Latest on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Cam Fowler, plus the Nashville Predators are in the market for a forward.
Could the Oilers trade Nugent-Hopkins for a defenseman?
Could the Oilers use Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as trade bait for a defenseman?
EDMONTON JOURNAL: David Staples cited TSN’s Ryan Rishaug “floating the notion” of the Oilers trading Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a defenseman if Leon Draisaitl proves the real deal at center. Rishaug points out he’s heard nothing to suggest the Oilers will make this move. He feels Nugent-Hopkins would fetch a better return than winger Jordan Eberle. Staples doubts the Oilers will make that move.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s an interesting suggestion by Rishaug, but as Staples notes, we don’t know yet how Draisaitl will pan out over the course of this season. The Oilers undoubtedly want to see what their top two scoring lines look like once Connor McDavid (broken clavicle) returns to action sometime in the new year. I don’t doubt Nugent-Hopkins could bring back a solid return, perhaps even that elusive top-two blueliner, but dealing him away also robs the Oilers of their best two-way center. I certainly don’t expect them to move Nugent-Hopkins while McDavid is on the shelf.
Sabres interested in Fowler?
THE BUFFALO NEWS: Mike Harrington noted Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray and his player personnel director scouted the Sabres’ game against the Dallas Stars last Tuesday. So were Arizona GM Don Maloney and Winnipeg director of pro scouting Mark Dobson. Harrington notes it’s not the first time this season “the Anaheim contingent or Dobson” have visited Buffalo. He claims Sabres GM Tim Murray could have interest in Ducks blueliner Cam Fowler.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Fowler’s name recently surfaced in the trade rumor mill. However, Ducks GM Bob Murray stated he’s not rushing to make any deals right now. However, with the Ducks struggling to gain ground in the Western Conference standings (they’ve lost five of their last seven games), Murray might be forced to change his mind. Remains to be seen if he moves Fowler.
Predators could use a forward.
YAHOO SPORTS: Greg Wyshynski reports Nashville Predators GM David Poile acknowledged his club could use more depth at forward. “In goal and in defense, we’re very pleased there. Can we improve our forwards a bit? That would probably be the missing piece,” he said. Wyshynski suggests the Predators need help at center.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Poile will be patient. I daresay he’ll try to upgrade that spot closer to the Feb. 29 trade deadline. One of the commenters on Wyshynski’s piece suggested shipping Seth Jones to Edmonton for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but Poile won’t move the guy who will eventually become the linchpin of his defense corps.
Interesting the talk of a Preds Blueliner moving for a forward. Preds picked up Granberg up of waivers yesterday who could be suitable as a bottom pair once he has some rehab time…even more depth to make such a move later this year.
I HIGHLY doubt Chiarelli would consider moving Nugent-Hopkins. Too obvious that player is a keeper. Early in the year, when Oilers play wasn’t in sync, he was the only one out there playing a mature, structured two-way game when everybody else were running around somewhat lost. Oilers having so many unfinished young pieces still, you can’t trade away someone like that and believe you are better for it. Nugent-Hopkins seems a little like a younger, quicker Henrik Sedin almost(?). That is very useful at the end of the day. If you omit these four; McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Hall; from any trades, Chiarelli can still do quite a lot with the roster in the next 1.5 years. There might be interesting trades and signings ahead. I don’t think for a minute Nugent-Hokpkins will be traded. Just looking at his stats, at his age and his current play. You don’t move that guy.
Growing a bit weary about hearing who the Oilers will not – should not – trade. They currently have 8 players drafted in the 1st round on their roster – Hall (1st 2010), Draisaitl (3rd 2014), Nugent-Hopkins (1st 2011), McDavid (1st 2015), Yakupov (1st 2012), Nurse (7th 2013), Klefbom (19th 2011), Eberle (22nd 2008) – and are STILL in last place and a good bet to be picking 1st overall again in 2016. It’s about time they began dealing a couple so that the talent level doesn’t drop off a cliff once you get beyond those 8.
Not to wander but its humorous that people will say tanking is the way you build a team and point to the Oilers as an example.
