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The Athletic
What Oilers assets should Ken Holland trade this summer?
- For some teams, an additional first-round selection in the 2023 draft could be a more valuable part of a rebuild. Connor Bedard and Matvei Michkov will be available in next year’s draft, and it is viewed as being a strong year for prospects.
- Barrie turns 31 in July and has a $4.5 million cap hit over the next two years. His two seasons with the Oilers have been a success.
- Edmonton can keep Barrie on the roster, but the emergence of Evan Bouchard on the second pairing, and the younger player’s power-play ability, means a large cap hit (Barrie) with real value could be cashed over the summer to address an area of need.
- If Holland can use Bourgault as a big piece in a trade for a player who can make a significant difference in those three seasons, it would be wise to consider the option.
- There are two reasons Holland may entertain a move. Foegele’s cap number ($2.75 million times two years) is expensive for a bottom-six winger, and Dylan Holloway is NHL-ready and would be considered a suitable replacement despite not having NHL experience.
- If Edmonton trades this selection (2022 first round pick) for immediate help, the organization will be left with just three selections (fifth, sixth and seventh round) for the 2022 draft. That isn’t enough to sustain the organization and would be unwise.
- There’s no question that dealing Puljujarvi is the likely call by the Oilers this summer.
- It’s also the wrong one. The big Finn can help Edmonton win over the next three seasons. Better to sacrifice a distant future than an immediate one when you’re pushing to win a championship.
BLH’s Thoughts: It won’t be a popular suggestion but if the sentiment out there is that you always trade for somebody when their value is low, would it also make sense to trade somebody away when their value is high?
Kailer Yamamoto is a young player, an RFA about to sign cheap team-friendly bridge deal and seemingly is an oft requested linemate. Now, that’s all fine and dandy, but it appears that Ken Holland is entertaining the idea of adding more size, speed, and goal-scoring to his top-six hence him wanted to keep Evander Kane and the emergence of Josh Anderson’s name to the rumor mill in connection to the Oilers.
I love Yamo’s sandpaper and never die attitude but he’s not built for the muck even if he loves going into it. It’s possible Edmonton’s brass is looking for somebody who can get into the dirty areas and hold that puck up or conversely, move it out of there with some ill-will. Killer can snatch it out with his lightning fast hands, but he often gets filled-in too and he doesn’t have the type of body that will be able to handle that for an entire career.
I also feel like Dmitri Samorukov will be in play again but Holland may very well wait until closer to training camp or nearing the end of it to move any bodies. Just for me, I think it would be smarter to see where players like Samorukov, Savoie, Lavoie, Kemp, Rodgrigue, etc. are in their development compared with their peers before trading them but with that said, these are the players Holland will look to move if it means improving his club in the short term.
Lastly, on Ethan Bear, if you had the choice, would you return to a place where you were the target of racist attacks? I get the Woodcroft connection, but before this player had offseason surgery, he couldn’t get into more than a handful of games for the Canes in the month leading up to the playoffs and then got ZERO TOI in the playoffs. He’s done something to piss off two organizations now and while there might be a player there, he’s going to have to rehab his image across the league if he’s to make it as a full-time NHL defenseman. I’m not saying he can’t, but his work is cut out for him. Besides, Edmonton needs a different type of dman on that 3rd pairing if they move Barrie.
Oilersnation
Looking at potential trade fits for Edmonton Oilers defenceman Tyson Barrie
- The Kraken have been linked to Barrie going back to the trade deadline.
- They also have almost $23 million in cap space and seven second-round picks over the next two years. They could definitely make a competitive offer for Barrie and it’s very easy to see why they’d be interested in his services.
- Erik Duhatschek recently wrote at The Athletic that if GM Don Waddell can’t get DeAngelo signed, then trading for Barrie should be his priority.
- I don’t see the Canes as a great fit simply because Barrie makes $4.5 million and I would imagine that DeAngelo wouldn’t cost more than $5.5-6. They have $19 million in projected space so they should be able to keep DeAngelo.
- I could see the Islanders looking at Barrie as a solid puck-moving option that could play on their third pairing behind Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson.
- Barrie’s cap hit may be a bit of an issue for the Islanders since they only have $12 million in cap space this summer and need to sign Dobson.
- I could very easily see the Penguins wanting to get in on Barrie to replace Letang on their top powerplay unit.
- The Canadiens are once again exploring the trade market on Jeff Petry and if they move on from him, there could be a scenario where they’re interested in adding an experienced puck-moving defenseman to their lineup.
- I think that the Oilers will be able to get a second or third-round pick back for Tyson Barrie, which could help them add a piece at next year’s trade deadline.
BLH’s Thoughts: All I’ve heard for two years now is Seattle, Montreal, and the Islanders as landing spots for Barrie.
What about a deal with Arizona though? They’re not looking to get better but they still need a PP guy, right? Especially if they move Chychrun.
Speaking of Jakob Chychrun, could there be a deal there with the Oilers? Would it require a package including Broberg heading to the desert? Surely it would. Do you think they’d accept Broberg, Puljujarvi, and Barrie for him? Or those three plus the 2023 first rounder but they also send Crouse to the Oilers?
My feeling is that Arizona is preparing for a big 2023 draft but they’re also in a good position to create a fantastic young core that will be competitive shortly, maybe 2-4 years if they made a trade like this and they were lucky enough to win the draft lottery in the Bedard/Michkov draft.
Obviously, I’d prefer to keep Phil and Jesse, but at the same time, the window is now for the Oilers and Chychrun is only 24 plus this club needs to solidify its defense toute suite.
Is a top-four consisting of Darnell Nurse, Cody Ceci, Chychrun, and Evan Bouchard good enough to get Edmonton through the likes of Colorado, Vegas, Calgary, etc. though?
What do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ItlYPFZQwU
