Apply Here: Oilers Still Need C Help

We know that the Oilers are still lacking a top-pairing defender, but it’s clear that MacT is going to try and fill this with a by committee approach, hence the signings of Mark Fayne and Nikita Nikitin. One area where the Oilers simply don’t have a solution for currently is the center position.

There is no doubt that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be the top-line center this coming season, while Boyd Gordon will be on the fourth line. It’s also very possible, and even highly likely, that Leon Draisaitl makes the Oilers as the center on the third line, which very well could be a soft minutes scoring line that includes Benoit Pouliot and Nail Yakupov or Teddy Purcell.

Line two however does not have a clear NHL option on it. Mark Arcobello showed well in this spot for a stretch last year, but can he be the second-line center on a team that wants to compete in the NHL’s premiere division? What about Anton Lander? The answer likely is not either of these two forwards, which means Edmonton must go to market.

The Market Place:

The Oilers were highly interested in Ducks free agent Mathieu Perreault according to reports, but he ended up signing in Winnipeg. Paul Stastny and Mikhail Grabovski, two other rumored Oiler targets, ended up signing in St. Louis and Long Island respectively. That doesn’t exactly leave Edmonton with any big time options on the free agent market.

David Legwand, in my mind, is the best center left on the market. He’s a solid veteran forward who isn’t a small and skilled guy, but still has decent offensive production to go with good underlying numbers and a history of being a smart, two-way player.

Yes he is getting older, but he would be the perfect place holder for Draisaitl and the perfect number two option behind RNH for a year or two.

Trading Faces:

What about the trading route? This seems entirely possible if you ask me, and the more likely situation. Outside of Legwand, the free agent market has no options, and the odds aren’t good that Edmonton gets Legwand in my mind. The Oil will likely need to look at a cap-strapped team and snag a center.

The St. Louis Blues have about six million left, but still need to re-sign a few RFA’s, and thanks to signing Paul Stastny they have centers to spare. Patrik Berglund is the likely man to move, and he would be a nice fit in Edmonton. He’s more of a third line guy, but he could fill the second line role for a year or two before moving down the depth chart of Draisaitl.

I’d imagine the Blues would want draft picks or prospects, or a combination of both to get a deal done.

There are other options out there as well. The Bruins are cap-strapped and looking to move Chris Kelly’s contract, but he is nothing more than a third line center. Same goes for Philly’s Vinny Lecavalier, who is also on the trade market. The Columbus Blue Jackets have Artem Anisimov, but they don’t have a replacement option for him at the moment.

The most likely target here is Berglund of the Blues, after all Bob Stauffer has been pumping up his tires and the Oil have a decent trading relationship with the Blues during the MacT era, making the Perron deal last summer and a deal involving picks at the 2013 entry draft. Berglund makes sense for the Oilers, and makes sense for the Blues to move off with Stastny coming to town.

What To Expect:

I’d have to think the Oilers will be in a holding pattern until David Legwand makes his decision, which could come on Thursday afternoon. I’d have to think Legwand is an Oiler target and likely their first choice so they don’t have to move assets out. After that, I’d suspect MacT makes a call to the Blues to try and snag Berglund from them.

We know, based off of his comments on Tuesday, that he is still looking for a center, so I suspect we see some movement here in the coming days.

MacT had a solid start to this off-season, but what he does with this hole may very well tell the tale of what happens when the puck drops in October. The Oilers badly need an NHL level center for their second line, but they must not do anything stupid here. That means no Petry for Berglund deals. Go hard after Legwand, and dangle picks and the many prospects and see what you come home with.

I suspect we’ll know the verdict here in the next three or four days.