Hi folks. Sorry if I've been distracted over the last couple days: I went and got engaged. Tuesday was ring shopping, and Wednesday was the romanticy evening thing. She said yes. I warned her repeatedly that marrying me was a terrible idea, but she said yes anyway. So there it is.

Leafs and Oilers are talking trade. The player coming from the Leafs is fairly obvious: Cody Franson. The Leafs are absolutely stacked defensively, and Head Coach Ron Wilson is not a huge fan of Franson's game. The reason? He's a big man who doesn't bring the violence. I see Franson as being a Ryan Whitney-type defenseman, and the Oil would kill for more Whitney right now. In Toronto, where the defensemen are numerous and excellent, they can afford to shift Franson in order to improve the team in a different area.

Now here's the reason a deal hasn't happened yet:

The Leafs are very similar to the Oilers in the sense that both teams look like they could challenge for a playoff spot this season if they do a little roster tweaking. The need in TO is a goalie, followed by a big center. The goalie-thing is temporary, as the Leafs have a quality stopper in James Reimer. He's hurt, but he'll be back, so the need to add a star stopper is temporary.

The Oilers don't have a star-stopper to move. Even though Nikolai Khabibulin is having a solid start to the season, no one would deal for him because of his contract. The Oil aren't going to deal Devan Dubnyk, as he will become the full-time starter in two seasons or less. The Oilers don't have any other goalies available at this time that would be a better immediate option to what TO has now.

You can forget about the Oilers moving certain prospects for Franson. They aren't going to shift Anton Lander, Tyler Pitlick or Teemu Hartikainen. The Oilers need to get bigger up front, and Pitlick and Hartikainen in particular bring desirable size. Currently, Lander has more hits than big Ben Eager, whom the Oilers signed during the summer specifically for his hitting. Even though Magnus Paajarvi is having an ugly season so far, there is zero chance he's moved unless a star player comes back to Edmonton in return. Franson is good, but he's not a "star".

What the Oilers do have to offer are small, skilled forwards. Linus Omark and Sam Gagner are being shopped, and nether comes with much appeal for the Leafs. TO doesn't necessarily need more offensive production from the wing, and Gagner is playing terrible so far this season, so it's hard to suggest he'd immediately make the Leafs better.

So here's what I'm thinking: If there's a deal to be made here, it could be Omark and a draft pick to TO for Franson, with the Leafs turning around and moving Omark to a different team for a goaltender. Or, you could see the Oilers deal for a goaltender, followed by Edmonton turning around and moving the 'tender to TO for Franson.

One possibility I have thought of is the Oilers making a deal with the New York Islanders to acquire Evgeni Nabokov. He would then be moved to TO for Franson. What the Isles would want for Nabokov is debatable, but I could see Sam Gagner being an interesting possibility because the Isles could use a center to play on the second line behind John Tavares.

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