Stop me if you've heard this one before: the Edmonton Oilers and GM Peter Chiarelli are looking to make a deal or three. But the question has become - who has Chiarelli made available and who is he chasing from other franchises? There's no doubt that Chiarelli has been one of the GMs pushing the hardest on a Travis Hamonic trade with the Islanders, but that deal seems unlikely. He's said to be targeting a young defenseman, but again, the assets he's willing to surrender - or, more accurately, the assets he won't surrender - make any deal difficult.
TSN's Darren Dreger indicated on Thursday that Chiarelli, said to be considering moving one of his talented young forwards such as Jordan Eberle or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in exchange for blueline help, won't pull the trigger on a trade involving either player unless the return is "significant."
Dreger: Chiarelli would only consider trading Eberle or Nugent-Hopkins “if the deal was a very significant one.” Quality young D. #Oilers
— Chris Nichols (@NicholsOnHockey) December 24, 2015
With little in the way of quality established NHL defenseman on the Oilers roster beyond Justin Schultz, and little in terms of talent and potential beyond Oskar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse, Chiarelli is in a difficult spot where the backend of his roster is concerned. It makes complete sense that he's chasing defensive upgrades and despite the team's recent uptick in play, thanks in large part to the blossoming Taylor Hall, those issues on the blueline will continue to haunt Edmonton unless and until Chiarelli can find a deal that works.
Unfortunately, with cap space across the league tight and too many Western Conference teams holding out hope of a playoff berth, finding a deal that works may be all-but impossible.
Hamonic has become a near-impossibility at this point despite the seeming fit in terms of need and geographic location. The Islanders are adamant that they receive a similar player in return for Hamonic and there's no point in Chiarelli shipping out Klefbom or Nurse - something he apparently won't consider anyway - in order to land Hamonic. He'll be right back where he started, facing the same lack of depth.
As one of the league's worst teams - and yes, despite the run of recent positive play, that's exactly what the Oilers are - Chiarelli is likely operating with a fair amount of urgency at this point. Long-suffering Oilers fans are ready to see a winner and Chiarelli is probably hellbent on righting the wrongs that seemed to accumulate at the end of his tenure in Boston.
Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins, talented though they may be, are not integral pieces of Edmonton's future. Hall is. So is Leon Draisaitl. And of course, Connor McDavid.
But if Chiarelli can find a way to turn Eberle or Nugent-Hopkins into a deal for a young defenseman, perhaps in trade with a team like Nashville or St. Louis, he'd do well to pull the trigger.
