Could this be the guy we’ve all been waiting for? The top pairing right-handed shot? According to Joshua Marshall, the Oilers are in on the emerging Dougie Hamilton sweepstakes…
I'm hearing that #Flames D Dougie Hamilton could be moved as earlier as this Friday. CGY is getting lots of calls for him, #Oilers in on him
I know… I’ve got no idea who he is either but he’s chummy with some pro hockey players and was apparently responsible for the Petrovic/Yakupov rumour this summer. So maybe we should consider this rumour just that…
But then again, if we dig back a bit further… Bob Stauffer was tweeting out some stats on Hamilton the evening previous and we all know how Bobby loves his clever rumor drops…
Flames D Dougie Hamilton is a good player. But he went -3 tonight and played just 14:39 vs NYR, and is now -10 in last 4 GP
I’m not sure what the Oilers would be willing to give up at this point, maybe Brandon Davidson. Maybe Darnell Nurse. But Calgary are in the hole a bit with regards to its salary cap, so it’s entirely possible that taking the team’s performances into consideration and said cap issues, Mr.Treliving might be looking to rid himself of a big ticket item.
Then again, they’ve got some expensive guys coming off their books at the end of the year. So maybe Burkie is a bit tired of the Dougie and wants a shake-up… Who knows?!
I think for the Oilers, they’ve got 6 players on LTIR and have about $3.7 million in cap room, so they’d need to move someone with skrilla like Benoit Pouliot, Mark Fayne or Matt Hendricks.
I’m all for it. If the cavalry is on its way and we’re not happy with some players, move them along, perhaps with the Oilers 1st rounder in the upcoming draft and bring in the Dougie. Caggiula, Hendricks, and Davidson are all skating again and some room is going to have to be made. Could this possibly be a way for Chia to rid himself of Griffin Reinhart? Pilfering him down to play for his old man’s and older brother’s ex-team would be something.
What do you think? Should the Oilers pony up and pick up a Dougie Hamilton? Let me know in the comments below.
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.
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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.
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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
So, as a follow-up article to my precious article’s attempt to place a value on a top-pairing right-side defensemen, I was asked “What’s the value of a Top-5 pick”. Now, if you believe Auston Matthews is a generational player, I previously wrote an article trying to come up with a modern version of the Lindros trade, which was the last time a “generational” forward was dealt. However, if you don’t think Matthews fits into that mold, this will cover a more traditional view of what a Top-5 pick is worth.
Since the 2000 season, the following trades for Top-5 picks have occurred. Notice from 2000-2004 it was extremely common to see movement in the draft, but since then it has been less likely to occur. We have:
2000:
#5 Raffi Torres, NYI from Tampa
Kevin Weekes, Kristian Kudroc and a 2001 2nd round pick for the #5 pick, 2000 4th round pick and a 2000 7th round pick;
What did they get:
Kevin Weekes had a few seasons under his belt by that point, but had never played more than 36 games in a season until this trade. He had ok numbers going forward, so we can classify him as an average NHL starter.
Kristian Kudroc was a 6’7, 225lb right-shot defenseman, who was a very physical player, but he never panned out at the NHL level with only 26 total NHL games in his career, but teams have always been willing to place a premium on giants like this;
A 2nd round pick, giving you a 33.8% chance of landing an NHL player;
What did they give up:
The #5 pick, which has a chance of being 73.8% chance of being a Top-6 caliber or better player.
A 4th round pick, which is an 18.9% chance of giving you an NHL player;
A 7th round pick, which is a 9.3% chance of giving you an NHL player;
2001:
#2 Jason Spezza, Ottawa from NYI
Alexei Yashin for Bill Muckalt, Zdeno Chara and the #2 pick;
What did they get:
Oh, the trades you wish you could take back if you were the Islanders.. Having said that, at the time of the deal, Yashin had put up 88 points in 82 NHL games the previous season, and his time with the Islanders wasn’t that bad, putting up 75 in 78 the next season. As well, he was a legitimate top-line NHL center at the time. If it wasn’t for his absurd deal, he likely would have had a much longer career with the Islanders, as he had 50 points in 58 games the season he was bought out. He played 5 seasons with the Islanders, scoring 290 points in 346 games.
