Oilers zero in on three trade targets ahead of deadline, one’s in Calgary!

The Edmonton Oilers know what they want and how they might get it. According to senior hockey writer Frank Seravalli, general manager Ken Holland’s top priority is clear, but he does not want to pay too much for it. This is how Seravalli explained it on last night’s edition of Insider Trading on TSN, and pointed out some targets the Oilers might be going after:

“The Edmonton Oilers have their eye on a very specific piece at a very specific price. That’s a right shot centre who can take face-offs, and win them on the penalty kill where they’ve struggled this year, just 42 per cent shorthanded that can help their kill. So who fits that bill? Well how about Luke Glendening who’s not coming back to the Detroit Red Wings. He’s the guy that leads the league in face-off percentage this season, can also kill penalties and has a cheap cap hit. There’s two other guys that don’t require a seven-day quarantine and that would be Vancouver’s Brandon Sutter and Calgary’s Derek Ryan, although they have higher caps hits, more cap gymnastics there. And the price? Well the Oilers have traded their second, third and fifth-round picks so they’d like to do all that for a fourth-round pick if they can. We’ll see what kind of magic Ken Holland has up his sleeve.”

Holland is usually quite active on the market ahead of the trade and will surely do his best to put his team in top position to be a great contender in the postseason. 

There are many options for the Oilers to explore and it remains to be seen if a deal gets done before the April 12th deadline. With the great news on the  quarantine rules being reduced to seven days from players from American teams coming to Canada, this could have Holland closing deals with clubs down South. 

Holland has mentioned that he is not expecting to give up future assets, but he also stated that he will pull the trigger if there is an offer he likes. 

Let’s keep an eye on the Oilers!