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Game Day 38: Oilers vs Habs
A left wing to play with Connor McDavid? A veteran Top 4 left shot d-man to play with Adam Larsson?
Edmonton Oilers fans may hanker for that kind of deal at the trade deadline, but don’t expect such a thing,
That’s the consensus of NHL insiders Elliotte Friedman, Jeff Marek and Chris Stevenson on this week’s 31 Thoughts podcast.
Friedman said if Edmonton were to do anything it would be to trade for a centre like Detroit’s Luke Glendening or Calgary’s Derek Ryan.
“I think the Glendening talk might be a little over-stated, but I’m willing to be wrong on that one,” Chris Stevenson said, adding that the Oilers don’t want to trade any more draft picks. “Whatever they do, they’re not a team that I’m putting in my line-up for taking a big swing. It’s going to be the definition of a relatively minor trade, if they do anything.”
Added podcast host Jeff Marek: “I think Edmonton is done guys.”
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My take
1. I’d love to see the Oilers solve their chemistry problem on the top two lines by making a trade, but with so little space and also being poor when it comes to draft picks, the consensus of the Sportsnet analysts makes sense. Edmonton is not well positioned to make a big trade, even if it wanted to do so.
2. This all means that the Oilers will have to look to an internal solution to solve its chemistry issue. Fortunately, there are a number of things Oilers head coach Dave Tippett can still try, such as moving Domink Kahun to see if he’s. a good fit with Connor McDavid and re-uniting the Dynamite Line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto. That trio has so much chemistry it’s super-saturated. The Oilers could also recall top AHL scorers Tyler Benson and Cooper Marody and try them out on one of the top two lines. Both of them are in the “over-ripe” category of prospect, both fully ready for another NHL shot.
3. Tonight the Edmonton will go with the same line-up against the Montreal Canadiens that used against the Calgary Flames on Friday night’s 3-2 win.
That means:
RNH-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Kahun-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Archibald-Haas-Kassian
Shore-Khaira-Chiasson
Nurse-Barrie
Russell-Larsson
Jones-Bear
Smith