What did they give up:
Bill Muckalt was your average NHL depth winger, not much to consider there.
The #2 pick, which is that 73.8% chance of getting a top-6 player or better;
Zdeno Chara, the 6’9 250lb giant, who was in his 4th season with the Islanders when this trade went down. Now, it should be noted that with the Islanders, he didn’t seem nearly as skilled as he turned out to be, putting up 29 points in 231 games. It was pretty clear he had a mean streak. However, his first season with the Senators he put up 23 points in 75 games, and never looked back. Call this a quality prospect defenseman deal.
2002:
#1 Rick Nash, Columbus from Florida
#3, some draft swap options that were not exercised for next year (ability to swap first round picks) #3 Jay Bouwmeester, Florida from Columbus
What did they get: This was a classic example of two teams preferring different players (forwards or defensemen), and swapping their picks that year with the option for the other team to swap them next season… Essentially, this was just an attempt to pick up a better draft spot next year when an organization clearly preferred a player.
#4 Joni Pitkanen, Philly from Tampa
Ruslan Fedotenko, 2 2002 2nd round picks for the #4
What did they give up:
At the time, Ruslan Fedotenko had seasons of 36 points in 74 games and 26 points in 78 games. During his time with the Lightning, he was around a 45-point winger, so a solid second-line player.
The pair of 2nd round picks gives the team 33.8% chance for each pick of landing an NHL player
What did they get:
A defenseman in the first 5 picks has a 64.7% chance of being a Top-4 defenseman;
2003:
#1 Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh from Florida
The #3 pick, 2003 2nd round pick for the #1 and a 2003 3rd round pick;
Once again, this was a case of organizations preferring a given player in the Top-5, where the team trading down to pick their player gained a 2nd round pick for a 3rd round pick for doing it.
2004:
#4 Andrew Ladd, Carolina from Columbus
A 2004 1st round pick and a 2004 2nd round pick for the #4 pick.
And the same idea here, where a team picked up an additional 2nd round pick for moving down a few spots.
2008:
#3 Zach Bogosian
Rights to Keith Tkachuk, conditional 4th round pick;
This was a deal sweetener trade for Keith Tkachuk if they were able to resign him, so essentially a #3 pick was used to balance a trade for a Top-3 power forward. A parallel could be used here if the Oilers were to make a trade for Kevin Shattenkirk and part of the deal was a 1st round pick going to the Blues if they were able to re-sign him.
#5 Luke Schenn, Toronto from NYI
The #5 pick for the #7 pick, 2008 3rd round pick and a 2009 2nd round pick
Once again, we have a trading down deal, where an organization dropped down 2 spots in the draft to pick up some extra 2nd and 3rd round picks.
