Finding 2 New Defencemen for the Oilers

[I am the Liquor]

I read the article and I was like wow this is a surprisingly good write up particularly given my impressions of your past write-ups and then I hit Buffalo and it started going off the rails and never got fully back on. Pysyk for Klefbom being a potential "win-win", Gudbranson for Eberle, and the additional million times you hinted that swapping Klefbom for a clearly inferior d-man were terribly aggravating. Then you had us potentially getting Chris Tanev for little more than garbage, for a little bit you almost tricked me into thinking you knew what you were talking about, then the longer it dragged on the more obvious it became that you are more of a casual hockey fan. My recommendations are to suggest less trade hypotheticals some of them were veiled by non-commital language, but it showed your lack of knowledge in the players involved. To be fair I've read horrible trade suggestions proposals by professional print journalists so don't feel too bad about it, but it's quite rare to see so many bad ones or lobsided ones in one place & reading them in one sitting.

The guy is a sports reporter who has covered the Kelowna Rockets for the Kelowna paper. Most of his articles are pretty good actually. Who the **** are you and what have you ever done?

 

[Sniper99]

I read the article and I was like wow this is a surprisingly good write up particularly given my impressions of your past write-ups and then I hit Buffalo and it started going off the rails and never got fully back on. Pysyk for Klefbom being a potential "win-win", Gudbranson for Eberle, and the additional million times you hinted that swapping Klefbom for a clearly inferior d-man were terribly aggravating. Then you had us potentially getting Chris Tanev for little more than garbage, for a little bit you almost tricked me into thinking you knew what you were talking about, then the longer it dragged on the more obvious it became that you are more of a casual hockey fan. My recommendations are to suggest less trade hypotheticals some of them were veiled by non-commital language, but it showed your lack of knowledge in the players involved. To be fair I've read horrible trade suggestions proposals by professional print journalists so don't feel too bad about it, but it's quite rare to see so many bad ones or lobsided ones in one place & reading them in one sitting.

Take a breath and settle down. Yikes.

 

[6God*]

The time is wrong to chase someone like Barrie. The man will not produce at that 50+ pace with the Oilers - and he's going to get overpaid for it this offseason.

A player of similar talent level is Sami Vatanen - he would likely come at a cheaper price and from a team that needs forwards (ANA). He'd be the ideal target to provide some puck-moving ability for our second pairing.
If ANA is really going delirious and the Lindholm rumors are true - we NEED to overpay to acquire him. Ebs/Hall 1-for-1 type deal.

Faulk, if we get him, is a top pairing defenseman from the get-go. Put him with Klefbom on the top-pairing and watch them eat 25+ a night. He's not going to be available unless these "unhappy" rumors are actually true.

Getting one of Vatanen/Shattenkirk to service the 2RD spot should be a major goal this off-season, and we should be willing to over-pay with forwards to achieve it.

As for the top-pairing - it's going to take a similar overpay of monumental proportions.

I'm talking Hall/Ebs+Nurse/Reinhart + 4th overall being in play. Potential targets? OEL, Subban, etc. 25ish-yr old dmen about to hit the prime 10 years of their career.

These are all massive overpays - but the forward market is deep this UFA. Time to focus on building around our franchise-level centers (McDavid/Drai/RNH) with suitable accessory wingers.

Ideally:

Maroon-McDavid-Hudler
Lucic-Draisatl-Vrbata
Pouliot-RNH-(Yaku return)
Hendricks-Letestu-Korpi

Sekera-OEL
Klefbom-Vatanen
Davidson-Fayne

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

^ I agree with a lot of that but how do you have Hall and Ebs as interchangeable? They have vastly different values.

 

[6God*]

^ I agree with a lot of that but how do you have Hall and Ebs as interchangeable? They have vastly different values.

Very true.

I'd only trade Hall if the return is a potential top pairing defenseman (straight-up for Lindholm, package deal for OEL/Subban, etc).

Ebs should be dangled for a 2RD - one of those offensive guys that could take primary PP time and secondary ES (Vatanen, Brodie, Shattenkirk). Hell I'd dangle Ebs+ to land Faulk.

I wonder what Yakupov+ could fetch in terms of return.

 

[Ferocian]

Appreciate constructive criticism. As for not telling you what you already know, mainstream media does this on a daily basis too. Yes, everybody is mulling over the same list of names, but I feel I added a few new ones further down the list and put a lot of effort into this post.

