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G46: Oilers vs Kraken - Kane Returns + Horvat to Edmonton? |
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First off let's get some roster moves out of the way. The Edmonton Oilers have officially activated Evander Kane from LTIR and pending one last physical, he should be cleared for play and it is being reported he is expected to be in the lineup tonight against the Seattle Kraken.
Kane has gone on record to say that his wrist is not 100% but believes it is as good as it will get this season. There were a number of people concerned that the Oilers are once again rushing a player before he is ready to fully return. It's a fair concern but I don't see that as being the case here. Kane is the one pushing to return and isn't being forced back by the organization ala Sheldon Souray. In addition, the comments by Kane to me felt more like there is some general pain still, but nothing that is truly bothering him anymore. All players by this point in the season have some soreness and issues and if Kane feels that is all this is right now than he should be allowed to play. Obviously you expect the doctors and trainers will continue to monitor him and preach caution should any other issues appear.
It looks like Yamamoto is being placed on the LTIR, meaning he will not be able to play until Feb 12th at the earliest. Yamamoto has had a multitude of injuries and ailments this season and it appears that he really hasn't been healthy at any point this season. The hope is that shutting him down for this longer stretch will give him the time to fully heal. At some point I do wonder if they feel it is in everyone's best interest to shut him down for the remainder of the season.
Moving Yamamoto to LTIR allows the Oilers to be cap-compliant and are sitting at roughly $375,000 under the cap while having 13 forwards and 7 defensemen on the roster. If they move Ryan Murray to LTIR as well, they will have 1.125 million in cap space.
Having Kane back in the lineup is a huge boost and even if he is not fully at 100%, he is still a valuable legitimate top six addition back onto the roster. Edmonton has played much better as of late at 5 on 5 and bringing in Kane once more should only improve their play.
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The Edmonton Oilers desperately need to add another legitimate top four defenseman... so today we are going to talk about them adding a legitimate top six forward. On the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek brought up Edmonton as a potential landing spot for Canucks captain Bo Horvat. Marek stated that Horvat would be open to a trade to Edmonton, even going so far as to say that the 27 year old centre would want to sign an extension with the Oilers.
This is one of those long shot rumours that makes you go "huh, that's kind of interesting," and immediately move on with your life but let's entertain it for a few moments. Is there a possibility for a trade match between the Oilers and Canucks?
It's been reported that the Canucks want to bring in either legitimate NHL players or prospects that are close to making the jump to the NHL as part of any trade for Horvat or any of the other players on their trade block. They are not looking to just take on draft picks. Edmonton has a number of players they would be open to moving; Foegele, Puljujarvi, and Yamamoto would have varying levels of interest to the Canucks to add to their top nine. In addition the Oilers have prospects/young players like Holloway, Bourgault, Savoie, Tulio, Lavoie, and Schaefer that are either NHL ready now or could be as early as next season.
For arguments sake, let's say the Oilers trade Holloway, Puljujarvi, Foegele and a 2024 first round pick for Bo Horvat, and a conditional pick if he resigns. The Oilers could run McDavid/Draisaitl as their top line duo with Horvat and Hyman as their second line duo. Bolster that top six with Evander Kane and even Ryan McLeod on the wing and that is a deadly top six, not even including RNH and Kostin on the third line and potentially even Yamamoto.
There are plenty of holes in this proposal. For starters, the Canucks are going to want to move Horvat out of their division and the only way they would consider trading him to Edmonton is if they offered something that Vancouver could not refuse.
The second, more important fact is that this doesn't address the still glaring need of adding a defenseman. If Edmonton was going to offer a package like the one I listed above, it should go to adding a player that is a legitimate top pairing player.
As far as long term Horvat in Edmonton; at some point we are going to have to talk about the future of McDavid and Draisaitl with the Oilers. Horvat long term doesn't make a bunch of sense with McDavid at 12.5 and Draisaitl at 8.5... what makes much more sense is trading Draisaitl for a true #1 defenseman and then signing Horvat long term. Horvat may not have the elite 100+ point production that Leon Draisaitl can muster, but he is far better defensively. A one two punch of McDavid and Horvat would be a far more balanced duo.
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This is all mostly for fun but it is an intriguing scenario to think about. Hopefully the Oilers continue the strong play they have mustered in their past 3 games and come out extra hard, energized by the return of Evander Kane.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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