McKenzie: Jeff Skinner will almost certainly be traded this summer

According to Bob McKenzie, the Carolina Hurricanes appear to be ready to move on from scoring winger Jeff Skinner. The Oilers, as we know, badly need help on the wings. Could Skinner be a fit in Edmonton? To me, it seems like the Oilers and Hurricanes are perfect trading partners.

Skinner is signed for just one more season at $5,725,000 before he’s able to hit the open market for the first time in his career. With Elias Lindholm, Sebastian Aho, Noah Hanifin, and others soon in line for big contracts, it makes sense that the Hurricanes, who aren’t competitive right now, would want to recoup some assets for Skinner rather than letting him walk in free agency.

Skinner had a bit of a down season for the Hurricanes last year, scoring 24 goals and 25 assists in 82 games. The year before that, he finished sixth in the league with 37 goals. Another thing to remember is that he’s put up impressive offensive totals despite playing for a Hurricanes team that has finished in the bottom third in the league in goals for in each of the past three seasons.

I think there’s a fit here between Carolina and Edmonton that could fill multiple holes. I wrote yesterday in the WWYDW that the Oilers should look to fill multiple holes at once like the Tampa Bay Lightning did at the trade deadline when they acquired a top four defenceman in Ryan McDonagh and a good winger in J.T. Miller. Skinner would be an excellent fit on the Oilers as a true scoring winger that they currently lack on the roster, but, beyond him, Justin Faulk could be that right handed, offence-producing defenceman the team has coveted for years.

It seems almost inevitable that Peter Chiarelli is going to deal the 10th overall pick for an immediate upgrade this summer given the position of the team. I would hope that he doesn’t deal it for a player like Skinner with just one year left on his deal but there’s certainly merit to using the pick in a deal involving two players who could help the team right now. Obviously, because of the existence of the cap, you can’t do the 10th overall pick for Skinner and Faulk, but Edmonton and Carolina seem to be perfect trading partners and I could see all of those pieces involved in a deal.

What say you, Nation? Would Skinner be a perfect fit on the Oilers alongside Connor McDavid? Is there more to this beyond Skinner?