Weekly Rumours – Oscar Klefbom’s contract, Jesse Puljujarvi, and more!

Frank Seravalli’s latest Trade Targets board dropped over at Daily Faceoff and there is a new Oilers asset on the board.

Frank already has defenseman Tyson Barrie at #8 on his list and the duo of Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi at #20 on the list. Now, he’s added the contract of Oscar Klefbom to the list as well.

Now, you might be saying “why would Ken Holland pay an asset to move Klefbom when he can just sit on LTIR?”

Well, the answer is that life is much easier if you’re not operating in LTIR. It makes it possible to accrue cap space heading up the trade deadline and would make in-season moves much easier to accomplish.

At the same time, we are getting a few reports saying that Mike Smith is going to stay on LTIR next season so honestly, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to move Klefbom’s deal if that is the case. I think we’ll see the Oilers hold onto it.

Jesse Puljujarvi is a name that is getting a lot of attention right now. I wrote about him yesterday on the site and it really does sound like his time in Edmonton is over, it’s just a matter of where the Oilers trade him.

One insider said that the Ottawa Senators have been in touch with the Oilers about him and that makes sense. Connor Brown would make sense for a handful of reasons. Here’s a little hypothetical deal: Zack Kassian and Jesse Puljujarvi for Connor Brown… who do you think would say no to that?

Here are some other stories from around the league that are worth keeping an eye on.

NEW NAMES ON THE TRADE TARGETS LIST

Two really intriguing names that have popped up on Frank’s list are Travis Konecny and Brock Boeser. Both are just 25 years old and could be getting fresh starts.

These are both wingers with big upside and guys who I could see scoring 30 goals a year. 

For Boeser, he’s due a pretty big qualifying offer and the Canucks want to shake up their room. The Flyers on the other hand apparently have pretty much everyone on the table as they look to bounce back from a wildly disappointing season. Konecny has three more years left on a deal that carries a $5.5 million cap hit. There will be a lot of interest in both of these players but neither would really be great fits for the Oilers. The acquisition cost is likely too rich for Ken Holland’s blood.

MIKHEYEV’S RIGHTS

It sounds like the Toronto Maple Leafs are making forward Ilya Mikheyev’s rights available to the rest of the league. He’s coming off a season where he scored 21 goals in 53 games and I think he could be a good fit for the Oilers.

He did most of his scoring in a third-line role and the Oilers could use some depth scoring. If you could find someone to take Warren Foegele off your hands, you may have enough money to go sign Mikheyev.

The Oilers and Leafs talked about trading Zach Hyman’s rights a year ago but Kyle Dubas’ ask was apparently too high. I doubt we see the Oilers trade for his rights but I could see them being interested in free agency.

CHRIS PETER’S MOCK DRAFT

Chris Peters had his big mock draft go up at Daily Faceoff and he had Shane Wright going first overall to Montreal, even though Peters himself thinks Logan Cooley is the best prospect in the draft. There is some legit intrigue when it comes to who the Habs will take with the first pick.

There is also a lot of talk that the Habs are calling around and looking for ways to make a big splash and get a second pick in the top ten.

Peters had the Oilers taking mobile 6’6 defenseman Maveric Lamoureux 29th overall in his mock. Personally, I think there’s a chance we see Ken Holland do what he did last year and move down in the draft.

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