Justin Schultz – Substantial Return?

Ask an Oilers fan what they think the club might get in exchange for Justin Schultz and you’ll get roughly the same answer from everyone. Those who don’t say a bag of pucks being sarcastic will tell you that they expect a mid-to-late round draft choice. Considering Schultz’s salary, contract situation and on-ice production, that is probably a fair assessment.

This observer has the Oilers getting a third-round pick for the defender, less than they received for Jeff Petry one year ago, a much better player.

However, Elliotte Friedman wrote in his 30 Thoughts article on Tuesday that Edmonton may actually be targeting prospects in return or actual NHL players. He directly linked one solid prospect to Schultz and then went right into another young player that the Oilers may have interest in.

First was talk about Justin Schultz and Tampa Bay. The defenceman needs a fresh start, and it was rumoured the Oilers were scouting Anthony DeAngelo, the 19th overall pick in 2014. DeAngelo had a few recent healthy scratches at AHL Syracuse. The contracts do not match, so, if this was a possibility, the Albertans would have had to take back someone or some salary. The other — and I do believe it to be true — was interest in Florida’s Brandon Pirri. Unfortunately, he suffered an ugly ankle injury last weekend and will be out a while. Pirri could be a very nice fit with Edmonton’s forwards.

Okay, so a lot of information here but it’s worth looking at. Anthony DeAngelo is a substantial prospect and he’s being linked to Edmonton for Justin Schultz by a legit insider. As for Pirri, it’s unclear if it is for Schultz, but it is suggesting that Edmonton has interest in the goal-scoring center of the Panthers.

DeAngelo:

This is a small defender in his rookie pro season who can move the puck. That’s the short version of the story on this player. At 5’11”and just 182 pounds, there are size issues with this player who doesn’t offer much in the way of physical play on the ice.

That said, DeAngelo is exceptional with the puck and was an extremely solid defender at the junior level. He was also a strong contributor to the US World Junior team in the 2015 tournament in Montreal/Toronto, no easy task.

This season in Syracuse of the AHL, DeAngelo has played in 44 games and has posted 4-23-27, solid numbers for a rookie pro on a good AHL team with a strong defensive group.

This is a player who can move the puck up the ice, a player with a strong first pass. He’s shown that in the AHL in his first season to this point. He also has a blistering shot, and certainly has the ability to play the point on a power play unit in the NHL.

Also of note: He is a right shot defender, an area of specific need for Edmonton.

As Friedman said, this is an unlikely one-for-one swap, but what if Edmonton was willing to eat half of Schultz’s remaining salary, which only runs for the rest of the season? Certainly seems like that could be an option.

Pirri:

As I said above, it is unclear if this would be in a deal for Schultz as Friedman did not mention that. I will not put words in his mouth and will therefore assume that it would not be a deal involving a Schultz-for-Pirri swap.

That said, adding Brandon Pirri does make sense for the Edmonton Oilers. Yes, he’s a smaller forward, only 6′ and 183 pounds, but he can play center and he has an offensive flare to his game. To put it simply, this is a finisher, a goal scorer.

Pirri scored 22-2-24 in 49 games last season, and has 11-13-24 in 54 games so far this year. He’s not a sexy player and he’s certainly not going to drive a line, but he seems like a solid complimentary scorer for a club like Edmonton.

Adding a guy like him would certainly open up the possibility of moving one of the current forwards and it’s interesting to think of those possibilities. Do you add a guy like Pirri and shift him to the wing, allowing you to move a guy like Jordan Eberle or Nail Yakupov for a return on the back end? All speculation on my part, but it makes you think.

I have no clue what the asking price on Pirri, a pending RFA, is but I’d imagine it would be a roster player at the very least.

Likely an off-season move now considering his ankle injury, also mentioned in the Friedman report.

The Wrap-Up:

The Justin Schultz trade is shaping up to be much more interesting than we thought possible. Instead of just taking a draft pick and moving on, Peter Chiarelli is attempting to find a prospect who is knocking on the door and who may end up helping Edmonton in the long run. Whether he succeeds remains to be seen, but it’s nice to see a GM trying to maximize value on a player.

As for Brandon Pirri, this gives us a glimpse into what might be to come for the Edmonton Oilers. Peter Chiarelli is looking at potential top six forward options and that should be a tell. Is this club not satisfied with what it currently has? Are they looking at filling holes that they plan to open up by addressing other areas of need? It makes you think.

Regardless, these two tidbits of information are interesting and give us a sense of what Peter Chiarelli is thinking. It should be quite a ride transaction wise between now and training camp.