The day has finally come everyone. The day where every faction of the Edmonton Oilers fanbase can come together as one glorious fanbase and… Treat it like any other day in the Oilogosphere by arguing about what moves Peter Chiarelli made or didn’t make… SMH…
Anyways, it’s draft day, one of MY favorite times of the year as a hockey fan. I don’t know about you but it has actually combined two of my favorite times into one, the trade deadline and the draft. As a person who enjoys the Oilers as a form of entertainment and not as an extension of my personal self-worth, reading rumor blogs and following insiders leading up to this day is about as good as it gets.
I’ll post twice today before the draft. This one will be re: rumors going into the draft and the next one will be an Oilers mock draft using the ISS hockey scouting service’s draft list.
I should tell you that I’ll be joining Mike from Oilers.live, Sean from theoilknight.com, and The Dirtbag for a LIVE podcast during the first round of the draft later today. If that interests you, you can head over to Mike’s website and there’ll be a link you can click to listen to us hosers flap our gums about the Oilers.
THE AVAIL
Peter Chiarelli held his pre-draft avail yesterday and told us nothing that we didn’t already know. The 10th overall is in play for the right player. If it isn’t used they’ll use it on the BPA (best player available). He’s not talking about Milan Lucic’s trade request. Eric Gryba was bought out because they didn’t think he’d play for the Oilers and they wanted to give him an opportunity to seek employment elsewhere.
Am I missing anything?
I know in a world where compassion is sometimes forgotten perhaps the Oilers were just letting Gryba go. Had no trade value and decided to eat the 300,000 for 2 years.
Anybody in any hockey-mad community knows that it’s a small one and that acts such as this one with Chiarelli and Gryba don’t go unnoticed. Other players will see this and remember it. I think it’s a positive light on Chiarelli. They weighed the options and decided to do it. If Chiarelli gets fired for 600k spent over two years, he never really had the job to begin with.
Things we should be talking about:
– McDavid b2b Art Ross and Lindsay
– The draft
Things we shouldn’t be talking about:
– Old trades
— x-Oilers ballin flames suck (@DirtbagDonny) June 22, 2018
Bob Stauffer said that the Oilers should have between 46 and 48 spots filled on the 50-man roster when all is said and done. So that leaves a few spots for trades, waiver claims, and NCAA free agents when the time comes.
RUMORS GOING INTO TONIGHT’S DRAFT
The MSM insiders have been talking Oilers since the day the regular season ended but more recently this is what they’ve been saying.
Rishaug said that there are teams inquiring about Nuge’s services.
Friedman has said that the Oilers are in on Parayko.
McKenzie says the Oilers first rounder is definitely in play.
LeBrun has talked about Lucic’s availability.
Matheson has tossed out Julius Honka’s name on multiple occasions.
Dreger did some Rishaug-ing of his own connecting Hanifin and the Oilers.
Stauffer has a been throwing Ryan Ellis’ name out for a good two weeks.
The amateur insiders have also been filling websites with words about possible moves the Oilers will be making
Eklund has the Oilers talking to both the Senators about Karlsson and the Flyers about Simmonds.
Marshall has 6 teams in on the Oilers first rounder (NSH, CAR, CGY, COL, MIN, NYR).
Treenas Oil has popped up with tweets about the Oilers and Habs on more than one occasion. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins being the piece of interest for Montreal obviously.
So make of it what you will. It’s called silly season for a reason. It’s obvious that Peter Chiarelli is on the hunt for that defenseman that will help on the PP. With names like Krug, Ellis, Ristolainen, Hamilton, Barrie, Faulk, etc. coming up over and over in my Twitter TL. My only hope is that whatever they do, don’t trade Puljujarvi, Nuge, Drai, or the 10th overall. Deal next year’s picks, Yamamoto, Bear, Jones, or whoever but this year’s draft crop for the Oilers is very important in my opinion.
I’d be very comfortable with them trading Kailer Yamamoto though. I feel that Puljujarvi has the higher ceiling and if the Oilers would like to move a blue-chip piece to get better right now, Yamamoto is the guy they should move.
The wingers that have been discussed as trade targets for the Oilers (Pacioretty, Simmonds, Skinner, etc) are all players that are one season from UFA. Do you think that the Oilers would be willing to sacrifice the long-term future of the club to acquire one of those players?
Peter Chiarelli HAS to walk the tight rope carefully this year. I’m pretty nervous to be honest. I don’t want them to cut into the core of the offense to improve the D. I’d rather they move on from Klefbom if they’re going to use a young player.
