Tyler Myers?

Interesting note last night from the snooze fest that was the Oilers Vs. Sabres game, which came from the Godfather of NHL insiders, Bob McKenzie. Blogger Tyler Dellow, one of the sharpest hockey minds out there, tweeted this out last night following the TSN intermission program:

@mc79hockey: Interesting – McKenzie pretty much just said that Buffalo would be interested in the Oilers pick in exchange for Tyler Myers.

Interesting doesn’t begin to describe this. The Oilers are in an odd spot right now, the team’s record sucks and is good for 29th in the NHL, that is a major disappointment. The team has fixed it’s goaltending, and has guys up front that can put the puck in the net. Problem is, the team simply does not have enough NHL players on the back end.

Edmonton has a good number three in Jeff Petry, a proven number four in Andrew Ference, and a guy playing at a number three level in Martin Marincin. The Oilers have no top pairing guy, and are currently using players like Ference, Justin Schultz and Jeff Petry in that role. It’s why the blue-line is such an issue on this team, there is not enough top end talent.

For the Oilers to even be in the conversation for the playoffs next season, they will have to add two NHL defenders to the roster, and one of them MUST be a veteran player, as throwing Ekblad or Nurse in the number one spot is suicide for the 2014-15 season. The team needs a stabilizing veteran like Matt Niskanen, Andrei Markov or Shea Weber to play 20-25 minutes a night and help carry this unit.

Is Tyler Myers that guy? I like Myers as a player, he is young, a 2008 draft pick, and had an awesome rookie season for the Sabres. He has struggled mightily the last few seasons, but has seen a bit of a revival this year, playing much better defensively and using his body much more and in smarter ways. He certainly is not an elite player just yet, but Tyler Myers has had a pretty good year this season.

He’s young, has size, is seeing his game go on the upswing yet again, and has good defensive instincts to his game. He can take and make a pass as well, and is passable offensively, he’s a good young player with a lot of potential and could very well be a top-pairing defender during his career.

Question is, is Tyler Myers worth Aaron Ekblad? Dellow brought up a good point when talking about Myers, saying that he would really want to be sure about the player before taking that kind of risk, and I tend to agree here. Myers has a lot to like in his game, and has already put up with a lot of growing pains, but this is his first good season since his rookie year, and that needs to be kept in mind.

Sabres fans and people who have watched the Sabres that I have talked to say that it’s a worthwhile risk for Edmonton, as Myers has a lot of good tools and is starting to really become a dependable NHL defender, which is something the Oilers desperately need.

Can Tyler Myers be a top-pairing NHL defender that comes in and plays 20-25 minutes a night and helps stabilize the Oilers rough blue-line situation. For me, I’m not sold. I think Myers is a good NHL player and is improving, and I think he has all the tools, but that being said I’m not sure this is the guy that can lead the Oilers blue-line to compete for a playoff spot next season, I’m just not sold.

Giving up Ekblad is something I really consider doing, as I am of the belief he will take about three years to fully develop into the player the Oilers need, quite frankly that is time the organization does not have. I’d deal the Ekblad pick immediately if it brought in the kind of defender that can play 20-25 minutes a night and stabilize this unit, I’m just not sure Myers is that guy.

Moving the pick for Tyler Myers would be a big risk, a bold risk to be honest. It might be something that MacT decides to do, and if he does I can fully understand that. Myers could very well be the guy Edmonton needs, but he’s yet to prove that on a consistent basis at the NHL level.

Adding a guy like Myers certainly would improve the blue-line, I’m just not sure it is enough of an improvement to move such a high pick. What say you Oil Country?