This just in, Jeff Marek of
Sportsnet suggesting to Reid Wilkins of
630 CHED the Edmonton Oilers should trade Leon Draisaitl for one of four young New Jersey defencemen: “If I’m the Edmonton Oilers, and I’ve got Connor McDavid coming, I’ve got Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, I say to myself, ‘Leon Draisaitl is a centreman, he’s not a third line centre, he’s a Top 2 centreman in the NHL.
I’m calling the New Jersey Devils right away and trying to get either Adam Larsson or Damon Severson or Jon Merrill or Eric Gelinas, one of these guys, these young defencemen away from the New Jersey Devils A.S.A.P., and I’m using Draisaitl as trade bait.
Larsson came on in New Jersey after coach Peter DeBoer was let go, Marek said, while Drasaitl’s trade value is higher now than it was in the 2014-15 regular season, when he struggled in the NHL. “His trade stock is so high and if I can fish someone like Adam Larsson out of the New Jersey Devils organization and use trade bait, I’d do it in a flash.”
My take
1. Thanks, but no thanks. A provocative suggestion by Marek, for sure. And perhaps I am guilty of over-valuing the assets of the Edmonton Oilers here, but this particular notion strikes me as a non-starter.
2. Every day some blog or another is having the Oilers trade one of its young and highly-rated attackers.
The Hockey Writers blog seems to have a quota of concocting one such odd story per day. This is the first time I’ve heard a connected NHL insider such as Marek suggest such a trade. And, certainly, if the Oilers can get a defenceman who can step in as their No. 1 d-man, such a trade makes sense. But Marek isn’t suggesting a trade for Seth Jones here.
3. New Jersey was a mediocre team in the mediocre Eastern conference. The Devils were outshot with all of these four d-men on the ice, save for Severson.
I don’t claim to have a strong take on the merit of these four New Jersey d-men. I haven’t seen them play enough.
And, certainly, they all might well be good NHL d-men one day, but not one of them played in New Jersey’s top-pairing last season for any major stretch of time. Not one of them has the appearance of a d-man who can step in to the tougher Western Conference any time soon and be a No. 1 d-man, and that’s what the Oilers need, at least if they’re moving the third overall pick in the 2014 draft in Draisaitl.
4. Edmonton doesn’t need more young decent d-man prospects or promising young NHLers. They need a mid-career vet or two capable of leading their defensive group.
The Oilers have no shortage of young d-men big on promise but a bit short on performance. They already have Oscar Klefbom, Justin Schultz and Martin Marincin at the NHL level, Brandon Davidson and David Musil in the AHL, and Darnell Nurse coming out of junior.
Are any of the young New Jersey d-men a better player than Klefbom? Because Klefbom isn’t nearly ready to be a No. 1 d-man in the West.
5. The Oilers are desperate for big players upfront who can puck protect in the offensive zone and win battles on the boards in the defensive zone. Broad-shouldered Draisaitl is that kind of player, and he’s not going to get any smaller as he matures. He’s likely to play at 220 or 230-pounds. Right now, he fills a huge need in Edmonton.
Why move him and still have that hole in the roster?
6. Draisaitl didn’t play that well for the Oilers in his first half debut, but a lot of young attacking players performed poorly in Edmonton at that time only to see their play pick-up considerably once Todd Nelson took over as coach. Draisaitl was back in junior then, but why move him before you can see what a veteran coach like Todd McLellan can do with him?
7. It might make sense to move a player or a draft pick to New Jersey for one of these d-men, but Larsson hasn’t sparkled yet in four pro seasons. It’s hard to imagine he’s got the kind of trade value that would command Draisaitl in return.
Larsson could be on the cusp of realizing his potential, as Marek suggests. He could also be on the cusp of being downgraded, along with his trade value.
8. Larsson has only got three more years left until he’s an unrestricted free agent. Draisaitl has seven.
9. Pittsburgh won a Cup with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal at centre. It’s not a strange and unprecedented risk for the Oilers to attempt the same.
10. In the short-term, it’s easy to imagine either Draisaitl or McDavid on the wing. Numerous other NHL players who have later starred at centre have done so.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Anton Lander and Boyd Gordon are already set at centre for the Oilers for next season.
11. Is there no unrestricted free agent who can help the Oilers second defence-pairing and won’t cost the team a Draisaitl? Hard to imagine that the cupboard is so bare.