2010:
#2 Tyler Seguin, Boston from Toronto
Phil Kessel for #2, 2010 2nd round, 2011 1st round #9
Now this is one of the rare deals, where an elite NHL winger was dealt;
What did they get:
Phil Kessel was just coming into his own then, and he went on to put up some very high numbers with a very bad Toronto organization. He would be considered an elite Top-3 winger;
What did they give up:
The #2 pick would be a 73.8% chance of a Top-6 or better forward;
The #9 in 2011 was a 64.7% chance of getting a Top-4 defenseman;
And the 2nd round pick was a 33.8% chance of getting an NHL player;
So, if we remove all the trades that would just be the Oilers trading down slightly to get a couple more 2nd or 3rd round picks, we have these left:
A #5 pick (as well as a 4th round pick and a 7th round pick) went for an average starting goaltender, a quality prospect defenseman, and a 2nd round pick;
A #2 pick as well as a depth forward and a quality prospect defenseman for a Top-3 NHL center;
A #4 pick for a 2nd line Winger and a pair of 2nd round picks;
A #3 pick as a deal sweetener if a team re-signs an elite forward (or player) they get in a deal;
A #2 pick, a #9 pick and a 2nd round pick for an Elite Top-3 scoring winger;
The #9 in 2011 was a 64.7% chance of getting a Top-4 defenseman;
And the 2nd round pick was a 33.8% chance of getting an NHL player;
So, what can we conclude from this? Depending on where the Oilers pick, we can see that you can get an elite NHL forward for a #2 pick if you include either another pick or a quality prospect defenseman. If you go down to #3, you can use this to seal the deal on a soon-to-be UFA elite player in a deal. At #4, you can get yourself a Top-6 forward and a few extra picks, and at #5 you can get a quality prospect, a starting goaltender and an extra depth pick.
I would say there’s little point in trading the #4 or #5 here, as teams rarely got anything worth the effort. For the #3, this would be an example, as mentioned, of how the Oilers may do a deal for Brent Burns or Kevin Shattenkirk, who both have one year until free agency, however that wouldn’t work for this year’s draft anyhow, it would be more likely to involve their pick next year. And lastly, we can see that you can land an elite NHL forward in a deal for that #2 pick. Having said that, if you look at the Yashin deal and the Seguin deal, both teams trading for that elite player and giving up the draft pick did not fare well. Essentially, teams dealing their Top-5 picks don’t tend to come out of it all that well unless they’re doing a swap with another team for a high first round pick to get the player they prefer.
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Boy was the Oilogosphere in a state last night after the news of Justin Schultz and Teddy Purcell being scratched not to mention that Canadiens’ GM Marc Bergevin and his gaggle of scouts being in attendance in Los Angeles. Well I’ve got a couple of juicy rumours to throw your way that were passed on to me before the game. You might’ve noticed me shooting them out on Twitter yesterday to see how they would be taken.
Rumour #1
Nail Yakupov and Mark Fayne to the Canadiens for Alexei Emelin, Lars Eller, and Noah Juulsen
I had some Habs fans tweet back at me that they thought a D prospect would be too much to add here and possibly a 3rd rounder would be more fair. Also, the money evens out. The entity that passed the word on to me said that the Habs are going to make a push for the playoffs and with the injuries to Jeff Petry and Tom Gilbert, Mark Fayne would be a perfect substitute. Big able-bodied dman that doesn’t use his body much and is an Oiler… Perfect I’d say.
As for Yak, did you see the way he was flying around the rink last night? It’s as if someone told him he’d better have a good game or else he wouldn’t be reunited with his best friend, Habs winger Alex Galchenyuk.
I think if this deal were completed it would mark the end of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as Lars Eller would surely be his replacement but it would also allow the team to get a bit tougher on the back-end with Emelin. I’m not sold on him as actually being a good dman but he’s definitely the type that doesn’t shy away from the physical stuff.
Juulsen is the Habs top prospect I’d say and could definitely be of use in the future if the team walks away from Martin Gernat and/or David Musil this summer. He’s also a right-handed shooter, something the Oilers are in desperate need of in the pros and in their prospect cupboard. Here’s what Elite Prospects had to say about him:
All-in-all, an impactful presence on the ice that strives to be difficult to play against; given how hard he works and how smart he is with the puck, he can be a very difficult player to read with and without the puck
Rumour #2
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Nail Yakupov, Justin Schultz, and a 2nd round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Jonathan Drouin and Anthony DeAngelo.
I think this one is a bit harder as the Lightning are pretty tight to the cap. If you look at it on paper, it could be a very even deal. Personally I think the team has enough skill on the roster and I’d probably be inclined to flip Drouin to another team who might have a defenseman or a young power forward, say Columbus for example. They’re looking for skill now and why not see if they’d part with Boone Jenner?
