Edmonton Oilers

OTTAWA - Paul MacLean’s few words spoke volumes about what he thought of his team’s performance in their 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 Wednesday night.

The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars will play a pre-season game at the home of the Oklahoma City Barons, the Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate, on Sept. 27. It will be the fourth NHL exhibition contest played in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City – The Oklahoma City Barons, in partnership with the Edmonton Oilers, have scheduled an NHL Preseason Game in Oklahoma City on Friday, September 27. The NHL Showcase presented by Mercy, features the Dallas Stars against the Barons pa...

It took absolutely forever for the Edmonton Oilers to embrace Mother Russia at the draft, and we're still wondering if it's a short term detente. Last season, the Oil plucked brilliant winger Nail Yakupov #1 overall, and incredibly, may have an opportunity to draft another elite talent from the same part of the world this summer.In historic terms, two Russians drafted by the Oilers in the first round? in successive seasons? Impossible. And yet, it could happen a month from now. Since 1979, Edmonton has draft 346 players. Of that group, the following were drafted out of Russia or have direct ties to Russian hockey: L Igor Vyazmikin, 252nd overall in 1987 D Vladimir Zubkov, 208nd overall in 1988 C Anatoli Semenov, 120th overall in 1989 C Sergei Yashin, 141st overall in 1989 G Evgeny Belosheiken, 232nd overall in 1991 L Alexander Kerch, 60th overall in 1993 F Oleg Maltsev, 241st overall in 1993 D Ilya Byakin, 267th overall in 1993 R Dimitrius Sulba, 162nd in 1994 D Sergei Yerkovich, 68th overall in 1997 G Alex Fomitchev, 231st overall in 1997 L Oleg Smirnov, 144th overall in 1998 R Maxim Spiridonov, 241st overall in 1998 D Alexei Semenov, 36th overall in 1999 L Alexei Mikhnov, 17th overall in 2000 D Alexander Ljubimov, 83rd overall in 2000 F Evgeny Muratov, 274th overall in 2000 D Ivan Koltsov, 106th overall in 2002 F Mikhail Youkov, 72nd overall in 2003 D Roman Tesliuk, 44th overall in 2004 L Slava Trukhno, 120th overall in 2005 F Alex Bumagin, 170th overall in 2006 R Nail Yakupov, 1st overall in 2012 L Daniil Zharkov, 91st overall in 2012 24 Russians out of 346 draft selections. About 7%. If we excluded the Russian kids (like Yakupov and Zharkov) who played their junior in Canada, the 24 Russians are now reduced to 16, or 4.6%. Minute.Maybe the Russian Yakupov can change all that.RUSSIA--WOMEN WITH HATS!It might get some getting used to--poor old Rod Phillips got all the Finnish names, maybe Jack Michaels will get all the Russian ones--but today's news that Valeri Nichushkin will forego his KHL contract and is willing to sign with his drafting team is a huge item. Jonathan Willis put it very well this morning: Willis: 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. I think today's news is huge. The Oilers were staring at a Monahan v. Zadorov decision--and that was best case scenario. If we assume the draft goes like this: Colorado: Seth Jones Florida: Nathan Mackinnon Tampa Bay: Jonathan Drouin Nashville: Sasha Barkov Carolina: Elias Lindholm Calgary: Sean Monahan The Oilers can either draft Nichushkin or trade down/the pick and get much better value. Nichushkin's offensive numbers aren't killer, but a look at his KHL player card reveals a time-on-ice total that suggests he was playing depth minutes:The numbers tell the story. The young man played 8 minutes a night during the regular season, scoring 4 goals in 18 games. Moved up the depth chart for the playoffs, and he played 12.5 minutes a night and scored 6 goals in 25 games. Buddy averaged 10 minutes a night in basically half a season and scored 10 goals in a very good Russian major league.Oh. And he's 18, 6.03, 201.WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?The reports on Nichushkin's freedom are manna from heaven for the Edmonton Oilers. Absolutely music! The Oilers must make sure it's true, and then act accordingly.Can Edmonton ever become hockey's Moscow west? One thing: we don't have to explain the weather!