I do wonder however if they’d be willing to trade Klefbom and the 10th overall to move up. That would free up cap room and roster space and allow them to pick a player (anyone rated that high will do for me but I’d like Quinn Hughes) they covet. Maybe Arizona cuts that deal.
UPDATE: The Beer League Heroes YouTube Channel is now OVER 1000 SUBSCRIBERS! it took a while but we did it! Thanks to those that have subscribed and if you haven’t, go check it out now! link
CHECK UPSTAIRS w/ Color! Click the pic to see this design and more!Pick up this sweet tee and let the whole world know how much you love hockey’s favorite cheat!Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shop to grab some sweet BLH merch.
We’ve finally reached the day of reckoning for the Edmonton Oilers… Wait! What?! The Oilers haven’t even played 5% of the season and the fate of the team’s 2016/17 season is on its knees at the feet of game no.4 versus the Carolina Hurricanes… Does it sound a bit ridiculous? If not, perhaps consider taking up knitting or becoming a professional at watching paint dry.
Does it sound a bit ridiculous? If not, perhaps consider taking up knitting or becoming a professional at watching paint dry because you’re simply taking things a bit. Too. Seriously.
Carolina (0-0-2) is limping into Edmonton (2-1-0) after giving up 3 goal leads twice in the last two games. First, in a 9-goal thriller vs. the Jets and then most recently losing to the Canucks in OT. Well that sounds fine and dandy I do not believe this is a positive for the Oilers because generally speaking, one would prefer to not have any goals scored against them than relying on the fact that a young team cannot hold a lead early into their season.
Edmonton didn’t have an amazing time playing Carolina in 2015/16, winning one (in OT) and losing one (4-1). But that was sans Connor McDavid…
I think the Hurricanes are developing into a very dangerous team with the likes or Jordan Staal and Jeff Skinner running the offense. Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask are emerging as big players for the Canes though and we can’t forget about an Oilers trade target in Justin Faulk either. Noah Hanifin is one of the loveliest skaters in the league, you’d be remiss if you didn’t pay attention to how he plays the game.
If the Oilers can take advantage of the Hurricanes mental instability and hop on them early instead of doing what they have been doing (letting the opposition boss them early in the game), then I believe Edmonton can end this one early. BUT, if they do revert to previous efforts, it will take someone like McDavid or Talbot or maybe even Leon Draisaitl to have a Herculean performance to pull the team from the claws of fan revolt.
WHAT I WANT TO SEE
I want to see Pouliot stay out of the bloody box because McLellan might just send him straight to the dressing room if he goes a third game taking PIMs like he has been.
I want to see a MAJOR bounce back from Oscar Klefbom. I know at least two blatant giveaways versus Buffalo resulted in goals or clear scoring chances. Not good…
I’d like to see Puljujarvi pot another. He’s slowly catching on and he’s playing the game right. It’ll take time for him to get his shooting confidence but we’re only at game no.4. He’s using his body and positioning in the right manner and that’s more than what Yakupov and Hall could be said of in their first seasons.
I think Pat Maroon could put an end to this disappearing/reappearing act any time soon. He needs to get into the games in one way or another. Be it physically or by scoring. Do something man!
Jordan Eberle’s great play is something I want to see continue.
I want to see another great game from Kris Russell so that we can get closer to ending the hockey buzzword, “small sample size”, with regards to judging his play.
Lastly, I’d like to see the Oilers win the possession game AND the game on the scoreboard. Going 3-1 to start the season would be wonderous and especially with the Nail Yakupov and the St.Louis Blues coming to town on Thursday.
It’s pretty early as I write this, so the lineups haven’t been announced yet but I predict the Oilers might go back to what they were originally lined up like before Benoit Pouliot decided the benches in Roger’s Place needed warming up. Please, Benoit, I’m begging you, don’t make the coach take out his McBlender and throw the lines inside…
So, Rexall is officially closed, we’ll be drafting somewhere in the Top-5, and the search continues for a right-handed defenseman. We’ve all heard and endlessly discussed the idea of obtaining Trouba, Vatanen, Shattenkirk, Hamonic, or signing Demers, however, there’s a few teams out there we haven’t really looked at who might be more natural trade partners.
