Across this nation on July 1st the masses celebrated Canada’s 149th birthday but in the NHL world it was a day to start signing the big names as all 30 teams went to work on getting ready for the 2016-17 season.
The Oilers were anything but quiet as they brought in Milan Lucic, Jonas Gustavsson and brought back Mark Fraser and of course a few days before the opening of free agency dealt Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson in a deal that shook Edmonton to it’s core.
The first day of free agency in the NHL wasn’t a bad one at all for the Oilers but there are a few other players that I would have loved to have seen picked up by Edmonton on July 1st.
Al Montoya
He’s crafted himself a nice seven year career in the show and while he’s mainly been a backup for Arizona, Long Island, Winnipeg and Florida, Montoya has proven to be incredibly serviceable in every stop in the NHL. Montreal felt the same way as they picked him up on a one year deal to hopefully bring stability to their crease in case Carey Price goes down to injury again.
Last year with the Panthers, Montoya had a record of 12-7-3 with a GAA of 2.12 in 24 games last season.
With Roberto Luongo hurt for a few games, Montoya holding down the fort was integral in Florida’s return to the postseason for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
His career record is 55-40-18 and he actually has 24 fewer career losses in regulation and a lower career GAA than Gustavsson. Don’t get me wrong, the Monster was a great pick up by Oilers brass but The Big Cuban as he’s know would have also been a steady #2 netminder in Orange and Blue.
Eric Staal
The former face of the Carolina Hurricanes signed a three year $10.5 million dollar deal with the Minnesota Wild on July 1st after splitting the 15-16 season with Carolina and the New York Rangers.
Staal may be 31 but he helps fill Minnesota’s depth at Centre as all the team really had at that position was Mikko Koivu and Erik Haula and Mikael Granlund is most likely staying on the wing in Minny.
Now granted, this is a position where Edmonton is relatively strong at so odds of Staal ever being an Oiler would have been slim to none but an exception to this rule though maybe could have been RNH being dealt could have possibly opened something up.
Stall would have been able to bring playoff pedigree to the Oilers locker room and even though last season with Carolina and NYR was a down year for him, he’s not that far removed from back to back 20 goal, 50+ point seasons with Carolina and also had seven 70 point campaigns in North Carolina. A 2nd line of Benoit Pouliot, Eric Staal and Jesse Puljujarvi? Would have been an interesting sight and would have also in a way made up for his work in vanquishing the Oilers in the 2006 Cup Finals. Ok….maybe not.
Jason Demers
He was wined and dined in YEG along with Lucic and he may have adopted a puppy at the Edmonton Humane Society but alas, the blue-liner would sign with the Florida Panthers for five years and $22.5 million dollars.
Demers last year with Dallas had seven goals and 16 assists, his 24 points was third best among defenceman for the Stars. He’s a big puck mover with an offensive side as he has 143 points so far in his seven year career.
With a more advanced look at his offensive ability, last year Demers five on five had 0.91 points per 60 minutes and 4.38 shots on net per 60 minutes, a stat that’s increased every year since his rookie season with San Jose in 2009-10.
On a squad in which only one defencemen (Andrej Sekera) had 20 points or more last season that offensive output would have been a big boost along with Adam Larsson.
So these three won’t be skating at Rogers Place but don’t think that Peter Chiarelli is done wheeling and dealing this summer. The overhaul of this Oilers roster is far from complete.
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