Storm of Edmonton Oilers insider info on McLeod, Perry, Janmark, Desharnais, Campbell, Fleury and others

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This in from Bob Stauffer, the ultimate Edmonton Oilers insider, new information on Vincent Desharnais, Jack Campbell, Hayden Fleury and others.

Speaking to fellow CHED hosts Reid Wilkins and Brenden Escott, Stauffer left some bread crumbs as to where Oilers hockey boss Jeff Jackson is possibly, maybe, very likely heading in the next few days.

Goalie Jack Campbell is likely to be bought out, Stauffer said, with the Oilers eyeing a veteran signing in Phoenix Copley, who played for the Los Angeles Kings last season. “I think you got to look at the Campbell buy-out, I think you re-sign (back-up goalie Calvin) Pickard, and I’ll give you a name of a guy who they might want to sign as an organizational goalie. I’s Pheonix Copley. They tried to sign him before. I wonder if that’s the type of guy that makes sense.  And for Jack, I wish Jack the best of luck. He’s a helluva guy Jack Campbell but it just didn’t work out. And so I think you have to go down that path.”

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Mattias Janmark makes sense at $1.2 or $1.3 million, Stauffer said.

Wilkins said he hoped that Adam Henrique would re-sign in the $2 million range and Connor Brown at near the league minimum.

Stauffers said Foegele, having scored 20 goals and five points in the Stanley Cup Final, might well command $4 million per season on another team.

When it comes to right shot d-men Cody Ceci or Vincent Desharnais, Stauffer said the big Desharnais could be signed in another city for five years at $2 million per year. “Maybe that number has dropped because he didn’t play in the playoffs, doesn’t have great puck-moving skills, but he does suppress shots, he’s a great penalty killer, he is tough and he is a tree.”

Maybe the Oilers will move out Ceci, sign Desharnais and bring in another 6/7 d-man, Wilkin said.

Stauffer suggested he would sign Hadyn Fleury, a tall left shot d-man who can play the left or the right side, one year at $900,000.

Stauffer said Paul Coffey might well work with a d-man like Fleury, a former high draft pick, seventh overall in 2014. “A guy like Paul Coffey, if he’s back, he’d love to shove it up some coaches you-know-whats and make Fleury a (player). Fleury wants a chance to compete.”

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As for Corey Perry, Stauffer said he thought Perry would be back on a bonus structure deal.

When they were digging into players with term who might be moved out, Wilkin suggested either Ryan McLeod or Darnell Nurse, who would have to waive a no-move clause.

“I might argue with you that McLeod might be the lay-up. It’s $2.1 million,” Stauffer said. “There’s got to be a lot of teams in the league that might want him. Maybe if you want to change a little bit of the dynamic in our Top 9. He’s a Top 9 player. And he did score three goals in the final four games of the Stanley Cup Final. I was surprised at how much ice time he got in Game 7. But he can skate and that’s how they had to counter a bit of what Florida was doing was by pace. At some point, he’s got to get more in the guts of the game.”

My take

1. If you’re looking for credible insider info, things stop and start with Oilers Now and Bob Stauffer, who works for the team and works like the hardest-working fourth line grinder in the NHL to dig out information on all things Oilers. He’s got the best sources on the team and around the NHL. If Bob says something, it doesn’t always happen, but often it does.

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2. Nothing Stauffer hinted at alarmed me, at least not like it alarmed me about six weeks ago when he hinted Philip Broberg might be traded this offseason. That almost made me sick. But glad to see that Oilers management has come around on Broberg, who for the last year or two has simply needed a chance and the right coaching. I’d love to see Broberg get a year working with Paul Coffey.

3. I’m not sure why the Oilers would go with Copley as the third goalie in the organization over AHL ace Olivier Rodrigue, given Copley’s unimpressive play in recent years, but I love the idea of Coffey working with a big fast d-man like Fleury.

4. If Janmark and Brown come in on decent contracts, that will be huge for the Oilers. Edmonton has always needed a functional third line and they would be 66.7 per cent of such a line.

5. I love Desharnais’ attitude, toughness, PK work and positional defence. But I don’t love the sound of him on a five-year deal, or of paying a bottom-pairing d-man $2.0 million per. That sounds like a reach to me. Maybe that much on a shorter term, but five-years? Hmm. Desharnais has yet to prove he moves the puck well enough to hold a spot on a Stanley Cup-winning team. That said, his toughness would have been of use against Florida if he could hold his own moving the puck. That’s a tough one.

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6. The Jack Campbell buy-out seems inevitable for cap reasons, even as Campbell played strong hockey in the AHL this year, becoming a calm, steady and effective force in the net for Bakersfield. It would be no surprise to see him rebound with another NHL team.

At the Cult of Hockey

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