It seems hard to fathom that any team would be actively looking to trade a Norris Trophy winner who also donated $10 million to a children’s hospital, but that’s where the Montreal Canadiens appear to be at. This couldn’t come at a better time for the Edmonton Oilers who have been looking for a true No. 1 defenceman since Sheldon Souray’s only good season in Edmonton in 2008-09.
Is Subban a little flashier than most players in the NHL? Sure. Does he like to celebrate goals? Of course! But if that’s the worst thing about him than it doesn’t make much sense why these trade talks are even happening. This is a story that will not go away until July 1 when Subban’s no movement clause kicks in. Odds are that the Canadiens will end up patching things up with their franchise defenceman and all of this will be forgotten in a year. But for the sake of argument, I will look at what it would take for the Oilers to pry Subban out of Montreal in this post.
First off, it would be nearly impossible for the Canadiens to get fair market value for Subban. But if they seriously want to move him, then maybe the Oilers could put together a package. We all know that the first player Habs’ GM Marc Bergevin would be asking Oilers’ GM Peter Chiarelli about is Taylor Hall. I’m as big of a Taylor Hall fan as anyone and it would hurt to see him leave the organization that he has given everything to for the past six years without ever playing a playoff game in Edmonton, but it will likely take Hall plus others to pull off this deal.
Perhaps the Canadiens would have some interest in bringing in Nail Yakupov? Ironically, there were rumours prior to the 2012 NHL Entry Draft that the Canadiens had offered Subban, who was coming off a sophomore campiagn that saw him produce 36 points in 81 games, to the Oilers for the first overall pick. This would have given the Canadiens the chance to select Yakupov as well as his best friend and former Sarnia Sting teammate Alex Galchenyuk. In retrospect, 2012 would have been the year for the Oilers to make such a trade. I had no interest in them trading the first overall pick in 2010 or 2011 when they drafted Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. A Yakupov trade, would reunite him with his former teammate and possibly get his NHL career back on track.
The Canadiens would likely want a defenceman back as well and the names they would be most interested in would be Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom. I can’t see the Oilers trading away Nurse after one season, despite hiss struggles as a rookie or a guy that they locked up to a seven-year extension last fall. This could be where Chiarelli draws the line in the sand in negotiations with Bergevin.
In reality, the Oilers will probably spend more time pursuing trade targets like Travis Hamonic or Sami Vatanen this off-season, but neither of those players comes close to holing the value that a player of Subban’s ilk would bring to the struggling Oilers. Also, with Connor McDavid expected to be the highest paid player in the game by 2018-19, adding a $9 million defenceman might not make sense for the Oilers.
Assuming the Oilers don’t end up winning any of the three lotteries this year, my best trade offer would be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov and the first round pick in 2016 for Subban. Maybe they throw in a prospect, too? Either way, Subban is who Oilers fans really care about. It would be a little premature to put his nameplate on a stall in the Oilers new dressing room at Rogers Place, but they should have a few No. 76 jerseys ready to go for fans just in case.
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This week we saw the Oilers go 2-2-0 with good games against the Jets and Wild on Sunday and Thursday respectively and two stinkers on Tuesday against the Sharks and one last night against the Coyotes (those damn Yotes have our number).
Hey, one bright side: They have won five of their last eight games. There have been improvement, but these injuries are too tough to overcome.
The Edmonton Oilers Three Stars.
Not going to lie, when you get shutout twice, you’re going to be reaching for some stars here. There’s no McDavid. No Hall. No Eberle. None of those guys make an appearance.
Buckle up, it’s not a great list this week:
3. Lauri Korpikoski: Urg. See?!? It’s been so mediocre that Lauri Korpikoski opens up the three stars. He had two goals in both wins. Korpi had some power play time against Arizona and was partly responsible for the Power Play being a failure. He was lousy possession wise when playing with McDavid, but somehow he had two goals so he gets a star.
I know guys. I know.
2. Cam Talbot: Talbot was the First Star of the week last week by the NHL (boy I looked great not listing him there didn’t I!) and this week he had an up down week. Good news: In the two wins, he had a combined 0.971 save percentage. The bad news: in the two losses he had a combined 0.863 save percentage. The total was a 0.917 Save percentage which isn’t bad. He’s been great this season. He’s the real MVP of the team.
2. Jordan Oesterle: He only played against Minnesota and Arizona and had no points but man, does he look good out there. There’s a little bit of hype with some people comparing to Brandon Davidson (oh, he got injured on Sunday and is done for the year most likely). Against Arizona he played a game high 25:27….and was not a minus on the night. He doesn’t look out of place, but it’s a shame how log jammed the Oilers are on the Left Side. I think he could be trade bait and I hope not.
