The biggest issues I see with the oilers are: 1. Inconsistent goaltending 2. Inconsistent defense 3. Lack of a scoring 3rd line
To fix these issues, you’ve got to either make a trade or wait on the prospects you’ve already got. Thankfully the oilers have a plethora of D and goalie prospects, but are pretty thin at forward even though they also have some promising pieces there in maksimov, Lavoie, mcleod, benson.
The oilers likely deal one of Russell/Larsson to free up a spot for Bouchard. Larsson to me is an amazing defensive defenseman on an actually great contract, so the oilers shouldn’t look into moving him. Russell will cost a bit to get rid of, but with all the assets they have in their farm system it shouldn’t be too hard.
Oilers probably wait until the draft to either dump Russell’s salary on a rebuilding team, or buy out Russell’s contract completely. It’s a tough nut to crack in this case- Russell is a good defensive defenseman, but he’s just a bottom pairing guy, and you can’t afford to pay a bottom pairing guy 4 mil a year. Moving russell gives them mid-year flexibility to make a move possibly at the TDL.
Puljujarvi will obviously be moved, and the oilers still need to have a definitive scoring 3rd line to do some damage down the road. Ottawa is the perfect destination for Puljujarvi, and Edmonton the perfect place for tierney- both can move up and down the lineup, playing anywhere in the top 9 effectively. Obviously Puljujarvi isn’t as proven as Tierney, so the oilers will need to add a substantial piece(s?) along with a roster player to even out the contracts.
Bouchard and Benson could easily both start the year with the team, hopefully stealing ice time from whatever player was there before. The more competition, the better players will play, as we’ve seen before here in edmonton.
Stuart Skinner is having an up and down year in the AHL, but to me he seems like a guy who could play a few games next year. And honestly, if smith’s ancient body gets injured, they just might have to play him.
In summary the oilers problems can’t be solved instantly, but they can certainly be reduced. Puljujarvi will 100% be traded, and that deal will likely bolster the 3rd line. What do you guys think? I took a lot of care to make sure these moves made sense and were fair
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