Would you be willing to do a Zucker, Johnsson swap

Leafs accept

That'd probably be a decent trade for Edmonton.

Can't see Vegas doing that.

nope

Not a fan of the oilers trade. Johnsson is good, don’t get me wrong, but for a top 6 forward, or top 9, we would want a right shot.

The Vegas trade I actually saw from someone else on the site. Full credit to that individual. Vegas does have cap trouble. Wasn't sure to trade one LD not named Bahl, Smith, or Mukhamadulin in the deal.

I would have to pass.

I could be wrong, but doesn't Pacioretty going on LTIR for his wrist surgery mean that Vegas most likely doesn't need to move anyone to clear up space for Eichel? I think he just fits now. Kinda like what Tampa did with Kucherov last year.

Think Vegas will be able to use LTIR to their advantage and not have to trade anyone out, just can't see it costing a 1st to move Dadonov either if it came to it, could probably move him for a 2nd, he's having a decent season.

Why? They have Puljujarvi, Hyman, and Yamamoto down the right. The list on the left is so bad they continue to play Hyman as a LW. He played his best hockey in Toronto as a RW.

If Foegele could actually show the kind of poise required to play alongside McDavid full-time, this deal's an automatic win for the Oilers as it means Johnsson doesn't have to be anything more than a 3rd line winger. The only hesitancy I'd have is that you aren't actually freeing up Kassian's hit in this deal and there's no guarantee that Johnsson at least helps stabilize the forward core.

I'd probably still do the trade anyways, but I don't think under Tippett there's a guarantee of any stability or success with Foegele and Johnsson both best suited to be #3LW's.

I personally like Hyman on the left side with McDavid on the oilers. He has been playing his best hockey in that spot on the oilers. In my opinion, they have Puljujarvi, and Yamamoto on the right, and Hyman, Nuge, Foegele on the left. I actually like Tippett and I think it’s not his fault… the players need to play better, and we need to make a trade before it’s too late. Nobody should 100% blame Tippett.

Let me preface this by stating I fully believe the Oilers need to win two of the next four cups in order to guarantee the gang stays together. One is a maybe, none is cataclysmically bad.

I would probably agree with you that it's not 100% on Tippett, but it's getting dangerously close. Hockey is the fastest sport played with a bouncing rubber disk on ice: things very rarely tend to go fully to plan and I'm willing to have an allowance for the coach, GM, and players. When it comes to execution however I'm bound to give the players a lot more leeway: it's up to the coach to get the most value out of his players and in turn, the GM must acquire the right players for the coach.

Looking purely at his game management, Tippett is a failure of an NHL coach who likely won't ever win anything beyond his one Jack Adams'. He refuses to adapt to any situation (never line-matches or calls time-outs), refuses to optimize or balance his roster (TOI disparities), and only looks to punish poor performances of a select few players without rewarding good ones (Benson sitting after playing really well against Seattle, he'll bench Samorukov but will not punish his favourites). He's operated on bad faith and I genuinely believe the team is fed up with it. Connor, Darnell, and Leon must be exhausted by now having to play as much hockey as they do. The bottom six and bottom pairing must be mentally drained from knowing that no matter how well they play, they're likely coming out of the lineup in favour of Shore, Turris, or some other muppet that can't play NHL-calibre hockey. They're playing to get him fired at this point. I don't think it's acceptable that things have to get to this point, but that's purely on Ken Holland for not addressing this in the summer. Tippett got punked by Chicago in the bubble then was absolutely humiliated against the Jets. He should have been fired then. The next best time to do so would be now. If they wait until the end of the season, then logic dictates that the new coach gets his first year to work out the kinks. That leaves them with two years to win two cups. It's an impossibly tight window. Giving any of Woodcroft, Julien, or Maurice (my preferences ordered highest to least) from now until the end of the playoffs to work out the issues literally adds another year to that window.

I agree that a trade is needed, and quite badly. Therein lies the second half of our quandary: the Oilers have need for a top-six forward, a #2LD, a starting goaltender, and a #3C would be nice. Just like they did last year. And the season before that. And before that one. So on and so forth. At some point we accept that it's just insanity, right? I don't trust Kenny to any of this anymore, especially with the hesitancy to eject Tippett, but it's where we are as a fanbase.