It’s over! It’s all over! The 2018 NHL Trade Deadline is over and f-me, as an Oilers fan, am I glad. Now we can finally go back to watching hockey like normal people. But boy is it going to be weird watching an Oilers team without Mark Letestu and Pat Maroon.
As everybody knew would happen, as soon as the Pat Maroon trade came in the Oilogosphere immediately went up in flames! Bloody Oilers fans eh?… lol
This is what happens when teams with uber deep prospect pools start whispers about upgrading. If you’re truly pissed off, blame the pundits because they are the ones that told us Jordan Kyrou or Taylor Raddysh could be used to acquire upgrades for their teams.
The reality of today’s NHL is that teams aren’t moving those high-end players as often anymore because they need them for their own club. Be that to help cushion the blow of a tight salary cap or simply for talent.
The NHL is getting younger and younger every year. So don’t expect too much out of the NHL draft either. The insiders will sell you on the idea that some big names are going to move in Dallas this summer at the draft but don’t believe them. Some guys will of course move because teams don’t have to worry about the salary cap during the summer and they’ll have that whole time up until the beginning of October to get their financials straight but I would say that TB and STL will be keeping their prized prospects.
THE TRADES
Pat Maroon to NJ for Joey Dudek+2019 3rd round pick
Everyone thought when the Grabner deal went down that the market was set for Patty but boy were they wrong. I even noticed some asking why Maroon didn’t bring back a 1st rounder or even a 2nd rounder. Well, to explain why here are a couple of tweets I sent out that should explain things clearly:
Well NTB, let's look at the players who garnered 2nd round picks this year.
Grabner (fast)
Tatar (fast)
McDonagh/Miller (better)
Plekanec (better)
Turris (better)Maybe expectations were a bit high but I'm part of that group who thought he'd get a late 1st maybe… so… https://t.co/jshffJig0i
— Beer League Heroes (@BeerLeagueHeroe) February 26, 2018
Trades that involved a 1st round pick at this year:
McDonagh to TB
Tatar to VGK
Kane to SJ (Conditional)
Stastny to WPG
Hartman to NSH
Nash to BOS
Brassard to PIT
Duchene to OTTNot sure if any of the players the #Oilers traded deserved a 1st rounder in return.
— Beer League Heroes (@BeerLeagueHeroe) February 26, 2018
Peter Chiarelli said the market was tough. Well, you can’t say he was lying. You might say he could work on his negotiation tactics though :p
My Thoughts: Well I wanted to say that this was a clear loss but it’s not a clear one at all. The players that are comparable to Maroon only netted their teams marginal NHLers (Motte/Jokinen) or late round draft picks.
It’s my understanding that Maroon’s lower body injury played a part in the negotiations as well.
I’m going to give this a passing grade. It’s not a win but it’s not a loss either. Fact is, the Oilers traded a 3rd rounder and Martin Gernat to acquire the Big Rig AND they got ANH to retain salary. Now, they’ve dealt the UFA-to-be for a 3rd rounder and a prospect with speed and skill.
This Dudek kid is intriguing though. He’s a former 6th rounder (like Brandon Davidson).
Dudek has elite-level skill and skating. When he is on the attack, he is a team player first. He gets his teammates involved with good vision and decision making with the puck. He needs to get stronger and quicker on the ice, but he has shown in the past his commitment to becoming a better overall hockey player. – Hockey’s Future (source)
Here’s Dudek’s profile over at sbncollegehockey.com
I fully expect the Oilers to re-visit Pat Maroon’s agent this summer and for the Oilers to offer him a contract.
Mark Letestu to Nashville for Pontus Aberg
Letestu has no intentions of coming back to Edmonton this summer and the Oilers need speed and skill from the wings.
Pontus Aberg fits the bill perfectly in terms of what Chiarelli was looking for at the deadline this year and the Oilers needed a real human, not a pick, to put into the lineup for the rest of the year.
