Edmonton Oilers Talk: Will the Oilers Target a Bottom-Six Forward, a Defenseman, or a Goaltender at the Trade Deadline?

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Edmonton Sun

Bouchard rewarded with most ice-time he’s ever had in NHL against Vancouver

Whether it becomes a trend or not, Bouchard’s 22 minutes against the Canucks, with 6:01 on the penalty-kill alongside Nurse, was the most he’s ever played as an NHL defenceman.
Last season, he twice played slightly over 20 minutes in games against Winnipeg and Vancouver, but also had two games where he played 8:17 (vs the Canucks) and 8:23 (vs Calgary).
Bouchard only played 24 seconds on the second Oilers PP unit, but more than everybody but Nurse on the PK, took Russell’s spot as a penalty-killer. Russell, who can play left and right side, only got 52 seconds, unusual for him.
When you watch Zach Hyman’s doggedness, he reminds you of Ryan Smyth. Always around the puck, always around the net, like a fly buzzing your head.
Shore will likely go on injured reserve and Zack Kassian will come off.
Defenceman William Lagesson, who cleared NHL waivers, will likely be joining the AHL squad when he’s cleared to play. He’s technically on IR with the Oilers but skated Friday.

BLH’s Thoughts: Am I the only on thinking that Cody Ceci and the 2nd pair RD slot is safe? My feeling is that Barrie and Bouchard are going to be a fluid situation going forward as we’ve already witnessed.

Nice to see the local MSM agreeing with my Ryan Smyth comparable for Zach Hyman.

Oil on Whyte

One potential trade target to keep an eye on

Dallas may provide the solution for the Oilers if Ken Holland ever decides to pull the trigger on a trade for a goalie.
Dallas is in an odd position of having not just a three-headed goaltending monster, but a four-headed goaltending monster.
First, there’s perpetually injured Ben Bishop, a goalie who’s great when he’s healthy but has spent significant time injured as of late…
Then they’ve got Anton Khudobin, who’s spelled off Bishop pretty well save for last season when he finished with a pedestrian .905 sv%.
Then after the Vancouver Canucks bought out Braden Holtby and replaced him with Jaroslav Halak…
Then the Stars have farmhand Jake Oettinger, who played 29 games for the Stars last season and had a .911 sv% and 2.36 GAA…
Dallas isn’t a division rival, so they’re a plausible trading partner. The Oilers could then loan Koskinen out to an AHL team or to Europe for the season.
If Holland plays his cards right maybe he could even get Dallas to retain a small amount of salary in the deal – maybe $100-300K.

BLH’s Thoughts: Hahahaha. Okay… Koskinen isn’t getting loaned out to a team in Europe. He’s in the final year of his contract and he can play in the NHL, he’s not Jesse Joensuu.

That being said, Dallas has a deal in the bag already, they know Bishop isn’t coming back in the regular season, or they’ve inexplicably put themselves in a horrible position. Jim Nill isn’t some rookie GM here… He knows what’s going on and if he’s put his club in a predicament having all those netminders on board, there’s a good reason for it.

The one trade I’m going to be keeping an eye out for is a veteran bottom-six center. My feeling is that Ryan McLeod won’t be long for the Oilers this year and the team will fill his spot with a notable right-shot center of the veteran variety. Remember all the Getzlaf rumors last year? There are a plethora of older superstar-types heading for free agency this season and considering how Ken Holland has worked the deadline in the past, it wouldn’t shock me one bit if he moved futures for older players who have some name recognition.

I do believe a defenseman might be on their radar as well if I’m reading the tea leaves right.

NHLRumors.com

TSN: Pierre LeBrun on TSN’s OverDrive radio show with Bryan Hayes and Dave Feschuk on the latest involving Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres…
- “I do think there are potential landing spots for Jack Eichel. I mean, I think the Anaheim Ducks from the beginning have always made sense to me… I think St. Louis is an under-the-radar team lurking out there… Calgary I know have done their due diligence on him… I wonder if at some level about San Jose. Only because, depending on what ends up happening with Evander Kane.”
Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff: Chicago Blackhawks forward Dylan Strome has a year left on his contract at $3 million and will be an RFA after the season. He seems to be the odd man out and the Blackhawks are open to moving him.
The New York Rangers aren’t interested in terminating Vitali Kravtsov‘s contract.
Vladimir Tarasenko would still like a trade from the St. Louis Blues.
Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News: The Dallas Stars have a list of pending free agents – John Klingberg, Joe Pavelski, Alexander Radulov, Andrej Sekera, Blake Comeau, Braden Holtby and Michael Raffl, as well as head coach Rick Bowness.
- This season will dictate if they stay someone on the course or if they go younger.