LOL. Yeah, the same notion crossed my mind. They seem to be operating on the theory that, if you finish last or near last 18 times in a row you’ll have a roster made up mostly of 1st round picks. The only problem with that is, by the time you gut to 15-18 the early picks are nearing retirement or diminishing in their output. Pittsburgh “tanked” twice – once to get Lemieux and the other to get Crosby but in both cases they went out and filled out the roster around them through other means and both brought Cups home.
Ya Fluery, Letang and Malkin must of been late round picks right. Pittsburgh tanked as many times as Edmonton
Yogi, You’re right, of course, that Pittsburgh was pretty bad in the years before they got Fleury 1st in 2003, Malkin 2nd (after Ovechkin) in 2004, and Crosby 1st in 2005. But Letang went 62nd in the 3rd round in 2005 while Edmonton took Cogliano 25th and then someone named Taylor Chorney 36th so they had their chances there. By 2006-07, however, the Pens had fleshed out their team to the point they finished with 105 pts and haven’t missed the playoffs since, winning the cup in 2009. My point was, they DID something to augment their picks after those bad years – the Oilers continually do nothing that works for them.
You can tank all you want – doesn’t help if you don’t have a GM with a plan to rebuild. All you end up doing in ruining good young players. no way RNH should have even been kept up on the big club, he should have gone back to juniors. And if anyone thinks RNH will get you Jones, then keep dreaming.
RNH had 52 points in 62 games his rookie season what would juniors have done for him?
There is not one example where keeping a kid in jrs for an extra year hurt their development (other than a freak injury i guess). All of the oilers first rounders should have been kept down forone more year, play world jrs, dominate and then learn the system in the AHL.
Know who does that well? Chicago and Detroit.
just follow the career paths of J Staal and Toews. Staal picked 2nd then Toews 3rd (i think).
Staal should have become a better player than he has. (Not saying he sucks but he had a much higher ceiling)
or maybe the answer is to employ a Bowman?
RNH was not physically ready to plan in the NHL.
Right, why would you point to the Oilers when you can point to the Penguins, Blackhawks, and Kings as recent success stories using this strategy.
Draisaitl looks very good. I am excited to see if this guy is for real.
Since way back to last year I suggested that the Oilers wait for Draisatle and then trade RNH. Back then I thought Draisatle was bigger and more physical and better suited for the western conference and RNH would bring back a killing.
I still think they should do this. However Draisatle is proving to be quite adept on the wing. So it does make sense for them to keep him and RNH as my original thoughts were that they’d have a log jam down the middle.
Seth Jones is the guy I target if I was the oilers. I’m sure Nashville wont’ give him up but I think the oilers could be convincing and make Nashville who could use a top line centre think.
What if Edmonton offers up RNH and a 1rst round pick. Could a larger deal be made. I have to think somewhere around the league a good centre and top draft pick will bring back a killer of a package.
Draisatle has had a good 17 game run or whatever it is, glad to see everyone’s on that bandwagon but to suggest its time to move RNH who is their most consistent forward is completely premature … This years first should be out there right now as trade bait and alone should bring a healthy return. The Oilers should be able to use that with a lesser DMan to try and grab Hamonic for NYI
that’s another thing isnt a D like Hammonic what you hope a guy like Klefbolm develops in to? Big guy plays top line minutes hard to play against can put up some points decent contract….not sure why they would be so against a deal surrounding a swap if Klefbolm plus a smaller part for Hammonic…I understand the need for some depth but seems to me at some point with out a guy to book end Nurse you’re just kinda spinning your wheels with fingers crossed.
Well I would think RNH and the 1rst rounder would equal more than just Harmonic.
If Detroit boy Cam Fowler is truly available then Red Wing GM Ken Holland needs to be all over this he’s exactly what we need to upgrade our D or Sami Vatanen as well.
At what cost? I doubt very much Anaheim is interested in a mid to late round 1st pick.
I wonder who Poile will go for at 1st or 2nd Center position long term?
There are pending UFAs in E. Staal, Stamkos, Backes.
Is Malkin available for trade?
As soon as they’ve found their center, they will probably move away from Ribeiro and obviously not resign him. It would be preferable if they got a 1st C. That would slot the rest of the forwards in better situations to succeed.
I think E. Staal might be a fit there. I’m not sure what he would cost but if it will be worth it in cap hit, otherwise Nashville should go for it. The sexiest alternative would be to offer up Weber in a larger trade for Malkin. That would truly be interesting.
