Could The Oilers Make a Trade?

Back on September 4th, I posed a question on this blog asking if the Oilers were done trading. The reasoning for that post, which you can read here, was that team insider Bob Stauffer was hinting at a late training camp trade by the club.

Twitter user Tyler (Who, by the way, you really should be following) tweeted this out on September 1st.

“It would not surprise me in the least if the #Oilers make a trade & add a right-shot D between Sept 25th & Oct 10th” – Stauffer

— Tyler (@akaRCN) September 1, 2016

Currently, it’s October 6th and the Oilers open the season on October 12th, so Stauffer’s range for a trade is coming towards it’s final few days. In fact, I’d almost forgotten about this because there has been next to no talk surrounding the team and trades since then.

That is, until Tuesday night. Stauffer mentioned on the Oilers preseason broadcast on 630 CHED that there was “an abnormal” amount of scouts at the game between Edmonton and Anaheim. Our friend Tyler posted more verbal on Twitter shortly before that with this quote from pregame.

“The Dallas Stars have multiple scouts in the building (EDM) tonight, which is interesting for this time of yr” – Stauffer

— Tyler (@akaRCN) October 5, 2016

What Could Edmonton Move?:

Elephant in the room here, folks; The Edmonton Oilers would like to move Nail Yakupov. That’s not speculation or insider knowledge, that’s just common knowledge based off of verbal from top NHL insiders. The Oilers don’t really seem inclined to make Yakupov part of their future and, at this point, I think it’s best for both sides if they split.

I suppose the Oilers could move their 2017 first round draft pick or a more substantial player, but at this point in the calendar I’d be shocked. The time for franchise altering trades is in the summer, not the first two weeks of October.

I’d suggest Yakupov is heading out of town if the Oilers make a trade at some point in the next week.

Does He Make Sense For Dallas?:

Valeri Nichushkin, another high Russian draft pick, was not thrilled with Stars coach Lindy Ruff and bolted to the KHL just a few weeks ago, so it’s fair to ask if the Stars might be a little hesitant to bring Yakupov on board.

That said, with Nichushkin bolting, Mattias Janmark out for the season and Cody Eakin and Ales Hemsky both banged up, the Stars could use some complimentary skill in their organization. Yakupov might not be the ideal fit for the Stars, but you can at least see why the team might be inclined to take a look.

Yakupov is in a contract year, would have next to no pressure on him and could play with a legit NHL center in a soft-minutes role. The Stars may actually be a perfect landing spot for this player, believe it or not. Yes, he may need them but he may not be the kind of fit they are looking for right now.

A Possible Return:

A quick glance of the Stars roster shows a team loaded up front but with question marks littering the back-end. The Oilers, of course, would be looking for a defender in return or draft picks. I’d think a second or third round pick would get this done with ease, but the Stars may want to shed a contract in any deal.

One name that sticks out? Jamie Oleksiak. He hasn’t emerged as the player the Stars thought he would be just yet, and the team likely doesn’t want to risk losing him on waivers. With Stephen Johns, Julius Honka, Nick Ebert, Esa Lindell and Ludvig Bystrom knocking on the door, there might not be room for Oleksiak in Dallas anymore.

Final Thoughts:

It’s quite clear that Jordan Eberle and Zack Kassian are locks for Edmonton’s roster at right wing. It’s also become apparent that Todd McLellan likes Kris Versteeg’s game and I think he earns a contract in the coming days. If Edmonton keeps Jesse Puljujarvi, then there is simply no room for Nail Yakupov on this roster.

Now, the Oilers could end up doing something completely different here and bring in someone like Cody Franson or Dennis Wideman to run their powerplay. After all, both of those names were floated around this off-season and both do fill an area of need in Edmonton.

“Would I be surprised if (the #Oilers ) made a trade in the next 8 days? No.” – @Bob_Stauffer

— Tyler (@akaRCN) October 4, 2016

I’ll just leave that right there. I don’t think it’s certain by any means, but when there is this much smoke, there is usually a fire.