Edmonton Oilers News and Injuries
Hey, remember how people said injuries were a lame excuse? Well the Oilers lost more players to injury including Brandon Davidson on Sunday against Winnipeg and Adam Pardy on….I honestly don’t know. Pardy is out week to week while Davidson’s injury looks horrible. So let’s list the Oilers who have been hurt at one point this year:
Jordan Eberle, Connor McDavid, Nail Yakupov, Oscar Klefbom, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Benoit Pouliot, Matt Hendricks, Eric Gryba, Andrew Ference, Brandon Davidson and Adam Pardy.
The Oilers lost their entire second line at one point. Yes, I would have loved to see this team with a somewhat healthy line up all at once.
Take a look at this list of defensemen in the Edmonton Oilers system and let me know if you see a problem. And just as a preface for the rest of this post, it’s a tad jumpy. So bear with me and I think you’ll get the point at the end.
LEFT HANDED SHOOTERS
RIGHT HANDED SHOOTERS
Andrej Sekera
Justin Schultz (RFA)
Oscar Klefbom
Mark Fayne
Darnell Nurse
Eric Gryba (UFA)
Brandon Davidson (RFA)
Adam Clendenning (RFA)
Andrew Ference (IR)
Ethan Bear (Junior)
Griffin Reinhart
John Marino (NCAA)
Nikita Nikitin (UFA)
David Musil (RFA)
Jordan Oesterle (RFA)
Brad Hunt
Joey LaLeggia
Dillon Simpson
Ben Betker
Martin Gernat (RFA)
William Lagesson (unsigned)
Caleb Jones (unsigned)
Ziyat Paigin (unsigned)
Feel free to let me know if I’ve missed someone in that list but it looks like Peter Chiarelli definitely has his hands full here. He needs to thin this pack out, upgrade it and try to create some balance.
Surely Jultz will be gone by the end of next week and if someone is desperate enough, they just might make a deal for Gryba but I can’t see it. I see him getting re-signed. From what I’m hearing, Gryba is part of the glue of the room. The players look up to him and he looks out for them. Just as Matt Hendricks does for the forwards. I’m in favour of keeping these kinds of players and he’s had a brilliant season to date. Unlucky to have been injured this late in the season but if there’s a team out there that wants that reliable muscle for the playoff run, he’s a pretty good candidate and the Oilers could always re-visit him this summer and see what he’s looking for.
I’m skeptical that Clendenning gets another deal and is allowed to walk and if someone is willing to take a flyer on Nikitin next week. It’s been a blast Nikki. Not really. Mark Fayne could be a rightie that gets moved if there’s a team out there that has cap room and wants the insurance on the back-end.
So that would put the right side at Fayne or Gryba, Fayne and Gryba or neither of them, leaving Mr.Chiarelli a hole or holes to fill. Maybe.
As for the left side, I think that is locked down for the foreseeable future with Sekera, Klefbom, Nurse, Davidson, and Reinhart sitting pretty there. But therein lies another problem. Too many lefties. PC has to move some bodies here. Of course Sekera can move to the right side but then where do you have room to upgrade? You don’t unless you’re willing to move someone.
I wonder if PC will cut bait on Griffin Reinhart. He was supposed to be a full-time NHLer this year and hasn’t been able to hold down a place. That being said, he’s had as many good games as Justin Schultz this year. But would it be so bad if it took him a season more in the minors before he made the switch to pro? With all the lefties competing for a spot, one would have to think that there’s definitely room to have him marinate in Bakersfield for another year. Maybe send him to the gentleman that helped Leon Draisaitl’s skating last summer.
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Do you think Chiarelli would move Klefbom in a deal for Hamonic? Or in a deal where the odds are a million to one, could Nurse be sent to Montreal for Subban? What about St.Louis? Would the Blues want a defender back in a deal for Shattenkirk?
Brandon Davidson has been a revelation for the Oilers this season and is one of the only players on the team that was gifted the time in the minors to develop properly. Funny how things work out when you don’t take shortcuts, isn’t it? I’d like to keep him as he looks to be the kind of guy that calms things down for his partner. He’s still a young guy though, so I wouldn’t exactly start pairing him with Nurse or any other rookies just yet. So hopefully PC gets this guy locked up right quick!