I am not exactly dismissive on trading Malkin and we could use a Weber to really shore up the backend. I also think that if Malkin was to be moved, it should be for quality youth and picks in an attempt to continue a cycle of competitiveness. Frankly, I would be more interested in Jones or Forsberg coming back on a deal with the Preds than Weber.
No Malkin is not available and Weber and his disgusting contract is not anywhere near enough to get him. The Predators do not want to pay what it would cost to get Malkin. Backes is not available either. Ditto Stamkos and Staal has slid past his best before date so he would be more a disappointment than anything. So reality is not so interesting after all.
Anyone else see the irony in a Pens fan saying a no 1 D man making 10 mill is disgusting and their second line center making 9 is fine?
@Deeeee
Assuming Shea Weber plays until his contract hits 3M in salary during the 2022-2023 season and retires, at which point he will be 37 years old, based on the cap recapture rules, Nashville receives a $6,357,143 cap penalty from 2022-2026. So it’s Nashville taking the hit, not the team Weber lands on.
Weber will make a AAV of $8M over the next six seasons. Then his AAV is $3M. That is ok for a 1st D-man like that. You can’t sign the Keiths of the world for $5.9M anymore…in short – Weber’s contract is NOT that bad, but probably slotted correctly.
It’s too early to assess Predators won’t pay what Penguins want for Malkin. There’s growing belief that Malkin might push himself out and by then Rutherford will have less leverage and deal from a position of weakness. Not many can take on $9.5M AAV.
Backes might be available. St Louis hasn’t tipped their hand if they want to go young route or not. It has to do with Backes demands also. If Backes had reasonable demands or did not at all think about UFA the deal would have been done already, so hold your horses.
“Stamkos has slid past his before date”
HAHA, so he’s finished now? Ok then. Waitress, I’ll have what he’s having, HAHA. Wake up, Provided his contract makes sense, he’ll have tons of value for the team he lands on. He has value far beyond his playing.
…and I happen to find reality interesting. You find fantasy more interesting?
Eric Staal would be perfect in Nashville, based on the current suggestions of guys who will probably become available. Preds need to improve their top 6 and they are not parting with Jones. No way
Just wanted to prop up Boone Jenner a bit. That guy is relentless when playing. He’s like a swiss army knife and seems extremely easy to play with. Always smart, always in position, always 100% effort. Does people know about him?
Yep. Jenner looked great after Pavelski picked his pocket and scored.
Kudos. You must be a league scout after that assessment. I trust your judgment that a guy is not very good after one bad shift. Nice going there champ.
I still can’t believe Columbus’s struggles.
They are a mirror-image of Calgary – over-achievers last season who have come back down to earth. At least the Calgary bunch got them into a playoff spot last year.
It seems your right but all those injuries last year. They looked so good. Perhaps they should start injuring their own players. haha. I kid
Outside of maybe Ryan Murray who do they have on D that you could see being a top 6 on any contender?
Bob Murray better decide what he is doing and get it done. No idea how the coach has survived to this point, but soon it will be too late to do much of anything except plan for next season. This team’s performance is one big mystery.
Edmonton does need to eventually move one of their skilled guys. Need to add top goalie,top defensemen,and some two way grinding type players to start actually winning some games. This can be done by moving one or two of these skilled forwards. Not sure how much longer fans want to finish last and get another top pick.
I’m disappointed that the loss of McDavid has hurt them so much. The roster compared to last year with the addition of Draisatle, Nurse and Letestue should make them a better team yet they still struggle.
I agree it is time for them to start using the assets they accumulated to bring in established talent with a different perspective obtain by playing on a different team for a bit before joining the oilers.
It’s hard to predict when a team is due for a breakout. Just look at the financial markets. MANY can predict the coming trend, but very very few can predict the timing of the shift. Just look at the predictions of Dallas Stars. Not until this season they’re playing like people projected.
This year and the next is transitional for Oilers. McDavid is expected to have impact on the team, but if Crosbys career path is any measure, it will be almost two seasons before McDavid’s having full impact and the club can make serious noise.
Also, they need the breakout performance from Klefbom, Nurse, McDavid, Draisaitl ALL together. And Oilers are not quite there as an organization. There will be another season in transition.
