Oilers GM Steve Tambellini brought the Edmonton Oilers into the trade deadline mix on Friday. Sadly, the deal was more of a pop-gun than a rocket launcher: Prospect forward Tobias Rieder for prospect forward Kale Kessy.

This deal has everything to do with team needs. The Phoenix Coyotes need more talent up front, and Rieder projects to be a small, skilled scoring forward who could become a Top 6 NHL player. Kale Kessy is a big, physical winger who has some scoring touch, but primarily is being brought in to hopefully play in the Oilers Bottom 6 someday. The Oilers need more size up front and they know it. Acquire enough big prospects like Kessy and Mitchell Moroz (drafted in 2012) and eventually you'll find one or two who will develop into an NHL player.


Jay Bouwmeester Watch Continues
Danny DeKeyser decided to sign with the Red Wings today, which is fine. All the best to him. So it's onto the next best option.

I'm telling you folks, there's a reason why Ladislav Smid has yet to be re-signed by the Oilers. The Smid camp wants more money on a longer-term deal than the Oilers are prepared to offer. And aside from that, the Oilers want better puck-movers.

I still believe Smid to Calgary for Bouwmeester is possible. There will be more to it, obviously. Maybe it will be Edmonton's two 2nd round picks in 2013. Maybe it will be their 1st round pick in 2014. Maybe even their first in 2013 instead? The Oilers see Justin Schultz, Jeff Petry and Oscar Klefbom as three parts of their eventually ideal Top 4. Bouwmeester would fit in perfectly as the 4th guy and would look great along with Justin Schultz in the top pairing.

A few notes on a potential JayBo deal:

- Keep in mind the Flames are in Calgary and the Oilers are in Edmonton. Meaning, the Flames will want an overpayment from the Oilers.

- JayBo has a NTC, so he'd need to agree to the move first.

- If the Flames can't immediately re-sign Ladislav Smid to a long-term deal, they could nuke the trade as well. JayBo for two - 2nd round picks is a terrible deal for Calgary.

- And finally, and this is the weird bit: The Oilers need to go 10-5 over the last 15 games to have a real shot at a playoff spot. 10-5 isn't impossible; their record is almost that good this season whenever Shawn Horcoff is in the line-up. The Oilers have more home games left than road games, and that helps too. But the results of the next two games could mean everything with respect to a potential deal for Bouwmeester.

The Oilers play against the Canucks on Saturday and the Flames on Monday. Should the Oilers win both games, suddenly they are very much in the playoff hunt, and the Flames will be further out of it than they already are. It's possible the Flames and Oilers could work out details of a deal while the Monday game is occurring.

Join the Discussion: » 212 Comments » Post New Comment

» Goodbye and Good Luck

» Ranking Top 5 Roster Groups - Blog #1

» Mods and Rockers

» The Reverse Psychology Blog

» The 10 Least Interesting Teams in the NHL