Player Discussion Players you'd target in trade or off-season

[OilerSuperstar17]

So I've been taking a look at who's going to become free agents this off-season, and it got me thinking:

Who could we target that could help fill out the bottom-6, either through trade during the season or in the off-season. These players definitely peaked my interest:

Zach Aston-Reese

• I wanted him to come to the team when he was a UFA coming out of college. He's an RFA this off-season but with JR gone in Pittsburgh, who knows what they're plans are going forward. If we can acquire him during the season to fill in the 3LW and 1PK, that'll go a long way in shoring up the bottom-6.

Blake Coleman

• Probably highly unlikely to acquire during the season, he'll be a UFA in the summer. TB literally has no cap space for next year, so he's pretty much gone. Him on the 3rd line with ZAR and Turris could be an ideal 3rd line for next year.

Connor Brown

• I'd target him in a trade for Zack Kassian. Has one year left after this season, and seems pretty versatile in terms of moving up and down the line-up.

Grigorenko / Nosek / Gagner / Kuraly / Paquette

• Just looking at Capfriendly's list of UFA centers, these 5 stand out and probably can't go wrong with anyone. I'd love to see Gags finish off his career with us, but who knows. I think Nosek is probably the best bet for 4C. Also got Gaetan, but can't hurt to have some competition.

Dougie Hamilton

• I don't know what Carolina's plans are. They've got plenty of space for next season to re-sign him. If he does make it to UFA, with Barrie and Larsson coming off the books, he should a high priority target.

Ryan Murray / Nik Hjalmarsson / Brandon Montour / Trevor Van Riemsdyk

• Kris Russell shouldn't be back next season, and who knows what the plans are for Willie Laggie, but if neither are back next season, one of these four should definitely be looked at on a 1 or 2 year deal to insulate the D corps.

Philip Grubauer / Petr Mrazek / Ludvig Persson

• Both in tandem is the ideal outcome but with the season's they're having, it'll probably be improbable we get them both, let alone one, especially if they both re-sign with Colorado and Carolina respectively.
• Persson is 21 years old, undrafted, having a strong season on a poor team in his first NCAA season. He could add depth along side Skinner, Rodrigue, Konovalov in the system. (Ludvig Persson at eliteprospects.com)

'21-'22 ideal line-up?

Kahun - McDavy - Pulju
Nuge - Drai - Yamo
ZAR - Turris - Coleman
Brown - Nosek - Haas
Benson - McLeod

Klefbom - Hamilton
Nurse - Bear
Jones - Bouchard
Murray

Grubauer
Mrazek

Obviously, Neal and Archie in this scenario would be traded for draft picks

Click to read more...

 

[belair]

Nick Paul, Jake Bean, Chris Dreidger. I like the Zach Aston-Reese suggestion.

 

[OilerSuperstar17]

Nick Paul, Jake Bean, Chris Dreidger. I like the Zach Aston-Reese suggestion.

If Carolina let's Hamilton go, Bean will most likely be his replacement. Not sure what Carolina would want in return for Bean though.

ZAR can play both wings, so he's versatile and he's very strong defensively. I feel he could be the perfect 3rd line winger and pk specialist, while also moving in to the top-6 if needed.

Also just looked at Dreidger on eliteprospects, he's put up strong stats since going to FLA. He's only played 20 career games though; it might be worth a shot, but he definitely has to be in tandem with a more experienced goalie.

 

[McOvechking]

I think if we don't get good news on Klefbom, we need to go hard at acquiring OEL to shore up our left side defense. Right side is set now. I would move Larsson for a guy like Zadorov.

OEL - Barrie
Nurse - Bear
Zadorov - Bouchard
Koekkoek

Offensively, I think Rakell needs a change of scenery and Bjorkstrand seems like the odd one out in Columbus. I'm not sure what those costs would be, though.

Rakell - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Kahun - Draisaitl - Bjorkstrand
Holloway - RNH - Yamamoto
Neal - Turris - Kassian

idk. Probably doesn't work with the cap to get all those guys, though.

