Oilers Trade Gagner, Acquire Teddy Purcell

The domino has fallen, Sam Gagner has finally been traded by the Edmonton Oilers. According to the team’s official twitter account the Oilers have dealt Gagner to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for big forward Teddy Purcell.

The New Kid:

Many didn’t think the Oil would get much of anything for Gagner, but Teddy Purcell is a pretty good get all things considered. Purcell is still young at 28 years old, and brings some much needed size to the table, standing in at 6’3” and 203 pounds. He’s a big winger that can protect the puck well and create a bit of offense.

Back in 2011-12, Purcell posted 63 points in 80 games, a mark higher than any Gagner reached in Edmonton. He had 36 points in 48 games in 2012-13, and 42 points in a full 82 this past year. He’s a decent point producer and a guy who has seen his yearly point totals be quite similar to that of Gagner’s, and in some cases better.

Purcell is also a decent player when it comes to advanced stats, which is something Gagner simply was not. There were so many times that we saw Gagner make a key mistake on a goal against or a scoring chance against. Purcell is a guy that spends more time in the offensive zone and generates more shots than the team gives up when he is on the ice.

This past season, he had a really solid 53.6% Corsi for percentage, and is near 50% on his career in this area, and he’s played on some bad hockey teams too.

He won’t make the Oilers a better possession team on his own, but he is a solid start. When you add to that his size and offensive ability, this is a pretty solid return, and should be part of the solution for the Oilers moving forward.

Where Purcell will fit is another story. He’s a right winger, so he will likely be on the third line behind both Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov. That’s a decent spot for him, and I think he could do very well on a sheltered line with rookie Leon Draisaitl and a new addition on the left side, which I suspect will happen in the coming days.

Overall Thoughts:

This is a good deal for Edmonton. Sam Gagner clearly could not hack it at center anymore, and would need a position change this season if he was going to help things out. Clearly Edmonton felt that a move would be best, and it is tough to disagree with them.

The Oilers end up with a bigger player who provides similar offense and who is a better possession player. To me, that’s a win for Craig MacTavish. Oh, and the Oilers open up another 300K in cap space with the move, so it actually helps them money wise.

Best of luck in Tampa to Sam, he deserves a fresh start. He was a good soldier for seven years in Edmonton, but his development went stagnant and he simply wasn’t the player Edmonton needed. He’ll get a good chance in Tampa and I hope he makes good on it.

What This Means:

This is only the start for the Oilers. It’s going to be a busy little stretch here trying to improve this roster and this is a solid start. Edmonton gets a solid winger to improve their bottom six forward group, but also further weakens the center position.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will take first line duty, while Boyd Gordon likely takes fourth line duty. Edmonton still needs a second and third line center, and will likely need to go to market to fill one of those holes. Don’t rush Leon Draisaitl!

We’ll see what this move leads to in the next few days, but for now the Oilers have begun addressing their need for size on the wings.

More as it happens.