Taking a Stab at the Oilers Lineup Pre Deadline

Here in mid January as the team starts to take shape for a playoff run, we are hard pressed to try and fill out this lineup for the last 30+ games. Lets try shall we?

FORWARDS

As of right now this is what the Oilers forward corps looks like. Jesse Puljujarvi has been a healthy scratch and it seems like he is on his way out. Its kind of unfortunate that no coach in JP's tenure in Edmonton has been able to get his game going but hopefully he thrives somewhere else because I still think there is a player there. With 10 points this year and bouncing around the 2nd-4th lines, it is hard to find any chemistry with anybody. He has a $3 million cap hit for the rest of this year and then becomes a RFA once again in the offseason. I can see a team taking a chance on him at that cap hit and being only 24 he still has so much potential and room to grow. If the Oilers want to make a trade for a d-man per say then I can see JP being apart of said trade.

All of that being said, I think the forwards are good when everybody is healthy. With the emergence of the real Klim Shady, Klim Kostin and Evander Kane coming back. This team is all of a sudden deep again!

DEFENSE

This is where things can, and hopefully will change with the lineup. Jay Woodcroft has deployed the 11F 7D a lot in his short tenure with the Oilers and it has worked! There are however so many questions with this defense group. Like can the young guy Vincent Desharnais be a good 7th guy? Will Broberg be flipped for a more established top 4 LD? What do you do with Tyson Barrie & Evan Bouchard? Now look I am a big fan of Bouchard and I think he can be that top PP guy. As of right now Tyson Barrie has taken that and has made it his. We can be upset about not giving Bouchard the chance but Barrie is a serviceable powerplay specialist and isn't hurting the Oilers defensively as much as previous years. Especially when he is playing significantly less at 5 on 5 than in the past.

So what do you do?

This Oilers team where it is right now is not good enough to go back to the Western Conference Final. It just simply isn't. They need to make a deal for top 4 LHD and the most obvious answer here is one of Jacob Chychrun or Vladislav Gavrikov. Chychrun is the guy you absolutely want on your team first. Big, puck mover and can play with Ceci or Bouchard and it won't be a liability. The cost may be big but if you are GM Ken Holland, what are you waiting for? You have a small window to win right now. Three more years of McDavid and 2 more years of Draisaitl on these contracts. Move your 1st round pick and top prospect like a Broberg or Bourgault. What are you waiting for? You have two of the top 3 players in the world, go out and make this team a cup contender! Oh but how do you make the money work? The Oilers don't exactly have a lot of money to work with. While that may be true, there are ways to get under and still go get a guy! Move some money out like a JP or Foegele or try and get a three team deal done. There are ways to do this trade!

The other name I did mention is Vladislav Gavrikov from the Blue Jackets. Shut down guy and can play with Bouchard or Barrie. Won't be as much of a cost to get. Nice piece for sure, I just think it is plan B if you don't get that big fish.

What do you think? What do the Oilers need to do to make this team a cup contender this year and next year?