Edmonton Oilers

The x-factor at the top end of the draft this year was, without question, the status of Russian prospect Valeri Nichushkin. Playing in the KHL and under contract for time to come, there were significant red flags for any NHL team interested in picking a guy who most rate with the top four (Seth Jones, Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and Aleksander Barkov) in terms of talent.Nichushkin made it easier for everybody today by telling a Russian newspaper he’s leaving the KHL for the NHL next year, and further that his team, Moscow Dynamo, was willing to release him from his contract. In so doing, he also made the draft much more interesting for the Edmonton Oilers. Nichushkin’s CommentsVia the delightful Google Translate, here are Nichushkin’s comments about leaving:I had already decided that leave in the NHL - said Nichushkin. - In the" Dynamo "calmly reacted to this: I was told that I could leave if I want. No legal problems there. Contract with" Dinamo "will terminate, and I'm going free agent. was lucky that I went to the club to make concessions. We agreed that they would let me go, but if the ocean something goes wrong, I'm right back to them. It’s always a little dicey using Google Translate to find out what Europeans are saying in the European press, but the message here seems clear enough: Nichushkin wants to play in the NHL next year, Dynamo is okay with that, and he’ll only be back in the KHL next year if he doesn’t make a major league roster.Later in the piece, Nichushkin specifically mentions Tampa Bay and Carolina as teams with possible interest in him. Tampa Bay isn’t a big surprise – Al Murray, their director of scouting, raves about Nichushkin – but Carolina hasn’t drafted a Russian in ages, and certainly not so early. Talent-wise, it’s understandable why the Hurricanes would be interested, though.The SituationThe top tier of the draft at this point is basically the five names above, but Nichushkin had major slide potential given his contract status in the KHL. After those five, Elias Lindholm is generally seen as the consensus number six, Sean Monahan the number seven, and then a group of defencemen (Darnell Nurse, Nikita Zadorov, Rasmus Ristolainen) and winger Hunter Shinkaruk.The Oilers are rumoured to be after centre Sean Monahan, but prior to today perhaps the most likely scenario was the top four being drafted in order, followed by Lindholm, followed by Monahan, leaving the Oilers with a choice between Nichushkin and a bunch of blueliners.Now, not only is it more likely that the Oilers still have the option of picking Monahan when pick number seven rolls around, but if Nichushkin somehow does slide he should be more attractive both to them (long-term, a 6’4” winger with high-end talent certainly could be a fit on the Oilers’ depth chart) and to other teams if they decide to trade the pick down as general manager Craig MacTavish has suggested.All in all, this is a very good day for Edmonton.StreakcredDon't forget that it's never too late to play StreakCred - the new playoff pool game from the Nation Network. You can win a trip for 2 to Oktoberfest in Germany among the awesome prizes up for grabs. Now only $10 and a portion of the proceeds go to Edmonton Charities. Sign up here.Recently around the Nation NetworkOne of the things that's always fun to watch for is good young players falling out of favour in other NHL cities. That's exactly what Thomas Drance is doing and in Three Young Forwards the Canucks Should Target he identifies a trio of talented young players that might be ripe for trade:Trading for former first round picks is demonstrably a risky game, but it's a risky game the Canucks should be willing to try their hand at this summer. Here's a list of three young forwards, with top-ten pick pedigree who, for whatever reason, appear to have fallen out of favour within their organizations. These players won't come free, or even cheap, but could help the Canucks jump-start a youth movement going forwar

TORONTO (May 22, 2013) – Andy Sutton officially announced his retirement from the National Hockey League (NHL) today, following a 15-year career. As a result of the physical game he played as a defenceman, he endured 12 surgeries for various in...

STOCKTON, Calif. – Yannick Tifu’s two unanswered goals helped send the Stockton Thunder to a 3-1 loss to the Reading Royals in Game 3 of the Kelly Cup Finals in front of 4,379 fans at Stockton Arena on Tuesday. The Thunder, who leads the playo...

The Saskatoon Blades and the Portland Winterhawks were the only two teams that had played each other heading into the MasterCard Memorial Cup. But considering their lone WHL meeting happened way back on Oct. 10, it may as well be ancient history.

The Halifax Mooseheads don’t enjoy losing. The Mooseheads crushed the London Knights 9-2 in their final round-robin game of the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup Tuesday, redeeming a 5-2 loss to the host Saskatoon Blades on Sunday.

