The Edmonton Oilers, said to be chasing defensive upgrades, are certainly among the NHL franchises most interested in New York Islanders blueliner Travis Hamonic. The only question is - do they have the ammo to pull off a deal? Or, more accurately, do they have the right kind of ammo to pull off a deal?
From the sounds of recent reports, the answer is "yes," but that doesn't mean a Hamonic trade is in the offing. Per a Tuesday report from Darren Dreger of TSN, a potential deal between the Oilers and Isles is growing less and less likely.
According to Dreger, appearing on Edmonton's TSN 1260, as transcribed by Today's Slap Shot, the Oilers and GM Peter Chiarelli, already facing a shortage of talent on the backend, simply won't part ways with players like Darnell Nurse or Oscar Klefbom in order to land Hamonic. It makes sense considering the dearth of quality blueliners Edmonton currently employs and the massive upside for Nurse and the fairly well established high level of play for Klefbom.
Even with Justin Schultz's recent return to health, it seemingly serves little to no purpose for Chiarelli and the Oilers to part ways with a defenseman in order to land Hamonic - they'd still be in the same situation, with the same number of holes to fill in their defensive corps.
So if a defenseman trade is out of the question, what about a possible deal from Edmonton's pool of young forwards? It makes sense considering the still-developing talent the Oilers currently enjoy - Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle - but again, the issue remains that Islanders GM Garth Snow is reportedly determined to see a young defenseman of comparable skill level to Hamonic returned to him in any deal. And really, nearly all of these players represent as-of-yet unrealized potential - ample potential, but not yet fully tapped potential.
While Dreger doesn't indicate that Eberle is available, he does make it clear that Snow and the rest of the Islanders' decision-makers aren't interested in the veteran forward. Eberle, dealing with the lingering effects of a shoulder injury suffered in preseason, has had a strange, and altogether down, year by his normal standards. He's got a single 5-on-5 goal and just three points, all goals, through 12 games.
His usual elite scoring has seemingly disappeared, as has his ability to make plays to open up the ice for his linemates. In short, Eberle is an asset that few in the league would likely offer much for at this point, despite his long track record of success.
Still, if the Oilers are going to upgrade their backend, whether it be via Hamonic or others, it may very well require the jettisoning of a forward. And Eberle, for as talented a scorer as he is - as Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal notes, Eberle has finished 4th, 10th, 8th, and 6th in scoring from the right wing over the past four seasons - plays a game that you could certainly call "complementary."
It's an important role - the scoring, that is - but he rarely, especially this season, generates chances on his own. And too often he can disappear for stretches of a game. He's the kind of important, but ancillary piece that successful teams like the LA Kings and Chicago Blackhawks add for the stretch run of the season and into the playoffs.
This isn't the first time Eberle has been attached to trade rumors and it's unlikely to be the last. Chiarelli isn't the one who nabbed the sniper in the 2008 NHL Draft, so there's no loyalty there. And the Oilers aren't going to find their way out of the NHL basement with a leaky backend, but strong top line right wing - it's been the same story for seven seasons now.
Ultimately, it sounds like the Islanders have no interest in Eberle, so if the Oilers are going to find their way to Travis Hamonic, it's going to require something else - something else, of course, that Chiarelli sounds unwilling to part with.
Which, all put together, means that Eberle could very well end up the member of another NHL franchise, but that any upgrades the Oilers make to their defense will likely come from somewhere other than New York.