I think ideally you could see the defense going into the 2016-17 season tlooking something like this:
Klefbom – New Guy
Nurse – Sekera
Davidson – Fayne
Gryba
So you’ve moved out Klefbom and Fayne and added Hamonic/Shattenkirk/Vatanen/Demers. Is this a defensive grouping that gets you closer to the playoffs? Closer than the previous group above? I’d have to say yes. Now, I’m not saying the Oilers would deal Fayne for Vatanen. That’s mad. Work out the deals yourself. I’m just throwing names out there that we’ve discussed previously.
Would the latter group be too heavy on the cap? S-kirk is definitely going to be looking for north of $6M per, Vatanen I would think might be looking for Klefbom numbers and Hamonic is already on a pretty sexy deal ($3.8M for the next five years). Demers is a tough call. He’s getting $3.4M now, so let’s say he seeks upwards of $5M per.
Would you be happy with a loading up of higher priced dmen at the sacrifice of skill up front? It’d probably cost an Eberle, Nuge, and/or Hall to get it done. Go the Nashville route?
What do you think the Oilers should do with their glut of lefties on the back-end? Let me know in the comments below! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
Wow, I go to bed and all is well in the land of hockey. I wake up to see a million blogs and podcasts talking about PK Subban and how he’s the problem with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs are struggling and it’s all his fault because he slipped and coughed up the puck vs. the Avs and they scored a GWG off of that mistake.
The problem with the Canadiens is no more PK Subban than it is Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Plekanec or Alex Galchenyuk. It’s Michael Therrien. He’s lost his team. Plain and Simple. Penguins fans know what’s happening here. And if you think that Geoff Molson (Habs Owner) is going to OK a trade of the guy he just went to bat for, you’re insane. Not to mention the fact that Subban just donated $10 Million dollars to a children’s hospital in Montreal. They have to fire Therrien before jettisoning ANY of their players, let alone their best player at the moment.
I guarantee you that if Carey Price is healthy this is all for naught.
Now with all of that said and as I mentioned before, I listened to a few Oilers related podcasts and radio shows today already and I’ve gleaned over the most notable Oilers blogs mentioning this PK Subban nonsense. Let me lay down some quotes for you so you don’t have to travel the oilogosphere searching.
Edmonton is in a position to move fast, even if other teams aren’t. Edmonton has numerous pieces that could be moved for Subban, essentially anyone on the team not named Connor McDavid. This also includes Edmonton’s first pick in the 2016 entry draft, an outstanding trading chip.
Most likely Subban will stay in Montreal and those aligned against him will be moved out.
Outside of Connor McDavid, there isn’t a player on the Oilers’ roster who would be more important to the team than P.K. Subban if Subban were magically to appear in the system.
If he legitimately becomes available—and I’m skeptical that he would—the Oilers would need to make a legitimate offer, with no player other than McDavid absolutely off-limits, including people like Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl, Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse.
You know it’s got to be a trade you look at and say we (Montreal) win.
I think the only way they’d ever trade him is if the deal is so good that your fans would have to say, “You know what? We really hate to lose this guy but that’s a heck of a deal.”
Nobody is untouchable but I do think that some players are close to untouchable and he’s (Subban) one.
I’m not convinced you guys (Oilers) could offer enough.
You are not getting out of this without (offering) at least two of Hall, Draisaitl, Nurse, and Klefbom.
I like Klefbom and Nurse but do they have Subban’s ceiling?
If I was Bergevin I’d ask for both of them (Klefbom and Nurse) and Hall or both of them and Draisaitl.
If I was the Edmonton Oilers and I got the 1st overall pick. Boy, I’ll tell you, I’m not sure if I’m dealing that for PK Subban.
You’re losing 8 years and you’re adding $9 million onto your cap. You might look at it now and say that’s a good deal (1st overall for Subban) but in five years are you going to be looking at it, as good as Connor McDavid is and what you’ve already go there, are you going to be looking at that and saying, “Boy, we really gave up an Auston Matthews in his prime?”
So there you have it. Some notable names in the Oilers media/blogging community have had their say. The conclusion: Go get that Mad Hatter.
What Does BLH Think?
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I think IF the Oilers could strike a deal to get Subban, you do it. Now would I pay the suggested price that Elliotte Friedman is suggesting?… I don’t think I would do that unless a Hamonic deal was in place as well. Losing Klefbom and Nurse is a big hit. Losing Hall, I’m not so worried about that.
Here’s my thought train on the Oilers roster going forth.