When I started with the Edmonton Journal back in 1989, columnist Cam Cole would fill days that didn't provide him with enough meat to churn out a full rant or rave with a bit he called "Items that might grow up to be columns, Volume XVI" etc.This, with the Edmonton Oilers scattered all over the place during a seventh straight post-season out of the playoff mix, the draft and free agency still many weeks away and new GM Craig MacTavish settling into the job, is that. I'm stealing it from Cole, with credit, of course.In no particular order of importance, some of the thoughts that have crossed my addled mind in recent days, grabbing my attention at least as much as the Stanley Cup playoffs and trying to fix my busted Biscayne (don't ask) have.THE WAY I SEE IT. . . We already know that Jonathan Huberdeau, Brendan Gallagher and Brandon Saad are finalists for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year and that Nail Yakupov of the Oilers is not.Outside of, perhaps, Yakupov's bonus structure, that oversight doesn’t mean a damn thing – if I had the pick of any of the four as an armchair GM, I'd take Yakupov in a heartbeat (insert "and trade him for David Clarkson" smart guy remark here).Don't get me wrong, the Calder Trophy is a terrific bauble to have in the trophy case at home and a nice personal accolade, but it's not always (some would go as far as to say seldom) an indication of who'll have the best career, and there's lots of examples of that in just the last decade or so.Would you rather have 2011 Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner or runner-up Logan Couture? Steve Mason won it in 2009 and can't stop a beach ball today, while the runner-up was Bobby Ryan. In 2003, Barrett Jackman was rookie of the year ahead of Henrik Zetterberg. In 2001, Evgeni Nabokov got the nod over Brad Richards. You get the idea.Yakupov, of course, won’t even be a runner-up because PHWA voters somehow left him off the list of three finalists, but it says here he'll be the best – certainly the most dynamic – player three years from now.WHILE I'M AT IT. . . I did an item several days ago extolling the (obvious) virtues of pending UFAs Bryan Bickell, Nathan Horton and Clarkson as forwards MacTavish should have an eye on and I said I'd take a swing at defensemen who might not only raise the compete level but the talent level on Edmonton's back end.I don't see a lot in the UFA pool in terms of blueliners, so it looks to me like MacTavish's best bets will come via trade. That of course, raises countless possibilities, ranging from tweaks to landing proven top-two talent, but I'll just offer four names. Not-shoot-for-the-moon stuff necessarily, but do-able deals.If the Oilers are willing to spend a tall stack on their top two (and I think they should consider it), I'd be looking at Keith Yandle, 27, of Phoenix and Alex Edler, also 27, of Vancouver. Neither name, of course, is a revelation.Yandle, who has three years remaining on a contract with a $5.25 million cap hit, can play the minutes required (22:14 this season) and brings some edge (54 PIM) and the ability to generate offence (10-20-30 this season).Edler, who inked a six-year deal with a $5-million cap hit, might be pried out of Vancouver if they're looking to tweak a line-up that again fell short this season. Edler produced 8-14-22 and had 37 PIM this season while logging an average of 23:50 a night.On the cheap end of the salary scale, at least as of right now, I really like Travis Hamonic of the New York Islanders (the former Wheat King who almost ended Taylor Hall with a wicked check in the CHL post-season). Hamonic, 22, an RFA, played 22:48 a night for the Islanders. He bangs.I also like Brenden Dillon, 22, of the Dallas Stars, but who doesn't? The big blueliner, six-foot-three and 228 pounds, averaged 21:22 a night for Dallas this season. He's got one year left at $900,000.AND . . .Kudos to Jason Gregor and everybody at TEAM 1260 for raising almost $10,000 with their king and queen of karaoke tilt at

Mere hours after the Oklahoma City Barons left practice at the Blazers Ice Center in Moore, Okla., a mile-wide tornado ravaged the community less than a half-mile south, leaving at least 24 dead, hundreds homeless and countless others in need of t...

