I’d like you to try and imagine an Edmonton Oilers team that isn’t employing three centers under the age of 22 next season. Try and imagine that they’re also not dressing Nikitin, Ference, Klefbom, Schultz, and Marincin. Could you imagine if they set forth on the 2015-16 NHL season with Ben Scrivens as their starter and Richard Bachman as his backup?
It’s impossible!
The way that all of this is shaking down is setting the Oilers on another path of unforgiving failures. Think about it. If this ship holds course Craig MacTavish and Co. are surely going to be drafting a center in Sunrise barring some ridiculous trade. That would give the Oilers a center depth chart of thus:
1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 2. Leon Draisaitl 3. McEichel 4. Boyd Gordon
How is that even a feasible reality for Edmonton? The results already garnered from this season alone should be convincing enough for Oilers brass to think twice before even suggesting such a monstrosity.. Either one of RNH or Neon Leon would have to be dealt OR the other option is moving one of McEichel or Draisaitl to the wing.
I would be in favor of the latter option because we’d get to keep the kids but that would lead us on to another predicament… The wings are stacked and someone would have to be moved to fit one of or both of Draisaitl and McEichel. If you’ve ever read my posts before you can probably guess where I am going to go with this.
Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle.
Let’s be frank here. This team is experiencing some serious heart failure. Enter the defibrillator… By trading Hall and Eberle to teams that are in similar situations as Edmonton (by that I mean their performances have been seriously underwhelming to date) it reduces the risk of getting taken advantage of and it increases the chances of getting the Oilers exactly what they need to get this ship back on track.
It’s not an easy thing to do saying that your favorite team should jettison their top two goal scorers but I believe it’s a change in the right direction. And full disclosure, I’m not part of the Taylor Hall fan club. Never have been and as for Eberle, he is a crafty little fella but I’m not wooed by his shootout moves and countless toe-drag attempts. I mean apart from Lowe, the rebuild started with them. If there’s one way to implement a culture change, this is it.
Edmonton NEEDS help in net and on the blueline. Their goalies are not starters and there’s not a top pairing defender on the roster. Closest player being that is Jeff Petry (UFA at season’s end) and Oilers management has done a fine job of making him feel like he’s a wanted member of the club in the prime of his career…
It’s time to rip the band-aid off Oilers fans.
The Boston rumors won’t go away. They’re looking for scoring and looky looky what we have here. A top scoring left winger and a top scoring right winger. What does Boston have that Edmonton needs?
Well, they have goaltending. Tuuka Rask for Taylor Hall? They’ve got defence and a center the Oilers could use. Dougie Hamilton and Carl Soderberg for Eberle? Hell, throw Martin Marincin in the mix because I feel bad for the guy.
But let’s be realistic. There’s no way that Boston deals Rask for Hall no matter how desperate they are for scoring. And Hamilton/Soderberg for Eberle would upset the salary cap gods.
So let’s amend the deal.
Hall and Martin Marincin for Hamilton and Milan Lucic.
A trade like that would appease the salary cap gods, it would appease the GRIT chart fans and it would change the dynamic of the Oilers overnight. Dougie Hamilton is poised to become a beast of a first pairing defender and was deployed in that role when Zdeno Chara went down with a knee injury earlier in the season. Lucic is one of the league’s premier power forwards but his performances have been lacking recently. Nevertheless, reputations go a long way in hockey.
I do have a hard time believing that Boston would pull the trigger on a deal like this given Hamilton’s huge upside and Lucic’s relationship with the Boston faithful but it’s a good deal for them from the scoring perspective and Marincin played with Chara at the Olympics so there’s that to consider. I mean, Hall isn’t chopped liver either. He’s one of the best scoring LWs in the league.
One guy could veto the deal via NTC though… Lucic. Is he that villainous? But playing Vancouver 6 times a year has to be some sort of perk for a guy like him, no?
The Oilers still need goaltending… So we’re off to the Rockies!
Jordan Eberle to Colorado for Semyon Varlamov.
With the emergence of Calvin Pickard and Varlamov’s high salary ($5.9m until 2018′-19) that would surely make this a worthwhile pick up for the Avs. Personally I’d prefer Sergei Bobrovsky but I can’t be sure Columbus would be willing to deal him. Although he’s apparently looking for about $6m per year in his new deal, so that might scupper relations with the Blue Jackets and make him an easier target that expected.
Another deal I’d consider is Jordan Eberle to the New York Rangers for Marc Staal.
Sure Staal’s going to be a UFA at season’s end but give him Eberle’s money. A top pairing of Marc Staal and Dougie Hamilton is about as good as it gets. Couple that with Fayne, Nurse, Klefbom and hopefully a better Justin Schultz and that is a defence I can get behind.
The more I think about it, the more I like the Staal deal better than the Varlamov one.
Lastly, there are only a couple deals left.
Vladimir Sobotka and Magnus Paajarvi for Teddy Purcell, Jujhar Khaira, and Anton Lander.
Lander and Khaira have no future in Edmonton, the Oilers are betting on Yakimov being their guy and Teddy Purcell would be a very serviceable winger for the Blues in the playoffs. He’s actually quite productive in the playoffs posting 18 points in 22 playoff games. Lander could do any job that Maxim LaPierre is doing now and he’s younger and less likely to bite your finger off.
Sobotka’s relationship with the St.Louis Blues must be frosty at best and I don’t see any reason they would want to keep Paajarvi. These two players are good for the Oilers because Sobotka is an ace on the faceoff dot, gritty as hell, and can also put a point or two up on the board. Regardless of Paajarvi’s statistical output, there’s a player there. He’s got size, speed, and a willingness to go to the net. He’s been coached by Ken Hitchcock the last couple of seasons as well. That kind of coaching could only be of beneficial value as well.
Jeff Petry and David Musil for Cam Ward
Petry’s gone at seasons end if the Oilers don’t trade him. Musil is going to have a tough time making the NHL with those cinder blocks tied to his feet and Ward’s value has never been lower BUT he’s a bonafide no.1 goalie and we always like to play the local boy narrative (played his junior down the QE2 in Red Deer). The 30 year old Ward is only contracted until 2016 so the risk is minimal. Would he waive that NTC though to go to Edmonton? Doubtful if the defense is as it is now. Add those two pieces I mentioned above (D.Hamilton and M.Staal) and he could be swayed. Hiring a defensive minded coach would go a long way as well. When’s the last time he played behind a competent defense anyhow?
Imagine a 2015/16 Edmonton Oilers Roster Like This:
Lucic-RNH-Perron
Pouliot-Draisaitl-Yakupov
McEichel-Sobotka-Paajarvi (Pakarinen)
Hendricks-Gordon-Pitlick
M.Staal-D.Hamilton
Klefbom-Fayne
Nurse-Schultz
(Ference-Nikitin)
Ward
Scrivens
Merry Christmas! I’m Beer League Hero and I’m addicted to the Edmonton Oilers. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
