Kypreos Says Letang is Available, Should the Oilers Trade for the Defenseman Right Now?

Trying something a bit new with the BLH Youtube clips. Not sure if it’ll pan out or not but let me know what you think about this sort of format in the comments below!

As for the Letang bombshell, I’m actually kind of shocked that the Penguins would be willing to move one of their best defensemen to try and “shake things up”.

I’m not sure what Kypreos means when he says Letang is having a HORRIBLE year, he’s got 25pts in 37 games and is on pace for more than 50pts. He’s 9th in the league in D-scoring! -15 doesn’t help his cause but Burns is -13 and I don’t hear anybody saying he’s having a HORRIBLE season so far…

Letang hasn’t had the best run of seasons health-wise, I’ll concede that but when Kris Letang is on his game, WOWZAS! He’s a beauty. Offensively or defensively, he’s a dynamo on the back end. He can pass, shoot, skate, transition the puck, and even play physical if need be. He’s seriously one of the most powerful skaters I’ve ever seen. The guy is a beast!

Before I get into the Oilers looking at Letang, I wonder if the Senators would do a deal that centered around Letang and Karlsson? Sens get some security and a slight downgrade in talent and the Penguins get that supernova for their blue line…

I love Kris Letang and every ounce of my being is telling me that the Oilers SHOULD try and acquire the right-shooting dman out of the Steel City. He’s exactly the sort of player that Edmonton has been clamoring for.

Having Letang on the roster would really give the Oilers’ defense a sense of completion, wouldn’t it?

Klefbom/Letang
Nurse/Larsson
Sekera/Russell
Benning

But my problem with the Oilers trading for him is giving the Penguins what they want and according to Friedman, that’s a centre and a winger. Both being high-impact players. To me, that spells N-U-G-E for sure and if RNH is indeed the major piece coming from Edmonton, I think they could get away with tossing in a Strome or a Slepyshev.

That kind of trade would cripple the mojo that the Oilers are currently running on in my opinion. If they want to do that in the off-season, I’d probably support it more then but definitely not now.

I love the way the team is running now. Unicorns were once thought of as a pipe dream but now that the Oilers have three scoring lines, the rest of the league are having major issues dealing with the wave-after-wave-after-wave of attack and even the 4th line is getting in on it too.

If the Pens have taught us anything recently, it’s that you don’t necessarily need an all-star cast on the blue line to win a Stanley Cup, just a few ridiculously talented forwards and a supporting cast that has completely bought in, and legendary goaltending. Not too much to ask right?

That being said, if the price for Letang were say, Oscar Klefbom or Andrej Sekera plus picks and prospects, THAT I could get in on. But is that a trade the Penguins would make? Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford did have Sekera on his team in Carolina before, so there’s that to consider but I think more importantly, how would this sort of trade affect the Oilers cap situation next season?

Letang makes $7.25M for four more seasons and he’s 30 years old right now. Oscar Klefbom is not even 25 years old, he’s contracted until 2022/23 at $4.167M per year. A difference of over $3M per season and a year of team control. Toss in Slepyshev and that difference in Salary comes down to around $2M.

Could the Oilers add a couple million dollars to the salary cap, especially if it’s going up to $80M or so?

I suppose that depends on what Nurse, Strome, Caggiula, Benning, and Davidson will be asking for this summer.

Nurse: A lot of folks are saying an Oscar Klefbom-like contract, I say not that much because he doesn’t bring Oscar’s offense to the table… Yet. Under $4M for sure I say.

Strome: I’m not sure if he’ll ever get more than $2.5M unless he pulls a Josh Bailey-type year.

Caggiula: I think he signs a short-term deal for Strome-like money.

Benning: Not more than Nurse, that’s for sure. Under $3M I reckon.

Davidson: $2M max!

Does Letestu come back for another year? Do the Oilers re-sign Pat Maroon? How will Chiarelli address the backup situation? Brossoit makes 750k but he also plays like a goalie that makes that kind of salary too.

So let’s say Nurse is $3.95M, Strome is $2.5M, Caggiula takes $2.5M, Benning $2.75M, and Davidson $1.75M. Add in a goalie for $2M, and a centre to replace Letestu for $1.15M and we’ve got about $16M plus the adding of $2M from Letang’s trade.

I think some are asking about Maroon’s replacement and I believe that’ll come internally be it Tyler Benson or Kailer Yamamoto or maybe even Maksimov or Laleggia.

That’s about $18M if my shotty math is correct. I f*cking hate maths.

According to Capfriendly.com, at a $75M cap ceiling, the Oilers should have about $14M available before re-signing players and without any UFAs added. Toss $5M onto that if the cap ceiling goes up to $80M and Chiarelli could very well make a deal for Kris Letang without blowing up the roster but I simply do not believe that the Penguins would accept such a trade.

Now, I could’ve done that math completely wrong and I’m a little afraid that I’ve done just that or that I’m completely missing something. So if you’d be so kind, let me know in the comments below where I’ve gone astray if I indeed have done so! I appreciate that!

But how about this D then?

Sekera(Klefbom)/Letang
Nurse/Larsson
Russell/Benning
Davidson

Now that I’ve gone on that little diatribe, the Oilers problem isn’t scoring or offense, in my opinion, it’s their special teams if we’re being honest here. Letang would definitely help on the PP but would he help improve the PK (at home)? I’d venture a guess as to the answer being yes.

I’d add that a trade for Pageau out of Ottawa would be huge for the Oilers right now too. But that cap… Man, that cap.

Thoughts on a Kris Letang trade for the Oilers? Throw ’em in the comments section!