Islanders Looking at a Pair of Oilers?

I got a message late last night from my source and it said that Eberle to the Islanders was heating up. Oilers were looking at Strome and multiple draft picks in exchange for Eberle but that there was more to it and to wait and see…

I think I called something similar a couple of days ago…

In the summer, could Chiarelli get the Islanders to send him Ryan Strome and a pick or prospect for Jordan Eberle? (source)

Of course, it was a hypothetical but I’ll take it! Oh and just before we really get going into this, my source isn’t the lovely Treena’s Oil even though she just went on a twitter craze with a handful of tweets that mentioned some of the thoughts I will go on talk about below.

It’s funny, a lot of the same names keep popping up in rumours and in various blogs. I mean, Lowetide has mentioned Reto Berra on numerous occasions on his blog and I feel like the Halak to Edmonton murmurings have been on low-rumble since he was demoted to the Islanders farm team.

Personally, I don’t believe the Oilers coaching staff is convinced that Brossoit can handle the backup duties. Brossoit looks to be the kind of goalie that needs the no.1 spot and has to be playing all of the time, similar to Talbot. I also believe that Nick Ellis might be the better of the two.

How much better is Curtis Lazar than Anton Lander?

We’re two veteran dmen down right now after last night’s game vs. the Panthers. It’s unknown how long Larsson will be out and we haven’t heard a lot on Sekera. The Oilers will need Brandon Davidson now more than ever. Is trading him in a deal that smart? Unless said deal was bringing back a defenseman… *Cough* Shattenkirk *Cough*

I can’t see Edmonton dealing Khaira. He seems very much in the mold of a Chiarelli-type player. Big, strong, hard-working, positionally versatile…

The other little tidbit, I was also told that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was another player the Islanders might be looking at…

Not a huge surprise there but would it be a bigger surprise if the Oilers dealt both Eberle AND Nugent-Hopkins to the Islanders? That’s a MAJOR chunk of cap space right there and the Oilers would have to bring some back their way. Would you be shocked if it was Johnny Boychuk waiving his NMC, Jaro Halak (Bob Stauffer did say yesterday that he believes the Isles are prepared to buy Halak out though), and Ryan Strome coming Edmonton’s way? Edmonton taking the short-term hit on Halak and then going out and signing Brian Boyle and/or Derek Ryan in the offseason? If the Oilers can find a taker for Pouliot as well as Fayne, the kind of deal mentioned here becomes more palpable financially for the Oilers.

So maybe a version of the roster before July 1st hits would look similar to this:

Maroon/McDavid/Puljujarvi
Lucic/Draisaitl/Strome
Slepyshev/Boyle/Ryan
Khaira/Letestu/Kassian

Klefbom/Larsson
Sekera/Boychuk
Nurse/Benning

Talbot
Halak

When it comes to Nuge and Eberle, I really think we’re going to find out how much of the things we’ve ingested are true before the 2017/18 season gets going with a lot of what the Oilers can or will do in the future riding on what the upcoming RFAs will be demanding, right? So we wait… Will Draisaitl demand north of $6M or can Chiarelli convince the kids who are driving this bus to take a bit less for the better of the team? It’ll be interesting nevertheless.

Just before we conclude and I shamelessly plug our wicked t-shirts, I do wonder how much of the news we get is information vs. disinformation, this time of the year. How much of what Stauffer says is genuine as opposed to something just being tossed out to keep prying minds away from precious truths. Same goes for the news that I hear from my source or the rumours you hear or read from the sites or people you know.

The other thing is, I think it’s pretty common for the GMs to use the insiders to influence negotiations? For example, yesterday on Oilers Now! Frank Seravelli was really pushing the idea of the Oilers acquiring Kevin Shattenkirk and earlier in the week Dreger was saying how the Islanders/Eberle talks had taken place earlier but had cooled off more recently. Yet, here we are today getting news of trade talks heating up between the Isles and Oilers and my feeling before today on Shattenkirk was that the Blues were going to keep him. Bob MacKenzie has stated that he believes otherwise here.

So are the Islanders looking to put pressure on the Oilers to make a deal here while they are in the thick of a pretty kickass resurgence? Are the Blues laying some heat on Chiarelli to get his butt in gear because the pieces they’d like would be of better use now than later?

Lastly, in the back of my mind, I’d like the things I share here with you to come true because it’d make me ego feel good and who doesn’t enjoy a good stroking of the ego 🙂 But the reality is, even if the reports I get are true, they may never come to fruition because the line is always moving in negotiations and trades fall apart all of the time. I mean, what is an insider’s batting average when it comes to rumours anyhow?

How would you feel about a blockbuster trade like the one proposed above? Let us know in the comments below! But don’t forget to check out our Teepublic shop as EVERYTHING IS ON SALE!! (For the time being) Click on the pic below and clothe yourself or your loved ones in some sweet sweet BLH attire! I recommend the Kris Army Tee!