Latest news with #DylanHolloway
Edmonton Journal
2 days ago
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
The Edmonton Oilers pick highly skilled center as first pick in 2025 NHL Draft
Article content The Edmonton Oilers first pick in the 2025 NHL Draft did not arrive until the third round, eighty-third overall, when the club selected Tommy Lafreniere. The Oilers acquired this pick as compensation from the St. Louis Blues as a part of the Dylan Holloway offer sheet a year ago. Article content Lefreniere is out of Kamloops of the WHL, and eighteen-year-old from St-Sauveur, Quebec. He stands 5'11 and weight in at 170 LB. Article content A highly skilled player, he went 24-32-56 in 68 GP over the last season. That was second among WHL rookies. He was ranked #76 by McKeen's Hockey, #89 by FCHockey, and #86 by FLOHockey. One comparison made by a scout was 'a smaller Nick Suzuki'. More to come… Now on Bluesky @ Also, find me on Threads @kleavins, Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at KurtLeavins@ This article is not AI generated. Recently, at The Cult… LEAVINS: Will this be the Summer of Stan? STAPLES: Trent Frederic signs Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025. Article content Latest National Stories
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
The Edmonton Oilers pick highly skilled center as first pick in 2025 NHL Draft
The Edmonton Oilers first pick in the 2025 NHL Draft did not arrive until the third round, eighty-third overall, when the club selected Tommy Lafreniere. The Oilers acquired this pick as compensation from the St. Louis Blues as a part of the Dylan Holloway offer sheet a year ago. Lefreniere is out of Kamloops of the WHL, and eighteen-year-old from St-Sauveur, Quebec. He stands 5'11 and weight in at 170 LB. A highly skilled player, he went 24-32-56 in 68 GP over the last season. That was second among WHL rookies. He was ranked #76 by McKeen's Hockey, #89 by FCHockey, and #86 by FLOHockey. One comparison made by a scout was 'a smaller Nick Suzuki'. More to come… Now on Bluesky @ Also, find me on Threads @kleavins, Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at KurtLeavins@ This article is not AI generated. STAPLES: Some Edmonton Oilers fans lose their minds over draft day rumours LEAVINS: Will this be the Summer of Stan? STAPLES: Trent Frederic signs Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025. Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Oilers come away empty-handed from Day One of cringe-worthy NHL draft
Remember when this used to be the biggest day of the hockey year in Edmonton? Draft day used to stop traffic in this city. It was when the eyes of the hockey world turned to Edmonton and all of the Oilers hard work over the past season finally paid off. There would be watch parties in bars and draft parties in homes as fans of the rebuilding Oilers waited to see which young superstar was going to lead their team out of the darkness and into the sun. First overall in 2010. First overall in 2011. First overall in 2012. First overall in 2015. Darnell Nurse seventh overall in 2013. Leon Draisaitl third overall in 2014. Jesse Puljujarvi fourth overall in 2016. Evan Bouchard 10th overall in 2018. The last weekend in June was Edmonton's time to shine. Now, fans in Edmonton barely know the draft is even happening, mostly because the Oilers had nothing to do with the first day. Edmonton had to sit out the first round Friday night and, barring a trade, won't pick in Saturday's second round, either. This is the other side of going all in to chase a Stanley Cup. They didn't have a first rounder in 2023 and don't have a first-round pick next year. Edmonton's first pick this year doesn't come until 83rd overall in the third round on Saturday — their compensation for deciding that Dylan Holloway wasn't worth $2.29 million and refusing to match the St. Louis Blues offer sheet. Ouch. Not being a part of the first day was good in one respect — the NHL once again turned a live event into an awkward marathon of cringe — but getting a new prospect would have been nice. Where did the high picks go? Edmonton didn't have a 2024 first-round pick (they spent it on the Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick deal), so they traded this year's first round pick for Philadelphia's 2024 first round pick and took Sam O'Reilly at 32nd overall. They traded this year's second round pick to Arizona back in 2022 in the Zack Kassian salary dump. The Oilers sent Kassian, their 2022 first round pick, 2024 third round pick and 2025 second round pick to the Coyotes for Arizona's 2022 first round pick. The Oilers took Reid Schaefer 32nd overall and would later send him to Nashville in the Mattias Ekholm exchange. Edmonton's other second-round pick, the one they received for not matching Philip Broberg's offer sheet, went to Boston in the Trent Frederic trade. Edmonton's first round pick next year went to San Jose for Jake Walman. The lack of high picks is going to catch up with them down the road, right around the time that Connor McDavid might be up for a new contract and deciding if Edmonton's Stanley Cup window is still open, but GM Stan Bowman is counting on college and European free agents to help fill the void. E-mail: rtychkowski@ Slim pickings: Edmonton Oilers selecting late, sparsely at this year's NHL Draft You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Edmonton Oilers NHL Draft guide: Picks, best fits and analysis
The Edmonton Oilers have four picks in the 2025 NHL Draft: Nos. 83, 117, 191, 223. Here's what to expect. The Oilers had just three draft picks — a third-rounder from St. Louis for not matching Dylan Holloway's offer sheet, plus their own selections in the sixth and seventh rounds — before trading Evander Kane to Vancouver on Wednesday. Advertisement For dumping Kane and the last year of his $5.125 million AAV contract, the Oilers received a fourth-round pick in return. That asset was originally shipped to the Canucks last August to acquire left winger Vasily Podkolzin. Still, the Oilers are scheduled to make just four picks and none until No. 83. That's the cost of being perennial Stanley Cup contenders and reaching the final two years in a row. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman Edmonton's farm system is very light, but it has some potential NHL forwards in Matt Savoie and Sam O'Reilly. The blue line is another story. Beau Akey has a chance to make it, but after him, there's not much else coming. In recent mock drafts, Corey Pronman has projected the following picks: 83. Hayden Paupanekis, C 191. Ondrej Stebetak, G 223. Patrik Volas, D