I’ve heard that Aberg has the Linus Omark skill but with a much better attitude.
My Thoughts: Straight out win for the Oilers here. Letestu is a UFA and even if Aberg doesn’t pan out, they get to give the Swede a test-run and he’s cheap. I think a shade under 700k if I’m not mistaken. I’m not exactly sure of his waiver eligibility though. If he is okay to go to the minors, that would make this trade even better.
Brandon Davidson to the Islanders for a 3rd round pick in 2019
I hated to see Davy go because I loved his attitude on the ice. He was a tough customer out there and gave it 100%. He didn’t bring much offense to the game mind you but he was a solid bottom pairing defender on this 2nd go-round with the Oilers
My Thoughts: Anytime you can turn a waiver pick up into a 3rd rounder, you do it. This is a clear win for Chiarelli.
Could we have used Davidson next year? I think so but I think he needs to be qualified at $1.6M and that’s too much for a no.6/7 dman I guess.
So at the end of the weekend, the Oilers lose three roster players and add 1 back. They add two more picks to their stable for 2019 which is good because that supposed to be an insane draft. That said, Chiarelli told us that he would like to use those picks to acquire young prospects who are near NHL-ready.
So we’ll have to wait and see what he does with those picks IF he gets the chance.
The Oilers lost three good men at the deadline this year. Players that are your glue and character in the dressing room. Maroon and Letestu were the buffers between the coaches and the players. Now we’re going to see what this group is made of and for me, as long as they show me effort and score some goals, that’s all I can ask for.
Give me effort and give me goals.
RANDOM NOTES
- Be wary of the upcoming NCAA playoffs starting this week. Some NCAA free agents will become available this weekend and I expect the Oilers to be in on some. Max Veronneau is one to keep an eye on.
- Those expecting Milan Lucic to start losing all of that cherry TOI now that the deadline is over are going to be disappointed. McLellan will definitely ride that guy until he’s off the schneid. He’ll be McDavid’s partner until then.
- Jordan Eberle had 13 goals at this time last year. Ryan Strome has 12… Weird.
- Mike Cammalleri wasn’t being shopped despite playing top-6 minutes. I wonder if the Oilers bring him back for next season?
- Don’t be surprised if the Klefbom/Krug rumor start to pick up as we get closer to the draft. The Oilers need a PP specialist and Krug is exactly that!
- Lastly, the best deal is sometimes the trade you don’t make. If you’re feeling down about the deadline just think, the Oilers still have Nurse, RNH, Klefbom, Slepyshev, Puljujarvi, Yamamoto, etc. The future is bright!
the future is bright because we have the same group, minus our 1st line, inexpensive left wing and our 4th liner?
i feel like the math is off here, but maybe its just because i have this fancy pink piece of paper i really want to give to chiarelli….
I see the kid NJ gave up for Maroon is not even ranked in NJ’s top 20 prospects, maybe PC should stay away from NJ. He seems to be doing a better job of building that team than the Oilers.
How does PC have a job? The Maroon deal was awful. He’s producing like Nash and Stastny, even Tatar in a down year gets a 1st, 2nd and 3rd. PC doesn’t have the ability to make a good trade with a decent or good player. Fans of the Oilers (not all of them) keep going to games and doing write up about how the team should be good. It’s like cult followers believing all the excrement spewed out by the ‘leader’. But the leaders of this Oiler cult… I mean franchise are among the worst in the league. Embrace DOD #2 because next year will be even worse. Dudek or who ever he is will never make the NHL, never even come close. And with the history of the Oilers drafting??? Not a chance that 3rd round pick turns into anything. This bad team got even worse. And if the do sign Maroon in the summer he’s better than Looch so maybe PC is thinking 7×7 years? And then trade Nuge for a 4ht and 5th round pick to make room? That’s all he can get because he’s been injured a lot, right? This is insanity. But keep talking yourself into the fact PC made some good trades. And maybe the Oilers will make the playoffs in another 10 years too.