For the Edmonton Oilers it's time to get something worthwhile in return for Hemsky
It's time to get something that pays off and that may mean packaging some players with Hemsky to get 1 or 2 quality prospects from one of the teams below.
The Oilers have a need for a top pairing D, but they also have a glaring lack of quality RWs after Eberle. They've been putting LWs and Cs at the position all year with limited success. There is nobody in their system that is a true potential top 6 RW. It was frustrating to see Ty Rattie still available after our second pick at the 2011 draft.
At goalie we don't have much but outside potential. Khabibulin is getting older everyday and has cooled significantly since his hot start and it doesn't look like Dubnyk will ever be a starter. We've got a few potential prospects that may or may not turn out.
These are teams that may have interest in 'buying' at trade deadline (in the playoff hunt with some cap room). I've eliminated some huge prospects that these teams most likely won't give up.
I think the Oilers should be willing to give up any of these players to get a deal done. I don't think Hemsky alone will return a top prospect. We should have packaged Hemsky and Penner last year to go after a top prospect like Brayden Schenn. I also don't think we should give up on Gagner and O'marra or Smid, Peckham, Plante, Petry and Chorney or Belanger for his faceoff prowess.
These players should all be in play:
UFA This year - Hemsky-RW, Smyth-LW (if waives NTC for a contender then resigns in summer), Sutton-D, Hordichuk-LW, Green-LW, Petrell-C, Danis-G, Keller-RW
RFA This year - Omark-LW, Vande Velde-C, Kytnar-C, Barker-D, Dubnyk-G, Tremblay-LW
UFA Next Year - Jones-LW, Whitney-D (NTC), Khabibulin-G
Could also consider these players: Gilbert-D, Potter-D, Eager-LW if the price is right.
I really like what the Hawks, Kings and Penguins could offer as prospects.
Which teams could give us the best return?
| Last | First | Position | Height | Born | Property | Age |
| Olsen | Dylan | D | 6'2" | 91-1-3 | Blackhawks | 21 |
| Simpson | Kent | G | 6'3" | 92-3-26 | Blackhawks | 19 |
| Hayes | Jimmy | RW | 6'6" | 89-11-21 | Blackhawks | 22 |
| Cole | Ian | D | 6'1" | 89-2-21 | Blues | 22 |
| Allen | Jake | G | 6'2" | 90-8-7 | Blues | 21 |
| Rattie | Tyler | RW | 6'0" | 93-2-5 | Blues | 18 |
| Orlov | Dmitry | D | 6'0" | 91-7-23 | Capitals | 20 |
| Holtby | Braden | G | 6'2" | 89-9-16 | Capitals | 22 |
| Kuznetsov | Yevgeni | RW | 6'1" | 92-5-19 | Capitals | 19 |
| de Haan | Calvin | D | 6'1" | 91-5-9 | Islanders | 20 |
| Poulin | Kevin | G | 6'2" | 90-4-12 | Islanders | 21 |
| Okposo | Kyle | RW | 6'0" | 88-4-16 | Islanders | 23 |
| Forbort | Derek | D | 6'5" | 92-3-4 | Kings | 19 |
| Jones | Martin | G | 6'4" | 90-1-10 | Kings | 22 |
| Toffoli | Tyler | RW | 6'1" | 92-4-24 | Kings | 19 |
| Gudbranson | Erik | D | 6'4" | 92-1-7 | Panthers | 20 |
| Markstrom | Jacob | G | 6'3" | 90-1-31 | Panthers | 21 |
| Hyman | Zachary | RW | 6'2" | 92-6-9 | Panthers | 19 |
| Despres | Simon | D | 6'4" | 91-7-27 | Penguins | 20 |
| Killeen | Patrick | G | 6'4" | 90-4-15 | Penguins | 21 |
| Bennett | Beau | RW | 6'1" | 91-11-27 | Penguins | 20 |
| Blum | Jonathon | D | 6'1" | 89-1-30 | Predators | 22 |
| Hellberg | Magnus | G | 6'5" | 91-4-4 | Predators | 20 |
| Budish | Zach | RW | 6'3" | 91-5-9 | Predators | 20 |
| Erixon | Tom | D | 6'2" | 90-2-24 | Rangers | 21 |
| Johnson | Chad | G | 6'3" | 86-6-10 | Rangers | 25 |
| Thomas | Christian | RW | 5'9" | 92-5-26 | Rangers | 19 |
| Smith | Brendan | D | 6'2" | 89-2-8 | Red Wings | 22 |
| Mcollum | Thomas | G | 6'2" | 89-12-7 | Red Wings | 22 |
| Pulkkinen | Teemu | RW | 5'11 | 92-1-2 | Red Wings | 20 |
| Cowen | Jared | D | 6'5" | 91-1-25 | Senators | 20 |
| Lehner | Robin | G | 6'3" | 91-7-24 | Senators | 20 |
| Noesen | Stefan | RW | 6'1" | 93-2-12 | Senators | 18 |
| Oleksiak | Jamie | D | 6'6" | 92-12-21 | Stars | 19 |
| Bachman | Richard | G | 5'11" | 87-7-25 | Stars | 24 |
| Smith | Reilly | RW | 6'0" | 91-4-1 | Stars | 20 |
| Brodin | Jonas | D | 6'1" | 93-7-12 | Wild | 18 |
| Hackett | Matt | G | 6'2" | 90-3-7 | Wild | 21 |
| Coyle | Charlie | RW | 6'2" | 92-3-2 | Wild | 19 |
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this FanPost are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the staff.
Poll
What do the Oilers need most at the trade deadline?
RW - proper right handed winger prospect (14 votes)
D - top pairing prospect (158 votes)
G - projected starter (29 votes)
C - 2nd or 3rd line (4 votes)
LW - seriously? (1 vote)
New Management - shameful baiting (53 votes)
259 total votes
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