Back To Business

First off, let me extend a congrats to all of you in Canada, which I assume is most if not all of you! As an American, I owe you a congratulations of the gold medal game victory over Sweden. Well deserved medal for Canada, there is no debating that. Now, let’s get back to some business that is at foot. That business is the Edmonton Oilers.

This next stretch leading up to March 5th is going to be very busy and likely going to see a flurry of news. What should we expect in the upcoming week and a half?

The Games:

Edmonton will play a total of three games, all at Rexall Place. It starts Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, keeps going Saturday in a prime time battle with the Calgary Flames, and concludes on trade deadline eve with a rare visit from the Ottawa Senators. All three of these games are, well, winnable for the Oilers.

The Oilers concluded their last stretch before the break playing 5-1-1 hockey, and looking good in some of those games. The goaltending was hot, and the top-line was looking really good. Additions like Matt Hendricks were helping out as well, and the Oilers were starting to look like a real hockey team.

The Wild are a team currently in the playoffs, but have had up and down stretches this season and are certainly beatable. The Flames and Oilers have met three times this season, with Edmonton going 2-0-1 and arguably outplaying Calgary all three games. That is a game the team absolutely has to have.

Lastly, Ottawa is a team that is only one point out of a playoff spot, but one that has had it’s fair share of issues this season. The Sens lack a dominant scorer right now, and are a team that has fragile confidence. Edmonton already beat them once this season, and can certainly beat them a second time.

A 2-1 stretch here from the Oilers would be a good sign that maybe things are starting to move in the right direction with this organization. It’s not that far fetched to imagine Edmonton snagging two wins in the next week plus.

The Trades and Rumors:

This is about to heat up in a big way. The Oilers have Ales Hemsky, Sam Gagner, Ryan Jones, Ryan Smyth, Nick Schultz, Anton Belov, Corey Potter, and possibly Ilya Bryzgalov on the trade market right now. That has the makings of a few trades coming. I think it is relatively certain that Schultz and Hemsky will be moved, and wouldn’t be shocked if Gagner, Jones, Smyth and Belov get moved as well.

The Oilers were rumored to be talking to LA and Nashville regarding Gagner, while a number of teams have been linked to Hemsky. The Bruins have been linked to Schultz, while there are certainly other teams that will jump in as we move closer to the deadline.

I don’t think it is unrealistic to expect anywhere from three to five trades in the next week and a half. That’s a lot of deals, but it is certainly possible. Just goes to show where the Oilers are right now and where they are heading.

Oilers Rig Content:

The next nine days are going to be busy and we’ll have it all covered. The Oilers Rig radio goes live on Tuesday, February 25th at 7:30 p.m. MT, then again twice next week, with a Monday night show and a special Wednesday night trade deadline edition of the show. The website side of things will have a live blog hosted by yours truly on deadline day, that will be updated all day long.

Of course, you can read all the latest trade speculation and Oilers news right here as well.

The next nine days promise to be exciting for Oilers fans. The team has three games and a lot of possible trade speculation. What happens next is anyone’s guess. At 11:59 p.m. est tonight, the fun starts back up. It promises to be an interesting stretch. Buckle up Oiler fans.