Colorado Avalanche
Evan’s NHL Daily: Oilers Make Questionable Move, Ukko-Pekka Paid A Lot

Everyone knew it was coming. As soon as NHL Insiders started hinting at Stan Bowman potentially being an option to become the Edmonton Oilers GM, you knew it was going to happen. So when the Oilers actually made it official on Wednesday, I wasn’t caught off guard at all. NHL teams will forgive a lot if they think you’re the right person for the job, whether it’s a player, coach, or GM. We saw it backfire with Columbus and Mike Babcock last summer. Will the same happen to the Oilers this year?
Buffalo’s goaltender of the future is still considered to be Devon Levi, but now they’ve gone and paid a goaltender who really isn’t all that much older just in case that doesn’t work out. And the reality is that their playoff hopes for next season might just depend on him.
Colorado Hockey Now
It didn’t happen, but it’s interesting to talk about nonetheless. The Avalanche probably talked to a lot of players this summer, but one of them they apparently made an offer to was Nikita Zadorov.
With the moves that have been made, it’s a good time to check in on what Colorado’s depth chart is.
The Avalanche needed to fill two big holes inside the organization, and for both, they looked to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
News And Rumors
Defactor: NHL Insiders started throwing his name around a few weeks ago as a GM option if reinstated. That was the first sign that it was going to happen. Earlier this week, a piece came out about how Stan Bowman had learned from his mistakes and was ready for another chance. Maybe that’s possible and quite frankly, I hope it’s true, but does that mean he’s fit to run an NHL team again? And to get that opportunity the second he’s reinstated? There are a lot of Oilers fans that aren’t terribly happy with the move. Heck, Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson turned his twitter account private right before the news was announced. He knew the backlash was coming.
Beyond the part about failing Kyle Beach, I’m a little confused as to why Bowman is so coveted. He inherited some unreal talent when he took over as Blackhawks GM, as Dale Tallon did a lot of the work building that team. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Dustin Byfuglien, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford, Nicklas Hjalmarsson, and others were already on the team or inside the organization when Bowman was hired. That’s the talent that carried them to three Stanley Cups. He just happened to be the guy that got the job right when they were all starting to become really good NHL players.
He has three Cups already and you can’t take that away from him, but some of his moves late in his Chicago career were head scratchers. Will inheriting elite players make him look good again? We’ll find out.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: I guess Toronto folks are still not happy with him, because they’re now questioning why Team Canada felt the need to bring in Kyle Dubas.
Florida Hockey Now: It’s already been one month since the Stanley Cup was won by the Florida Panthers.
Philly Hockey Now: He arrived Wednesday morning after a 22 hour flight and wanted to skate immediately. He’s not the savior, but a big part of the Flyers solution is Matvei Michkov.
Buffalo: If the Sabres are going to take a big step next season, it may happen because Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen took them there.