Possible Eberle Destinations?

On the Feb.13th edition of Oilers Now! Bob Stauffer laid out four teams that he thought would be possible destinations for struggling right-winger Jordan Eberle. I think Stauffer has intimated in the past that any big deals that would be going down would be consummated in the summer when the cap isn’t an issue and I also believe that to be the plan because rarely these days do teams make significant roster changes in-season.

The Four Teams with Stauffer’s quotes and my commentary,

Dallas Stars 

The Dallas Stars have three high-priced players. Jamie Benn, I think he goes up to $9.5M next year. They’ve got Benn, Seguin, and Spezza. And then they’ve got nothing because Hemsky’s coming off the books, they’ve got a bunch of other UFAs that are coming off the books as well. Hemsky’s a right-wing, Eberle plays right-wing.

The Stars are going to have so much money available next summer, it’s not even funny. But the team is going to go through some major changes and it’ll be on Jim Nill to give his team the best tools possible go get back to the playoffs. I reckon a new coach will come in, *cough* Ken Hitchcock *cough*, and there’ll be some new goaltending personnel. I imagine they’ll be looking to upgrade that young d-corps too.

What would I be asking for: From the Stars I like, Julius Honka. A right-shooting Finnish defender who has been marinating in the AHL since being drafted 14th overall in 2014. He had 44pts in 73 games last year and this year in 32 games he’s racked up 23pts. He had a short stint with the big club earlier in the year where he managed 4 assists in 10 games. 

I highly doubt the Stars would move a player like Honka but Eberle IS a bonafide scoring RW and the Stars want to get back to being a contender as fast as possible, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LvyTOSLzDY

Arizona Coyotes

The Arizona Coyotes got some dead money coming off the books. I think Pronger comes off and Datsuyk comes off. Don’t forget, those guys are on the books for Arizona. The could use a proven right-shot, you know, Shane Doan is going to retire, he’s a right-wing. 

The Coyotes are another team that is basically going to have a clean slate to work with. I imagine they’ll add more young players like Dylan Strome to their NHL roster in 2017/18 but as Bob Stauffer said, they’ll be looking for a proper NHL right-winger who can bury the puck despite what struggles Eberle is going through this year.

What would I be asking for: Christian Fischer straight up. Normally, I’d ask for Kyle Wood because he’s a righty, enourmous, and has the hardest shot in the AHL but I reckon the Coyotes might graduate him in 2017 after Michael Stone moves on.

I love this former Windsor Spitfires’ ability to put the puck in the net. He’s big, he’s young, but he looks like he’ll be ready for full-time NHL hockey starting next season. Also, he can play both centre and right- I’d be hard pressed to find a good reason for the Coyotes to move the young American apart from them wanting to speed their rebuild up a tad and add a player who has a history of scoring goals consistently before this season.

I’m not a huge fan of dealing within the division but Eberle seems pretty easy to contain, so no big deal here.

 New York Islanders

The New York Islanders, if you look at their club, could they use a RW that has had success playing with John Tavares. Oh, who’s that? Oh wait, Jordan Eberle during the World Junior Championship in Ottawa that year. 

Now here’s a team that is in dire need of a skilled winger for John Tavares and some extra sweetener to try an keep him from hitting the free agent market in 2018. Since letting Kyle Okposo go, the Isles have seemed lost on the RW without him. Adding Eberle could elleviate that feeling of loss a tad.

What would I be asking for: From a salary cap standpoint, the Isles aren’t in the same boat as Arizona or Dallas. They’ve got some players who make bank and have some term left on their deals. I do like Ryan Strome but the Isles have only him and Cal Clutterbuck shooting from that side.

I’ll go off the board a bit and say Johnny Boychuk but the Isles would have to retain $2M per year salary or toss in a significant prospect like defenseman Ryan Pulock, goalie Ilya Sorokin, or a 1st round pick to cover that cash difference.

I’ve been watching Boychuk and it doesn’t appear that his skating has deteriorated too much given his age (33) and he’s still got that right-shot cannon that would surely help out the Oilers PP. Reminds me of Sheldon Souray a bit too. And if he did get to that point to where things have gotten so bad for him on the ice, could the Oilers just send him to Andrew Ference Island? Meaning, toss him on the IR for two years?

Peter Chiarelli did trade him previously but was reluctant to do so in my opinion and the players (2nd round draft picks that turned into defensemen Brandon Carlo and Ryan Lindgren) that he got in return will help the Bruins for years to come unless they deal them away for Matt Duchene or Gabriel Landeskog.

I like veteran defensemen and Boychuck is just that. A local boy to boot. Would he waive the NMC to come play with Connor and Co.?

New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils are another team. Teams that are short of scoring would look at a player like Bobby Ryan or Jordan Eberle. 

I reckon the Devils would have to move some money around to fit Eberle in. But the temptation to re-unite Hall and Eberle might be tempting enough to do just that. But will Ray Shero be looking to add more offense to a team that has Hall, Cammalleri, Palmieri, Henrique, and Zacha?

What would I be asking for: I think either Kyle Palmieri or a Damon Severson package. But to me, I can’t see the Devils looking to get fleeced in another trade with the Oilers 🙂

I’ll add one more team to that list. The Washington Capitals IF TJ Oshie isn’t re-signed. The Caps are good to go with regards to the right-wing position and their bottom 6 but Oshie is a free agent this summer as is Justin Williams. Brett Connolly (RFA) could re-sign and I suppose Marcus Johansson could slide over too but Washington doesn’t have a pure right-winger IF Oshie leaves. Enter Jordan Eberle.

As for a return, since the Capitals have been going for the Cup for some time now, they’re prospect cupboard is a tad empty. I believe the Oilers will be looking to fill certain roles on the team so a trade that would include Jordan Eberle might garner a return including right-handed centre Jay Beagle (who is under contract for another season at $1.75M) plus prospects or draft picks. Or perhaps the aforementioned multi-positioned Marcus Johansson could be part of the return. The Swede has a contract worth $4.583M for two more seasons after this one.

How would Eberle do beside Niklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin in a Barry Trotz system?… Scary to think about that isn’t it.

Jordan Eberle is a damned good hockey player and I’m disappointed that it won’t be his level of play that gets him traded but his contract. If he was making $4.5M per year, we’d be talking a bit differently about him I believe.

Watch Eberle light up the Coyotes tonight now that I’ve posted this…

What do you think about Stauffer’s suggested teams? Let us know in the comments below but right after you pick up a sweet shirt from our Teepublic Shop! Check out a few designs below!