The Vancouver Canucks shocked the hockey world Wednesday (Jan. 31) evening pulling off a massive trade with the Calgary Flames to bring in Elias Lindholm. The deal included Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, a 2024 first-round pick, and a conditional fourth-round pick. This was a massive package that the Flames received, and it likely means they have chosen to go the route of rebuilding for the foreseeable future, or at the very least try and retool their roster. For the Canucks, this proves to their fans and players that they’re going all-in and think they can make a run at a Stanley Cup this season.
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The Edmonton Oilers are a team that will be buying at this season’s trade deadline as they attempt to go all-in themselves. While offence isn’t their biggest need heading into the All-Star Break, it would have been nice to bring in a guy of Lindholm’s caliber who could bolster the top-six. However, after seeing what the price was for Lindholm and how much it would have cost the Oilers to bring him in only as a rental with no contract extension attached, it was a good thing they avoided trading for him and decided to go a different route this season.
The 2024 Trade Deadline is rapidly approaching, so it’s not surprising the Canucks opted to get this deal done as early as they can to gain a bit of an advantage over other teams. In my eyes though, this doesn’t change anything for the Oilers. They have a strong team as is and could make a deep playoff run if they stayed as they were right now, but surely they will try and add some defensive depth to the team soon enough. As the Oilers are currently riding a 16-game winning streak at the time of writing this article, they have no reason to rush into making any big moves and should wait for the right trade instead of overpaying.
Who Is Elias Lindholm?
Lindholm is a 29-year-old right-shot forward from Boden, Sweden who is a pending unrestricted free agent and was recently traded to the Canucks, having most recently played for the Flames. He was drafted in the first round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes at fifth overall after a solid season in the Swedish Elitserien with Brynäs IF where he scored 11 goals and added 19 assists for 30 points through 48 games.
Since making it to the NHL, Lindholm has scored 212 goals and added 333 assists for 545 points through 792 games which comes out to a 0.69 points-per-game average. This season with the Flames, he scored nine goals and added 23 assists for 32 points through 49 games before being sent to the Canucks. Before being traded, he was considered one of the best available assets heading into the trade deadline, and now he’s off the market.
Lindholm provides stability to an already lethal Canucks forward group. As a strong two-way centreman, he will fit right into the system that Canucks’ head coach Rick Tocchet looks for from his players. Kuzmenko wasn’t great defensively and the fit wasn’t there for him in Vancouver, but Lindholm is the perfect player to add to the Canucks’ mix heading toward the playoffs.
The Oilers are in a similar boat to the Canucks right now. Both teams will be looking to pull the trigger on moves to help their respective teams, as we saw with this Lindholm deal, and are going to make an effort to build the best possible roster heading into the postseason. The Oilers missing out on Lindholm isn’t the end of the world for them by any means, and him ever being considered seemed to be just a pipe dream, as there are more affordable options elsewhere which is who the Oilers should be targeting.
What’s Next For The Oilers?
The Oilers were connected to Lindholm previously and may have checked in on his availability. However, the package they would have had to give up wouldn’t have been worth it since he is only a rental player and will hit free agency after the 2023-24 season. A trade package from the Oilers would’ve likely looked like Evander Kane, Philip Broberg, Luca Munzenberger, a 2024 first-round pick, and a conditional mid-round draft pick. While that would have boosted the forward group, the Oilers don’t need a centreman, so bringing him in would have made no sense at all.
The Oilers have some time now to kick back and relax during All-Star Weekend before they try to tie the NHL record for most wins in a row. They currently have 16, and the record is 17. To tie the record, they will have to go through the Vegas Golden Knights, who eliminated the Oilers from the playoffs last season.
There still isn’t any reason to panic for the Oilers just yet. They have a strong team and have only made one major addition in signing Corey Perry to a one-year contract. While they may look for bottom-six forward depth and a depth defender, there still isn’t any reason to make a trade just for the sake of making a transaction. If they don’t like the options out there, they don’t need to make any more moves this season, it’s plain and simple. Hopefully, they choose to make the right moves should they decide to switch up the roster a bit, and hopefully, it helps the Oilers make a run for their first Stanley Cup since 1990.