So the Edmonton Oilers have a challenge on their hands that so many NHL teams would love to have. They’ve got too many good right-handed defensemen and a conundrum is starting to creep up, that being Evan Bouchard has shown that he’s right on the cusp of becoming a full-time NHL defenseman.
Now, I’d hate to get ahead of things here because we Oilers fans know from experience what happens when a young blueliner gets rushed in. Hell, one could argue that we’re seeing it now with Caleb Jones and Ethan Bear to a certain extent this season. Not that they’ve been rushed by any means, but maybe they’re playing above their current level and with how much potential is brewing in Bouchard, it’d be shame to see that risked.
My opinion is that Bear should be seeing 2nd pair minutes for another year, Jones on the third pair, and Bouchard rotated in for at least a season. That’s a lot easier when you’ve got veterans like Kris Russell, Adam Larsson, Tyson Barrie, who can play up in the lineup.
The reason I’m bringing this up is because yesterday on Oilers Now, host Bob Stauffer and Sportsnet’s Mark Spector were in conversation regarding the Edmonton Oilers and what they might need going forward.
Spector: “I don’t love the fact that you have to play him (Bouchard) on the left side, I will say that, Bob. I don’t love the fact that you’ve got your prized defenseman, it’s not anyone’s fault you have a bunch of right-handers, but you’re trying to break in a very important part of your future and he is doing it on the wrong side of the rink. What do you think?
Stauffer: “You watch Moneyball? When a guy is in the way, what did Billy Beane do?
Spector: “I don’t know. What did he do, trade him?
Stauffer: “Yup! So it’s interesting, you’ve got two players who are pending UFAs and someone has to be able to kill penalties on the right side. That can be Adam Larsson, Ethan Bear can kill penalties as well. It’s like, if Barrie doesn’t put up two points in a game, people are on him and they love Ethan Bear.
I think it’s an interesting reference Stauffer uses but it might be a tad erroneous, I could be wrong though.
**Pre-emptive apology, I’m about to explain the reference and there’s a good chance I go long or f*ck it up completely. You may feel free to scroll down a bit should you want to skip this part.**
If you haven’t watched Moneyball or read the book by Michael Lewis, and I highly recommend you do both, it’s about the Oakland A’s baseball club and how their GM used analytics to build a team that made it to the post-season but with a payroll that was a fraction of what the big teams like the Yankees and Red Sox had.
Now, there’s a point in the 2002 MLB season where Oakland is last in their division and 10 games behind 1st place and the media really starts to doubt what GM Billy Beane is attempting to accomplish. They’re nearly 60 games into the year and there’s a power struggle between the manager Art Howe and Beane. The manager refuses to use the players that the GM has brought in and instead is playing bigger names and using old-fashioned tactics in order to earn himself a new contract somewhere else before the next season begins.
This is where Stauffer’s analogy comes in.
Beane goes ahead and trades a fella by the name of Carlos Pena. A second-year player, who, in the movie, is being built up as this all-star 1st baseman and best player on the team. His numbers weren’t all that great, I think his batting average was closer to .200 than .300 but I don’t know much about baseball as it is, so I’ll stop there. Anyway, Pena is traded to Detroit for a handful of players in order to force Howe to play another player named Scott Hatterberg because he gets on base more thus giving the A’s a better chance to score runs.
After that, a couple of other similar trades are made and Howe starts to buy in to Beane’s plan. At that point, the entire season turns around for them and they go on to set a record for most consecutive wins in addition to making the playoffs but losing in the first round, if I recall correctly.
Bringing this all the way back to the Oilers, if Stauffer’s analogy was on par with the movie/book, Ken Holland would be moving Ethan Bear for prospects and picks in order to fit Ron Hainsey into the lineup because the goal share favors the veteran Hainsey and he’s a cheaper player.
I don’t think that’s what he means though, I think he could be talking about Tyson Barrie.
I’ll say this though, how would you feel if you were Tyson Barrie? You’ve signed a team-friendly contract for the year and you were playing really well and the Oilers were looking like a playoff team when all of a sudden you’re informed that you’ve been traded to a non-playoff team. I’d be pissed right off, not sure about you.
So before we get into some proposals, I’m not sure about trading this player right now. Sure, Bouchard is playing well, but he’s not a top-4 defender yet and it would be unfair to slot him in there in case Bear or Larsson get hurt.
In addition to that concern, what would the head coach think? He’s got these veterans that he’s comfortable with and then, boom! Your PP QB and top-pairing rightie is gone.
I can’t see a scenario where it would be a good idea to deal any of the right-shot defenders this year. Not if the team wants to make a serious run in the playoffs.
That said, how do these two trade proposals work for you?
- Caleb Jones, Zack Kassian, and Mikko Koskinen to Columbus for David Savard and Elvis Merzlikins
That’s a hard trade to make since the there’d be a quarantine involved for Savard and Merzlikins, but with the addition of Stalock, who is a right proper NHL backup and contracted for another year after this to satisfy expansion draft rules, maybe that eases the pain.
Savard, a hard-nosed defender that steps it up in the post-season, would solidify Edmonton’s back-end and provide cover in the event Adam Larsson goes down.
Jones is reunited with his brother Seth, who may or may not be an unhappy skater whose contract is coming up for renewal after next season. Kassian’s hard-working style would fit right in with Tortorella, I reckon.
- Tyson Barrie and Kyle Turris to Vancouver for Tanner Pearson and Brandon Sutter.
Canucks would need to retain salary on Sutter but it would give the Oilers a decent 3rd line center who can contribute to the PK and is a right-shot that can win draws. They’d also get their top-six LW in Pearson.
Barrie and Turris go home and the Canucks get themselves a cheaper 3C for another season as well as a first crack at offering Barrie a new deal.
If one were so inclined, this kind of trade could be expanded to involve a couple of goaltenders like Koskinen and Braden Holtby, for example.
What do you think?
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