In Bruce Garrioch’s latest post for the Ottawa Sun he said that “The club wants to make a deal that’s going to help the Senators improve and help Smith make lineup decisions.” In addition to that Garrioch mentioned that Ottawa’s new coach, DJ Smith, is big on accountability, and that’s why the Sens may be looking for another forward on the trade market.
While the trade market is soft at the moment with several teams trying to determine whether they’re a pretender or a contender, the Senators called up Filip Chlapik from their AHL affiilate in Belleville to dress since Bobby Ryan was a healthy scratch which means Mikkel Boedker’s days are numbered.
But Mikkel Boedker is an intriguing name. Dave Tippett coached him every season he was in Arizona (2009-2016) and during those years the Dane was very productive. In 445 games, Boedkker scored 80 goals and 133 assists for 213 points. His best campaign coming in 2013/14, when he put up 51pts, something he’d do one more time in 2015/16 when he split the year between Arizona and Colorado.
He also played with Leon Draisaitl on Team Europe in the last World Cup of Hockey. So there’s a bit of familiarity there as well.
The $4M left-winger whose contract is expiring this summer isn’t someone that a coach is going to trust with minutes on the penalty kill as he’s a career -71, but if you’re looking for an infusion of offense, he might be able to help out in the bottom six.
How does this news pertain to the Edmonton Oilers? Well, they need someone who is a bit more of a threat that Sam Gagner in the bottom half of their lineup. No disrespect to Gagner, but the Oilers need someone with a bit more speed and punch and what’s better than one Danish player on your roster than two?!
Here’s the thing, check out this quote from Garrioch’s article and tell me that any team calling Ottawa wouldn’t have the upper-hand in a trade if they were willing to take Boedker.
Since Smith doesn’t want to play Boedker, the club may find another forward that can put pressure on the veterans and allow the staff to sit guys more often if it becomes a necessity.
Ottawa just took their 50-man roster from 49 to 48 this week when they traded Jack Rodewald, so there might be potential to make a two-for-one trade here because the Senators have $6,004,226 in cap room according to Capfriendly.com.
My idea is that the Oilers send JJ Khaira ($1.2M) or Sam Gagner ($3.15M) and Brandon Manning ($2.25M) to Ottawa for Boedker and Ottawa retains a bit of cash to even things out (if It’s Khaira going). Alternatively, if Pierre Dorion isn’t down with a two-for-one, then perhaps they could ship a prospect over. Either way, the money has to work for a deal to be done with Boedker’s name in it.
This deal gets DJ Smith two players who aren’t older veterans per se, but they are experienced pros to give his roster the competition he craves and Edmonton gets a very fast left-winger that Dave Tippett is familiar with that can add some much-needed scoring ability to Edmonton’s roster.
What do you think? Boedker has sat for five straight games. His coach sounds like he’s got no intention of playing him, right? So would you like to see the Oilers pick him up? If so, what would you offer? Let us know in the comments below!
