Are The Oilers Trade Hunting?

Some rather interesting Edmonton Oilers rumors are floating around this afternoon from a few different places that aren’t known to make things up. Both TSN and The Fourth Period had some interesting bits of information that have come out in the last 24 hours. The topics range from goaltending, to blue-line depth, and to gritty forwards with NHL level talent.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was on a TSN radio station this morning and reported that he knows the Oilers and Ducks have had talks regarding Anaheim netminder Jonas Hiller, who is a free agent at season’s end. Hiller is a solid goalie and one that would be a slight upgrade on Dubnyk, so it makes sense from the Edmonton point of view.

The Ducks have Viktor Fasth with the big club now, and have terrific young goalies Frederik Anderson and John Gibson in the system, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see them move the pending UFA Hiller.

Dreger went on to mention that he would guess the Ducks would ask for a young roster player (No, it won’t be one of the kids) or a higher draft pick in return.

The move makes sense to a degree for Edmonton if they could get Hiller signed to an extension, but I don’t see it happening right now.

Elliotte Friedman of CBC’s HNIC coverage jumped in too with his 30 thoughts today, adding that he too heard the Oilers talked with the Ducks regarding Hiller. Friedman also brought up that the Oilers talked with the Blues regarding Brian Elliot (A report The Fourth Period also made) and that they also explored the route of Jake Allen in St. Louis, but he’s a major part of the Blues’ future.

The Fourth Period brought up that Edmonton had talked with the Ducks, Blues and two other teams, the Capitals and the Sabres. There is no doubt the Sabres talk was around Ryan Miller, but reports are those talks were NEVER as hot as they seemed, and were a long shot. In terms of Washington, TFP reported the Oilers were looking at goalie Michal Neuvirth.

No shock the Oilers were in hot pursuit of a goalie these last few days. The position had cost them about three wins and the team was in danger of falling out of it. That said, the Oilers were unable to pull the trigger on something and Dubnyk has looked good these last two games. Still, this is something to keep an eye on moving forward. It’s also interesting we’ve heard so many names mentioned too.

Goalie isn’t the only position the team is looking at right now according to The Fourth Period either. The Oilers are rumored to be in the market for some blue-line help and some gritty, two-way forward help. What exactly, or who exactly, they are looking at wasn’t stated, but I think we get the idea.

The Oilers are looking for a difference maker on the back-end, and this isn’t the first time we have heard rumors of this from some very respected media people. Bob McKenzie mentioned this just a little over a week ago remember.

There were no names listed, but we can imagine the Oilers are looking at everything here. Whether that’s a major move, like Yakupov going out and a stud on the blue-line coming in, or a depth move we don’t know. That said, MacT isn’t satisfied with his blue-line, and and is at least exploring the option of adding to it, as he should.

As for the two-way forward, an interesting name was mentioned, and that was Buffalo’s Steve Ott. Ott is a character guy who brings some real toughness to the table and a pretty good two-way game. That’s a guy that would be a perfect add for a team like Edmonton right now, who could use some bottom six help and some sand-paper in the line-up.

That’s just off the report, and it stresses that nothing is imminent. It paints the picture of what Edmonton wants though, and it shows that Craig MacTavish’s final vision for this team is not what we see on the ice right now.

Will the Oilers make a move or two in the near future? I’m not sure, but it’s very obvious the Oilers are looking around and trying to improve this club. Some urgency finally? We’ll see what happens as the season keeps wearing on.