This in again from Edmonton Oilers insider Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now, that trade rumours that won’t go away, Stauffer’s suggestion that the Oilers have their eyes on a specific NHL defenceman.
Stauffer won’t say who that player is, but here are the clues: “I envision the Edmonton Oilers adding a Top 4 defensemen. Preferably, a guy that can play the right side and can be a left shot, and probably a guy that can move the puck. And maybe, since they’re going to move a couple picks, some draft capital, we’re likely looking at a guy with a little bit of term left. That’s the scenario. I’m not going to name the name. Could be a guy right now that’s on a team that nobody thinks is out of the mix, but may end up out of the mix as well.”
1. I took a quick look at NHL teams with between a .500 and .600 points percentage, the playoff tweeners, and then looked at Top 4 d-men with at least one year or term after this one, but no more than two years. My best guesses are Stauffer is talking about: Philadelphia’s Rasmus Ristolainen, who has two years left at $5.1 million, or Detroit’s Ben Chiarot, one more year at $4.7 million, or Ottawa’s Nick Jensen, one more at $4.0 million.
2. I can’t tell you which of those players will be the best bet, as I’ve not put in the kind of hard work needed to scout, rate and rank the players.
3. I’m also not sure that the Oilers will, in fact, decide to blow their nest egg of picks on any defenceman. They’ve got problems scoring from the wing just now, a huge issue. Their goaltending has been inconsistent and mediocre, an even bigger issue. It could well be that in a few months Edmonton will be trading for a top winger or top goalie, not a Top 4 d-man.
4. With Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton has one of the Top 4 d-man pairings in the NHL. Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak look like they’ll be a solid second pairing. That would leave Edmonton needing a third-pairing d-man to team up with Ty Emberson, not a Top 4 guy at all.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.