Now, although right now the Oilers aren’t exactly high on this list (we’re 26th in league scoring), we can presume with a healthy club, they would be better than this. Having said that, we’re going looking for right-handed defensemen, and what we have to sell are scoring Top-6 forwards, so our natural trade partners are those teams with even more scoring issues. Those are Carolina (2.40 goals/game), Toronto (2.34), Vancouver (2.25) and New Jersey (2.19). We can also note that Vancouver and New Jersey, from that list, don’t have any young scoring D to give up, because those two clubs are the only teams in the NHL without a single defenseman in the Top-60 in scoring this year. So, we can probably write both of them off as logical trade partners.
Click the pic and grab a 97C Hoodie to celebrate a the best rookie in the NHL!
That leaves us with Toronto and Carolina. However, Toronto’s not exactly deep on the back end, and they have plenty of forwards with potential so they’re unlikely to give up anything we really need on defense. That leaves us with Carolina. Now, this team is rumored to be relocated to Quebec City in the off-season, which may be true, or may not. What it likely means is they’re going to be looking for scoring help either way, and they have a talented young defense group.
First, what high ticket prospects do the Hurricanes have? There’s Sebastian Aho, a left-winger drafted in 2015, who may make the NHL next season. There’s Alex Nedeljkovic, a hot goalie prospect drafted in 2014. And there’s Haydn Fleury, a 1st round pick from 2014, who’s a 6’3 207lb left-shooting defenseman (why are they always lefties…).
Now, next question, what is their existing roster?
As of the last game, this is their forward and defensive roster
Line 1: Joakim Nordstrom (RFA)-Jordan Staal-Patrick Brown (RFA)
Nordstrom has 23 points in 63 games, and is a natural center who spent some time in Chicago. His NHL totals are 29 points in 123 games, and his scoring totals in the Swedish Elite League and the AHL are underwhelming. This is a bottom-6 forward
Staal is one of those players who is an ok left-shooting 2C or an elite 3C, but other than a few 50 point seasons with a loaded Pittsburgh team, he trends as a 40-point two-way center and should not be a team’s first line center
Brown is a right-shooting center who has never been a point per game at any level of his career, and had 10 points in 60 AHL games last season, and 23 in 66 this season. Another bottom-6 player who should not be in an NHL top-6
Line 2: Jeff Skinner-Victor Rask (RFA) -Riley Nash
Jeff Skinner is the leading scorer for the team with 50 points in 80 games, and is a pure left-winger. He’s had a 30 goal season before, but has had concussion issues. Having said that, he’s the star of this offense.
Victor Rask has had a very good year for a very bad team with 47 points in 78 games, and he did hit a point per game in his WHL career two seasons in a row (essentially). His one long AHL season was unspectacular, but he’s been improving at the NHL level, and as a right-shooting center he has the versatility to slide over to the right-wing or play center, preferably as a 2C.
Nash had some good success in the ECAC, and an ok performance at the AHL level, but his NHL numbers have been unspectacular and have remained in the 20-point range. He’s a right shooting center who is also better suited to a bottom-6 role.
Line 3: Chris Terry (UFA) -Elias Lindholm-Derek Ryan
Terry is a classic depth player, nothing here to really analyze
Lindholm is a right-shooting center with potential also, and has had a 39 point and a 37 point NHL season, so we can call him a solid 2nd line player or a very good 3rd line player.
Ryan is also a right-shot center who’s had good AHL numbers, but he’s a 29-year-old rookie, he’s their equivalent of Andrew Miller, he’s a depth scoring addition at best.
Line 4: Nathan Gerbe (UFA) -Jay McClement-Brad Malone (UFA)
These are all old-school NHL veterans playing bottom-6 roles, nothing to see here
Pair 1: Jacoob Slavin-Justin Faulk
Pair 2: Noah Hanifin-Brett Pesce
Pair 3: Ron Hainsey-Ryan Murphy (RFA)
Depth defenseman: Michal Jordan (RFA)
And they have James Wisniewski, Andrej Nestrasil, Phil Di Giuseppe on injury reserve
Now, the Hurricanes have 6 forwards, 6 defensemen and 1 goalie under contract for next season, using only $38 million of their cap, so they have room for a major retooling at forward.
So, looking at their Top-6, the following players can be considered Top-6 capable:
Jordan Staal (left-shot center), Jeff Skinner (left wing), Victor Rask (right-shot center), Elias Lindholm (right-shot center). We can pencil in Sebastian Aho here as a potential left-winger, and the Hurricanes will probably get a decent player in the draft, but not likely one of the NHL ready Top-3 players.
