With no second-round pick, Oilers miss out on Boyle

ST. LOUIS Edmonton Oilers coach Todd McLellan says, “we’re beating a dead horse,” when anybody brings up his team’s horrid faceoff percentage, but if he thought a fresh Brian Boyle would be riding in to save the day, that trade possibly vanished when he went from Tampa to Toronto Monday.

It must have burned Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli even more because the Leafs got Boyle for a second-round draft pick this June, something the Oilers had to surrender to Boston when they signed the just-fired Bruins GM back in the spring of 2015.

That was right before the NHL decided that sort of compensation for axed executives was ridiculous and closed it down.

The Leafs also gave up farmhand centre Byron Froese, who used to play for the Red Deer Rebels.

But, not having a second-rounder to dangle for any rental players is likely causing Chiarelli a major case of heartburn.

He’s got two third-rounders, but that’s too late for the going rate for rentals right now, with Ron Hainsey going from Carolina to Pittsburgh and Patrick Eaves from Dallas to Anaheim.

But it won’t hurt Chiarelli if he wants unrestricted free agent goalie Anders Nilsson from Buffalo to back up Cam Talbot. Oilers vice-president of hockey ops Craig MacTavish watched the last two Sabres games, and Nilsson, who’s had a good year backing up Robin Lehner, might only cost the Oilers a fourth-rounder should they want him back as a familiar face.

The Oilers were in on Arizona centre Martin Hanzal too, but the price was too rich. The Wild gave up a first-rounder and a secondrounder and a conditional pick for what could be a guy who walks July 1. But they’re all in because they’re the No. 1 team in the West right now.

Edmonton isn’t going all in. But, having only the versatile Mark Letestu at over 50 per cent on draws is seriously irking McLellan. Against Nashville Sunday, they won 35 per cent of the faceoffs five-on-five.

Chiarelli has said he’s only nibbling around the edges but with his team in second spot in the wideopen Pacific, who knows how far they’d go if they hang on and make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. He needs another offensive RW too, which is where Patrick Sharp comes in. But every team would want Dallas to eat half his contract, and the Oilers don’t have a second-round pick.