The Oilers have made a trade!
Edmonton traded the 2019 3rd round pick they acquired in the Maroon deal to the Flyers in exchange for Cooper Marody.
As some people might not be aware, the trade deadline is not actually a date that once crossed ends the ability for teams to make trades. It is simply the deadline for players to be acquired by a team and eligible to play in the post-season. Since the Oilers aren’t making the playoffs and the pick going Philly’s way isn’t even an actual human being yet, that’s of no concern for this deal.
Cooper Marody is a 21-year-old right-shot Center who is 6’1… and 175 pounds. He was drafted in the 6th round of 2015 out of the USHL and has played 3 years for the University of Michigan. Marody had 49 points in 38 games during his draft year with the Sioux Falls Stampede. He was 3 points back of Kieffer Bellows who was a 1st round pick the next year for the Islanders.
Marody’s university career is one in which his points per game has improved every season. He went from 0.75 P/G as a rookie to 0.83 P/G as a sophomore to 1.24 P/G this past year. He was his team’s leader in scoring and named the Scoring Champion of the Big 10 as well as a 1st team All-Star.
This trade turns a future pick into a real-live body. It essentially completes the Maroon trade and gives Edmonton a prospect that they are missing in their system. If Marody signs with Edmonton he would instantly vault to the top of their center prospects with only Tyler Benson capable of toppling him. He would most likely be their 1C as early as next year in Bakersfield as he would be older than Benson.
I know that he was a former 6th round pick, but I don’t really care about that. I’m only concerned about what these players can do now. Marody just had a killer season and if he was part of the Oilers original return for the Maroon, that deal might not have been derided as much as it was.
Since he is a college player, the ball is in Marody’s court. If he wants to turn pro, the Oilers would no doubt oblige him.
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