It doesn’t look like the Oilers will be able to get their hands on one very talented Russian BUT Kyle Dubas has flipped the script a bit in Pittsburgh and the Edmonton Oilers might be back on with regards to Jake Guentzel. Lastly, I take a stab at guessing which two forwards Ken Holland will bring in by the trade deadline this week.
I should start prefacing these blogs with the fact that I write them a day in advance and because we’re getting so close to the deadline there’s a good chance I might write about a player or a team and it be old news by the time it gets to your beautiful eyes. If that happens, my apologies!
But before we get to that, give us a follow on the socials!
- Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
- Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
- Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
- Facebook: Beer League Heroes
The Latest Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors
Does Buchnevich to Edmonton Make Sense?
“I don’t think it does. There aren’t enough possibilities with the Oilers, but it goes beyond that… If I’m Armstrong, the only way I’m dealing Buchnevich now is if there’s a deal I just can’t say no to. If not, I’m waiting until the offseason, when more clubs could be interested.” – Jeremy Rutherford, The Athletic
- JR says in the article that the Blues would probably want two 1sts or a 1st and another asset equivalent to a first, meaning Holloway, Broberg, or Bourgault.
- I can see where he’s coming from. This deal really is quite one-sided in terms of who’s getting the better player now. However, I’d be very interested in seeing a line that featured Jake Neighbours and Dylan Holloway centered by Brayden Schenn or Robert Thomas.
- That being said, STL has Zach Bolduc up with the big club now. So the depth on the LW with the blues is Buchnevich, Bolduc, Saas, and Nathan Walker. Not a lot of room for Holloway there and their centers are sorted.
- Same goes for Broberg on defense. There’s no room on the Blues NHL team and their AHL team is absolutely chalked full of LHD.
- I’d love to get Buchnevich on the Oilers but it seems like a bridge too far to get him there UNLESS the Blues fully embrace an on-the-fly retool, but I’ve got a hard time seeing them do that just as Kyrou and Thomas enter their twin $8M contracts.
So You’re Saying There’s a Chance
“As for their interest in Jake Guentzel, Friedman also reported that the Pittsburgh Penguins have told teams they’d prefer prospects over picks. If Holland can convince Kyle Dubas to take money back in the deal, there might be an opportunity there.” – NHL Trade Talk
- That is an interesting turn of events. The Oilers have a few NHL-ready prospects but PIT would need to eat half of Guentzel’s contract and I’m thinking the Oilers would probably use some draft capital to get another team to eat half of that. But all of a sudden, things are looking a bit more rosy on the Guentzel front if you don’t mind Edmonton moving Holloway and/or Broberg for a rental.
- Pens have a really good right-shot center in Noel Acciari, too. Gritty little fella who can shoot the biscuit.
- On a side note: Did you watch the Pens absolutely embrace the suck last night in Calgary? Jesus… Sid and Gino have to be considering their futures with that team seriously right now. As honorable as it would be to stick it out, there’s no shame in heading elsewhere to finish out the career. Lots of superstars have done it. Would you blame Crosby if he went to Colorado to play with MacKinnon or Malkin if he headed off into the sunset with the Panthers? Of course not. Jagr played for Philly and Pens fans still adore him.
Capital Gains
“I do think Dowd is on the radar,” Friedman said. “The one thing about Mantha is that I’ve gotten the impression that there’s a limit to what are willing to do for Mantha. We’ll see. At this time of the year, you have to be so careful. What’s the price you’re willing to pay?” – Elliotte Friedman
- Dowd seems like he’s more or less an Oiler already, right? Mantha sounds like the fall back if Guentzel gets moved to New York or Vegas.
- My feeling is that they really like Adam Henrique and Guentzel and if you ask me, adding those two would be fantastic.
- The word going around is that Edmonton wants to get two forwards and a dman, so who’s the defender if the forwards are Henrique and Guentzel? It’d have to be somebody on the cheap, right? And somebody to replace Ceci as it sounds like they’re doing their damnedest to pilfer him out of Edmonton. Problem being, nobody really wants him I guess.
- The guys I Iike to replace him all play for playoff teams, teams in the hunt for a wildcard spot, or are skaters who won’t come to Edmonton. I’m talking about players like Matt Roy (LA), Brandon Carlo (BOS), John Marino (NJ), Adam Larsson (SEA), Artem Zub (OTT)…
- Now, in the event that Ceci isn’t moved and Edmonton needs to wait until the summer, Roy, Dylan DeMelo, Brett Pesce, and Brandon Montour are all UFAs but I don’t even want to get into the financial gymnastics it’d take to add one of those guys in addition to trying to deal Ceci out in the off-season.
The King of the North is here! Click the pic and grab a shirt!
