Hall has signed for 7 years after the expiration of his current contract with the Oilers. The deal is back-loaded with an average of 6 mil per year. Thoughts?
Oiler fans take note: The latest rankings from International Scouting Services have come out and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is the new top dog. The Red Deer Rebels centre supplants Swedish blueliner Adam Larsson atop the high-profile list of draft-eligible prospects.
This is significant because as ISS #1, RNH is in the exact same position as Taylor Hall was this time last year. Meanwhile, the Oilers are still the Oilers.
Prospectophiles may be interested in this pictorial feature of "Hoppy" in action last weekend posted by yours truly over at the Cult of Hockey. He's a fun player to watch. Includes bonus coverage of Oiler draftee Martin Marincin.
The Oilers trimmed their roster again today, assigning five more players to Oklahoma City including Teemu Hartikainen, Johan Motin, Jake Taylor, Brad Moran, and Gregory Stewart. The latter two have to clear waivers before they can report. The Oilers also released Jared Aulin and invited him to OKC camp on a tryout basis.
Edmonton Oilers goalie prospect Olivier Roy is a hot commodity in the QMJHL. Yesterday he was traded from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles - where he holds the franchise record for wins - to the Lewiston Maineiacs for two second-round picks and an exchange of thirds. This transaction was evidently the future considerations in the midseason deal that sent Jacob Legace to the Cape, a trade that turned out very badly for the Screaming Eagles.
Today Lewiston flipped Roy to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for a substantially better package of picks, including two first-rounders (today's #5 overall, and 2012's), a 2nd, 3rd, and 5th rounder. Lewiston then traded many of these assets to acquire the first overall pick in today's draft (Dillon Fournier)
Of course Roy remains an Oiler property throughout this flurry of activity, but it's nothing but good news to Oiler fans that our 19-year-old goalie could command such a high return for a single year of service. I also found the mournful reaction of Cape Breton fans enlightening.
The amount of trade activty around QMJHL draft day is nothing short of staggering.
