In a word, this season’s Edmonton Oilers have been a disaster. Everything has gone wrong: the goaltending has been absolutely abysmal, Dallas Eakins has gone by the wayside, and a team spoiled with young offensive talent just can’t find the back of the net. Oh yeah, and there’s this little nugget too:
The Oilers record against the West is almost unbelievable: 1-18-6.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 28, 2014
Their descent into the NHL’s dungeon has spurred a hail storm of rumors in Edmonton. Adding fuel to the fire, Darren Dreger went on TSN radio recently and hinted that, “Taylor Hall from a culture standpoint, not a on the ice standpoint hasn’t been what they thought he would be” (per @Hope_Smoke).
That would be a terrible reason to trade a franchise-caliber player. Remember when the Bruins traded Tyler Seguin for those same reasons? So does the rest of the hockey world, and it’s not hard to imagine that they’d love to have Seguin in their lineup this season as they struggle to remain in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Most importantly though, there’s very little chance that Edmonton makes this move in the foreseeable future. Oilers’ general manager Craig MacTavish has not indicated in any way that the franchise is ready to part ways with the first overall pick of the 2010. For the sake of conversation and general hockey nerd-dom, it’s worth at least exploring scenarios where such a trade would make sense for the Oilers, and also for the Anaheim Ducks, a team that possesses an incredible amount of organizational depth.
Why It Makes Sense For The Ducks
There’s a notion around the league that Anaheim is stacked at forward, but too much of that hinges on the play of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Ryan Kesler has provided a legitimate second line center for the first time since Andy McDonald bolted, but that was almost seven years ago.
Filling out the top six wingers has been a challenge for coach Bruce Boudreau, especially faced with injuries to Perry and Kyle Palmieri. To boot, both Getzlaf and Perry are 29, and it’s reasonable to assume that there will be a decline in their games in the next three to four years. Emerson Etem, Matt Beleskey, and Devante Smith-Pelly have been short term patches for the Ducks’ lack of sure-fire top six wingers, yet there remains a lack of staying power with these three, adding to the notion that the Ducks don’t have an elite winger for the long haul.
Hall is 23 and locked up through the 2018-19 season (per Capgeek) at a cap-friendly six million per year. He’s already nearly a point per game player and he hasn’t even entered the prime of his career yet. Speed, skill, and a vicious shot are the hall(ha!)marks of his game, and the thought of him lining up next to either Ryan Getzlaf or Ryan Kesler is mouth-watering from a Ducks perspective, who also have a good chunk of cap space.
With Hall, Anaheim’s transition from the Getzlaf-Perry era would be a much smoother ride.The San Jose Sharks have benefited immensely from Logan Couture’s arrival, as he’s provided a bridge for their transition from the Joe Thornton-Patrick Marleau era. Hall could provide that same dimension that Couture has in San Jose. It would assure the the Ducks would have an exciting present and future.
Why It Makes Sense For The Oilers
Without Hall, Edmonton would still have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, David Perron, Leon Draisaitl, and Nail Yakupov at their disposal. If even one of either Draisatl or Yakupov reaches their potential, their top six would be set long term. Simply put, they wouldn’t be hurting for offensive talent, especially if they end up snatching Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in this year’s draft. What they really lack is above average goaltending and competent defense. Both of those are extremely difficult to acquire via trade in today’s NHL. Neither Viktor Fasth nor Ben Scrivens have been the answer in net, and the defense remains pedestrian.
The Ducks have a bounty of talented young defensemen who are already solid NHL contributors, as well as a potential franchise goaltender in John Gibson. Frederik Andersen has proven that he can be a legitimate starter for Anaheim, so Gibson becomes an asset that could be parted with. Sami Vatanen could give a serious boost to Edmonton’s power play if he were to be involved in the deal, while Hampus Lindholm would be the Oiler’s best blueliner as soon as he would hit the ice at Rexall Place. The pieces are definitely in place for this hypothetical trade to work: the Ducks get their coveted future franchise player, while the Oilers shore up some serious weaknesses.
