The latest Edmonton Oilers trade deadline news that’s been passed my way has the club in deep negotiations with the Buffalo Sabres for a player Oilers fans know very well as well as a winger that the fanbase has clamored over since his time in Ottawa.
I should preface this by saying that anything can happen and things change all of the time in the NHL when it comes to trade rumors. So, if things don’t come to fruition you’ve been warned.
Hall’s Well That Ends Well
There’s lots of competition for Taylor Hall right now but I’m hearing that the Oilers have an offer on the table that would see James Neal, a European-based defense prospect, and a 2021 first-round pick heading to Buffalo for the former Oiler with 50% of his salary retained.
We know that Ken Holland has said that he won’t use his first rounder on a rental player and that’s where some might wonder why he’d be willing to spend it on acquiring Hall. Well, word is, he’d be willing to sign an extension and the numbers being tossed around right now are five years @ $7.5M per year.
You might notice that Buffalo only has just over $3M in cap space and that would beg the question as to how they’re going to fit half of Hall’s deal AND Neal’s. Well, I’m lead to believe that Neal would be put on LTIR.
Why wouldn’t the Oilers put him on LTIR you ask? They really want out of that contract and this year could present a unique opportunity to such a thing.
The problem is Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is trying to squeeze another first round pick out of the Oilers and Ken Holland is having none of that.
What I was told was that this might take until Monday morning or early afternoon if Adams is going hold strong on his demand. The general feeling is that the price will drop the closer we get to the deadline and the Oilers are banking on that.
Germans Love the Hoff
Another winger that’s jumped onto Edmonton’s trade radar is St. Louis Blues sniper Mike Hoffman.
I’m not as sure on this one because I was told that the Oilers were willing to deal a third in 2022 for him or a 2nd if STL was willing to take James Neal’s contract.
What makes me cautious is that the Blues are already into LTIR and Neal makes $1.75M more than Hoffman. So even though STL has around $1.2M of LTIR wiggle room to work with, there’s 500k that needs to get sorted out.
Now, I wouldn’t it past an NHL GM to find a way to make a trade work, I’m just not sure the Blues really want to make that kind of trade when the Montreal Canadiens are sitting there offering picks and prospects.
If it were me, the group on hand has taken the club this far and my focus would be on a 2nd pair left-hand defenseman and a center who can actually win draws. We know they were in on Patrik Nemeth before he was traded out of Detroit and Chris Johnston (Sportsnet) has suggested a player like Michael Del Zotto, but I think my preference would be Ryan Murray (NJ).
As for centers that tickle my fancy, Scott Laughton (PHI), Luke Glendening (DET), Chris Tierney (OTT), and Sam Bennett (CGY) would be excellent additions to this team.
What I’m wondering is why the Oilers wouldn’t go in on Arizona Coyotes star forward Conor Garland. This guy is a fantastic talent and only makes 700k! Taylor Hall is all fine and dandy, but there’s a really good chance Edmonton gets him in the summer. So why not at least inquire on Garland who is an RFA this off-season?
So we’ll see how things go this weekend. Mr. Holland has his work cut out for him but I’m looking forward to waking up to the blazing Taipei morning sun and reading that the Oilers have made a trade!
Take care and have a wonderful day!
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