BREAKING: Oilers Trade Horcoff

Some breaking news on this July 4th. The Edmonton Oilers have traded center Shawn Horcoff to the Dallas Stars. The first major move of the MacT era is here. Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie were the first to report the deal.

There is no announced return yet, but Dreger is reporting multiple pieces are heading back to Dallas. I’ll fill this blog with more details as they happen. I’ll also have an Oilers rumor blog up later. Going to be a busy night. I’ll be back when the details are announced.

UPDATE 9:25 p.m. est: The Edmonton Oilers have traded captain and center Shawn Horcoff to the Dallas Stars for a 2016 7th round draft pick and defender Phillip Larsen. The Oilers will eat NO money in the deal.

Horcoff was a solid Oiler for a very long time, but he and the team needed to split after the last few seasons. With an overpaid contract and a tough stat sheet, the fans and Horcoff had grown a little weary of each other.

At the end of season meetings, MacTavish and Horcoff agreed a split was for the best, and the Oilers allowed Horcoff to seek out trades with other teams. It was the right move for everyone involved.

The Oilers get a 7th round pick three years from now, which is pretty much a nothing when it’s all said and done. In Larsen however, the Oilers might have something here. The 23 year old Danish defender is a young puck-mover with some upside. While he struggled in Dallas last season, he is an NHL defender, and could be valuable down the road.

Larsen will most likely be the 7th defender in Edmonton this season, and will probably replace veteran Corey Potter, who could be moved at this point. Larsen needs to work on his defensive game, but he’s shown glimpses over his three year NHL career.

I expect Larsen will be an Oiler come opening night, but that being said I don’t expect him to fill the Oilers top four need, and I don’t think this changes the Oilers chase of someone like Brayden Coburn. I still firmly believe they are looking for a top four option.

The Oilers get a young defender with some upside, a pick, and a lot of cap space back in this deal. It’s hard not to like it from an Oilers perspective. While Horcoff is a solid player, it was clear that his time in Edmonton was up. I wish him the best in Dallas.

For Craig MacTavish, this kicks off what looks to be a very busy 48 hours. I expect we see some moves tomorrow as well. Possibly a trade, and most likely a signing or two.

As for his first deal, it’s hard to not give Craig MacTavish a passing grade here. He got a bad contract off the books, got assets back, and most importantly, didn’t retain any salary. Good work.

I’ll be back a little later with an Oilers rumblings blog. Off to enjoy the rest of my fourth of July! Follow me on twitter @Alex_Thomas14 in the meantime.