Of that list, Skinner can be considered a first line left-winger, and we could consider Rask a first line right winger, and on the second line we could see an Aho-Staal-Lindholm second line. There’s been talk about how much help the Hurricanes need on the wings, but more than anything, they need a first line center (to replace Eric Stall’s theoretical role) who can handle a scoring role.
Click the pic and pick up a 16-bit Faulk shirt!
So, the player they need would be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Sure, if the Oilers once again win the NHL draft, there’s more trade options involving Leon Draisaitl or Auston Matthews, but we can assume they’ll keep both if they can.
Now, the Hurricanes suddenly look much better if we pencil in this Top-6: Skinner-RNH-Rask, Aho-Staal-Lindholm. Sure, it’s not spectacular, but it’s significantly better than what they had, and a player like RNH would adapt well to the East. So, we know we have a piece they can use, the question is then whether they have anything we could use.
Looking at their back end, we know we need a Top-2 caliber player if we deal RNH. Before we assume we need a RHD however, there are options on the table to deal a guy like Klefbom for a guy like Hamonic, so we can work with finding a Top-2 left handed defenseman. However, anyone we find has to be able to put up some points on the back.
First, let’s look at Brett Pesce. He’s a 21-year-old right-shot defenseman, 6’3 200lbs. All of that looks promising. And in a brief AHL audition this year he had 3 points in 3 games, also promising. However, his Hockey East numbers don’t indicate an elite defenseman, and he’s not overly physical. This year he has 16 in 67 NHL games. In short, he’s not the kind of guy we take in a deal for RNH.
Next up, Ron Hainsey. We can stop there, he’s 35 years old and on their bottom pairing. This isn’t a fit.
From there, we have our obvious target, Justin Faulk. He’s on their top pairing, he’s a right handed shot, he leads their defense in scoring, and, well, yeah, let’s be realistic, this team lacks scoring on the back end also, and he’s by far their top defenseman and their best right hand defenseman by a mile. They aren’t going to deal him to us for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and they need him more than they need a skill winger. If we’re talking Matthews or Draisaitl they’ll pick up the phone, but that’s about it.
So, that leaves us with the alternative scenario I proposed, looking for a high end left-handed defenseman that allows us to deal an Oscar Klefbom for a Travis Hamonic (or the left-handed guy we get here for one). Now, the Hurricanes have two possibilities here, Jaccob Slavin or Noah Hanifin. First, let’s look at Slavin:
Had a good college season where he had 25 in 32 for Colorado in the NCHC, led the team in scoring as a freshman, was on the all-conference first-team. Had 7 points in 14 AHL games this season. Has 20 in 61 in the NHL for his first season.
Was a 4th round pick in 2012.
6’2 205lbs and he’s 21.
Is considered to be a solid two-way defenseman with Top-4 potential
Ok, he looks like a solid player. Having said that, he’s also their top-pairing left-side defenseman at the moment, and I’m not sure he has all that high of a ceiling, at least not high enough of one to justify trading away RNH for him. We walk away from this deal.
This takes us to our logical trade target, Noah Hanifin. He was the #5 overall draft pick last year, and made the NHL as a rookie at 19 years old. He had 23 in 37 games in his rookie season with Hockey East, and has 20 points in 77 games as a rookie defenseman. Now, by comparison, Ekblad had 39 points in his rookie year, but he had a better partner in Brian Campbell. He’s viewed as a near lock as a top-pairing defenseman, and is 6’3 206lbs. Now, I know, we all want Faulk on this team, but this is the guy Carolina can probably afford to part with to get a Top-6 center, and based on the Seth Jones trade, this is about proper value for RNH. You can be sure the Islanders would be willing to trade Hamonic for him, and he’s got much higher upside than Klefbom as a top-pairing left defenseman. This is the deal you try to do here. If you do this deal and then deal off Klefbom for Hamonic, this is how the Oilers D now looks.
Pair 1: Sekera-Hamonic
Pair 2: Hanifin-xxxxxxxx
Pair 3: Nurse-Davidson
Ok. That’s starting to look better for sure, but we could still use that second pairing guy who has some use.. But wait, we’re not done in Carolina yet.. It so happens they have an older veteran named James Wisniewski, 32 years old, and for his career he’s tended to be a .50ppg defenseman, with no sign of regressing yet. Now, the Hurricanes picked him up cheap, and he has one year left on a $5.5-million-dollar contract. This is on the pricey side for this club, and he’s spent the entire season on the IR, so they’ve never really used him. However, and this is important, he’s a right-handed shot who can move the puck.
