Rumour Roundup: Pat Maroon could be on the move, three Oilers on TSN’s latest Trade Bait list, and more
5 months ago
Despite the All-Star game festivities, there are still rumours aplenty around the National Hockey League.
In this Rumour Roundup, we’ll look at who the Oilers could trade for salary relief, an old friend who might be on the move, some new news on a player that the team has been linked to in the past, and a new Trade Bait list!
Let’s dig in…
Former Oiler Pat Maroon could be on the move:
Over at The Athletic, Michael Russo and Joe Smith co-wrote an article about who the Minnesota Wild could look to move ahead of the trade deadline. Among the names mentioned was former Oiler Pat Maroon, who was dealt from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Wild over the summer.
Maroon could be attractive to teams looking to add depth, leadership and somebody who can still score. Winning three Stanley Cups in a row is a valuable pedigree. Edmonton had interest earlier this season, but the Oilers’ acquisition of Corey Perry may change things there. Maroon has a 16-team trade list, according to CapFriendly, so he may control his own destiny.
Maroon played with the Oilers for parts of three seasons between when he was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in 2016 to when he was traded to the New Jersey Devils in 2018. He scored 49 goals and 86 points for Edmonton across 154 games and was a very popular player here.
After that, Maroon was a part of three consecutive Stanley Cup teams, starting with his hometown St. Louis Blues in 2018-19 and then carrying on to the Lighting’s back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021. Tampa moved Maroon this summer and he has four goals and 16 points in 49 games with Minnesota.
Cody Ceci suggested as a possible cap dump:
David Pagnotta recently appeared on Tom Gazzola’s Hello Hockey show and reported that the Oilers are looking to add a veteran forward. As you may know, the Oilers are right up against the cap ceiling, and he believes the player that could be moved in order to open room to facilitate another deal is defenceman Cody Ceci.
Now, moving Ceci isn’t an awful idea if it’s for an upgrade to play second-pair minutes with Darnell Nurse. However, if they move Ceci and his $3.25 million cap hit until the end of the 2024-25 season for a forward, there are going to be some issues.
As it stands, the Oilers’ next-up depth defender, who plays on the right side and is naturally right-handed, is Philip Kemp. The seventh-round pick in 2017 played under three minutes in his only National Hockey League game earlier this season and has posted solid results playing in the American League.
The Oilers certainly shouldn’t be opposed to trading for a forward (Jake Guentzel please!), but if they move Ceci, they need to get a right-shot defenceman as well. If I had to choose, it’d be Sean Walker.
Philadelphia waiting for Chris Tanev to be traded:
Speaking of Sean Walker, Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period and Brothley Podcast reports that calls on Walker are scarce this week. This is due to the fact that teams are waiting for Chris Tanev, seen as the best defenceman on the trade board, to be moved.
If the Oilers are looking to upgrade on Ceci, this could be the guy to do it. First off, Walker will give you more production, as the 5’11” right-shot defenceman has five goals and 17 points in 50 games this season.
On top of that, Walker plays more minutes against elite players (284.3) than Ceci (236.2) with that being a slightly higher percentage of his ice time than Ceci. Not just that, but when Walker is on the ice against elites, Philadelphia has scored 15 times and allowed just nine goals for a 62.50% goal share according to Woodmoney. Ceci isn’t bad with this at any stretch, as he has a 52.6% goal share against elites according to Woodmoney, but Walker is a clear upgrade.
Oilers could be a suitor for Adam Henrique, according to Daily Faceoff:
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff released an article on Wednesday about Adam Henrique, a veteran pivot on the Anaheim Ducks. In this article, Seravalli lists Edmonton as one of several suitors for the veteran, along with the Winnipeg Jets, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks (before trading for Elias Lindholm), and a handful of Eastern Conference teams.
The 33-year-old centre has 15 goals and 33 points in 49 games with the lowly Anaheim Ducks and has been a consistent 40-point scorer in his NHL career. This season, the left-shot forward is on pace for 25 goals and 55 points, with the latter being a career-high and the former being his highest total since 2019-20.
It is worth mentioning that Henrique does not have a lot of playoff experience. He’s only played 28 playoff games, with 24 of those coming in 2011-12 when the New Jersey Devils went to the Stanley Cup final. In his two playoff years, he has five goals and 13 points.
Then comes Henrique’s cap hit, which is challenging for a team up against the cap to take in. The 33-year-old is in the final year of his deal and has a cap hit of $5.825 million, but the Ducks have three retention spots remaining and a second team can retain an additional 25%.
Henrique would be a good add on the third line, and it’d give the Oilers the versatility to reunite Ryan McLeod with Leon Draisaitl and Warren Foegele.
Three Oilers assets on TSN’s latest Trade Bait list:
Speaking of Warren Foegele, he is one of three players or picks that rank in the 40 of TSN’s latest trade bait list.
Edmonton’s first-round pick ranks the highest as the highest trade bait at 17th. It’s possible that the pick sits around the mid-20s, but it’ll hopefully be 32nd overall this season. Last season was the first time in years that the Oilers moved on from their first-round selection in a trade deadline trade, as they received Mattias Ekholm.
Philip Broberg ranks immediately after the pick at 18th. Broberg has played 10 NHL games this season and has been held pointless. For his career, he has 79 games played with two goals and 11 points but he has been a lot more successful in the American Hockey League. When he has been getting playing time in the minors, the 22-year-old left-shot defenceman has a goal and 18 points in 25 games.
Lastly, we have Foegele. The 27-year-old winger has 10 goals and 26 points in 45 games and is on pace for career-highs in both goals (18) and points (47). Still, Foegele is set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and has a cap hit of $2.75 million. He could be a cap casualty, but he shouldn’t be.
Derek Ryan wants to retire as an Oiler:
On Wednesday evening, Bonnie Ryan, Derek Ryan’s wife, answered questions on Instagram, with one asking if she knows when her husband will retire. She noted that it’s year by year and pointed out that Ryan has an additional season in his contract. The interesting part is that Ryan wishes to retire as an Oiler.
The Spokane, Washington native played four seasons at the University of Alberta from 2007 to 2011 before heading overseas to play in Europe. He finally got his first legitimate shot in North America with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015-16, before playing for the Calgary Flames and eventually landing with the Oilers in 2021-22.
Let’s get him a Stanley Cup ring this season, shall we?
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