As we approach the NHL entry draft and the opening of free agency in July, we are seeing an uptick in rumors. More than any year in recent memory, the Edmonton Oilers are at the center of those rumors.
GM Peter Chiarelli has had a year to evaluate this hockey team and to see what this club needs moving forward. Judging by his comments during the last few months of the season, he has a plan. We can expect the Oilers to be bigger, to be better on defence and to be more balanced when the 2016-17 season opens up. That is good news for Oilers fans.
Oiler fans are a funny bunch. After ten years of nothing but failure, we still watch every night, still buy the jerseys, still pack the rink and, yes, still believe. There is nothing that this fanbase wants more than a winning hockey team, there is no denying that.
Another thing that fans want? Quick solutions. Oiler fans want Justin Faulk, Tyson Barrie or Travis Hamonic, they want that top-four defender who can help move this team forward. The problem? A lot of fans think that this player will come to Edmonton for pennies on the dollar.
On Twitter, I have seen a lot of backlash to any potential trade involving Taylor Hall and/or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Both of these guys are tremendous young players and there are certainly cons to dealing either of them. Moving RNH creates a hole at the center position, while Hall is one of the best left wingers in the NHL today.
If it were up to me, I’d keep both of them and upgrade the defense, but I think we need to realize that this is an impossible task. Defenders are extremely difficult to acquire, especially top pairing ones. Right shooting top pairing defenders? Damn near impossible to find.
When the moves eventually do happen with the Oilers, and they are coming, people are likely to be upset at the cost. The Oilers are probably going to be moving on from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Taylor Hall. Bob Stauffer thinks there is a greater than 50% chance that this happens. CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty mentioned the possibility of one of these players moving on as well.
Stauffer says > 50% chance 1 of Hall/Nuge are traded; < 50% (or maybe 15%?) chance Eberle gets traded.
— JUMBO (@akaRCN) June 4, 2016
If the Edmonton Oilers are going to acquire a top-notch defender this off-season, then they are going to have to give up something of value. Sorry, but trading Anton Lander and the 2017 first for PK Subban isn’t happening. That isn’t how the NHL works.
Most of us are fans of Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but if trading them can improve the team, then so be it.
THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE HATE THEM:
I see a lot of tweets directed at people who suggest moving these players for legit upgrades that proclaim that said person either “hates Hall/RNH” or this person is “so stupid and doesn’t know a damn thing!” Put down the pitchforks people, let’s get realistic for a moment.
If someone is suggesting moving Taylor Hall for, say, Jake Gardiner, then said person is a troll and probably isn’t even worth your time. However, if someone is suggesting Taylor Hall in a package for PK Subban? That is a legit suggestion and shouldn’t be called stupid. Calling that person a “Hall hater” is silly.
Taylor Hall is an elite winger, but if you can get an elite defender for him, you make that deal. That is the point that people are trying to make. If you can improve the team overall, you move the player. I get loving Taylor Hall, I’m a huge fan of him and the way he plays, but I also know how valuable someone like PK Subban can be here.
The same goes with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Just because I would deal him for Justin Faulk does not mean that I hate him. I simply see Faulk as a more important piece than RNH, all things considered. Both are great hockey players and Edmonton should be happy to have either of them.
My point? YOU HAVE TO GIVE TO GET! No one is taking Nail Yakupov and giving you a legit solution on defence. Sorry folks, it isn’t happening.
Final Thought:
Some rumors that come out will make you cringe while some will make you excited for what is to come in just two weeks. That said, let’s keep things in reality here, okay? If you hear Taylor Hall’s name in a trade rumor, or RNH’s, or Jordan Eberle’s, please do not assume that said person hates the player, okay? It’s foolish.
Suggesting a player could be trade bait to improve the TEAM (which is the goal, is it not?) doesn’t mean a person hates the player, they just see an opportunity. That’s business, folks, and after all the NHL is a business.
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