New York Times
20-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How the Blues' offseason could turn into a nightmare, if these 5 things happen
ST. LOUIS — On Thursday, The Athletic wrote about the perfect offseason for the St. Louis Blues. Now it's time for what a nightmare offseason would look like. Reading the reaction to the first article, there wasn't a lot of agreement among subscribers on signing Florida Panthers' free-agent forward Sam Bennett. In fact, knowing Bennett's projected cost ($10 million AAV?) and age (28), some of you strongly suggested that it would be a nightmare. And you're probably right, but it was just meant to be some summer speculation about the perfect offseason. Advertisement So what would a nightmarish couple of months look like for the Blues? Well, it could just be the reverse of what fans hope will go perfectly. For example, if you want the team to re-sign Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg a year before their contracts expire, then not re-signing them would be an unwanted outcome. I'll try and dig a little deeper than that. In the end, we can all agree — if you're the Blues, you don't want any of the items on this list to unfold this way. Thanks to their second-half run to the playoffs, the Blues have the No. 19 pick in the first round. If they choose to make that selection, they should come away with a good player from Corey Pronman's list of the top 125 prospects. But if forwards Cole Reschny (Victoria), Braeden Cootes (Seattle) and Jack Nesbitt (Windsor) are off the board, and defensemen Cameron Reid (Kitchener) and Logan Hensler (Wisconsin) are gone too, is there another player the amateur scouting staff likes in that spot, or would the team trade down? There's nothing wrong with the Blues moving back and acquiring, say, a third-round pick in return. They've had four first-round picks in the past two years, so there's a lot of top-end talent in the system. But with last year's first-round pick (Adam Jiricek) off to an injury-riddled start to his career, it could become a situation where the club looks back in a few years and sees that it missed out on some quality players. Forget about Bennett for a moment. What if the Blues not only can't make a big splash for a center, but can't find any centers in free agency who fit their need and price range? And what if GM Doug Armstrong also has trouble in the trade market? With the Dallas Stars signing pending UFA Matt Duchene on Thursday, and the Edmonton Oilers possibly having a deal for Trent Frederic, a few of the names are already coming off the board. There are others, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs' John Tavares and the Vancouver Canucks' Pius Suter, but what if they're re-signed by their current clubs, too? Advertisement As far as the trade market for a center, that looks bleak, as well. There weren't many to begin with on The Athletic's offseason trade board, so unless Armstrong is able to pluck away a player who isn't widely known to be available, then the Blues could have a tough time filling their hole. In May, I responded to a mailbag question about Blues goalie Joel Hofer getting an offer sheet this summer, and said, in my opinion, I don't think it's too much of a concern. That's not to say it can't happen, but I wouldn't be worried about the Blues matching, or even having to overpay him. Hofer, 24, will be a restricted free agent if he's still unsigned by the Blues on July 1. Granted that's 12 days away, and he doesn't have a contract. But the reason I don't think an offer sheet will come to fruition is because a team would have to give him a contract with a $4.6 million cap hit in order for the Blues to consider not matching. If it's between $2.3-$4.6 million, the compensation is just a second-round pick for the Blues, and they would match that. But as we saw with Armstrong signing Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to dual offer sheets last season, and prying them away from the Edmonton Oilers, anything can happen. And if it did somehow happen to the Blues with Hofer, it would send them searching for a new partner for Jordan Binnington and a netminder for the future. In the final months of the regular season and in the playoffs, Blues coach Jim Montgomery could've flipped a coin when deciding whether to put either Mathieu Joseph or Alexandre Texier. Neither was overly impressive, nor did it appear that Montgomery trusted them. Joseph has one season ($2.95 million AAV) remaining on the contract that the Blues inherited when they acquired him from the Ottawa Senators in a trade last summer. With the NHL buyout window opening 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final, The Athletic has put together a list of potential candidates that includes Joseph. It would save the Blues $2.2 million on their cap in 2025-26 and cost them $1.1 million against it in 2026-27. Advertisement Meanwhile, Texier has one more season ($2.1 million AAV) left on the deal that he signed when the Blues got him from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has some skill and doesn't make much money, so he doesn't seem like a buyout candidate. It's not that Armstrong can't keep one of them around, but keeping both is a different story, and Joseph seems the most likely to go. Give credit to the Blues' defensive personnel, who clamped down after Montgomery took over and made the team much improved overall five-on-five. But that said, there wouldn't be too much excitement if training camp begins and Justin Faulk and Nick Leddy are both back, and Armstrong has re-signed Ryan Suter. There are a lot of players on the blue line who can skate and move the puck, but they're just not hard to play against. You can have Colton Parayko, Cam Fowler and Broberg, but if so, you have to accent them with players who are a bit more intimidating. Tyler Tucker is certainly that, and he helps, but whether it's boxing out five-on-five or on the penalty kill, there has to be more of a presence back there. Armstrong has long known that the Blues need to move on from one or more of those defensemen, but hasn't been able to because of the full no-trade clauses that he included in their contracts. But this summer, some of those full NTCs turn into modified NTCs, which will give the team some flexibility to move them. It'll be interesting to see if the GM follows through. (Top photo of Joel Hofer: Jeff Curry / Imagn Images)
