Last Friday the Oilers dumped David Perron off to the Pittsburgh Penguins, starting what is expected to be a rather large shuffle of the roster in the coming months. We know about the obvious candidates to get moved next, both Jeff Petry and Viktor Fasth, but what about the next big move for Edmonton?
There has been a lot of talk about the young core in Edmonton, and if the team might be willing to move a player from that core. Rumor has it, the Oilers have been called regarding all three of Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but have yet to really kick talks into high gear.
On Sunday, Ottawa Sun columnist Bruce Garrioch shed some light on what might be happening with the Edmonton Oilers in terms of trade talks, writing the following in his weekly Sunday morning column which you can read here.
“The decision by the Oilers to move winger David Perron to the Penguins Friday has many wondering just how open for business GM Craig MacTavish is right now. The belief is MacTavish is willing to talk about any player on his roster, but there will be a lot of focus on winger Jordan Eberle because he appears to be the odd man out if the Oilers decide to make another move. His name has been heard all over the place, but teams also are calling about winger Taylor Hall and center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The Oilers are nearly assured of getting one of the top two players in the draft, which means they know they’ve got another top forward coming and that may mean MacTavish would be more willing to discuss moving one of his young forwards.”
There are more Oiler tidbits in there, including some on Jeff Petry and other teams that were interested in Perron, but this is easily the biggest bit from the piece.
First off, it should come as no shock that MacT is willing to talk about everyone on this team. Let’s face it, the Oilers are simply not good enough right now and need a massive move to shake-up the mix and the core of this underachieving roster of players.
Jordan Eberle is the lesser of the three players in the core too. Taylor Hall is a potential franchise forward, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has top-line NHL center written all over him right now, plus he is getting better each and every season.
Eberle is a very good player, one who has great offensive instincts and can score. He’s already got a 30 goal year under his belt, and has been a shoe-in for at least 20 goals each season throughout his young NHL career. Eberle is a legit top-six right winger, and is a guy that can fill the net when put with skilled players. He’s not terrible defensively, but he won’t push the river possession wise. He’s a great complimentary player.
Scoring is at a premium in the NHL, and teams are dying for players that can put the puck in the net. Jordan Eberle is a guy that can do that, is signed to a long-term contract and is a player who still has yet to enter his prime. He’s a very appealing piece to any team, and is a guy that will bring in a solid return.
If Edmonton does shake-up the mix this off-season or earlier, and I suspect that they will, then Jordan Eberle is the perfect guy to move. Taylor Hall and RNH can supply more offense, and can do other things that Eberle simply can’t do. It’s not a knock on Jordan, it just is what it is.
The Oilers are in dire need of a starting goalie, a top-pairing defender and a second line center. There are other pieces, but those are the big ones, and the ones that likely will need to be addressed via trade.
People don’t want to deal Eberle, heck I don’t want to deal him just for the sake of it either, but the Oilers need to give something to get something, and moving a player like Eberle to fill a massive hole just seems like the right thing to do. If I were the GM in Edmonton, it’s certainly something that I would be looking at starting right this second.
The Oilers could easily acquire a top-pairing defender or a starting goalie for a young scorer like Jordan Eberle, and let’s say the Penguins 1st round pick that was just acquired. Heck, you could even replace the pick with someone like Martin Marincin, who seemingly has fallen out of favor in Edmonton.
With a package including a young scorer and either a solid prospect or a first rounder, you aren’t going to be getting another Ben Scrivens or another Nikita Nikitin, you will be getting an impact player that can vastly improve the team. I’m talking about a legit NHL starting goalie that you aren’t questioning in October, and I’m talking a legit top-pairing defender, not a hope and a prayer.
Adding one of those two things makes the Oilers a better hockey club than they are right now, which has to be the goal moving forward into next season.
You know the Boston Bruins will be interested, and it’s very well possible that the Montreal Canadiens will be right in on this to. I could see Buffalo, Toronto and Columbus being in the mix too, all teams that could use some young scoring help and have the assets that could greatly help Edmonton moving forward today AND tomorrow.
Will it happen? I think it is totally possible that Eberle gets moved, in fact I’d even put money on it that the Oilers trade him before opening night next season. There has just been too much smoke from too many insiders for something to not be happening, and it makes way too much sense to move Eberle from the Oilers’ point of view.
That said, I don’t think it happens until the summer, likely at or around the NHL entry draft in Florida. That’s when teams will be looking to make moves, and that is when secondary assets like the Pittsburgh 1st rounder have the highest value. You just know some team is going to go out early in the playoffs and get desperate to make a move to shake things up.
David Perron getting moved was only the start of the shake-up in Edmonton. It’s likely we see close to a dozen roster spots change hands before opening night, and it’s likely that another big name will be joining Perron on the departed list. Jordan Eberle makes the most sense, and can bring Edmonton the return they so badly need.
I’m not sure about you, but I’m ready for a shake-up, and it certainly seems like the smoke is there. Now? Now we wait.
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