The Edmonton Oilers currently sit tied for 30th in the league in Goals For with a less than impressive 30 goals in 12 games, only the Calgary Flames have scored fewer goals so far this season. With utter disappointment being an understatement to the beginning of the campaigns for offseason acquisitions Ryan Strome and Jussi Jokinen, it is fair to say that at this point, we are desperate to add a scoring punch to help get this team back on track. The only problem is that at this point our options are slim, most teams aren't quite ready to completely throw up the white flag by trading a viable scoring option away at the beginning of November. But, with that being said there have been insane rumors being thrown around the Twittersphere. When over 20 scouts and team representatives were noted taking attendance at Thursdays bout between the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings, and an apparent 3 team trade was discussed between the Avs, Sens, and Predators, we should be prepared that anything can happen, especially with Peter Chiarelli's reputation of not being afraid to pull the trigger. In this article, we will look at the possible options Peter might just pull his trigger on that could have the potential to save the Oilers season and prevent chaos in Oil Country.
New York Rangers, 5-7-2, 2nd Last in Metropolitan Division
The New York Rangers have had just as a horrendous start to the season as the Oilers have, and maybe just a desperate to turn their ship around in a hurry, or full fledge sink it now in an attempt to reascend to the top sooner rather than take a slow fall to the bottom over the course of the next few years. The Rangers appear to be shopping heavily, as they know they are about to enter a rebuilding stage and want to get in and out of it as soon as possible. A trade between these clubs makes sense since a number of Rangers top end talent only have 1 or 2 years remaining on their contracts. The absolute perfect player the Oilers could acquire from the Rangers is Chris Kreider. The 6'3 224 pound winger has a knack for finding the back of the net, scoring 20 or more goals in 3 consecutive seasons. Almost cracking the 30 goal mark for the red and blue last season on route to a 53 point campaign. Kreider is a rare player in the NHL that possess speed, grit and scoring all in one. The sky would truly be the limit for this player playing next to a superstar like McDavid. The Rangers also have a bundle of other options available too, Mats Zuccarello, Rick Nash, and Ryan McDonagh are all on expiring deals, and there's no question any of those players would help elevate the Oilers to whole other level of elitism.
Las Vegas Golden Knights, 9-4-0, 2nd in the Pacific
While I hope the Knights are able to continue this amazing start they've had to their season, I think we can all agree its unsustainable, and their team is likely to come back to Earth soon. If the Knights to begin to fall in the standings we could see a number of scoring options become available as they look to bolster their prospect shelf. These options could include the likes of James Neal, Jonathan Marchessault, David Perron, or Mikhail Grabovski, all these players currently on expiring contracts. Even if the Golden Knights do find a way to continue the success they've been having, there could be a number of defensemen available to trade for. However, this seems unlikely as Sekera is set to return soon and the Oilers already have solid defensive depth. I feel if the Oilers were gonna try to obtain defencemen from the Golden Knights they would have picked up one off waivers that they traded a first and second round pick for a few years ago in a deep draft.
Vancouver Canucks, 6-4-2, 4th in the Pacific
While the team is experiencing early success it's fair to say that their roster simply is not the makeup of a playoff team. Adding a streaky scorer like Thomas Vanek could be a viable low-risk, high-reward option to add in the Oilers top 6 and put some gas on the fire for of the teams powerplay. However, it's rare to see division rivals trade, especially early on in the season, and its also hard to predict what Jim Benning's thinking at times. This is a young team though, with lots of good prospects which makes it likely that a player like Vanek on an expiring deal would become available, I just feel we would have to wait until the deadline.
Wild Cards:
Sam Reinhart, BUF, 13GP, 2G-3A-5P
The 2nd overall pick of the 2014 Entry Draft has like his brother, had a difficult time transferring his junior success to the NHL. The Sabres currently have him slotted as their 3rd line center. Like Griffin Reinhart, I also worry about his speed. However, with that said there is no questioning his goal-scoring and playmaking abilities. A swap of some sort involving Strome could make sense here as both teams could try and see how a shakeup works. But in all honesty, I think it's a long shot the Oilers go after Reinhart, especially with the way the last trade for a Reinhart worked out, and the fact they didn't even pick Griffin up when he was placed on waivers by the Golden Knights shows how important they feel adding players with speed to their lineup is.
Andreas Athanasiou, DET, 4 GP, 1G-1A-2P
The 23-year-old London, Ontario native bolstered an impressive 18 goals in 64 games for the Red Wings last season. Proving that he has tremendous upside and goal-scoring ability. This summer saw a disagreement with both sides in contract negotiations, which lead to Andreas spending the beginning of the year practicing overseas until a one year deal was met between the two sides in mid-October. While the Red Wings have stated that they have no intent on trading this player, we could see him moved if contract negotiations go south again and the Red Wings opt to get something done for the scoring winger this season rather than watch him walk for nothing come the offseason.
Conclusion:
The Oilers are in a tough spot. On one hand, they feel desperate to turn this season around before chaos ensues, but on the other, you don't want to make a panic move just to make a move. They have outplayed other teams most of the games this year, regardless of the final score. But at the end of the day, that just isn't good enough when you have a generational superstar in your lineup. It's very possible that a player like Strome or Jokinen could have come up as potential solutions at this time if the Oilers had acquired different players this offseason that also had terrible starts. At the end of the day, unless there is a way to acquire a superb talent like Chris Kreider or really any of the top Rangers players rumored to be available at the right price, it may be better to sit tight and have the answers come from within. If the team still isn't in an ideal place come the trade deadline, snagging a streaky scorer like a Vanek or others at a relatively low cost could be a good gamble to make.
