Rumors of Canadian teams presenting Jamie Benn with offer sheets are everywhere. Two Canadian teams have approached Benn, you say? Oilers would benefit from having a bigger player as their 2nd line center, perhaps (Benn can play either on the wing or at center)?
Is there an Edmonton Oilers angle to this? Likely no.
It isn't because Benn would be a bad player to spend money on. He'd improve the Oilers immediately; most definitely. His signing would mean Sam Gagner would be dealt as soon as possible, but that's a different subject.
Here's the rub. Rubs. Multiple.
To successfully offer sheet Jamie Benn would require a long-term deal at around $6mil. Benn last season finished with 26 goals and 63pts. So what would his signing turn Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall's contract extentions into next season? Eberle had 34 goals and 76pts. Benn at $6mil makes Eberle a $7mil player. Yikes.
And then there is the cap number to worry about. Have you looked up where the Oilers sit lately? According to CapGeek, the Oilers are sitting at 8th in spending for player contracts next season. 8th. The 29th place team spends the 8th highest amount. Think about that for a second. Adding Benn wouldn't push the Oilers over the current cap ceiling or anything, but you'd think if the team plans on spending a big pile of cash, it would be on a defenseman, not a forward. Hell, dealing for Roberto Luongo, on paper at least, makes more sense than the Oilers acquiring another forward, even if he's bigger than any other talented forward the team currently has.
Which brings me to the final point: If the Oilers start offer sheeting players, how sympathetic do you think teams will be a season from now when Hall and Ebs are RFA's? They won't be. Tit for tat, and all of that. Ask any GM in the NHL who doesn't run the Philadelphia Flyers how they feel about the Philadelphia Flyers right now. It isn't cuddly wuddly. It's in the Oilers best interest not to paint a jumbo target on the backs of their players.
Are there really two Canadian teams who put offer sheets on Benn? Maybe. Canucks, perhaps? The Canucks finish 1st in the league every season, so what diff does it make if they lose a few draft picks?
I think Toronto would make the most sense, actually. They need a #1 center...perhaps they are one big center and a goalie away from the playoffs in 2012/2013. Benn would certainly solve one of those issues. Luongo, if he'd be willing to go to TO, could be had for a song at this point. I'd love for the Leafs to be a playoff team again, so I could tease their fans when the Leafs get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.
Twitter Talk
Someone tweeted me asking my opinion on which player the Oilers should deal for to add size to their Top 6. The difficulty in answering this question is, I could list 10 guys, but I'm not sure any of them are available. Big forwards who can play in the Top 6 are hard to come by, and are in more demand than ever.
I'll offer up two names, and then I'll explain the difficulty in landing them. First name: Chris Stewart from St. Louis. This is the more likely to occur of the two options I'll give, and the only reason it's more likely is because it appears he's having a tough time fitting in since he was dealt to the Blues. The deals in themselves raise a red flag. Why did the Avs deal Stewart to the Blues when it seemed like he was doing great? Why has he been so unproductive since joining St. Louis? The Oilers would need to give up two decents assets to get Stewart (I'm not sure what the Blues would want from Edmonton, either, as they have roster depth), and there's no guarantee he'd improve the team. That's problematic.
The other name I'll give is Milan Lucic from the Bruins. Lucic had an awful playoffs, but his numbers during the regular season were solid. The Oilers would need to rip out their spleens to make this deal happen, and once again, the question needs to be asked if making a deal would be worth it under those conditions. Would you give up, let's say, Nail Yakupov for Lucic? Because that's who the Bruins would want. Either Yakupov or Hall. Ales Hemsky + a pick isn't going to cut it for brute Lucic. I wouldn't give up Yakupov, or Hall, or Eberle, or Nuge, or Justin Schultz, or Oscar Klefbom, regardless of return. So Lucic to Edmonton...it's not happening.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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