Other than McDavid nobody is safe. Oilers suck year in year out for a reason NO D. Not trading top kids means not getting top D. Ppl in luv with players oughta wake up. Want a big return u trade big assts.
There is more to a team than D. RNH plays the best two-way game of all their forwards. That’s very useful and slotted very well in a depth chart with McDavid anchoring another line.
All teams are handcuffed by the non-moving salary cap at the moment. GMs want to make moves but can’t find partners with salary space enough to make it work. GMs are not very prone to take chances on guys either with the cap laying still. It’s hard making the necessary trades for Chiarelli. Chiarellis bid for Hamilton was the best out there, but was snubbed by Bruins politics. It’s not like Chiarelli doesn’t know he needs D or doesn’t try…
Chiarelli has some time. It’s not like Nurse and Klefbom are in the midst of their prime. They are due for breakouts in the near future. There’s still time finding a no1-3 D. It’s a lot more plausible that Eberle, Yakupov, their high 2nd rounder is in play in a trade rather than RNH.
I would really like the NHL to put a end to tanking. Every team should have equal chance at 1st over all. Every team gets a lotto ball an the draft order is picked . This should be done at the start of the year so teams could maybe trade. 10 games into the season they were already talking about toronto an Edmonton tanking the season. This is not fair to the paying fans who go to the games an the fans who pay to watch this on tv
Tanking? Maybe they just suck? Tanking for McDavid and Crosby was pointless. Both last place teams lost the draft lottery. Fail for Nail? Remember that one? Yakupov is a waste. Let them tank all they want. Lose ticket revenue, erode your fan base just to hope you get #1 and then hope he is a savior. Good luck with that.
. . . the draft order has been in reverse order of finish in all 4 major sports for years with some using a lottery. I don’t understand why all of a sudden it’s not fair because Edmonton won a bunch of times. The last year everyone seems to be complaining.
Tanking is hardest on the fans of the team going into the drink. I think the current setup, allowing the worst team a small chance to #1 is the best deterrent to tanking. Giving everyone equal chance at #1 is not the answer.
Agreed on all you said. If looking at the chances of getting 1st pick by being last place team, the chances are not very good anymore.
Seconded on that. I think the check and balance lies in the fans. For a team to tank, the fans should be on them to protest such a lousy showing on the ice. Stop going to games, stop buying the merchandise and start letter writing and social media campaigns. Really hit them hard in the wallets and be vocal about it (which helps to show there is a fan base, just an unhappy one in the event they try to use reduced ticket sales to move a team).
Nothing is fair in RL.
Teams with lousy mgmt suck or screw up their cap.
Oilers r simply the most pathetic example of wasted #1’s in the history of pro sports.
The old cronies r gone n were always the problem.
Same problem happening in Philly. Toronto had Ballard n the most dysfunctional owners for decades. It always starts at the top.
Cuz the Oilers r a talent drain on the NHL whilst producing garbage results. They directly affect the NHL brand with unbelievable inferiority.
Just saw Nashville claiming Petter Granberg from Toronto.
Granberg is better than people usually tend to believe. He played very well on two Swedish World Championship teams and has a gold medal to show for it. He’s probably a decent no5-6 d-man alternative if paired in the right setting, with the right d-partner. He looks to me like a decent well-rounded, albeit anonymous d-man. A little like Gunnarson.
Granberg is RD.
Nashville has Weber, Jones, Ellis already on RD.
– Does this mean that perhaps Ellis is now dangled in a trade for an impact forward?
Pittsbugh no doubt tanked once deliberately with Mario. But the years they got MAF, Malkin, (crosby was a lucky side effect of the lean malkin draft years) whitney, staal…. that was more a result of bankrupt owners and a fiasco with trying to sell the team. The result was a bad team on the ice but it was slightly different than the Mario situation
I totally agree – Then Pens never tanked for Crosby. My proof would be for anyone to tell me who they got in return for Jagr (who they couldn’t afford, asked for a trade anyway and wouldn’t take a pay cut in the first place) without help from Uncle Google. Chris Beech would be the hint.
Those were tough years and a tough transition (really tough to be a fan) but the persistence and work of Mario, the city, the front office and fans have clearly paid off.