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Canucks have fired the most successful head coach in club history. Alain Vigneault lost his job after the Canucks were swept by the San Jose Sharks — a year after the heavily favoured Canucks were dumped 4-1 in the opening round by the Los Angeles Kings.

The Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton Oilers) are set to face off against the Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings) in the AHL Western Conference Final. The winner of the Best-of-7 series, which begins Friday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, w...

This just in from Hockey Prospectus amateur draft expert Corey Pronman: “Valeri Nichushkin tells RSport.ru he has decided to transfer to North America.

From June 15th to the 30th NHL teams have a chance to rid themselves of their bad financial decisions; also know as the buyout period. This year the buyout period should be more active with the introduction of two potential compliance buyouts per team. Here's a quick refresher on how it works.The regular buyout works like this.If a player is younger than 26 at the time of the buyout, his team can buy him out for only 1/3 of the remaining value on his contract.If the player is 26 or older then he is bought at 2/3 of the remaining value.Teams still take a cap hit for the player, but the costs are spread out over twice the length of his remaining salary. For instance, if a player has two years remaining on a contract that paid him $4 million every year, ($8 million remaining) the team buys him out at a total cost of $5.36 million. Then they would split that into four payments.His cap hit for the next four seasons would be $1,333,333.The compliance buyout works the same, as far as paying the player, but the major advantage is that the player's salary doesn't count towards the team's overall cap hit. This is a huge opportunity for teams that are saddled with over-priced contracts, and need to free up some cap space.Teams are only allowed two compliance buyouts. The Rangers and Canadiens have already used one on Wade Redden and Scott Gomez respectively, so that leaves 58 possible candidates. Teams can use a compliance buyout this year or next June.If a team uses a compliance buyout, that player cannot re-sign with that same team for at least one season. I've never read anything that would prevent two teams from agreeing to buyout players, then sign the other team's player and trade them back to their original team. I doubt it happens, but I've never read anything that says it's prohibited.COMPLIANCE CANDIDATESBrad Richards, 33, New York Rangers: 7 years remaining with a $6.67 million cap hit. He is owed $36 million in actual money, so the Rangers would have to buy him out at $24 million, but he wouldn't count against the cap.If they used a regular buyout it would cost them $1.7 million in cap space for the next 14 seasons.Daniel Briere, 35, Philadelphia Flyers: 2 years remaining with a $6.5 million cap hit.He is only owed $5 million in actual dollars, so the Flyers could buy him out for $3.35 million. If he was a regular buyout he'd cost a lot more in cap space. I believe he's a lock to be a compliance buyout.Ville Leino, 29, Buffalo Sabres: 4 years remaining with a $4.5 million cap hit.He is owed $15 in actual dollars, and the Sabres could buy him out for $10 million. Leino only played 8 games this season, but he registered 6 points. He finished the season with lung issues, so he'd have to be deemed healthy before they buy him out. I'm curious to see if the Sabres opt to cut bait with a player who has 10 goals and 31 points in 79 games over two seasons in Buffalo.Mike Komisarek, 31, Toronto Maple Leafs: 1 year remaining with a $4.5 million cap hit.He's owed $3.5 million, so it would cost the Leafs $2.33 million to buy him out. That is pocket change for the Leafs, and even though the Leafs currently have $19 million in cap space next season, I see him as a legitimate compliance possibility.David Booth, 28, Vancouver Canucks: 2 years remaining with a $4.25 million cap hit.He's owed $9.25 million in actual dollars. It would cost the Canucks $6.19 million to buy him out. The Canucks are in dire need of cap space, so buying out Booth makes sense, as long as he is deemed healthy. He finished the season on the IR.Keith Ballard, 30, Vancouver Canucks: 2 years remaining with a $4.2 million cap hit.He's owed $8.4 million in actual dollars, and it would the Canucks $5.6 million to buy him out. Getting rid of Booth and Ballard would free up $8.45 million, but it would also illustrate two of Mike Gillis' worst signings. Ballard was a healthy scratch in the playoffs, and seemingly can't stay out of the Canucks doghouse.SOME OTHER OPTIONS...

Veteran defenceman Andy Sutton has retired from the NHL, ending a 15-year career beset by injuries.

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