have only 15 guys under contract, and only $8MM of cap space to sign more. No kidding they’re being noncommittal when it comes to signing Puljujarvi, Koskinen or really anyone else: right now, they’re in a position of needing to execute a profound salary dump to do much of anything beyond fill out the 23 man roster with league-minimum contracts. They HAVE to keep Smith; it’s him or Skinner or nobody. They have to walk away from Kane and Yamamoto both; signing either one to a contract he’s worth is impossible.
The only way to claw aside any breathing room is to find someone, anyone, who’ll take a painful bribe to take Keith off of their hands, and they likely need to move Foegele and Kassian for 7th rounders or suchlike. And sure, they’ll put Klefbom on LTIR, but they’ve got to be cap compliant before they do that.
Basically, they’re screwed. Gosh, wasn’t it just the greatest idea to hand Norris Trophy money to Darnell Nurse for max term?
Last year, I said they should pay whatever it took to pry Gibson out of Anaheim. At the time, the Ducks looked poised for a long rebuild. Their better than expected season probably takes that option off the table.
This summer, there really don’t appear to be any viable available options.
I will still never understand this move…they had a potential franchise goalie in their hands and gave him to the Wild…
“# 20 and # 22 – The Minnesota Wild received the Edmonton Oilers 2021 1st round pick (No. 20) for a 2021 1st round pick (No. 22) and a 2021 3rd round pick (No. 90).”
The Keith deal is just for one more year so it should be moveable. But it will cost them at least a first to move it.
Eh, last season, it was still a matter of “one bad season and you can discount the COVID year.” We weren’t yet convinced that Gibson was no longer an elite goalie.
Now we know better. Gibson might have gotten them into the playoffs this year (he wasn’t any worse than Koskinen, anyway), but he sure wouldn’t have gotten them past Colorado, if that far.
Oilers just can’t figure out Russians don’t work out there.
Does anyone have any solid Info on Klefbom returning? Retiring? Why Is Edmonton even entertaining Kuzmenko? Offense Isn’t an Issue, It’s goaltending,Goaltending, Goaltending.
Klefbom’s said that he doesn’t expect to play again, but like so many other players these years, he’s going to keep on collecting his paycheck next season.