Trade Talk and Goalie Tactics

The Oilers didn’t play a great game last night, but they won. “We won’t be perfect all season and putting two points in the bank is important. Come April, it won’t matter how this game was played, we’ll only know we have the points in the bank,” explained head coach Todd McLellan.

He makes a great point, but he also mentioned there is an aspect his team still needs to learn.

“If you want to keep your number between one and ten in the league you have to be prepared every night,” said McLellan.

“There are night you are going to lose, there are nights the other team will be a little bit better than you. They will get a break, a bounce, a call, but to get out worked, out hustled, out positioned, out passed for a whole game basically — there was about a ten-minute span we were the better team — is disappointing. You don’t keep your upper stature playing that way and our guys still have to learn that.”

McLellan, the players and I’m sure the fans would much rather be discussing a poor effort that resulted in a win, than another good effort leading to a lose and the infamous “moral victory.” I think it is safe to assume Oilersnation would prefer never having to hear or read “moral victory” again.

The reality is the Oilers are nine points ahead of Vancouver, who sit in ninth place and are tied for the second wildcard. Edmonton has 35 games remaining and as every day passes they get closer to a playoff berth, which allows me to discuss something we haven’t talked about in years.

Who will the Oilers acquire at the trade deadline to improve their chances of a lengthy playoff run?

I’m going to look at different options every week.

I think it is fair and accurate to call the Oilers a legitimate playoff contender, but I don’t see them as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender yet. That doesn’t mean that couldn’t manufacture another Cinderella run in the postseason. Once you are in the postseason, anything can happen. We’ve seen many teams, including the 2006 Oilers, make unexpected deep runs in the playoffs.

Because I don’t view them as a Cup contender, I’d be very surprised to see Peter Chiarelli trade a first round pick at the deadline. The Oilers still don’t have enough high-end prospect depth. The organization’s overall skill set is much better than in previous years, and many of the Oilers best players are 23 and under. It’s not like they have an old group that needs to be replaced in the next two or three seasons. However, I don’t see them in a position to trade away a first rounder.

Which has me leaning to the Oilers not acquiring a top-end player like Kevin Shattenkirk. I’m still not sold the Blues will even trade him. They have a very good roster and if they could acquire a competent goalie, Ben Bishop, I could see them making a long playoff run.

Today, I will focus on a player the Oilers might acquire and I’m sure his name will generate a wide range of opinions.

He has 328 career goals.
He has scored 40 goals twice, 30 goals twice, 20 goals six times and has 12 goals this season.
He shoots right, but prefers left wing and is currently tied for 56th in the NHL in points with 31 despite only playing 34 games.

He is a UFA at the end of the season and has a low cap hit of $2.6 million.

It is Thomas Vanek.

Vanek and Henrik Zetterberg lead the Detroit Red Wings in points, but Vanek has played 11 fewer games. He is playing 15:07/game. He has played most often with Gustav Nyqvist, 248 EV min, and 144 min without.

The Red Wings sit 22nd in CF% at 48.14 and 23rd in FF% at 48.23%. Vanek has a CF% of 49.87 and a FF% of 49.74%. At EV his shots on goal ratio is 217SF/210SA.

He is having a very solid season.

There is no doubt he’s a skilled forward, and while he prefers left wing, if the alternative was playing the right side with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, I’m sure he’d gladly take it.

He is a UFA. The Oilers wouldn’t have to protect him in the expansion draft. His $2.6 million cap hit is very affordable, and the return would not require a first round selection. The Red Wings will be re-tooling/re-building for the first time in 25 years and Ken Holland will be looking for draft picks and/or young prospects.

I believe the Oilers would be more dangerous in the playoffs with Draisaitl playing centre, and in order to do that Peter Chiarelli needs to acquire an offensive right-winger.

He has a reputation of not being a playoff player. I’m not sure I agree completely with that assessment.

Last year he was injured late in the season and wasn’t healthy when the playoffs began. Mike Russo, who covers the Minnesota Wild very well, wrote Vanek was injured and not a healthy scratch. He didn’t dress in the Wild’s first round loss. The year prior he went goalless in ten Wild playoff games. However the year before he tallied 5-5-10 in 17 playoff games for the Habs.

He’s been inconsistent at times in his career. If he isn’t scoring he hasn’t shown an ability to be solid defensively or aggressive on the forecheck.

I would take a long look at him over the next six weeks. If he continues to produce and play well I wouldn’t be that concerned about his supposed playoff concerns. If you look at his career he has had four productive postseasons, 18-10-28 in 43 games, and two non-productive years (his first and last appearances) scoring 2-4-6 in 20 games.

Like any rental there is no guarantee of success, but I don’t believe the cost for Vanek would be much (a pick and a prospect), and he has the hockey sense to play with McDavid. He’s also very inexpensive and adding him would leave Chiarelli financial room to make another move if needed.

Would you want Vanek?

The Oilers host Nashville on Friday and travel to Calgary Saturday. It seems unlikely Cam Talbot plays both games, so Laurent Brossoit will make his season debut. The question is which game?

I can see arguments for both, but I’d start Talbot on Friday. Here’s why.

Talbot has won four straight and like the rest of the team he’ll want to bounce back from last night’s average performance. Keep winning at home, keep a winning attitude and then head to Calgary and let Brossoit face the team who drafted him.

I’m more confident in Talbot and I’d rather ensure I get two points at home against a team playing their second game in as many nights. I put as many points in the bank and then let Brossoit show he is up for the challenge in Calgary.

I sense after last night’s performance McLellan will want his team to have a bounce-back game and he’d rather go with his veteran goalie. That is just my hunch, but even if they had played well versus Florida I would still go with Talbot.

Who would you start on Friday and why?

Connor McDavid needed 92 games to reach 100 points, averaging 1.09 points-per-game. A very productive first 100 games. He is the 4th fastest active player behind Alex Ovechkin (77 games), Sidney Crosby (80) and Evgeni Malkin (89). Leon Draisaitl also reached the 100-point plateau last night in his 156th game.

It is hard to say what it means long-term, considering Jaromir Jagr required 115 games to do it and he’s now the 2nd leading scorer in the history of the NHL. Mark Messier needed 150 games, so where McDavid goes from here is very much a mystery.

However, I do suspect he will reach the 200-point mark in fewer games than it took him to reach 100. I see McDavid becoming more productive and I’ll say he reaches 200 points in his 170th game. Meaning he’ll score 100 points in 78 games.

What game # do you think it will take for him to reach 200 points?