With all the fun and jokes and griping that comes with the territory here at the Nation Network we are going to be serious for a moment and talk business to the serious people that read this site.The Nation Network is hiring.BACKGROUNDUndoubtedly no one reading this site has ever thought of working for it. Let us tell you a little bit about us with some  backstory potential applicant:Founded in 2007, the Nation Network is a privately held Canadian Media Company that creates premium professional hockey coverage online, in podcast and on the Radio. We are proud to have partnerships with some of Canada’s leading Media companies including Post Media and Vice.com.NOW HIRING - SALESWe are looking for a FT experienced and motivated Sales Person that can work in the Alberta Market selling online, podcast and radio advertising. Candidates are highly motivated and experienced sales people who have a track record of proven success in their current career.We are advertising this position in several places thought we would throw it out to the readers of OilersNation.com as well. No one knows how this thing works better than the folks who read the site after all.A NOTE ON SERIOUSNESSIf you are thinking that this is some sort of fun job that will be like working at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory you are wrong. Dead wrong. The Nation Network is secretly a place of unparalleled hustle that is masked behind a veil of humour and griping and interneting.Think Wanye is some funny guy in real life that thinks only about Jordan Eberle? Please. Think Jason Gregor is a hands off media personality that doesn't want answers "right now?" He does. Think that Kent Wilson sits down in Calgary out of sight and out of mind? No.Serious candidates need only apply and only those shortlisted for interviews will be contacted. Interested candidates can send cover letters and resumes to jobs@oilersnation.com

This is part of a series looking for reasons for the Oilers Corsi% collapse in 2012-13 by examining things on a shift-by-shift basis. Part 1 can be found here. Part 2 can be found here. Part 3 can be found here. Part 4 can be found here. Part 5 can be found here. Part 6 [...]

There has been lots of speculation lately on the health of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The 2011 first overall pick had surgery on April 23rd to repair a torn labrum, and recently I've noticed some suggesting he will be out for a significant portion of next season.Rather than speculate, I decided to put in a call to his agent Rick Valette to get an update on RNH's shoulder. The main question we all want to know is what is the timeline on when he's projected to be ready to play next year, and Valette shed some light on that."If you look at where he is at today, I think there is a very good chance he'll be ready for opening night," said Valette. "If he's not ready to go, then we won't rush it, but he's already ahead of schedule and barring a setback it's looking good that he'll be ready to start the season."Valette also wanted to clarify why he, along with the Oilers medical staff and Nugent-Hopkins waited to have surgery."Surgery is always the last option, that is why he and the Oilers tried to rehab it first. In the end it just wasn't getting better, but it made sense to exhaust every other option first," said Valette.Valette sounded very optimistic that Nugent-Hopkins will be stronger and healthier when he returns for the 2013/2014 season. When Taylor Hall had his shoulder surgery last season he returned at the start of November, and proceeded to have a great campaign in the AHL and then with the Oilers. The Oilers and Nugent-Hopkins are hoping that surgery will help his overall game as much as it helped Hall.I've had a few sources tell me that Hall's shoulder had more "issues" than Nugent-Hopkins, so they are confident his rehab will be shorter. It is impossible to predict how a player will respond, but Nugent-Hopkin's rehab is off to a good start.WILL RNH IMPACT MACT?Some have wondered if RNH's health will impact how general manager Craig MacTavish looks at his roster? I don't see it having much of a factor. Whether RNH is ready for opening night or two weeks later, I believe MacTavish has a plan in place that won't be altered by a few weeks of recovery.If Nugent-Hopkins was going to be sidelined until January or February, then it might have altered his plan, but MacTavish is looking big picture. I'd like to believe the Oilers are past the point of looking for quick fixes and band-aid solutions. MacTavish wants to build a roster than is deep enough and talented enough to overcome an injury or two.QUICK HITS A huge thank you to everyone who came to the King/Queen Karaoke event this past Friday at On The Rocks. It went off better than I expected and there were some killer competitors. I will have some videos up in the near future. We raised just over $9,500 for the MS Society. Thank you to On the Rocks and Oodle Noodle for their generous donations of gift cards. Much appreciated.   Congratulations to Mayor Mandel on a great career. I loved how he always pushed to make Edmonton better and how he tried to convince Edmontonians to not settle for 2nd rate. I hope our next mayor doesn't "settle" and looks to advance our city. I'm hearing that Councillors Karen Leivovici and Don Iveson will join Kerry Diotte in the race for mayor. There is also a chance Councillor Amarjeet Sohi might throw his hat in the ring. It will be an interesting race.   The more I watch the NHL playoffs, the more obvious it becomes that the Oilers desperately need to improve their blueline. They need another puck mover and players who are physically stronger.   I'd take Andrew Shaw on my team any day. The Blackhawks' rookie is fearless. He plays hard every shift, has decent hands, agitates and delivers big hits for a small guy. The Oilers need to find some players who are as competitive as Shaw, regardless of size.   If Rick Nash is your go-to player, your team will never win. He doesn't dominate enough one-on-one to win a series by himself, and he isn't a great passer who can make others better. Good player, but he isn't a s