Now, as it happens, we have a cheaper right-side defenseman who performed far better in the east named Mark Fayne. His style would suit the Hurricanes, and he’s cheaper and younger with more term. They might be open to this deal. So, we end up with a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins + Mark Fayne deal in exchange for Noah Hanifin + James Wisniewski trade. From there, that sets the Oilers up to consider a deal for Trouba or Vatanen involving a guy like Davidson along with a player like Yakupov. Winnipeg could use cheap scoring and a cheap top-4 left-hand defenseman like Davidson, so for the sake of argument, let’s say we bring Trouba in that deal (with whatever to balance it out)
The Oilers now go into next season with the back end like this:
Pair 1: Sekera-Hamonic
Pair 2: Hanifin-Wisniewski
Pair 3: Nurse-Trouba
We now have a shut-down defenseman in Hamonic, a power-play quarterback in Wisniewski, and a strong prospect right-side defenseman in Trouba who can move up to the second pairing in a year when Wisniewski becomes a UFA (at which point maybe Bear is ready for that 3rd pairing role). I know, this isn’t the makeover we all thought of on the back end, but one has to admit, this looks much better than we iced this season.
And then, at forward, we can assume we likely draft one of Laine or Puljujarvi, so we end up with this:
Line 1: Maroon-McDavid-Puljujarvi (all big guys who can handle even strength, powerplay and penalty kill, this is our Chicago-style first line who can do it all like Ladd-Toews-Hossa)
Line 2: Hall-Draisaitl-Eberle (I know, no defense to speak of here, but Chicago runs a pure scoring second line also of Panarin-Anisimov-Kane, they just play 5v5 and PP, no reason we can’t do the same. And if Eberle gets traded here, assume it would be for a different winger)
Line 3: Pouliot-Santorelli-Kassian (Chicago treats their 3rd line as more of a secondary scoring line, less emphasis on the PK duties, and a 3C UFA like Santorelli could get the job done very well here for a good price)
Line 4: Hendricks-Letestu-Pakarinen (This line is the pure PK line, their job is to shut people down, like the Krueger line in Chicago, we don’t need to expect scoring from them because we have 3 other lines who can score)
So, there’s my idea for the day folks for how the Oilers could significantly overhaul their defense in a way that maybe, just maybe, our first season in the new rink could see a post-season. Thanks for reading, flame on below
Congrats everyone! We are OFFICIALLY only four days away from the regular season starting in the NHL. We’re back baby!
This week has some important news, especially on the Edmonton Oilers front.
Edmonton Oilers Three Stars of the Week
Third Star: Connor McDavid
McDavid makes another appearance in my three stars of the week and I think it will be a reoccurring theme for this season. So far, he has 5 points (all assists) this pre season. Yet, the score sheet does not do McDavid any justice. Every time he touches the puck, you are on the edge of your seat. It’s hard to put into words how special of a talent this kid is and I personally can’t wait to see him play against NHL teams.
Second Star: Anders Nilsson
Personally, I think he is the back up over Scrivens. Nilsson has been practically perfect this pre season. I do not see how anyone could really cut him over Scrivens, although contract and waiver exemption will be a factor. Still, the big swede has been our best goalie this preseason, even above our assumed starter, Cam Talbot (who I am a huge booster of).
First Star: Anton Lander
What a year can make. At this time last year, Lander was facing a waiver claim losing a spot over the woeful Will Acton. Has there been an Oiler that has benefited from the axing of Dallas Eakins? Lander had a natural hat trick in a win over Arizona earlier this week, scoring the three goals in a six minute span. He’s looked fine this pre season and is maturing into that bottom six role that the Oilers have needed for awhile. Hard not to root for the guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUeDQMc5NaA
Edmonton Oilers Rumors and News
There were a couple Oilers rumors this week. First was the Bryan Bickell for Nikita Nikitin trade rumor that fell thru. Bickell was placed on waivers yesterday and cleared this morning. Meanwhile, the Oilers waived Nikitin this morning and is expected (barring a miracle) to clear. (Edmonton Journal)
Also rumored was Andrew Ference being on the trade block and the Captain situation. Jason Gregor spoke with Ferenceabout the captaincy and it was revealed that Ference was the one who approached management about stepping down as captain this season. (Oilers Nation)
Unfortunately, Jordan Eberle was injured in Tuesday’s pre season tilt with Arizona. The winger will be missing four to six weeks with a shoulder injury. (Edmonton Journal)
Nikita Nikitin was placed on waiver this morning. I wrote a post after Thursday night’s 5-2 loss focusing on the woes of Nikitin. (Oil on Whyte)
Around the League
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced some surprising roster moves with releasing Sergei Gonchar from his PTO and assigning young defenceman, Derrick Pouliot, to the AHL. Even more surprising, Daniel Sprong, the Penguins second round draft pick in this years draft, is seemingly making the team. (Pens Labyrinth)
Strangely enough, there is no timetable for the upcoming NHL expansion, Gary Bettman announced this week. Both Quebec City and Las Vegas are in the process of gaining an expansion team for their respective cities. (NHL.com)
PK Subban is actually Don Cherry this entire time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi6hl8xo2Sk
The Hanson brothers gave the Penguins some motivation prior to their game against Tampa Bay
Jonathan Drouin has a razzle dazzle goal
The Oilers 2015/16 season opens up vs. the St.Louis blues next Thursday, October 8th. Talk about having your work cut out for you right off the bat. Who’s got more to prove though?