Rumour #3
Teddy Purcell to the Panthers for Brandon Pirri
I have to be honest. I don’t know a whole lot about Brandon Pirri but from what I’ve heard, he’s a shooter and the Oilers need more of those. Especially if there’s a possibility that they could move Hall (probably not), Eberle (probably), and Yakupov (most likely).
Teddy has had a pretty good run here with Edmonton but I’m indifferent on him. I knew he would go through long stretches where he wouldn’t do anything. With that said, he seemed to click with Draisaitl and Hall. We’ll see how much we miss him down the road here after watching Zack Kassian fill his spot on Hall’s line.
So there you have it? What do you think about these Oilers trade rumours? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe to our new YouTube Channel. You can check out our latest videos below!
Boy the Toronto Maple Leafs are making waves today! Dion Phaneuf becomes a Senator (Are they paving the way for Steven Stamkos to come home?) and now there are rumblings that they could be involved in a three-way trade with the Oilers and the Sabres! Add to that the fact that Griffin Reinhart (Not Darnell Nurse…) was sent down to Bakersfield, Justin Schultz is a healthy scratch for the Oilers’ game versus the New Jersey Devils on Martin Brodeur’s jersey retirement night AND Cody Franson is a healthy scratch for the Sabres…
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My source told me WEEKS AGO here that the Sabres and Oilers were talking Schultz, so this isn’t breaking news to those that follow the site. But maybe the Sabres were waiting on the Phaneuf deal’s shoe to drop in order to make this move closer to happening.
To add to the Sabres rumour, Tampa Bay was also a team I was told were looking at Schultz and they just lost Jason Garrison…
On today’s episode of Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer dove in right off the bat with news that Schultz’s healthy scratch could be trade related. Later on in the segment, he noted that he was sure that something could happen before the trade deadline but was skeptical that anything would happen in the duration of his show.
In addition, Renaud Lavoie was the gentleman that broke the news.
Hearing that #oilers Justin Schultz being scratch tonight vs #devils might be trade related. #tvasports
As for the three-way deal, it’s just rumoured at the moment, but essentially Schultz would go to Buffalo, Franson would head back to Toronto where he enjoyed some success before being dealt to Nashville last year and then signing with the Sabres this year, and prospects would head back to Edmonton.
No word on any prospects has leaked out yet. Paul Almeida of Saturday Sports Extra indicated that he likes a guy in the Sabres system named Will Borgen, a 6’2″ 190lb two-way defenceman. He’s playing for St.Cloud in the NCAA right now and is a former 4th round pick in 2015. Hockey’s Future had this to say about him:
Borgen is an athletic, two-way skating defenseman. He is not the biggest player on the ice, but is willing to engage physically and competes every shift. He has proven he can score at the high school level, but lacks dynamic offensive ability to really translate to the pros.
He IS right-handed but I’d sure like it if the Oilers were to aim little higher. That being said, this player is just one that Almeida said he liked and premised on a one-for-one deal, not a three-way.
So i read Franson #Sabres and Schultz #Oilers healthy scratches. I'd prefer prospect Will Borgen from the Sabres. Saw him at WJ with USA
The Sabres prospects do not impress me at all, I’m not sure I’d listen to any deals if Tim Murray was offering them. But the Maple Leafs’ have a plethora of good-looking prospects that would help the Oilers depth. Andrew Neilsen, Viktor Loov, and Scott Harrington are large bodied stay-at-home dmen with a physical edge. Connor Brown and Zach Hyman are skilled left-wingers and Brendan Leipsic and Dmytro Timashov are compact but crafty right-wingers with big compete levels and an ability to put points on the board.
As for Bob Stauffer, he’s certain that the Oilers can get more than the 4th round pick that Mark Spector was speculating on.
What do you think about this Oilers trade rumor? Could the Oilers get more or less than a 4th rounder for Justin Schultz? Let me know in the comments below!
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