The Cost Of A Pipe Dream

Last Thursday Craig MacTavish made mention about going out and getting a stud defender, how it is something that would greatly benefit this current roster. It’s something the fans and media have been talking about for a long time, and something the team has been lacking since Chris Pronger’s departure many moons ago.

Craig MacTavish is in the process of making this roster one that fits his image, a MacT team if you will. If you remember those MacT groups from the early and mid-2000’s, they were very good rosters. I look forward to when Mac’s image comes to reality, because coupling his roster with the Oilers young talent means great times ahead.

MacT always had good defenses with his teams, but right now the Oilers blue-line unit is far from good. They have some good pieces, Jeff Petry, Andrew Ference, Justin Schultz and Anton Belov, but lack that stud and lack enough top-four defenders. It’s not a shock the Oilers are in the market for a top guy, but could they get THE top guy?

Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal had a good article last week which stated that he believed MacT’s target is Shea Weber, the best defender in the NHL today and the face of the struggling Nashville Predators franchise. It made me wonder, what would this stud cost the Edmonton Oilers?

Shea Weber is, as mentioned, the best defender in the NHL. He’s the face of the Predators franchise and helped them compete for a number of seasons. Here’s the thing though, the Preds are on the downswing right now. The team has no offense, and is struggling this season due to a goalie injury.

The team has future stud defender Seth Jones and extremely good young defender Roman Josi on the roster, as well as other good defenders like Kevin Klein and prospect Ryan Ellis. The Preds can’t replace Weber, but certainly have the young depth to make a trade of him work.

The Preds need offense in the worst way. They have very little of it now, and aren’t looking like a team that’s got much in terms of young prospects. They’ll need some help there and this could be the perfect opportunity for them.

From an Edmonton perspective the team is lacking a workhorse defender. They need that stud back there, and have some young forwards to spare. The Oilers offense needs a shake up and needs to make room for a power-forward type. The group up front is there for the most part, but needs a shakeup.

Is there a match here? I think there might be. Now keep in mind this is me making a guess and talking out loud here after Matheson’s article late last week.

So, what will it cost? The Predators need offense badly. Nail Yakupov would be the target here normally, but I doubt the Preds, who were burned by Alex Radulov a few seasons ago, are interested in adding another young Russian who is a little frustrated right now with his usage.

I’ll say that Jordan Eberle, Sam Gagner and Taylor Hall are the big targets here, and that the Oilers would have to settle on moving Jordan Eberle as the main part of the deal.

The Preds will need a prospect defender, and I would not be shocked if MacT is open to dealing Swedish prospect Oscar Klefbom. I highly doubt MacT deals Darnell Nurse, and Klefbom is the only other prospect in this range that the Oilers have.

The Predators, a rebuilding budget team, will require picks as well, and the Oilers 2014 first round draft pick will have to be included. There is a very real chance it is a top five pick, and the Oilers will have to be prepared to part with that in addition to the other two pieces above.

Lastly, the Oilers will need to throw in a roster defender to make it happen, and my bet is youngster Philip Larsen gets tossed in as well to the deal. This is for number reasons so Edmonton can easily fit Weber onto the roster and make a call-up to replace Jordan Eberle.

So, overall the deal we have come up with here is Jordan Eberle, Oscar Klefbom, this year’s first and Philip Larsen for Shea Weber, a four-for-one deal. Would that work? I’m honestly not sure that would be enough for Nashville, but that is about around the area in terms of price that it would cost Craig MacTavish.

Is It Worth It:

In all honesty, I’m not exactly sure. Weber would easily improve the Oilers, and Edmonton would be able to go with Yakupov and Hemsky on the right side. That being said though, I’m not certain the price is worth it all things considered. From everything flying around on twitter and websites like thefourthperiod.com, guys like Brian Campbell, Dmitry Kulikov and Christian Ehrhoff could all be on the market before season’s end.

None of those above listed players are better than or even as good as Weber, but all those players would give Edmonton a top-pairing option that gives the team a major upgrade, and would come at a far lesser price.

I’m not saying anything is going to happen, but I do believe that the Oilers are looking for a stud defender, and I do believe that Shea Weber is on their list. Is the cost of a pipe dream worth it, or should Edmonton go a safer route with a more realistic target? What say you Oil Country?