Don't worry about it. It was a good article and nicely categorized the potential players. Some of the values seem slightly off but I understand the kind of effort it takes to put together something this long. This at least is a good solid list talking about the likely candidates and is an easy reference point for anyone who's interested.

 

[Larry Fisher]

Thanks Ferocian and I am the Liquor for coming to my defence, appreciate the compliments and the criticisms. I do consider myself a "professional print journalist". I've been in the business since 2004 and have accomplished quite a bit. My THW stuff is mostly a hobby in that I don't do many quote-type articles but I do put in the time and research what I'm writing about. I think I have a strong knowledge of the entire league and hockey in general, but everybody is entitled to their owns opinions and often times we might end up agreeing to disagree.

Now that the Stanley Cup has been handed out, I assume the trade winds will start blowing pretty strong and some deals might already be done and just waiting to be announced. It's going to be a chaotic time between now and July 1, but I still believe Peter Chiarelli will be doing everything in his power to add two quality right-handed defencemen. Gudbranson is already gone from this list and you can probably scratch off Justin Faulk and Kevin Shattenkirk too. If Bob Stauffer suggests they aren't available or aren't the right fits for Edmonton, then those ships have likely sailed. Subban is obviously a long-shot too, but Chiarelli still has lots of names to choose from off that list. Stay tuned and buckle up for a fun ride these next couple weeks!

 

[Debonair]

The Oilers need to make another Roman Hamrlik trade. Back in '97 the Oilers traded recent top picks - Steve Kelly and Jason Bonsignore - for former 1st overall pick Roman Hamrlik.

Now we know it didnt quite work out in Edmonton for Hamrlik but he was highly regarded - huge point shot with good production & draft pedigree. He was also traded a couple years later for Eric Brewer.

I believe we can do something like this for Nail Yakupov. I've seen this before but Nail Yakupov + Benoit Pouliot for Sami Vatanen I think makes sense for us.

 

[Larry Fisher]

That Pouliot and Yakupov for Vatanen trade could make a lot of sense, considering the Ducks are losing a bunch of free-agent forwards (Perron, McGinn, Stewart, etc.). Anaheim also needs to make room for Shea Theodore as a full-time player next season, with Brandon Montour and the Swedes (Larsson, Pettersson) not far behind. It could be a win-win deal that addresses needs for both teams.

 

[MessierII]

I doubt Anaheim cap wise could do that. They'd probably prefer Yakupov + futures honestly. They are trading Vatenen for cap reasons no?

 

[Paralyzer]

Thanks Ferocian and I am the Liquor for coming to my defence, appreciate the compliments and the criticisms. I do consider myself a "professional print journalist". I've been in the business since 2004 and have accomplished quite a bit. My THW stuff is mostly a hobby in that I don't do many quote-type articles but I do put in the time and research what I'm writing about. I think I have a strong knowledge of the entire league and hockey in general, but everybody is entitled to their owns opinions and often times we might end up agreeing to disagree.

Now that the Stanley Cup has been handed out, I assume the trade winds will start blowing pretty strong and some deals might already be done and just waiting to be announced. It's going to be a chaotic time between now and July 1, but I still believe Peter Chiarelli will be doing everything in his power to add two quality right-handed defencemen. Gudbranson is already gone from this list and you can probably scratch off Justin Faulk and Kevin Shattenkirk too. If Bob Stauffer suggests they aren't available or aren't the right fits for Edmonton, then those ships have likely sailed. Subban is obviously a long-shot too, but Chiarelli still has lots of names to choose from off that list. Stay tuned and buckle up for a fun ride these next couple weeks!

To be honest Larry, there is a few proposals I disagree with but no one should be insulting you or your work. Some of us like it and some of us don't, but it should never be vocalized about in front of you. I apologize for the people who insult you or your work. I'd be pretty mad if someone criticized and insulted me and my work. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Debonair]

I doubt Anaheim cap wise could do that. They'd probably prefer Yakupov + futures honestly. They are trading Vatenen for cap reasons no?

I think Poo would have value - 4M is a decent deal for him TBH. I think 6.5M in cap space for 2 top 6 forwards is money well spent. To me I think Yakupov is the wild card here... sure he comes in a bit cheaper at 2.5M next season but what about beyond that? If they are betting on him becoming at top 6 next year he will command a lot more than 2.5M. If he doesnt become a top 6F.. well that's not ideal either.

Pouliot can play on your top 2 lines and is set at 4M for the next 3 years. I think cost certainty is very important for GMs, especially budget conscious ones like the Ducks.