Trade Deadline Day is one week away(!), and as the silliest time of the year approaches it’s time to focus on what the Oilers will be doing. This year the GM seems to have settled into things and is forecasting a very realistic Deadline Day.
SECONDARY MARKET
MacT has said it himself, he sees most of the players that the club will make available as part of the “Secondary Market…. These are players that other teams will turn to when they miss out on the guys they really want. Nobody wants Nick Schultz when Callahan is available somehow, but when they miss out on the premier guys they will still want a vet in their top 7.
That statement from MacT isn’t a knock on the players here, it’s just realistic. The players other teams want from the Oilers aren’t the ones that are unquestionably available. If the Oilers put Jordan Eberle up on the auction table then teams would be lining up to put an offer in, but they aren’t.
If someone wants the Edmonton Oilers’ premier players then they need to be prepared to pay a huge price. That’s why Craig MacTavish is talking about the Secondary Market right now; he’s not planning on moving the kids along. This is the time of year where a team in Edmonton’s position will be getting stuff back for expiring UFAs, not changing the face of their franchise.
WHEN WILL THE BIG CHANGES COME?
The Draft and the Summer, if they come at all. The Oilers already have big pieces of the puzzle. They need Defensemen but this is a terrible time to try and find one who isn’t a rental. Nobody wants to give up quality Blueliners when the playoffs are near and, given the fact that more than half the teams in the NHL will make the playoffs and even more are in a competitive position, most of the NHL needs the guys they have right now.
The time to acquire the pieces that Edmonton needs specifically is in the Off-Season. When NHL teams are back at the starting point with their clubs and the lure of that sweet Playoff money is no longer driving the decision making those Defensemen will be available via trade. Money drives most of the decisions in the NHL and not every club is as lucky as Edmonton in terms of stable ownership and revenue. Once the Playoffs are over or teams miss them completely the next thing Owners will be looking at is Bonus time. It’s all about money coming in and going out.
SO THE DEADLINE WILL BE LAME?
Maybe. I’m a huge Ales Hemsky fan and if this is the year he finally leaves then it should be a bigger deal than it probably will be, but No, I don’t see fireworks going off. But at the same time I wont say with 100% certainty that the Oilers will only be making minor deals. Every year on Deadline day some teams go out and actually make a Hockey Trade. There’s nothing preventing the Oilers from doing that outside of what we talked about already.
What the Oilers can hope for is that one team goes out and gets a few Premier players early, maybe by the Weekend. If that happens then the there’s more time for those Secondary Market guys to be the focus of discussion. The more time where Hemsky remains one of the best forwards available, the better.
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