Let’s be honest with ourselves here. We tend to overvalue the players on our team and undervalue players on other teams and most time to the extent of side-splitting hilariousness. So I’m going to try and make this a weekly thing where I look for the most ridiculous or realistic fan trade proposals regarding the Edmonton Oilers circulating the oilogosphere and comment on them. I imagine a majority of them will come from HFBoards. So without further ado, there are some humdingers!
To Arizona Coyotes: Nail Yakupov and the #16, #33, #56, and #78 picks this year To Edmonton Oilers: The #3 overall
The gist of the deal is obvious. Reunite McDavid with Strome or add Noah Hanifin… Boy that’s a lot to give up for one guy. On the other hand, what are the odds that any of those other picks have the same impact in the NHL as a Strome or Hanifin?
To Edmonton Oilers: Alexei Emelin and the rights to Magnus Nygren To Habs: Teddy Purcell (50% retained salary) and a 2015 4th round pick
I don’t know… I like a good hard hitting defenceman as much as anybody else and God knows that Purcell is as useful as tits on a boar but $6m seems like a hard hit to take to get rid of Purcell.
To Edmonton Oilers: Tom Wilson To Washington Capitals: Nail Yakupov
There’s a part of me that really likes this. Is Wilson the modern day Dave Semenko?… Could he be? I think there’s one foregone conclusion though, someone on the right wing is going to get moved sooner or later and this team needs someone willing to let the other team know that roughing up our stars will not be tolerated.
To Edmonton Oilers: Derek Stepan, Cam Talbot, Carl Hagelin and Kevin Klein To Rangers: The 1st overall pick
So the guy that wrote this believes that he’s helping the Oilers so much by getting them a top center, a goalie, a complementary winger and a “solid” defenceman at the minimal cost of Connor McDavid… What I don’t understand is how people come up with these ideas sometimes. Would you deal that for Mario Lemieux or Gretzky, Crosby or Ovechkin? Crikey! What have any of those Rangers done lately?
To Edmonton Oilers: John Gibson, James Wisniewski, 3rd round pick (2015) To Anaheim Ducks: Nail Yakupov, Ben Scrivens, and the #16 pick this year.
As I said earlier, one of Yakupov or Eberle will be moved at some point and the Oilers could use player like Wisniewski on the point. Gibson is sure to be a helluva goalie sooner than later but do you make this deal knowing that the Oilers defence is strife with overpaid veteran defenders?
To Edmonton Oilers: Dan Girardi and Cam Talbot To Rangers: The #16 and #56 picks this year and Nikita Nikitin
There’s something to really like about this one. Dan Girardi would be a perfect fit on the Oilers and a great presence for the younger players like Nurse. Could he be the kind of partner that would calm Justin Schultz’s game down?
To Edmonton Oilers: Alex Edler, Eddie Lack, and Zack Kassian To Vancouver Canucks: The #16, #33, #56 picks this year and Martin Marincin
I guess the overall point of this charity is so that the Canucks can accelerate their rebuild?… What? Because inter-division rivals LOVE helping each other out…
Well I hope you enjoyed the read. I had a good laugh going through the trade boards over at Hockey’s Future in order to bring this to you. If you heard any proposals that have made you piss your pants, feel free to send ’em over in the comments below!
Before you go, I’d love it if you headed over to the Beer League Heroes T-Shirt shop and took a gander. Maybe pick one up and help keep this team afloat if you’re so inclined. We’d really appreciate it!
