Avalanche In Pursuit Of Davidson?

Brandon Davidson is a popular name nowadays.

If you haven’t heard about the rampant rumours surrounding the future of Oilers defenceman, Brandon Davidson, we here at The Rig have a few articles for you to check out:

Overview of the initial Brandon Davidson rumours (courtesy of yours truly)

Analysis of Davidson to Tampa rumour (via Alex Thomas)

However, the watch continues, as yet another rumour has surfaced around the young Oilers rearguard. This one involves the lowly Colorado Avalanche, who have reportedly been in the market for some young defencemen.

The Source:

Elliotte Friedman must like getting mentioned in my articles lately because, once again, the king of NHL trade rumours has provided the source for today’s narrative.

The following excerpt can be found in his most recent edition of 30 Thoughts:

“Finally on the Avalanche, there’s a certain logic that they are one of the teams taking a run at Edmonton’s Brandon Davidson”

Analysis of Rumour:

Not much more can be said about the fact that the Oilers will most likely ship out Davidson based on the expectation that Las Vegas will select him during the expansion draft; so I’ll give you the short version.

The Oilers want to trade Davidson to avoid losing him for nothing in the expansion draft. They also want to avoid losing a guy like Kris Russell, who they want to keep. I guess they believe that Vegas will take a pass on Russell, and the Oil are opening up some cap for him by moving on from Davidson. Don’t shoot the messenger on the Russell thing, this is just what management feels is best. They don’t want to lose Davidson, obviously, but they feel its necessary for the sake of proper asset management

OK, back to the good stuff!

The Colorado Avalanche are expected to be among one of the most active teams at this year’s deadline. With the team being an absolute tire fire this season, it seems as though, Avs GM, Joe Sakic wants to retry this whole “rebuild” thing. This has lead to big names such as Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene becoming some of the bigger names on the trade rumours of late. The asking price for these two seem to be centered around the Avalanche acquiring a talented young defenceman.

A Davidson deal involving Colorado does make an ordinate amount of sense. Davidson is only 25 years old, entering the prime years of his career, so he would very much fit into what the Avs want on their current roster. The Oilers, who are in need of depth forwards, could take advantage of Colorado’s seller position and load up for a prospective playoff run.

This rumour certainly passes the smell test.

My Take:

The Oilers would be wise to listen to any team inquiring on Davidson’s availability on the trade market. The Avalanche do provide a few suitable players that the team could employ in important roles down the stretch. Seeing as though the Avalanche are in a position to load up on draft picks, this would not be a deal that would see the Oilers only getting picks in return. The Avs would have to give up a forward to get BDavy to the Mile High City.

The Oilers are in need of two things: a third line center and depth wingers. The Avalanche offer a few options that I could see Chiarelli being interested in:

Mikhail Grigorenko, a former Sabre, is a 22 year old centerman that has seen time on the wing this year with the Avalanche. Initially acquired from the Sabres in exchange for Ryan O’Reilly, Grigorenko has accumulated 17pts in 47 games so far this season. He stands tall and firm at 6’3 209 lbs, and you can already see the appeal in a player like him. Peter Chiarelli, a lover of the strong physical role players, could have his eyes set on Grigorenko in any deal involving Colorado. “Grigs” could easily slot into that third-line center role with the Oilers, playing alongside guys like Milan Lucic and Drake Caggiula. His young age means that this acquisition could have implications outside of this season. The team could also fit him on the expansion protection list without losing a real asset up front.

The idea that the Oilers could get Jarome Iginla has also been discussed to some length, I delved into this idea in more detail in this article written this past weekend. His size, coupled with his veteran leadership, could help the team immensely down the stretch. Not to mention that the Oilers are incredibly weak on the RW. While Davidson seems like an overpayment for the 39-year-old, this should be something the team looks at while they are doing business with Colorado. The pot would have to be sweetened in the Oilers favour if this were to happen.

Lastly, the final player that I could see the Oilers having interest in from the Avs is Gabriel Landeskog. Yes, it seems like a far-fetched concept for the Oil to acquire a guy like Landeskog but just hear me out. Landeskog plays LW and he plays it well. The Oilers, as previously insinuated, are incredibly thin in regards to winger depth and having a guy of the caliber of Landeskog could help this team go deep into the playoffs. However, his cap hit might be a fair bit rich for the Oilers liking. Gotta keep room for the McDavids and Draisaitls on this team.

My personal preference would be a deal that centered around that of Grigorenko, as I think he would offer the Oilers the most of what they need, as well as be a guy that they could incorporate into their future.

If this is something we could potentially see happening as the deadline looms ever nearer, I don’t know, but it’s an awful lot of fun to speculate!

Thanks For Reading!

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