Had to postpone the Storm Watching trip to Tofino…because of the storm 🙂
So I thought I would step back in with some observations on the corner Craig McTavish has painted himself into.
Anyone with a clue knew MacT couldn’t go into an NHL season with only 2 NHL centres, no top pairing D and 2 unproven goaltenders…except MacT himself and his fanboys.
Well, here we are.
1/4 of the way into the season the MacT Oilers (and, yes, he built this roster) are battling the Buffalo Sabres for the Miss Congeniality Award.
I’ve always thought MacTavish loves himself some MacTavish (way beyond the evidence) and is now reaping what he has sown.
Looks good on him.
So, what now?
There are some outlandish trade proposals out there….the venerable, though somewhat addled, Lowetide is suggesting the Oilers reset their roster in a trade that involves Tyler Seguin.
No. I’m talking about a massive deal, where Edmonton and Dallas get together and Edmonton walks away with Tyler Seguin and another significant asset. A massive, game changing deal that alters Edmonton’s strength up the middle. Or Colorado, maybe they have the assets.
I’m not saying he has to make that big of a deal, but open up the possibilities. Make this trade the massive roster correction required.
A team like Dallas, or Colorado for that matter, has no incentive to help the Oilers recover from the mistakes they’ve made in drafting and development over the past 8 seasons.
Tyler Seguin may be the second best C in the league and Colorado’s MacKinnon, Duchene and O’Reilly aren’t all that far behind.
So what would it take for either team to part with one of them?
Both the Stars and Avalanche could use a legit #1D….guess what…the Oilers don’t have one…never mind one that they can spare.
Both teams could use a solid backup goaltender…guess what…the Oilers don’t have one.
The Oilers best trading chips at this point are likely Eberle (14 PTS) and Perron (10 PTS) and neither one of those two will get you a centre of note so I’m thinking they need to target a team with unusual needs.
The Arizona Coyotes desperately need a player that they can market and that player could be Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. Perhaps the Oilers could trade their 2015 1st round pick and David Perron for Vermette (UFA at the end of the season) and Keith Yandle. That trade works for both teams.
The other target I would look at is the Florida Panthers who are awash in young centres. Tallon might consider Perron or Eberle for Brandon Pirri.
If you can’t pull off one of those trades I have to think Taylor Hall will have to hit the market which IMO is not the worst idea in the world but more about that next time.
Dead Cat Bouncing 
At this point of the train wreck do you honestly risk that #1 or #2 pick?
As I read your article, I got flash backs of Burke & Seguin, as good as Phil Kessel is I wouldn’t do that trade now & I’m not sure Burke would ether.
McDavid & Eichel are game changers, getting one of them gives the Oilers better options in the summer if MacTavish has the stones not to panic.
The Oilers need 3 major positional trades at the very least to fix the massive holes as you mentioned.
Right now, patching this team makes little sence to me.
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Right now that first round pick does not have near the value that it will the day before the draft. (With this dumpster fire, it will be a very high pick.) That being said, it is so Oilers to get rid of assets at their point of lowest value.
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I just don’t see them parting with it, but at the same time it wouldn’t surprise me in the least bit
#becauseoilers
We can get the numbers on McDavid, but Eichel is on pace to smash Parise NCAA records as a 17 year old, he’s also a generational talent that doesn’t get nearly the amount of recognition he deserves.
Both kids are already man size, Eichel is 6’2 pushing 200 & growing, would be Oilers biggest player. McDavid has size at 6’2 190.
The Oilers are going to be 28-29 or 30th in a deep draft, the time to trade picks was the last 5 years, not this one.
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A high first round pick and Perron for Yandle and an UFA definitely doesn’t work for both teams. Maybe a Perron for Yandle trade with a little piece added in would work but a rebuilding team doesn’t have much use for an UFA.
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Are the Oilers still rebuilding? Or is it now official “McMilbury Time” TM all rights reserved.
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I think we’re just entering the first phase of the “Failed Rebuild”.
The Oilers have made so many mistakes along the way…making bad bets on the wrong players…expecting teen aged kids to lead the charge….hiring MacT, Eakins…etc.
At some point, they will have to blow it up and start over but it won’t work until the Katz-Lowe-MacT cabal is broken up and some knowledgeable hockey minds with a track record of success are bought in to clean up the mess.
If Katz cares about on ice success (and I’m not sure he does) he needs to clean house and throw whatever cash is needed to hire Mike Babcock as POHO and allow him to assess the organization and make whatever changes he deems necessary.
What I think WILL happen is that Mark Messier will get a prominent role…with predictable results.
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