On the Edmonton Oilers …
Allan Mitchell of The Athletic: The Oilers could be sellers at the trade deadline if they continue to play as they have. Types of deals the Oilers may end up considering:
Straight rentals – The Oilers should be able to get good value for pending UFA Patrick Maroon. A pick in the top 50 might interest them, but they may prefer a young winger with potential. mentions someone like St. Louis Blues winger Ivan Barbashev over a second round pick. Pending UFAs Mike Cammalleri, Mark Letestu, Yohann Auvitu should net them a later round pick.
Pure deals – If they were to trade Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, they’d need to get good value for him. Some team may think they could get more out of Ryan Strome. Teams could be interested in right-handed defenseman Matt Benning. Return of any of these would need to be players that can play immediately, and ones that have some speed.
Cap expulsion trade – Milan Lucic, Kris Russell, Andrej Sekera and Cam Talbot all have big contracts and some form of no movement clauses. Would need their consent to move out the salary. Lucic carries a $6 million salary cap for five more years. Being able to trade Lucic might allow the Oilers to keep Nugent-Hopkins and re-sign Maroon.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Bob McKenzie on TSN 1260 when asked why Ryan Nugent-Hopkins name was coming up in the rumor mill over the weekend.
“I’m not sure why it would pop up,” said McKenzie while on Edmonton’s TSN 1260. “Other than if I were a team and I were talking to the Edmonton Oilers about players, recognizing that they’re not going to trade McDavid and they’re not going to trade Draisaitl, then the guy I would ask about is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.”
McKenzie notes that Nugent-Hopkins has turned into a strong two-way player.
“So maybe it’s just other interest. I don’t know. I can’t imagine that the Edmonton Oilers have any interest in parting company with him, unless somebody comes with – everybody is tradable. If somebody came with a top-pairing defenseman, but who does that? Who would call up the Oilers and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got a top-pairing defenseman here who’s going to be great for you and makes the same money and he’s the same age and let’s do a straight one-for-one swap.’ I suppose it’s possible, but I’m not holding my breath for it.”