 

[belair]

If Carolina let's Hamilton go, Bean will most likely be his replacement. Not sure what Carolina would want in return for Bean though.

ZAR can play both wings, so he's versatile and he's very strong defensively. I feel he could be the perfect 3rd line winger and pk specialist, while also moving in to the top-6 if needed.

The Canes are an extremely tough read. They have depth at every position besides goal and they've drafted exceptionally well for some time. If they allow Hamilton to walk they'll have open spots at RD but their depth at LD is currently Slavvin, Skjei, Gardiner, Fleury and Bean. Something has to give, particularly with the expansion draft on the horizon.

I could see Bean having a Shea Theodore like emergence in Seattle. And with our primary need being an upgrade at 2LD, Bean seems like a pretty solid gamble looking at his development path.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

If the rumours are somehow true and Gibson is available I think you move mountains to get him.

 

[OilerSuperstar17]

I think if we don't get good news on Klefbom, we need to go hard at acquiring OEL to shore up our left side defense. Right side is set now. I would move Larsson for a guy like Zadorov.

OEL - Barrie
Nurse - Bear
Zadorov - Bouchard
Koekkoek

Offensively, I think Rakell needs a change of scenery and Bjorkstrand seems like the odd one out in Columbus. I'm not sure what those costs would be, though.

Rakell - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Kahun - Draisaitl - Bjorkstrand
Holloway - RNH - Yamamoto
Neal - Turris - Kassian

idk. Probably doesn't work with the cap to get all those guys, though.

I doubt OEL is an option, at any point. He already stated this last off-season that Vancouver and Boston are his 2 choices, I doubt that's changed. I'm not sure if we re-sign Barrie as well. Larsson is a FA after the season, so there's not going to be a trade for Zadorov unless it's a sign-and-trade, which is unlikely. + I wouldn't go after Zadorov, and I don't think Chicago would let him go after they gave up Saad for him.

 

[OilerSuperstar17]

If the rumours are somehow true and Gibson is available I think you move mountains to get him.

John Gibson is EXACTLY what we need but what that mountain we move is, who knows. I'd start with 2022 and 2024 1st rounders, a defence prospect (Samorukov? I wouldn't include him but I figure he'd be asked about). If we could get Rakell as well, as McOvechking mentioned above, that'd be ideal too.

 

[Canovin]

Trade for Gibson and Ekholm. The rest can be filled with UFAs

 

[Spawn]

If the rumours are somehow true and Gibson is available I think you move mountains to get him.

Are there any actual rumours? Or was it just the one twitter guy saying "if he was available you should trade for him."

I don't see why the Ducks would ever consider trading him. Locked up long term and in his prime. He's young enough to be their starter through any reasonable rebuild phase (ie not an Oilers one).

 

[ujju2]

I think if we don't get good news on Klefbom, we need to go hard at acquiring OEL to shore up our left side defense. Right side is set now. I would move Larsson for a guy like Zadorov.

OEL - Barrie
Nurse - Bear
Zadorov - Bouchard
Koekkoek

Offensively, I think Rakell needs a change of scenery and Bjorkstrand seems like the odd one out in Columbus. I'm not sure what those costs would be, though.

Rakell - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Kahun - Draisaitl - Bjorkstrand
Holloway - RNH - Yamamoto
Neal - Turris - Kassian

idk. Probably doesn't work with the cap to get all those guys, though.

Disagree on defence. I think Lagesson is earning a spot, and I fully expect one of Broberg/Samorukov to make it next season. I'd rather sign a better guy for the right side, say Hamilton for instance.

Nurse-Hamilton
Broberg-Bear
Lagesson-Bouchard
Russell, Koekkoek

As far as forward lines go, I can't see Holloway making the NHL jump that soon (AHL first) and yeah, you're likely significantly over the cap with that lineup.

 

[GOilers88]

Trade for Gibson and Ekholm. The rest can be filled with UFAs

I agree. But I can almost guarantee that people are going to have these two in their heads and when neither of them ends up in Edmonton somehow it's going to be Holland's fault for being a shitty GM, even though there's like a 0.000001% chance we could get Gibson.

