Oilers Fans Gearing Up for a Sens-ational Trade?

The Ottawa Senators are open for business folks! According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, the Sens are expected to make another deal before the Christmas trade deadline next Tuesday and that could be good news IF the Oilers are looking to tinker with things but lets look at some of the other things that have been published today regarding the Senators and the Oilers that might give us a better idea as to the trade compatibility of both teams.

LOWETIDE

The Ottawa Senators appear to be contemplating something rash and a team like the Edmonton Oilers would do well to pay attention. The Alberta team’s continuing search for a shooter to place on Connor McDavid’s line could be solved with the addition of a pure scorer like Mike Hoffman of the Senators.

I love the idea of adding a player like Mike Hoffman but not for the reason that LT outlines here.

It’s because he’s a pure shooter and the PP needs that injection. Hoffman is as selfish (I use that in a complimentary way) as one can hope for when it comes to shooting vs. passing.

Could McDavid run a line with two pure shooters on it? It’s very possible but the rub with Hoffman is similar to that of Eberle’s, if he’s not scoring, what else is he doing? That said, he’s one of the elite shooters in the NHL today in my opinion.

I look at their roster and think the club requires defence, but Ottawa is extremely patient with their blueliners. The Sens are an internal-cap team, so saving a couple million dollars on a trade (Hoffman is at $5.187 million through 2020 summer and has a modified NTC) should have appeal.

Read into that what you may but what I’m getting out of that is Pat Maroon (to replace Hoffman) and the Oilers’ younger dmen like Nurse, Benning, Bear, or Jones. You can combine one of those players with a draft pick and/or other prospects I imagine and with the Oilers extra cap space available, there should be a fit for a trade.

Those quotes come from The Athletic. You should sign up for it because you’ll get all of your roster speculation articles from LT there as opposed to his own site nowadays. Plus if you do sign up through the link below, I get a bit of scratch to help feed the kids with 🙂

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Speaking of Darnell Nurse and another article from The Athletic…

WILLIS

Jonathan Willis has an article out speculating which Oilers dmen might get pushed out with the emergence of the defensive beast that is Darnell Nurse.

The typical Edmonton solution to this would be to deal Klefbom. Like most NHL teams, the Oilers tend to move guys at low ebbs in their career, rather than waiting for a better return later on. It might even be the right move, depending on what his value on the market is; if there’s a team out there willing to pay full price for the guy, it’s a trade that could make sense. There are precious few untradeable players in hockey today.

It’s possible yeah. Klefbom has had one real good season to date, the others have been tainted by injury or inconsistent performances and you’d have to wonder how that makes the coach and GM feel. This is a team that is desperate for consistently solid defensemen. From what I’ve noticed just as a fan, Klefbom starts his seasons slowly and really picks it up as the year progresses. He was one of the Oilers best players let alone dmen last season… So there’s that.

The outside-the-box idea would be to deal Nurse. His value is undoubtedly high right now, and as a general rule it’s better to trade a player when he’s at a peak rather than a valley in his game. It’s hard to imagine such a deal, though. Nurse fits the kind of team Chiarelli wants to build to a tee, he’s strong in some areas the Oilers are weak, and given his age we probably haven’t seen the best of him yet.

Yup, Willis makes another good point here. Would this be the carrot you dangle in front of Senators GM Pierre Dorion in order to get trade talks regarding Erik Karlsson started?

I really love the way that Nurse has progressed and questions about Karlsson’s health are starting to emerge. Add that to the idea of having to pay Karlsson MORE that Connor McDavid and things start to get a bit murkier.  Could a team survive in the cap era with those kinds of salaries on the books? Or would acquiring Erik Karlsson be akin to when the Pittsburgh Penguins traded for Paul Coffey?… Something to think about.

The best solution might actually be dealing Sekera, since that would leave Edmonton with two young guys on modest deals to anchor the defence for years to come. The problems with this are myriad. Trade value is one. Another is that Edmonton hasn’t fared very well without their veteran safety net on the blue line this season; Nurse has excelled while Klefbom has struggled, and given their age and experience levels it’s not crazy to expect a few more ups and downs from both players before they settle into a steady mid-career keel. Finally, Sekera has a full no-move clause through 2019, which theoretically means he could block any deal made before that point.

 

Andrej Sekera is going to get traded sooner or later, as is Kris Russell. I know that because that’s what I’ve been passed on. I agree with Willis here though and I’ve always thought that an older roster is one that I trust more, especially when the team is bringing along young A-level prospects. The trick being not to give those young prospects as much leash as they want and to trust your veterans.

Who would you trade?

THE INSIDERS

The insides like Friedman, McKenzie, Dreger, and Lebrun are all over this story as expected. Here are a few quotes from them courtesy of Fanrag Sports.

