Edmonton Oilers are Reportedly Shopping the 4th Overall Pick, 5 Potential Deals to Move Up
After falling out of the top three at this past weekend’s draft lottery, reports suggest the Edmonton Oilers are listening to offers on the 4th overall selection.
Beyond the top three prospects (Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi), debate begins between 4th and 12th (4-8 depending who you talk to). This group of prospects is considered to have a chance at being franchise/core type pieces.
If the Edmonton Oilers decide to keep the pick, Finnish defender Olli Juolevi should be very high on their draft board. He has number one potential, at worst case scenario a number two. A complete defenseman, Juolevi can excel in all three zones.
This young man alone should have Peter Chiarelli thinking twice about trading down – unless he’s comfortable that other teams will target the big forwards (Matthew Tkachuk, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Nylander).
5 Potential Deals for Edmonton Oilers 4th Overall Selection
Anaheim Ducks trade Cam Fowler, Clayton Stoner/or Josh Manson, and 27/28th overall pick to Edmonton Oilers for 4th overall pick
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Cam Fowler/or Sami Vatanen aren’t good enough alone with a late first rounder to get this deal done. Inclusion of Josh Manson would be the best way to balance fair value.
In this scenario, Anaheim can move up and select that top-six LW they haven’t had since Chris Kunitz in 2008-09. Whether they prefer Dubois or Tkachuk is a matter of style preference.
For Edmonton, you add Fowler and Manson who can log big minutes right away. It’s a deep draft, so there are several promising defenseman through the first couple of rounds. For example, the 6’7 monster Logan Stanley could easily slide to Edmonton around 27th.
Montreal Canadiens trade Nathan Beaulieu and 9th overall pick to Edmonton Oilers for 4th overall pick
The Habs might be reluctant to trade Beaulieu, but if the difference means Logan Brown and Pierre-Luc Dubois, perhaps it’s something to seriously consider? Montreal may opt to see if Dubois slides at all on draft day before making a move though.
New Jersey Devils trade Damon Severson and 11th overall pick to Edmonton Oilers for 4th overall pick
First you have to convince the Devils to trade their promising offensively gifted blueliner for this to work. Call this scenario less likely, but the Devils are thin up the wing. With Steve Santini and Raman Hrabarenka scratching at the door for NHL duties, this becomes a possibility.
Ottawa Senators trade Patrick Weircioch and 12th overall pick to Edmonton Oilers for 4th overall pick
Weircioch, 25, is a restricted free agent this summer. There’s no reason to assume that Patrick is on the trade block, but with Erik Karlsson and Cody Ceci unlikely to be moved, he could be the odd man out.
The abscence of Clarke MacArthur exposed the Sens weakness up the left side. And with rumors of Mike Hoffman potentially being dealt, it’s conceivable that Ottawa would be interested in moving up to select Dubois, Tkachuk, or Nylander.
Next: NHL Mock Draft 4.5: Rounds 1-7
*note the following deal below only works if St.Louis once again falls short in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
St.Louis Blues trade Kevin Shattenkirk, 25/26/30th overall pick, and prospect/or mid-round pick to Edmonton Oilers for 4th overall pick
If the St.Louis Blues face another early demise in this year’s playoffs, big changes would have to be expected in the offseason. Shattenkirk has a few more miles on the odometer than Edmonton may prefer, but there’s still plenty left in the tank.