Report: Oilers interested in Jake Guentzel, Jordan Eberle, and could have an option in Vladimir Tarasenko
By Zach Laing
4 months agoLet the rumour mill spin.
We’re officially one month away from the NHL’s trade deadline, and we’re starting to get a clearer idea of what the Edmonton Oilers want to do. What’s clear is that no matter what happens, they want to be prepared.
And on Thursday’s edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger spoke about what they are looking to do.
LeBrun reported that the Oilers are, first and foremost, looking to add a top-six forward. Names listed include Jake Guentzel, Jordan Eberle, and Vladimir Tarasenko, while names like David Perron or Daniel Sprong, both of the Detroit Red Wings, are possibilities too. Those final two, however, may not shake loose if the Red Wings stay in the playoff picture.
His colleague, Darren Dreger, mentioned a key for the Oilers is looking to be involved in the market for each position this year. They’ve done their research on the top players involved, and Dreger once again linked Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Sean Walker, and Calgary Flames rearguard Chris Tanev to the Oilers.
Guentzel’s name has been thrown around as someone who could be made available by the Pittsburgh Penguins, but as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli alluded to earlier today, if the team continues to fall out of the playoff picture, GM Kyle Dubas “will have little choice but to recoup as much as he can for an elite scoring winger.” With him having played with Sidney Crosby for a long time, the pending UFA knows his way around meshing with elite talent and is one of the league’s most pure goal-scorers.
Jordan Eberle’s name continues to pop up as the Seattle Kraken fights to stay in the Western Conference playoff picture. Another pending UFA, Eberle continues to produce points and knows Edmonton all too well.
Vladimir Tarasenko is an interesting name to see connects to the Oilers, and one I write about in a Q&A going live Friday morning at this site. He’s producing offence on the Ottawa Senators’ third line, and could help provide some depth scoring for the club.
Here’s the full transcript of Insider Trading:
LeBrun: The Oilers are busy having a lot of internal discussions four weeks ahead of the trade deadline. Their top priority, from our understanding, is to add a top-six forward. The idea is to upgrade on the second line with Leon Draisaitl.We mentioned [Pittsburgh Penguins forward] Jake Guentzel as a real splashy name last week, but who knows if he’s even available. The idea of a reunion with [Seattle Kraken winger] Jordan Ebele has grown within the Oilers front office if the Kraken fall out of it and he’s a pending unrestricted free agent.[Ottawa Senators forward] Vladimir Tarasenko changed agents for the fourth time in three years last week. He has a full no-trade clause, but I believe he would waive it for a contender like Edmonton. Tarasenko is on the Oilers’ radar.Then you have a couple of Detroit Red Wings like Daniel Sprong and David Perron if Detroit falls out of the playoff race, but they show no signs of doing that.Lots of moving targets there, but Edmonton is hoping to add up front.Dreger: I would agree with that. I think the Oilers are definitely leaning towards adding a forward, but the experience of general manager Ken Holland and the management group of the Oilers are making sure they have all their bases covered.So, they’re having conversations about some of the top defencemen available like Sean Walker of the Philadelphia Flyers and, perhaps, Chris Tanev of the Calgary Flames. To make a deal like that it seems likely they’d have to include someone like Cody Ceci or Brett Kulak.Again, it’s more likely that they move on a forward, but this is Holland and the Oilers making sure that they stay in the market in every single position. If they have to pivot, or shift direction, they are educated enough to do that.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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