The Oilers were never going to draft Barzal, and I don’t know where this recent Eriksson-Ek rumour is coming from. They were taking Svechnikov or Samsonov. Neither of which is helping us right now. We were going to sign Demers if the Hall/Larsson trade didn’t go down. We’d also have to have kept Jokinen, because losing Strome and taking away Jokinen would take use down to only 4 centermen. Plus, Sekera would still be hurt, so our lineup would be
Maroon - McDavid - Draisaitl
Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Caggiula - Letestu - Puljujarvi
Khaira - Jokinen - Kassian
Klefbom - Demers
Nurse - Russell
Auvitu - Benning
Instead of the current
Maroon - McDavid - Draisaitl
Lucic - Nugent-Hopkins - Puljujarvi
Khaira - Strome - Caggiula
Cammalleri - Letestu - Kassian
Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Auvitu - Benning
Our 2nd line gains some extra offense, but we take a hit down the middle, and on the top pairing. We also have less capspace, are much less physical, and have worse leadership.
I get that the Reinhart trade was horrible, but let’s be realistic. It hasn’t hurt us yet. If you want to critique the Oilers, add us to the list of scouting staffs who underrated Barzal