On the Edmonton Oilers and Jordan Eberle …
Jim Matheson: thinks that Jordan Eberle to the Dallas Stars for Cody Eakins makes the most sense if they want to trade him.
Jonathan Wilis: (going off of Matheson’s tweet) That is the realistic type of trade the Oilers would be looking at. Getting a decent third line center with a lower salary cap hit – Cody Eakin, Nick Bjugstad, Ryan Strome, etc.
Jim Matheson: The Predators are another team that could use a scoring winger, would they be interested in Eberle?
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Bob McKenzie was on TSN 1050 talking about Jordan Eberle. McKenzie thinks that Eberle will be traded, and added it’s more likely than not that he’s moved before Saturday’s trade freeze. The Oilers may realize that a year from now they may not be able to afford his contract, so they could wait if they want.
“But I think they recognize that even in spite of a bad playoff, there’s significant interest in Jordan Eberle. And I think they want to turn the page and I think they want to bring in a different asset and they want to use those dollars elsewhere. They’ve got to the McDavid deal. They’ve got to do the Draisaitl deal. But the McDavid deal doesn’t kick in for another year anyway.
“So as I said, they do have the luxury if they absolutely hated what was on the table for Jordan Eberle, then they don’t have to do a deal. But my understanding of the situation is they’ve got plenty of offers on the table right now and enough that they look at it and say, ‘Realistically, yeah we could do some of these,’ or very close that something could be done here, so why wait.”
McKenzie says it’s not a 100 percent guarantee that Eberle will be moved, but it wouldn’t be a surprise.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Darren Dreger was on TSN 1260 and was asked if the Alex Galchenyuk and Derek Stepan trade rumors cools things down with regards to Edmonton Oilers winger Jordan Eberle. Dreger doesn’t think so. The Oilers value Eberle and won’t just move him for cap space. Cap relief is good, but they want another asset that can make the better or provide an different element.
“My sense as of yesterday was that there were at least six, maybe seven teams in. The two that seem to be near the top of the front-runner list are the Colorado Avalanche and the New York Islanders.
“So it’s something that we’re going to have to continue to monitor, but what’s the return? Does Edmonton get a winger back, like a third-line player in a smaller deal so that they can absorb the cap relief moving Eberle’s contract out? Or can they be patient, and finally Garth Snow goes, ‘Okay, well I need that player just to keep John Tavares happy to keep him in the mix here long term, so I’m willing to give up on Travis Hamonic.’
Hamonic has three years left at just under $3.9 million a season.