Darling is a UFA at seasons end. The Hawks will most likely lose TVR or Pokka

Highly doubt any team is going to retain 2.5 for a term with 4 years left on it.

Do you think it would have to be less? I personally think that RNH would fit in well with the Hawks' style of play, but I don't know if they would give him up.

Tell me more about how RNH at $3.5mill is only worth a 4th line centre and some scraps. I'd love to hear it.

Ok so here's my reasoning: The Oilers are a good and upcoming team, but their defensive play still is struggling. They have a lot of playmakers and snipers, but they need more defense. When going back to the Hall trade, if Hall had played for a team that had good defense, then the Oilers could have easily gotten someone better for Taylor Hall. However, they settled for Larsson because they will never be able to do anything without a good defense, and Larsson is a good start. With Nurse and Kelfbom, they have some good upcoming defensemen, and they are obviously looking to build on that and eventually make a cup run. With Pokka, they are given another defensemen (who is right handed, I may add) that Edmonton needs, and also one that plays a mostly defensive game, but can shoot the puck when his confidence grows. With Kruger, the Oilers are given a center who plays a defensively styled game, which is (once again) something Edmonton lacks. Everyone knows that offensive wins games, but defense wins championships. With this trade, the Oilers lose a stud, yes. But, they add some talent to a team that lacks the defensive talent required to win the Stanley Cup.

Does Pokka really exist? I've seen his name on these posts for years. 22 years old, 3rd year in the AHL. zero NHL games. If the Hawks think he is of trade value, maybe he should play some NHL games.
Look at the bottom four guys for the current Hawks, if Pokka can't at least some playing in that group, his trading value can't be very high. By retaining 2.5m on RHN you really make Kruger a 5.6m player.
Oilers would be better to waive RHN successful and sign a player for 5.6m

Pokka does exist, but the Hawks defense has been the same for a long time, and that's why he hasn't been up in the NHL. However, he did play for Finland in the Wold Cup of Hockey, and there's a clip of him batting a puck out of midair to save a goal. The reason he isn't up is because the Hawks have one of the best defensive defensemen in Hjalmarsson, so there's not really a need for that. However, a team like the Oilers does not. He could potentially play 2nd D pairing with Nurse. And you are correct about the 2.5 Million that is being retained. I'm going to change the deal because Purcell is uneeded and, as a Hawks fan, I'd much rather have RNH than Purcell, and retain only 1.5 million.

As a Hawks fan, I'll agree that this year is hard for him to get playing time because signing Campbell and Kempny this past offseason made them really deep. BUT LAST YEAR was a revolving door even @ the #4 slot. TVR eventually won that role. To think that Svedberg and Gustaffson who aren't getting any playing time this year...are still probably ahead of Pokka on the call up list...I'm not sure they think he's very good at all. I did watch a few World Cup games and while I saw a few flashes of talent...he DID NOT impress me overall. Quite frankly, he seems a lot like Kempny. Almost more interested in bring up the puck than playing zone responsible defense. With that said, Dmen take longer to develop. No team should just give up on him.

Nugent-Hopkins trade favors the Oilers too much.