With the dog days of summer coming to an end, we are starting to get to see what kind of team the Edmonton Oilers will ice come October. Bob Stauffer alluded to potential happenings before the start of the season on his radio show Oilers Now. Alex Thomas discussed this in one of his previous articles, and he named Dennis Wideman and Cody Franson as possible acquisitions via Stauffer.
While those names aren’t the sexiest, they would contribute to an upgrade on the Oilers blueline. While that’s all well and good, there’s a name that I believe is a better fit for the Oilers QB on the PP. The player I’m speaking of belongs to an original six team that is currently in cap hell; the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings were able to move Pavel Datsyuk’s salary to the Arizona Coyotes and they spent every penny and then some bringing back Darren Helm, adding Frans Nielsen, Steve Ott, and Thomas Vanek, and extending Danny DeKeyser. Even with Johan Franzen and Joe Vitale on the LTIR, the Red Wings find themselves $4,867,042 over the Salary Cap.
MIKE GREEN
The player I believe the Oilers should target is Mike Green. Green is an Alberta native (from Calgary), and he is known as a bonafide, proven power play quarterback. While he won’t be putting up anymore 70-point seasons, he still hovers around the 40-point mark, and is automatically the top offensive defensemen on the orange and blue.
Here’s where it gets good. Green is slated to earn a cap hit of $6 million in the next two seasons, and the Oilers have the cap space to take that contract on. With the Red Wings needing to get under the cap, the Oilers don’t need to send money back.
WHY THIS WORKS FOR THE RED WINGS
The Red Wings have seven other defensemen capable of playing in the NHL this season. Danny DeKeyser, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson and Alexei Marchenko are a solid top four group. Brendan Smith can fill out the bottom pairing next to one of Xavier Ouellet, Ryan Sproul, or Robbie Russo.
Ryan Sproul may be the biggest reason this deal gets done, as he will have to clear waivers if he doesn’t make the club and with his draft pedigree (55th overall in 2011), pro experience (three pro seasons under his belt) and breakout performance (75-12-23-35, even) for Grand Rapids, he is sure to attract a club looking for depth on the blueline.
Also that pesky expansion draft will be in the back of every GM’s mind, and the Wings will want to see what they have in some of their young defenders before deciding who to expose.
WHY THIS WORKS FOR THE OILERS
The Oilers biggest need is a right shot, offensive defenseman who can quarterback the power play. Check, check and check.
Green’s presence will allow the Oilers to properly develop some of their young defensemen in the minors. Jordan Oesterle, Griffin Reinhart and even Darnell Nurse may spend more time in the minors this year because of a Green addition, and while it will suck not watching our young guns develop in front of our eyes, we all know it’s likely for the best.
This will likely affect the Oilers in the expansion draft as well, considering this may mean they expose either Brandon Davidson or Griffin Reinhart, but this team needs to improve now, and Green will do that.
WHY I BELIEVE THIS DEAL COULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN
Like most Chiarelli moves, this one could come out of the blue. We never heard rumours of Patrick Maroon, Zack Kassian, Griffin Reinhart or Adam Larsson until they happened. Nobody has mentioned Mike Green, and that may be the plan. Of course I would love for this to happen for my credibility (of being a cheeto-eating blogger that guessed something correctly), but also for my favourite team. Green fills a need.
The biggest hurdle may be the fact that Green has a full no-trade clause, but i’m hoping an Alberta boy wouldn’t mind returning home. I’ve made the drive from Edmonton to Calgary in less than two hours, so I’m sure he could too.
Imagine a blueline that looks like this to start the season…
Klefbom-Larsson
Sekera-Green
Davidson-Fayne
Nurse/Gryba*
*Assuming he makes good on his tryout.
Not too shabby. Adding a little more experience so the group (channel my inner-Principe) doesn’t look so Green….
RIG RADIO
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you may have heard I will be your host for the Rig Radio Podcast, and I am absolutely delighted to be starting this journey. I recently made the decision that I wanted to pursue a career in Sports Radio, and it must be a match made in heaven because one week after making this decision, Dave Gordon shot me a message saying The Rig was looking for a podcast host. After squealing like a little girl for a long period of time I said yes and have begun honing my craft.
To practice that craft, I have my recording my own personal hockey talk podcast called the Potratz Hockey Podcast. Click the link and you can hear some of my previous shows that only 20 people have ever heard. It’s really just me rambling on about hockey news all by myself, and is a much different approach then the plans we have for Rig Radio.
Follow me on twitter @PotratzHockey and feel free to ask questions you want us to answer on the show!
I look forward to this journey, and know we couldn’t do it without any of you RigHeads!
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