On the Edmonton Oilers …
Craig Custance of ESPN: Looking at priorities for the Edmonton Oilers.
1. Get a Connor McDavid contract extension done early – He can sign a contract extension after July 1st. There isn’t a great comparable for ‘franchise centers’ in McDavid and Jack Eichel. He’ll likely get an eight-year deal for at least $10 million
2. Re-sign defenseman Kris Russell – If he’s willing to return at the right price, the Oilers should re-sign him, and do it after the expansion draft so they don’t have to expose another defenseman.
3. Get the Vegas Golden Knights to draft Benoit Poiliot – He has two years left at $4 million and the Oilers don’t have room for a bad contract like his. The Oilers have extra 3rd and 5th round picks, but that may not be enough.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman was on 630 CHED talking about the Edmonton Oilers and Jordan Eberle. Friedman assumes they’ll look for a team that is interested in Eberle, and possible landing spots could be:
“I’ve talked about St. Louis,” relayed Friedman. “I think St. Louis is going to need to find an offensive player somewhere.”
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“Vegas – everybody is talking about Vegas for everyone… People must just think Vegas is going to fill its team with everybody else’s retreads, the way everyone talks now,” the Insider noted. “I don’t know. I find it hard to believe that there’s going to be no team out there that’s going to say, ‘You know what? We think Eberle can give us a bit of a shot.’
“I’ve got to tell you something. If I was Vancouver I might take a look at it. They’re really having trouble scoring goals. Just possible. Is there a fit there.
“But I think the Islanders make sense. I think St. Louis makes sense. Vancouver may not want to do that, but in a vacuum I wonder if the Kings would even consider it.”