Rumor: Oilers targeting Canadiens forward on the trade market.

Things have not been going well for the Edmonton Oilers as of late and it is clear that sooner rather than later, something will have to give.

After what was a red hot start to the regular season the Oilers now find themselves on the outside looking in, 1 point back of the Los Angeles Kings for the final Wildcard playoff spot. That may not sound so bad until you realize that the Kings have 44 games left to play on their current schedule, with only 39 remaining for the Oilers, giving them relatively little time to make up the ground they have lost.

Many have speculated that a coaching change could be made in season, but that has traditionally not been the style of current Oilers general manager Ken Holland. Another option would be to make a significant trade but with relatively limited cap space the Oilers don't have a lot of room to work with. That being said there are now rumblings that the Oilers may be targeting a forward on the Montreal Canadiens roster, a move that would make sense given that the Canadiens have no real hope of making the playoffs this season.

A recent report from Boston Bruins beat reporter Jimmy Murphy cites comments from one NHL executive that suggests the Oilers may be taking a long, hard look at veteran forward Brendan Gallagher.

"I know that my team is looking into what it would take to acquire him and I’ve been told by more than one team that the Edmonton Oilers are very interested,” said an NHL team executive as per Murphy's report. "They thought they were getting enough sandpaper from a guy that can pot 20 goals with [Zach] Hyman, but it’s pretty clear they need more of those players in their middle six."

Gallagher is known for his hard nosed style of play despite being on the smaller side for an NHL player and it seems that the executive believes the Oilers are looking to add more sandpaper, much like they did by adding Zach Hyman to their roster in the offseason.

Making a move of this nature won't be easy for the Oilers and it would have to involve the Canadiens retaining salary on Gallagher's contract, something that would drive the price up on the asset for the Oilers. Given the way that the Canadiens have struggled this season, newly appointed executive vice president Geoff Gorton could be interested in acquiring high end draft picks as he looks to reshape the roster into something that more closely resembles his vision, and retaining salary in a trade of this nature could be exactly how he looks to go about it.

That being said Gallagher has had a relatively underwhelming season with 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points over 25 regular season games, but that could very well be a symptom of just how poorly the Canadiens have performed since their run to the Stanley Cup Final in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.