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Eberle Trade Proposal Shot Down |
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There are times when a trade proposal comes up and you step back and think to yourself “That could really work!” and there are times when your immediate response is an indignant “WTF?” The later response was mine to the recent proposal by Joe Haggerty. The Bruins writer, who is plugged in when it comes to Boston’s hockey scene, recently proposed a deal for Oiler RW Jordan Eberle.
His article can be found
here. His proposal is as follows:
Oilers Send
Jordan Eberle
Bruins Send
Chris Kelly, Matt Bartkowski, a prospect (Malcom Subban?), and the Bruins’ 1st Round pick.
Just to recap that, the Oilers would send their 1st line RW and best friend to the eventual Captain Taylor Hall, a guy who co-lead the team in Goal-Scoring last year and had 65 points, for a 3C who had 18 points last season, a 3rd pairing Defenseman, a goalie prospect (?), and a pick that will likely be in the 15-30 range of the Draft.
If that seems a bit lopsided to you then you aren’t alone. Here is Edmonton’s most plugged in media guy Bob Stauffer:
...some depth on D. If they move out a scoring W it will be for a talented W with size or a good C
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) October 21, 2014
Now Stauffer doesn’t normally engage in trade talk over twitter so an immediate response from him suggests that this proposal doesn’t hold any water at all. This is a guy who is embedded in the organization, who sees MacT and Eakins at the coffee machine and has his fingers on the pulse of the club. I think it’s safe to say that Jordan Eberle is not getting moved for a bunch of Bruins rubbish.
To say that the only way the proposal makes any sense is if it’s viewed through Bruins coloured lenses would be to put it mildly. The proposal is asinine.
Chris Kelly is off to a hot start but that doesn’t negate the last 10 years of NHL hockey he’s played. He is a 30 point player in this league and is 1 season away from UFA status.
Bartkowski is a player who might be an upgrade over Ference but is also pending UFA.
That would mean that the 2 main pieces of this deal wont be Oilers in 2 years. Meanwhile, Boston will have solved their problem at RW for the next 5 seasons. Make sense to you? I didn’t think so. The only player I’d be interested in from Boston would be Soderberg, but he’s a UFA so there would need to be an extension in place, and it still wouldn’t be for Eberle.
The Oilers do have an issue with their depth chart in the sense that they have more RWs than they can play at the spot. Eberle, Perron, Yakupov, Purcell, and Joensuu all prefer to play the Right side. That's one too many if math doesn't suit you. Moving one of them for help down the middle or perhaps for a player who might become a stud Defenseman is always a possibility.
Personally, I would be most interested in moving Perron because he has the most value and best Cap hit relative to expendability. He can score goals, plays physically, and is making only 3.8M for this year and the next. I like the idea of having Yak under club control for several more years and Jordan Eberle is going nowhere unless somebody lets MacT choose freely from their roster. I mean it would take a massive overpayment for the Oilers to split up Hall and Eberle.
The name that’s been out there a lot has been Brayden Schenn’s. He’s a guy that the Oilers might covet given the fact that he plays Center, is still young, and has enough upside to warrant moving one of their scoring wingers to acquire. Schenn is 23 and has a 40 point season under his belt already. He’s a quality player that could slot in much better in Draisaitl’s spot this year if the German rookie is sent down to the WHL and could take Arco’s spot next year if all goes according to plan.
The Oilers have depth at Defense in the sense that they have enough 2nd-3rd pairing guys to keep Oscar Klefbom on the farm all season. They need top pairing guys so Haggerty’s proposal doesn’t scratch the itch he believes it does. The media vultures are circling overhead and the assumption is that it behooves the Oilers to give up their good players when the big market teams ask them to. It’s nonsensical but that’s the world we live in. It was so bad that the Oilers' Colour Man shot it down without hesitation.
Eberle is not going to another NHL club. Not today, not tomorrow, not any time soon.
Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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