Initiate trade with oilers.
Oilers get CBJ #8
CBJ get Oilers 1st rounder from Penguins (15th or 16th overall) and Oilers 2nd rounder #33 overall
Terrible asset management there, and if such a trade were initiated...well, let's just say that no one here has ever seen me actually unload.
Outside of #1, Edmonton's picks this year are:
- 16th* (pending Pittsburgh's playoffs)
- 33rd
- 60th* (pending Montreal's playoffs; can be no higher than pick #56)
- #79* (pending Ottawa's playoffs)
- #89* (pending St. Louis' playoffs)
- Either #90 or #120 (pending Montreal's playoffs, specifically how far they go)
- #124
- #154
- #184
If those numbers all solidified....I'll say something bizarre. If the next 6-8 guys after McDavid/Eichel are all franchise-caliber players (as has been widely said), and it drops off sometime around pick #11 toward more project-type guys with greater risk, I don't know that I'd trade #8 for #16 and every other pick that Edmonton holds.
Moving from 8 to 16 would mean that, if a defenseman is the target, it's going from Werenski or Provorov down to Thomas Chabot. It's going from "in the NHL in two years" to a college-bound guy like Colin White, or a 5'9" Travis Konecny, or Paul Bittner, or whatever else. It could end up being a big drop, with the tradeoff being a handful of other later shots in the dark.