My sense, according to people that I talk to, is that Melnyk does not want to make that change (firing the coach). So we might see some trades. Dorion may not be done yet with his three-way trade that brought Duchene to Ottawa. Maybe he has to move out some other pieces before they decide that it’s time to give up on the coach.

If they’re not certain that they’re going to be able to sign this guy either financially or if Karlsson decides he wants to test the free agent market, then they don’t have much choice. – Dreger (source)

It seems that the coaches of struggling teams are getting some leeway this season and I dig that. After seeing the Oilers fire so many coaches season after season, it’s a breath of fresh air to get the feeling that the coaches might have some security and the players are the ones who are sitting on eggshells.

Dreger didn’t mention other teams or other players

I don’t believe for a moment that right now they’re picking up the phone and they’re trying to make a trade for Erik Karlsson, or that that’s even a consideration for them at this point in the season. And it may not even be at any point in this season, although I suppose you’ve got to leave the door open a crack depending on what happens between now and March and if they keep going the way they’re going.

But I do think that – and Bruce Garrioch  wrote this in the Ottawa Sun/Citizen this morning – that they are looking at making some moves. I think Mike Hoffman’s name and Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s name have been mentioned. We’ll see.

Now, I don’t think they’ll trade Hoffman or Pageau for a bunch of draft picks and call it a day by any stretch. They’re obviously looking to make a hockey deal here using some pretty good hockey players. – McKenzie (source)

I tell you what, if the Oilers could get their hands on Pageau AND Hoffman, that would be a coup for Chiarelli but what kind of “hockey deal” could be made there? Both Pageau and Hoffman are vital to the Senators special teams. Would you deal RNH and say… Ryan Strome for both of them?

But I think Pierre Dorion is working the phones for sure right now trying to make another trade and trying to shake his team up here.

I think there’s a bunch of guys on the Senators I think they would listen on. I mean, Cody Ceci is an interesting player to look at. Right-handed defenseman, top-four guy, plays behind Karlsson. It just so happens where his deal is up at the end of the year where he’s an RFA. So the Senators were going to have to decide on him at some point anyway between now and the summer because either you commit to him financially or you move on, right. – LeBrun (source)

I’ve got no interest in Ceci right now. I’ve watched a few Sens games this year and he looks a bit like Phaneuf at the moment. Meaning I’m not sure how smart of a player he is compared to what we’ve got now in Edmonton. I like Larsson AND Benning much more and I probably like Brandon Davidson more too.

Ceci used to be a hot prospect coming up but I just see an average player there. Mind you, if the Oilers could lose something off the cap in a deal for him, maybe that’s something to consider.

one of the things I was told – or theories I was told – was that maybe they were upset that Karlsson had said what he said, so they wanted to rattle his cage back by asking for his list. I mentioned that to someone, and I guess that person mentioned it to someone else, and they called me. And they kind of knew Ottawa’s situation a bit. And they said that’s not what’s going on here.

And I think that’s what this is. If you look at their contracts, they’ve got to deal with Cody Ceci, they’ve got to deal with Mark Stone who’s having a phenomenal year, they’ve got to deal with Derick Brassard, they’ve got to deal with Matt Duchene, they’ve got to deal with Erik Karlsson in the next two years. I think they’re looking at it and saying, ‘What are we going to do here.

So I just think it’s – when you’re losing, it’s always worse. And they’re losing and the walls close in on you when this happens. – Friedman (source)

If the player and the team are playing games like this in the media, it’s time to move on because it’s not going to get any better and the trust between both parties isn’t going to get any stronger. That’s just my thoughts on Friedman’s Karlsson comment there.

Mark Stone is another player I absolutely love from Ottawa. He would look outstanding on the Oilers, right? He’s simply one of the smartest players in the league.

I’m under the impression that the Oilers aren’t looking to trade right now and the reason for that is they don’t want to be negotiating from the position their in right now. Meaning, they’re behind the 8-ball and other teams know that. I reckon Chiarelli wants to make a deal but is using every ounce of patience he has not to.

BUT. I’m a fan first and foremost and I like roster speculation as much as the next guy…

I’d have ZERO problems if the Oilers decided to go all in and try to acquire Hoffman, Pageau, and Stone. I’m a fan of earth-shattering trades but what would the Oilers have to give up to get all three?

Trade Assets:
Nuge, Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, Maroon, Letestu, Benning, Klefbom, Nurse, every draft pick…

I can’t imagine the Sens wanting to part with Stone if we’re being honest. Not unless Puljujarvi is coming back and that would be a mistake for the Oilers. Pulju is coming on and I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts scoring more as the team continues to pick up steam.

Thoughts? If I’ve got any Senators fans following the blog, let me know what you think about all of these rumors and what you guys expect back for players like Hoffman and Pageau.