DFO Rundown: Will the Oilers make a big splash before the trade deadline?

The NHL’s trade deadline is only one month away so we’re all-in on rumour season.

On Friday’s episode of the DFO Rundown, Jason Gregor and Frank Seravalli touched on a couple of topics relevant to the Edmonton Oilers, including whether or not Jake DeBrusk will be moved by the Boston Bruins before the deadline and whether or not Ken Holland will pull the trigger and make a big splash in the next month.

YAREMCHUK: He was healthy scratched earlier in the week and then he scored a goal last night. Jake DeBrusk, I’m saying he will be a Bruin after trade deadline day. Frank, are you buying or selling?

SERAVALLI: He’s on my trade bait board but I’m buying. One, I think the Bruins were trying to jumpstart him, two, and I don’t know this 100 percent, but my sense is that there was some disagreement between the Bruins’ coaching staff and the front office on the decision to scratch Jake DeBrusk. The other part of my reasoning is, I don’t know that a team is going to step up and be a trade partner that makes sense for Boston that’s going to give them someone they can plug into their lineup that gives you the production that DeBrusk did and also changes things up enough to the point where you want to pull the trigger. They’re not trading DeBrusk for picks, this is a team that’s in that window to win, and that’s the reason I think he’s going to be there. If he’s going to move, I think it comes in the off-season.

GREGOR: I’m buying that all day. Look at Boston’s top line, @David Pastrnak is young, @Brad Marchand is getting older, @Patrice Bergeron is quite a bit older, and DeBrusk is a guy who can score you 20 goals, doesn’t get a ton of power-play production. I actually thought he would have been a healthy scratch three weeks earlier. I thought this was a bit later based on how he’s played. He and @David Krejci, both of them finally got off the schneid, Jake had one goal coming into Thursday night, he scored, Krejci scored his first of the season in his 19th game.

This year is such an anomaly for a lot of players for different reasons. I think Jake is an emotional player. I think he’s a guy who misses the crowd and misses the fans. I think Boston is smart enough to recognize that. I think 100 percent DeBrusk finishes the season in Boston and I would be very surprised if he was traded in the off-season. It’s hard to trade away 20-goal scorers when they’re young.

YAREMCHUK: We’re going to come north of the border to the Oilers. We’ve heard some names connected to Edmonton now that they’ve won three in a row again after losing three in a row. I’m not buying the rumours. I don’t think Edmonton will make a major move before the deadline. Gregor, are you buying or selling?

GREGOR: Ken Holland came out on Thursday and said flat out that he’s not acquiring anybody for depth. The Oilers have tons of depth. He needs is a difference-maker. What he needs is a left-winger to play with @Leon Draisaitl. If we assume @Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is going to go back to Connor McDavid, because eventually, they’ll split up the Dangerous Duo. I think Dave Tippett put them together to get their mojo back and it’s been working and they’ve been shredding.

If they can find a left-winger who’s a little bigger with some size, because they’ve got @Tyler Ennis they’ve got @Dominik Kahun they’ve got @Kailer Yamamoto, you can’t win with that many small guys in your top-six or top-nine in the playoffs, I don’t believe. That’s a move I think they would look at. The problem is there aren’t a ton of those guys out there. He’s not going to add a third-liner or something like that. @Eric Staal doesn’t make a lot of sense in Edmonton, to be honest. So I’m probably going to buy that they won’t make a big splash only because I don’t see a lot of those types of guys available.

SERAVALLI: I’m going to buy as well. I don’t see the difference-makers available and even if they are available it’s dollars in dollars out for the Oilers. Their cap situation is tough. If you’d like to make some surgical improvements to your roster it’s got to be this off-season and it’s going to have to involve not re-signing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. I just think, you’re right, why nibble around the edges, this team needs difference-makers. There’s no one on that list that I can point to or that might be available that really makes sense for the Oilers given their needs.

GREGOR: The one guy I will say, and I don’t know if it’s a big splash… They need a second-pair left defenceman. @Jamie Oleksiak would be exactly what the Oilers need. I know he isn’t the biggest name but he’s a big body. @William Lagesson right now is playing with @Adam Larsson and I don’t think Lagesson has enough experience yet to be a second-pairing defenceman. You could move @Kris Russell there if you have to, but if they could land Oleksiak, that’s a name that fits a hole in what Edmonton needs.

0:15 – One year since the NHL shutdown

7:00 – Are the Dallas Stars in sell mode?

9:30 – Is Getzlaf open to being dealt?

12:20 – The new ESPN deal & what’s next for the league

17:00 – What could next season’s schedule look like?

27:40 – Buy/Sell with questions on the deadline, Jordan Binnington, Jake Debrusk, and the Oilers