NHL Trade Rumors: Edmonton Oilers have interest in Nikita Zaitsev
According to the latest NHL trade rumors, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev is drawing interest from several teams. The Edmonton Oilers are one of them.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been trying to find a new home for defenseman Nikita Zaitsev. He has requested a trade and, according to the latest NHL trade rumors, several teams have expressed interest in him. According to Darren Dreger, the Edmonton Oilers are one of them.
Dreger also said the Vancouver Canucks have interest in Zaitsev as well. The Canucks interest isn’t that surprising, given the state of their blueline.
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Also, Vancouver has quite a bit of cap space, so they could feasibly take on all of Zaitsev’s contract and likely get a sweetener, such as a prospect or a draft pick.
However, the Oilers interest is far more interesting. Edmonton has the cap space to bring him in, but he’s a questionable at best fit for their roster right now.
Currently, the Oilers have eight defensemen signed. They’ll likely put Brandon Manning on waivers to make it seven. Joel Persson (who is waivers exempt) being sent down would make it six.
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Unless the Oilers want to pay their seventh defenseman no less than $1.9 million, Zaitsev simply doesn’t make sense for them. They could trade a defenseman, such as Matthew Benning or Darnell Nurse. But still, why would the Oilers want Zaitsev?
A swap involving Benning could make sense for both sides. He’s a right-handed defenseman and the Leafs could use one. Especially since, as of right now, Justin Holl (13 games) has the most NHL experience of any right-handed defenseman on Toronto’s roster. Benning is a capable NHL defenseman who is reasonably cheap with a $1.9 million cap hit. His deal expires after the 2019-20 season.
There would, however, need to be more involved in the trade for it to make sense. The Oilers would be taking a fairly significant risk by taking on Zaitsev’s contract. What else would they be getting from the Leafs to account for the discrepancy there?
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Toronto would likely include a prospect or a draft pick in the package to even things out. The big question is, what kind of prospect or pick would be included? Obviously, someone like Kasperi Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson would be off the table. But someone like Jeremy Bracco could work for both sides. The Oilers need more skilled wings and Bracco’s an intriguing, skilled forward.