Why It Ultimately Doesn’t Work
On the whole, NHL general managers aren’t known for making trades where crucial pieces to both teams’ futures swap hands. So the idea that Craig MacTavish and Bob Murray could come to any sort of agreement with such important pieces at stake is pure folly. Although the Oilers have all that young talent up front, Taylor Hall remains the crown jewel of their draft bounty (though Nugent-Hopkins is making a strong case for that title).
As for the Ducks, the risk would be too great to pull the trigger. Giving up any one of Cam Folwer, Sami Vatanen, or Hampus Lindholm is a serious gamble given each player’s immense importance. Throw John Gibson in the mix, who may very well be better than Andersen when it’s all said and done, and the trade dies a very quick death. Though it’ll never happen, the very thought that there is some plausibility, at least on paper, speaks to the incredible organizational depth that the Ducks have amassed.
I mean really the organization sucks in edmonton there not going to do any trading this season they know there getting mcdavid
I don’t see this as horrible trade as many of the other commenters see it. Hall is a very skilled talent and should warrant some very good return in any trade. That the Oilers are awful does not fall on his shoulders. The Ducks do have depth and it would be very hard to part with Vatanen, Lindholm or Gibson, but players of that calibre are required in a trade for a guy like Hall (clearly not all of them). Its an intriguing thought but i agree with the author, the price would be too high for the Ducks. They would be trading away a lot of stability. But the Ducks do need to do something about their elite goal scoring depth. When Getz and Perry start to slip, they are presently not positioned to excel.
I also notice there was 0 mention of the fact that this hypothetical trade is within the same division. Pretty rare for something this massive to happen in the same division. Maybe we can get the sharks kings canucks flames and coyotes in there too and make it a 7 way deal
This “writer” (and I use that term extremely loosely) should find another hobby in life. writing about hockey is obviously not his thing.
any above average hockey fan can see how ridiculous this trade proposal is for Anaheim.. Why would such a strong team upset the core, Take a huge gamble, and overpay with Gibson/Lindholm/Vataneen for a trouble party loving ppg kid?
This article was a waste of time, and so is it’s author.
“Throw John Gibson in the mix, who may very well be better than Andersen when it’s all said and done, and the trade dies a very quick death. Though it’ll never happen, the very thought that there is some plausibility, at least on paper, speaks to the incredible organizational depth that the Ducks have amassed.”
Glad you read the whole thing!
The Oilers should be down graded to an AHL team and not be allowed a top ten draft pick until they can show some competence. All the NHL needs is another possible star rotting away in this mismanaged purgatory.
That would be a great trade for Edmonton but it would be horrible for the Ducks. What Edmonton needs is a veteran presence and young talent. Sending Gibson as their future NHL Hall of Fame goaltender and a solid veteran defenseman like Lovejoy or maybe Beauchemin and possibly Silfverberg would be a better trade for both teams. Beauchemin is almost veteran presence of the Ducks, so I’d hate to see him go.
How about Hall and Judas Schultz for Gibson, Lovejoy and Lindholm.
It just seems wrong to consider condemning any Ducks player to the Oilers.
LOL at your proposal. Schultz will never be welcomed back in Anaheim, not to mention he is playing like GARBAGE right now. Meanwhile, Lindholm is one of our best in Anaheim. Your trade proposal is a disgusting overpayment by the Ducks. Edmonton would kill for that offer to be on the table.
It’s ridiculous to think the oilers could get Lindholm/Vatanen AND Gibson in a trade along with whoever else. I would love to have Hall on the roster but I wouldn’t give a Gibson for Hall straight away let alone with one of those young D-Men.
Supposedly this clown is “credentialed” to cover the Anaheim Ducks. After reading this article, it’s clear that mistakes were made.
There is not a chance in hell that the Ducks are giving up any of those players for Hall. I can appreciate that its been quiet on the trade front for Hall, but to suggest that the Ducks would trade their future top goalie and one of their best D is preposterous. Getzlaf and Perry still have 4-5 of top-end production, and this trade would only kill them in goal (Andersen has been good so far, but he’s gotta prove it in the playoffs first) and on D, where they’ve been ravaged by injuries this year.
I get Hall has talent, but the Ducks don’t need this trade in the slightest; it’s Edmonton who’s stuck with a player who’s allegedly uncoachable.