 

[Wewillrise]

If Rask makes it to UFA, see if he will take high salary short term. Re sign Nuge if possible, let Larsson walk

 

[longtimeoilfan]

The oilers need to be willing to give up assets... other teams have and have benefitted from being aggressive in acquiring talent, why do we need to play it safe so much of the time? We have two of the best players in the world, it's about time management did whatever they have to in order to surround them with talent.

Didn't Toronto trade away a lot of its future picks to build the team? They seem to be benefiting.

 

[Canovin]

Halak would be awesome for a backup. I was still living in Montreal when he stopped the Pens and the Caps in the playoffs. The parade was lit

 

[ujju2]

Halak would be awesome for a backup. I was still living in Montreal when he stopped the Pens and the Caps in the playoffs. The parade was lit

That was a long time ago. More old stopgaps is the wrong approach imo. We need to solidify the position for the future.

 

[LTIR]

The oilers need to be willing to give up assets... other teams have and have benefitted from being aggressive in acquiring talent, why do we need to play it safe so much of the time? We have two of the best players in the world, it's about time management did whatever they have to in order to surround them with talent.

Didn't Toronto trade away a lot of its future picks to build the team? They seem to be benefiting.

We also need to be smart and look 3 yrs ahead.
Holloway, Bouchard, Nurse and maybe Broberg should be part of the core IMO.

Yama, Puljujarvi, Bear should/could be as well

RNH should be put together with Drai-Yama before extending or trading him.

Not sure how much value is left after all that.

We can start with small shit..
Virtanen for Khaira+Benson
Bennett for Turris + prospect/3rd
Jake Bean out of CAR maybe

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

If the rumours are somehow true and Gibson is available I think you move mountains to get him.

There are no rumours.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

So much hockey to play and so many UFA's who might get re-signed before hitting the market it's hard to say I'd definitely try and make a play for Hamilton, but given his love of culture and museums I'm guessing we aren't high on his list.

I'm not overly infatuated with any of the goalies about to hit the market my choice will most strongly be influenced by who's been better most recently, I'd probably kick tires on CBJ though before the expansion draft.

As things look presently quite a few names who'd be interesting on McDrai's LW (Hall, Nuge, Landeskog, Schwartz, Saad, Tatar, & Gusev [I like some choices more than others]). I'd even consider Duchene if we could get some retention on him, I don't believe he's done just been a bad fit in NSH.

Highly likely I'd want some upgrades in the bottom six, but we should have a clearer picture on who's worth keeping as the year progresses or if anyone can step up and into a role.

With defense it's also quite murky much will depend if Klef is healthy enough to play next season or not and how our young guys play between now and when we have to make that decision.

 

[longtimeoilfan]

We also need to be smart and look 3 yrs ahead.
Holloway, Bouchard, Nurse and maybe Broberg should be part of the core IMO.

Yama, Puljujarvi, Bear should/could be as well

RNH should be put together with Drai-Yama before extending or trading him.

Not sure how much value is left after all that.

We can start with small shit..
Virtanen for Khaira+Benson
Bennett for Turris + prospect/3rd
Jake Bean out of CAR maybe

Lots of magical beans ... and this is precisely what I am talking about. Not sure the Oilers should risk wasting 3 more years of McDavid and Draisaitl. As you point out, lots of talent in the pipeline. Perhaps a few 1sts should come into play to acquire genuine NHL talent in the here and now.

 

[BudBundy]

We are fine at LHD even assuming Klefbom doesn’t return, and frankly I don’t think he will. We’ll lose one of Lagesson or Jones to Seattle but we’ve got Samorukov waiting in the wings and Broberg in 2022/3 season. Russell as insurance and maybe we keep Koekkoek. I’m more worried about RH side if we lose both Larsson and Barrie, plus I’m concerned about LW if Nuge decides he’s worth $6.6M x 6yrs. And Turris at #3 C has been a festering boil.