The Dog Days of Oilers Summer

The dog days of summer are here and with that come out the rumor mongers, fakes and trolls just trying to get a reaction from the masses. In the last few days we’ve seen numerous rumors surrounding the Oilers; some have been immediately discounted by people in the know, others caused a stir for a few hours and some are just so outrageous they don’t deserve the time.

Social media gets like this at the end of every July. It’s a time when us hockey fans are yearning for something to talk about. Unsigned players and restricted free agents are still blowing in the wind. It makes for easy pickings and countless views because, well, there is nothing better to do right now.

Let’s have a semi-serious look at what might happen with the Oilers going forward.

1. My source and I had a long conversation about this yesterday, so I consider myself in the know.

2. My source has 4 legs, barks and will pretty much agree with anything I say if I just give her treats. 

Trades

Chiarelli might still have a few moves up his sleeves; a true perfectionist is never happy and the Oilers are far from perfect. Tyson Barrie is 6 days away from his arbitration hearing and maybe he’ll shake loose from the Avalanche. I can’t see Chiarelli trading a player like Jordan Eberle or Ryan Nugent Hopkins though. Todd McLellan has said that RNH reminds him of a young Joe Pavelski and if that is what the coach believes then there isn’t a hope in hell they’d trade him.

Yesterday, one twitter “insider” mentioned that Barrie is in Edmonton  checking out the town and excited to see West Edmonton Mall. Seriously I can’t make this stuff up, but if he is in town maybe he’s here for the Special PokemonGo events at the Eskimos game and K-Days this weekend.

There have been two other defenceman linked to the Oilers this week via Social media: Alex Petrovic of the Florida Panthers and Matt Dumba from the Minnesota Wild.

Florida does have a glut of right hand shot defenceman but I strongly believe that they won’t be trading the young Edmonton product anytime soon. Petrovic had a very good season and playoff with the Panthers this year and still has room to grow. If he is going anywhere I think it will be more likely he moves at the trade deadline.

Dumba is a player that I could see on the move but not at the rumored price of RNH. If the Oilers are to get Dumba I’d hope they don’t pay too steep a price – a prospect and a pick is the most I’d be willing to pay. But the market is hot for RH shot D so who knows what he gets, but let’s just hope Chiarelli assesses this properly if it does come to fruition.

Free Agents 

There are still a few free agents out there that intrigue me. I could see the Oilers go the PTO route with a player like James Wisniewski which would be a deal that’s no lose – it either works or it doesn’t.

The only other way I can see Chia signing any of the remaining free agents is if a trade leaves the Oilers short in one position or another. If Yakupov, for instance, is traded then a player like Kris Versteeg or Brandon Pirri could fit nicely as depth forwards able to play in either the top or bottom 6.

The Rest

The reality of it is this: No one really knows what is going to happen. We’ll wait until rookie and then main camps get underway in September to see how this team will really look on the ice this fall. Until then we just need to be patient and wait, and of course we’ll continue to see these made up rumors and stories till then. 

I guess I’ll start the next big rumor now:

“Staff Writer Avry is rumored to have offered 2 of his fancy fedora hats to Alex in Boston for a fresh six pack of Sam Adams Lager and future considerations.”

Thanks for reading and remember, Patience is a Virtue.