NHL Trade Deadline: Are the Edmonton Oilers Operating in Fear?
To say the Edmonton Oilers are a bad team would give a whole new definition to the term ‘a broken record’. Digging a bit deeper, the bigger question is why has nothing been done.
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The front office decided to make their first move by firing Dallas Eakins back in December. While this was a good move for the team, one must wonder why he was hired in the first place. He was coming off a great stint with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL but may have been thrown to wolves in Edmonton. He was a young and inexperienced coach coaching a young and inexperienced team.
You do the math.
After finding a short-term scapegoat, the Oilers have flown under the radar with new interim head coach Todd Nelson. They are still in line for a top five lottery selection and will have another franchise-altering first round pick to exercise.
When Lars Eller made his comments about the Oilers looking like a junior team, there is clearly some truth to that. Their team is spear-headed by a group of youngsters drafted within the past five years and have yet to produce as a collective unit, which can only suggest they are far from maturing into a respectable NHL team.
Unless the Oilers land the first overall pick and can snag Connor McDavid, the pick must be moved at all costs. They are in desperate need of leadership, defense and consistent production right away, which are all quite rare to find at the draft.
The best move for them would be to stay active in the trading arena prior to the deadline. They have quite a few assets to move at forward and have the potential first overall pick to dangle in front of teams as well. They need to trade for well-experienced defensemen and two-way forwards who can help this team immediately. Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth have proven themselves in the past. All they require are a few reliable defensemen to help keep the puck out of the net and maybe some goals at the other end to keep them afloat.
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With very little discussion coming from the Oilers’ camp, are they living in fear of losing potential stars? All of their current assets were high-profile first round draft picks, and by the looks of it, only so many can be moved.
Nail Yakupov stands out like a sore thumb, while Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are great players to tempt other teams. With how long the Oilers have been operating like this, it is clear they do not want to give up on their first overall picks in case they transition to the NHL elsewhere. Arguably, it would be quite devastating to wait this long and watch a player perform for another team, especially if the compensation you received does not stack up. However, if they do not act fast, they may lose a lot of trade value heading into the NHL draft, which can only create bigger problems for the team’s long-term success.
The Oilers are holding on to something that is completely unsustainable, and they have taken far too long to right the ship.