Potential trade fit between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens.
A deal that could work for both sides.
It's becoming increasingly clear that the Edmonton Oilers will be moving on from former first round draft pick Jesse Puljujarvi sooner rather than later after the Finnish forward made some controversial comments to the Finnish media recently, but could the solution to the Oilers' problem come from another Canadian franchise?
Recently Edmonton Oilers reporter Ryan Rishaug had Montreal Canadiens insider Arpon Basu on his podcast to discuss a potential trade fit between the two teams, specifically as it pertains to the Oilers blue line. It was during that podcast that both men appeared to agree that a trade that would send Edmundson to Edmonton would make a ton of sense.
"He checks' every box, he really does," said Basu of a fit for Edmundson on the Oilers' blue line on the Got Yer Back podcast.
While a trade of this nature might sound great for the Oilers on paper, the Canadiens aren't about to give up a quality veteran defenseman for free. Basu believes that the asking price for Edmundson, who has 1 more year left on his deal after this season at a very reasonable cap hit of $3.5 million, will start at a first round pick and that could be enough for Oilers general manager Ken Holland to balk at the prospect of bringing in Edmundson.
That however is where the unfortunate Puljujarvi situation could come into play.
"Puljujarvi as someone who can even out the money to make it work for Edmonton, I think that would be appealing for [the Canadiens]," said Basu. "They have a lot of confidence in this development staff that they have put together."
While Puljujarvi will no doubt be viewed as something of a reclamation project for most teams at this point given his recent comments, Basu believes the Canadiens would view this potential trade (one that would send Joel Edmundson to Edmonton with Jesse Puljujarvi and some form of pick or prospect, defenseman Xavier Bourgault was mentioned, coming back the other way). in a favorable light.
"I could see them thinking 'We get a prospect out of this, we get a later round pick out of this, maybe a third or second on top of Bourgault, and you get Puljujarvi to even out the money.'" said Basu of the potential trade.
Not only does the Habs insider think the trade could potentially work, but he also believes the Canadiens would be interested in trying to develop Puljujarvi after his failures in Edmonton, much in the way they are currently doing with former Chicago Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach.
"I'm not saying they could necessarily do that with Puljujarvi, what I'm saying is that they might think they can," said Basu in conclusion.
It would be a lot for the Oilers to give up, but finding a buyer for Puljujarvi's cap hit of $3 million won't be easy given his recent comments and they will almost certainly have to pay a premium in any trade involving the player.
