The Foreseeable Future/Trade Proposals

Its a crazy time of year to be a hockey fan. Especially if you follow the Oilers as closely as we try to! The Oilers are coming off of a win vs Ottawa so you know what that means!!! TRADE RUMORS!

The Oilers right now are a good team. Not a great team which they obviously want/need to get to. Currently the Oilers are sitting in 3rd in the North Division. They are 4th in the league in goals scored and 23rd in goals against. So you see what the weakness is right? Keeping the puck out of the net has not been an easy thing for the Oilers. So how do you address it?

3 Options

There are definitely more out there, but I just feel like these are some needs that have to be addressed. Top 6 winger, 3rd line center and a goalie. Not in that order obviously but you get my point. You can just tell that the Oilers are close to something, whether it be a trade for a veteran winger or a goalie for now and the future.

1. Top 6 winger. Some swirling rumors of trading for recent healthy scratch, Jake Debrusk. What will that cost you ask? I have seen trades being proposed where the Oilers move one of Ethan Bear or Caleb Jones. I think it is a bad idea to move Ethan Bear, strictly because more often than not he is the Oilers best RHD. The last couple of games have been a struggle for Ethan Bear, however he is great in his own end and can move the puck up the ice which is what certain defensemen have a tough time with. So if you are asking me to justify trading our top pairing defensemen for a guy who has less points than him this year. I am going with a hard pass. Caleb Jones is an option too because lets say hypothetically you can't protect him in the expansion draft and he goes to Seattle and becomes their number 1 guy. Well you just gave up a guy for nothing and will, most likely, be in the same division as you. At least if you trade him for an asset you can move him somewhere where he cant hurt you.

2. 3rd Line Center/Winger. This is an interesting one because of the options out there. I think Taylor Hall is out of the question because of the money. It is enticing to think of Taylor Hall playing with today's Connor McDavid but I don't see it happening. More realistic is a bit of an older guy but can still put up points and can play up and down the lineup. I have heard Eric Staals name being thrown around, I was looking at guys who's contract is up at the end of the year as well. Mattias Janmark from Chicago interests me. Decent numbers and is still only 28 and can play C or W. The problem is Chicago is battling for a playoff spot. Weird I know. So where else do you look? How about a guy we used to hate! A guy who we looked to and said never in a million years can he be an Oiler. I am talking about Ryan Getzlaf (Put your pitchforks away, he could help). As an Oiler fan you are supposed to not like this guy. He still plays top minutes and has put up 11 points this year on a god awful Ducks team. He can play up and down the lineup as well. Easily can move to the wing but I see him as a replacement for Kyle Turris because he has not been good. The problem with getting Getzlaf is the same problem as getting Taylor Hall. He has a lot of money tied to him. Just over $8 million for this year only. So the ducks retain half of his salary which is nothing because it is only for this year. The Ducks get a prospect and one of Adam Larsson, Kris Russell or a depth forward because the Oilers have to move money out. Why that would work for the Ducks is because the guys I mentioned are only on for this year and they can make the money work if they offload half of Getzlafs contract like I am proposing. So here is what I am thinking

- Getzlaf (50% retained for Adam Larsson, Prospect D or FWD & 1st or 2nd round pick

3. Goalie situation. This will be tougher because it is harder to get goalies anyway and to get the right guy for the right price is very tough. I have heard rumors of one of the goalies from Columbus being moved. Which I am here for but you are moving a solid piece for one of them, like a top 4 d man or a top 6 forward of the future plus a 1st round pick. Right now I think the Oilers need a goalie. It is what is holding them back from being a great team. So who is out there? Let me name some sames....John Gibson (6 years left, $6.4 million), Elvis Merzlikins (2 years left, $4 million), Darcy Kuemper (2 years left, $4.5 million). Keep in mind with all of these goalies, you will have to move out money as well, I don't know what team will take Mikko Koskinen's contract but a man can dream.

In Conclusion:

The Oilers can't stay stagnant, they need to make moves for the better and I believe it starts with acquiring a goalie then moving on from there. The hard thing about all of this is money. What are you willing to move out and what are you willing to move in? Getting scoring is great yes. You can have all of the goals in the world! However, keeping the puck out of the net is the high priority right now. That is what Ken Holland needs to figure out in the not so distant future. Who do you think the Oilers will acquire?