Unexpected monster trade brewing between Flames and Oilers?!

It is no surprise that Chris Tanev has become the most coveted defenseman available on the trade market ahead of the March 8 deadline. The Calgary Flames’ blue liner has been linked to teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators, and now another contender steps in, which may cause some surprise.

According to Darren Dreger on Wednesday’s episode of OverDrive, the Edmonton Oilers are “one of many” teams interested in Tanev. Dreger explained how the “Oilers would love to have Tanev”, and that it “would come at the expense of Cody Ceci.”

Though Dreger does not put the Oilers as front-runners in the Tanev sweepstakes, he still mentioned that possibility in last night’s Insider Insider on TSN segment:

“They’re having conversations about some of the top defencemen available like Sean Walker of the Philadelphia Flyers and, perhaps, Chris Tanev of the Calgary Flames . To make a deal like that it seems likely they’d have to include someone like Cody Ceci or Brett Kulak."

The trade scenario is not flawless despite the fact that Tanev would be a great defense partner to Darnell Nurse, making the Oilers tough to be in the postseason. However, Ceci would be a downgrade for the Flames, and it is believed that the price tag for Tanev is quite high and would need Edmonton, or any contender, to provide a high draft pick and another asset in a return.

On top of these obstacles to get this trade scenario to come to fruition, the Oilers and Flames would need to pass over the hurdle of making a deal with their Alberta enemy, their top rival and I’m not sure it’d be easy for Calgary to digest if they ended up moving Tanev to Edmonton only to see the Oilers get crowned Stanley Cup champions.

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