This year’s draft is chalked full of elite wingers in the top 5, where the Oilers should be picking. If the Oilers can snag Patrik Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi or Auston Matthews, that to me makes Taylor Hall expendable, thus freeing up $6 million dollars in cap room. I’d much rather keep Ryan Nugent-Hopkins than Taylor Hall at this point. I feel that center depth is infinitely more important than depth on the wing and what has been the biggest complaint for the last 5 years say? If you said the Oilers defence you win!!!
So the Oilers should be a team moving forward to rebuild it’s defence and re-tooling its makeup. Chiarelli did it with Boston, so there’s no reason to believe that he won’t do it in Edmonton. With the pieces he has, surely he’ll get the job done. I think if you ask most folks how many players the team is away from becoming a true competitive team, they might say two or three but the caveat being that those players be on defence. The rest would probably say that the team has too many skilled players and not enough meat and potato guys.
Jordan Eberle is seemingly clicking with McDavid, as is Pouliot and I think it’s pertinent to keep them and keep them together. Scoring is hard enough as it is. With that being said, Hall is on another one of his weird droughts and I’m not sure if Draisaitl is suffering from that or is also in a slump. To me, Hall is another Rick Nash, Marian Gaborik, Ilya Kovalchuk, or even Tyler Seguin but the difference is The Oilers will survive if they move on without him. Having McDavid, Draisaitl, and RNH down the spine could ensure that the way Thornton, Couture, and Pavelski did in San Jose or to a greater extent and often exhausted example, Crosby, Malkin, Staal did in Pittsburgh.
I will probably die a lonely death on this hill but I will go down swinging nonetheless. I believe that the Oilers will find success when at least two of Hall, Yakupov, or RNH are playing on another team. And in my own ignorance, I find Nugent-Hopkins to be more of a keeper than the other two.
I just think you can’t pilfer off your best two-way center, a potentially elite winger (1st rounder in 2016), a struggling former 1st overall, and your best defenceman to get Subban.
The Oilers cannot go into the 2016/17 season with two centers under the age of 21 leading the march. There must be depth and the 2016 FA crop isn’t looking promising in that regards unless you feel like making a pitch for Stamkos, Staal, Backes, or Sam Gagner…
As Friedman said, you mustn’t give up 8 team controlled years of an elite prospect for 7 years of $9 million dollars per season.
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I reckon you take your greatest bargaining chip, put it forward and do your best with that. The Oilers player with the highest value is Taylor Hall.
Would I trade Taylor Hall to the Habs for PK Subban? I would. I would’ve done it years ago when Subban was going through his rocky contract negotiations. Would I add to the deal? I would. I would give them ONE of the either Klefbom or Nurse because they’d have to get a defender back. If I was pushed on Yakupov I’d be willing to move him but something would have to come back. A 2nd round draft pick possibly. The armchair GM in me would ask for Charles Hudon, Nikita Scherbak or Mike McCarron but that seems too much in this case.
Now I’m sure you’re already saying I’m nuts and there’s a solid possibility you’ve already closed the page but consider this. PK Subban is arguably the best defenceman in the league and if he’s not the best, he’s in the top three. Taylor Hall isn’t in the top three of left wingers in the game right now. He might not be in the top five or the top ten depending who you ask.
I think the lingering question with the Oilers is, where would this team be if it was healthy? Would we even be considering trading our young stars if this team was in a competitive spot in the standings? And considering that all of our young scorers, apart from McDavid, have gone through considerable scoring slumps, how important are they really?
But the most important question for you as an Oilers fan to ask yourself is when these rumors come along is… Would the Oilers have a better chance at the playoffs with player A or with player B? In this case insert the names of PK Subban and Taylor Hall.
Of course they’d put Thunder God Shea Weber last AND give him an extra shot in front of the home crowd to see if he could break the human Titan Zdeno Chara’s record (108.8mph)… He was THAT close to doing it too… Check it out below! Don’t worry about the preview if it’s not visible. The video works I assure you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q57xaI7G68c
I was surprised guys like Dustin Byfuglien, Seguin and Aaron Ekblad didn’t have harder shots and equally shocked that Stamkos and Malkin had shots that were that hard. Maybe Stamkos not so much but still, 103mph is ridiculously awesome. Why doesn’t he score more? Maybe he should play more wing…
![The Best of P.K. Subban [HD]](https://i0.wp.com/i.ytimg.com/vi/6a9E87mlWaA/hqdefault.jpg?w=474&ssl=1)
![The Best of Taylor Hall [HD]](https://i0.wp.com/i.ytimg.com/vi/xxfusMGjyTQ/hqdefault.jpg?w=474&ssl=1)
