Will the Edmonton Oilers trade Jordan Eberle or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins this off-season?
That’s the million dollar question and there is no denying the fact that this is the biggest story line surrounding the Oilers this summer. The topic comes up daily on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer and I’m getting the sense that a lot of the fans feel it’s a forgone conclusion that one or both of them get dealt.
Now let me first say this: I do think there is a strong possibility that a trade involving one of these players does happen at some point. But that doesn’t mean the trade needs to take place this off-season. A strong case can be made that keeping both players would give the Oilers the best chance to win the Stanley Cup next season.
The Oilers of course don’t have to worry about Connor McDavid‘s next contract kicking in until the start of the 2018-19 season. It also looks like next season’s salary cap could go up from $73 million to $77 million if the NHLPA exercises its 5 per cent inflator.
“In theory the Oilers would not have to move out either Nugent-Hopkins or Eberle to fit under the cap,” explained Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now. “This takes into consideration the fact that Leon Draisaitl could get upwards of $7.5 million dollars per season starting next year, if the two sides agreed on an 8 year deal.”
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LISTEN: BOB STAUFFER EXPLAINS HOW THE OILERS CAN STAY UNDER THE CAP BY KEEPING BOTH EBERLE AND RNH FOR ONE MORE SEASON.
“The Oilers in large part could live with what they have right now,” added Stauffer who also brought up another interesting point.
“The other thing to consider is say if you move Eberle, do you think you have enough scoring right now on the right side between Puljujarvi, Slepyshev, and Caggiula if you take Eberle out of the mix?”
All three of those players are promising young players for the Oilers, but the fact is they combined for just 12 goals this season compared to Eberle’s 20.
Now you can make an argument that increased roles for Slepyshev and Caggiula would lead to an uptake in production, but what if they simply aren’t ready for that.
The fact is Eberle is a perennial 20 goal scorer and his trade value is arguably at an all-time low after not scoring in the playoffs. Yes he makes $6 million dollars a season, but the Oilers simply don’t need to rush a trade just yet. They can wait until next season to make a move like that and hope Eberle rebounds this season with a 25 plus goal campaign, which he has done three times in his career already.
When it comes to Nugent-Hopkins we heard Oilers head coach Todd McLellan talk on our show about wanting to challenge Nugent-Hopkins to take more risks offensively next season.
Stauffer also believes that Nugent-Hopkins has more to give.
“I think Ryan has been so cognizant of being defensively aware on the ice, that he has lost a little bit of his offensive mojo,” said Stauffer.
“The Oilers are a more mature team now and Ryan might be afforded the luxury of taking more chances 5-on-5.”
Keeping both Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins also gives McLellan more lineup flexibility.
In the playoffs the Oilers looked as dangerous as ever with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins all centering their own lines. At times during the season the Oilers simply didn’t have enough on the wings to make three scoring lines happen.
With the emergence of Slepyshev and Caggiula in the playoffs, the Oilers were able to deploy three scoring lines and it lead to a 7-1 offensive explosion in game 6 of their 2nd round series with the Anaheim Ducks.
Peter Chiarelli will explore all his options this summer. He has made a number of big trades in his first two years on the job, but perhaps he feels some minor tinkering this off-season may be the best route to take.
Only time will tell, but with the salary cap likely going up, the option for Chiarelli to stand pat and hold on to Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle for at least one more season is a strong one.
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