Edmonton Oilers Talk: Oilers Focus Switching from Patrick Kane to Jonathan Toews?

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Bob Stauffer and Mark Spector Discuss Jonathan Toews

Bob Stauffer – “Would you have any time and I’m going to give you a range of what I think the value would be on Jonathan Toews. Obviously you’d need to have a second team to assist in brokering the trade with Chicago eating… It’s funny at one time, I would’ve said “Yeah… I don’t know.” but I don’t think the cost would be a first rounder. It might be a couple second rounders and it might be a fifth or a sixth to get another team involved in a three-way on the deal to retain some of the money and you’d have to send a contract back in the $2.5M-$3M range to Chicago. Would you have any issues at all moving a couple of second round picks to bring in a guy like Jonathan Toews?
Mark Spector – You know what? I don’t think I would… You got to think a lot about the cost because I think I’m signing a rental unless before I make the trade I’m talking to Jonathan Toews and his agent and seeing if he’s going to sign here… Two second rounders for a rental, that’s a lot. However, this is it for the Oilers. It’s time, they’re here now. The good news is you’re not giving up a first round pick which I like.

BLH’s Thoughts: Spec goes on a bit of a rant comparing the potential addition of Toews to the Oilers to when they acquired Duncan Keith and how good that was for everyone involved and then Stauffer starts in on how the real dollars involved would see the third team eating about 200k at the deadline which is the equivalent of a 5th/6th round draft.

Another one of Spector’s big points for bringing in Toews was that they could move him to the 2nd line and push Draisaitl up with Connor, but Spec also made note of Toews recent health history too. So there’s that to consider.

Bob brought up Foegele’s and Puljujarvi’s names using their contracts as examples of the money that’d have to be moved out but making sure to point out that the second year on Foegele’s contract might dissuade other teams from taking that on. So read between the lines there.

Edmonton is going to use Puljujarvi to bring in a big name this year. I’ve been saying it all summer while all the pundits were out there claiming that he could be moved during training camp or before the season starts… Nope. Holland needs Jesse for this trade be it for Toews, Kane, Klingberg, or whoever.

Now, my question is, will he move Kailer Yamamoto too?

Personally, I’ve wondered if Killer’s the guy Chicago would rather have seeing as he’s American and they’ve already got Yamamoto family friend Tyler Johnson over there PLUS, the Hawks aren’t exactly brimming with organizational depth on their RW.

Now, the other thing is these two GMs have been talking for a long time on and off. So, where there’s smoke, there’s fire, right? For me, I’ve got a bit more faith in Ryan McLeod than Spector does and if one has to choose between Kane and Toews, I think it’s obvious you take Kane. However, that being said, Ken Holland MUST address the defense as well and if that means moving Pulju, Yamo and a swath of draft picks, so be it. Whatever it takes to be able to say that the Oilers are going into this year’s post-season as the Western Conference favorite over Calgary and Colorado.

I don’t know. I think it’s worth a try to use Yamamoto to pry Toews out of Chicago. Kyle Davidson is a ridiculously young GM (34yrs old) and Ken Holland has been around the block a few times. The Oilers GM could really lean on Davidson here and if Toews and Kane get snapped up by somebody else, will Edmonton look at Max Domi and his 65% faceoff percentage? Could they attempt the impossible and acquire Seth Jones?

GM 8: Oilers vs. Blackhawks

Who to Watch for Chicago

#13 Max Domi – He’s playing center on Chicago’s 1st line with Patrick Kane and Andreas Athanasiou and dominating the faceoff dot at the same time winning over 65% of his draws to date.
#88 Patrick Kane – It’s just daft not to name the best American-born player of all-time here. If Chicago scores tonight, his name will hit that scoresheet. I don’t think Edmonton has the defense to be able to contain him right now. Do you think Niemelainen tries to wallpaper him and gets gif’d?
#5 Connor Murphy – This guy gives McDavid and Draisaitl fits every time the Oilers and Hawks play. I wonder if the additions of Hyman and Kane change that, but either way, Murphy knows how to get under the skin of Edmonton’s mega stars and seeing how Leon was reacting to every little poke the Blues gave him last night, he could be targeted by Chicago.

Who to Watch for Edmonton

#91 Evander Kane – Kane has only scored two goals this year but he’s shot the puck 34 times in total and I don’t believe that will stop anytime soon. This is a game that Kane could really light up with his fists too…
#56 Kailer Yamamoto – Yamo hasn’t a point in his last five games and has only been able to accrue a single assist on the campaign so far even though he’s been stapled to Connor McDavid’s wing. If he can’t find a way to get on the scoresheet against this lowly Chicago team, one has to think changes are in store. He might have a bit more pep in his step if he gets to hangout with friend/mentor Tyler Johnson before the game.
#55 Dylan Holloway – I don’t know if he’s a go tonight or not. He was skating on his own this morning for a while, but if he is, he’s going to be buzzing.

BLH’s Thoughts: So… Here we are again facing a team that the Oilers SHOULD beat but as we are well aware, this team tends to play to the level of their opposition. In addition to that, this is the hind end of a back-to-back and some might have this ticket written down as a scheduled loss, but I reckon the only way Edmonton loses tonight is because Chicago’s goaltending stands on its head. They’ve got Jujhar Khaira playing on their 2nd like for Christ’s sake. Jarred Tinordi, who’s probably a 2nd or 3rd pairing defensemen in the AHL, is on their 2nd pairing and Jack Johnson is on their 1st pair according to Daily Faceoff!!!

Jay Woodcroft’s boys need to come away from this with a win. A loss would be so disappointing.