I’m surprised that this hasn’t come up in the Oilers blogosphere yet, but recently Boston Hockey Now writer Jimmy Murphy has brought up the name of Montreal Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price in connection with the Edmonton Oilers.
What contending team could make a trade for #GoHabsGo G Carey Price happen right now? I say #GoAvsGo but if ken Holland could work some cap magic, I wouldn't discount #LetsGoOilers
— Jimmy Murphy (@MurphysLaw74) February 26, 2021
First off, I don’t like the idea of having a goaltender whose cap it is $10.5M/yr for another five years. Even if there’s only $10M remaining in real money.
With that out of the way, Carey Price is no stooge despite what his statistics say this year. He’s a winner and this sort of player has always been in Ken Holland’s wheelhouse. If there’s a GM who could find a way to make this kind of move feasible for the Oilers for the next five years, it’d be Holland.
How would he do it though?
Now, I’m curious, would it be possible to find a third team to help facilitate the financial end of things? Similar to the Ryan Reaves trade a few seasons ago that saw him head from Pittsburgh to Vegas with the help of the Senators, could the Oilers find a team that would also retain some money on Price’s remaining half-decade of contract and what would they offer?
It’d have to start with Mikko Koskinen obviously. I would imagine that one or more of Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, Dmitri Samorukov, Caleb Jones, Ethan Bear, Raphael Lavoie, or Tyler Benson would need to be involved as well as other fat contracts in Edmonton like the ones that belong to James Neal, Kris Russell, Adam Larsson, Alex Chiasson, or Zack Kassian. Draft picks as well…
I will admit I was kinda shocked when I saw that tweet from Murphy but it just reaffirms the fact that the Oilers have put the ride mower into rabbit in their bid to find a starting netminder and should the Habs fall right out of the playoff picture, is there a chance they might be tempted into moving their 33yr old franchise goalie?
Honestly, I don’t mind the idea of Price suiting up for the Oilers if the right deal can be made, but realistically, I can’t see it happening. There are much more affordable goaltenders out there that could do the job as well as the Canadian Olympian. He’s a really sexy name and he’s got some clout, that’s probably why I like a scenario where he’s playing in Edmonton.
Maybe for Edmonton’s sake they should leave him in Montreal, mind you. That might give the Oilers a better chance at the playoffs… You just hope he doesn’t find his form and embarrass you though.
What do you think?
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