OilersNation Top 25 of 2020: #25 – Oilers, Leafs talking trade and more

As the qualification round wrapped up with the Edmonton Oilers being eliminated, the focus shifted over to what the team could do in the offseason.

The 25th most read article by OilersNation readers was exactly that.

Posted on August 11th, the article circled around three different Oilers rumours hinted at by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in a 31 thoughts article. The first was about the Oilers potentially revisiting trade options with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was something that never materialized in the offseason, but it’s no surprise conversations may have been happening. The two teams have been linked in conversations for years now.

The second note was Friedman saying he thought it was “unlikely Edmonton qualifies Andreas Athanasiou, because the tighter cap and his arbitration possibilities make it difficult.” Well, this one came to fruition. AA was acquired at the deadline for two second-round draft picks and the steep price to pay was done pre-pandemic when the cap was said to rise to $84-$88-million.

It would’ve made Athanasiou’s $3-m qualifying offer reasonable, but instead, a flat cap forced the Oilers hands and he walked away into free agency. He still hasn’t signed a contract for next season.

The final report was in regards to Jesse Puljujarvi coming back to Edmonton.

“On Jesse Puljujarvi, it sounds like the Oilers thought a signing was close, the player not so much,” wrote Friedman. “We will see where this goes. A trade is still possible.”

Rumours had been circling around Puljujarvi’s status and nobody really knew what was going to happen. In the end, it took a few months for the deal to be finalized but the Oilers made it happen on Oct. 7.

On Twitter: @zjlaing

For this year’s Blackout Collection, we’re introducing some new designs while also bringing back some old favourites as well. As for the new items, we launched a new hoodie, t-shirt, and toque that we’ve never done before and as you’ll soon see, these babies are sharp. In addition to the new designs, we’ve also relaunched the black-on-black logo hoodie as well as the classic Nation Hat (both flat brim and dad style) with the same esthetic from a few years ago. These two items were huge sellers back in 2016 and after hearing your feedback about wanting us to bring them back, that’s exactly what we did. But be warned, these items are all limited edition and once they’re gone they’re gone, so I’d recommend squashing your internal desire to procrastinate to make sure you get all of your Christmas shopping done before everything sells out. Check out all of the Black Friday deals here.