McDavid ‘changes landscape’ for Oilers
Team shouldn’t be in a hurry to trade away core players
Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish says the odds of trading the No. 1 overall draft pick in June with Connor McDavid in the team’s crosshairs for immediate help elsewhere are “less than zero,” but what about dealing one of their other centres or breaking up the core and moving Taylor Hall or Jordan Eberle?
There seems to be a clamouring to, say, trade last year’s first pick, No. 3 overall centre Leon Draisaitl, now that the Oilers will be taking McDavid after stunningly winning the draft lottery for a fourth time in the last six years. Like, with McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as the top two centres, what do they need Draisaitl for?
Or listening to offers on first-line wingers Hall and Eberle.
But that would be jumping way too far ahead.
Take a breath. They will likely use their extra firstround pick (Pittsburgh’s for David Perron) and one of their second-round picks to find help in goal or on defence, or they’ll maybe dangle a young defenceman like Martin Marincin along with a draft pick.
They’ll look at teams with no first-round picks this year — the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks — or teams in major cap hell (the Boston Bruins) to get another goalie.
The Oilers could be after a young goalie for more organizational depth — maybe Malcolm Subban with the Bruins — or an older one such as Kari Lehtonen in Dallas, who with sources say could be shopped by the Stars summer with three years left at $5.9 million even after 35 wins this season, and somebody’s No. 3 defenceman (say, the Rangers’ Marc Staal) who could be a No. 2 here.
“The Oilers have to go after fire sales,” said former Calgary Flames GM Craig Button.
“They have to look at the landscape and see where a team might want to bust out a goalie ... (Cam) Talbot in New York, Martin Jones in Los Angeles. Or even 0ttawa with, say, (veteran) Craig Anderson as a two-year trade guy. Maybe Cam Ward who has one year left, an ideal situation,” said Button.
“By getting McDavid, it changes the landscape on how you approach the draft. There are lots of different ways the Oilers can go.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Evgeni Malkin second overall in 2004, got very lucky and won the lottery to get fellow centre Sidney Crosby in 2005, and chose another centre, Jordan Staal, at No. 2 in 2006.
It was an embarrassment of riches, but the Penguins kept the three centres, with Staal often playing wing until 2013, when he wanted a bigger role even though the Penguins were willing to sign him at $6 million a year in a new deal, but he was traded to Carolina — seven years after being drafted.
“The Oilers drafted Draisaitl third overall last year, and he’s a good player. Is there anything wrong with a six-foot-two centre who can make plays, a guy who can drive plays up the middle? You can’t win in this league without being deep at centre,” said Button, who can’t fathom the Oilers doing anything in the middle for at least a year.
“Now, if the Oilers want to look at trading Draisaitl after next season for a Top 2 defenceman ... we’ll see. Like Draisaitl for Morgan Rielly. A third overall pick or a fifth overall pick. This is where McDavid changes the landscape,” said Button.
Back to McDavid. He may be the best pure talent since Sidney Crosby, but the Oilers haven’t played a single game with him yet. They had only a taste of Draisaitl: 37 NHL games before sending him back to junior, where he’s now in the WHL post-season with the Kelowna Rockets.
As for trading Hall and Eberle, that’s a non-starter. MacTavish loves both players. Nail Yakupov? Maybe a different story if his play gets better next season and he’s a 50 to 60 point player. His marketability would rise.
Now, with the Oilers winning the lottery and going for McDavid, it’s very iffy they’ll sign unrestricted freeagent Derek Roy even if Roy and Yakupov had some nice chemistry. Anton Lander could be a No. 3 centre, along with Boyd Gordon as the No. 4. McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins in the top two slots, with Draisaitl on the fence, for now.
Before the draft lottery, MacTavish said “I don’t see our draft choices coming in and moving the dial for us.”
Now, with McDavid, different story.
But trading other core players to fill other holes?
“I feel more comfortable with the foundation we have now than at any time. We need some critical pieces, improvement in some pretty vital areas, but we can build from this,” said MacTavish, who does envision a Top 1 or 2 defenceman coming available, but not by trading Hall, Eberle or Nugent-Hopkins. jmatheson@ edmontonjournal.com Twitter: @NHLbyMatty