The Fourth Period is reporting that the Edmonton Oilers and the Anaheim Ducks could be discussing a trade that would see slumping goal-scoring winger Rickard Rakell head to Edmonton.
“The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers are among the teams that have interest in a player like Rakell, if they can make the money work.“
No disrespect to TFP, but I’m having a tough time with this one.
Edmonton is more or less sorted on the RW with Puljujarvi, Yamamoto, Archibald, Chiasson, and Kassian. I’m also aware that Rakell can play on the left-wing and that IS a potential area where the Oilers could use an upgrade depending on how you look at Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and/or Dominik Kahun.
That said, I think TFP makes an interesting point here,
“He is coming off back-to-back 40+ point seasons (in less than 70 games) and had two 30+ goal seasons before that. At just 27, a change of scenery might reignite Rakell’s offensive game that has almost disappeared in Anaheim with the rest of his teammates. And his cap hit, a shade under $3.8 million, makes him an appealing reclamation project for a team in need of a second-line boost.”
From an analytics POV, the cratering over the last three years is shocking.
CF% Rel: From 2.18 to 0.06
FF% Rel: From 2.21 to -0.77
SF% Rel: From 4.47 to -2.32
One outlying number that may or may not interest some is his goal share percentage 5v5 relative. That’s gone from -3.19 to 8.49! So I’m reading that as while he’s on the ice everything is going against him shot-wise, but he’s capitalizing on his chances and the goals are going in. Does that mean he’s become a bit of a goal-suck and not helping at the other end of the ice? I could have it wrong, so please correct me if that’s the case.
Where I could see potential is if the Ducks would be willing to build a trade around a package that would see Zack Kassian head to Anaheim in exchange for the sniping winger. Coach Tippett could always have a winger swap sides as we’ve seen Patrick Russell, Josh Archibald, James Neal, and even Alex Chiasson play on the left side from to time.
There is one wildcard factor here and it’s something that didn’t cross my mind until this point, Rakell can play center and what are the Oilers always seemingly looking for? A big bodied right-shot who can take draws. Now, I wouldn’t say he is a natural centerman, but he has been known to take a faceoff or two in his time. Would that be enough to trade for him though? Would the Oilers rather have this player on their third line than Gaetan Haas?
Personally, unless the quarantine rules loosen up a bit, I’m not sure if Ken Holland will be making any big trades that’ll handcuff his team for a couple of weeks. If he were to do that though, I’d expect him to start sooner than later.
Give us a follow on the socials!
- Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
- Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
- Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
- Facebook: Beer League Heroes
