The Oilers have been playing well recently. So well, in fact, that we’re talking about the team climbing the standings and going on a playoff run. Since Todd McLellan barked at the team following a hideous effort in a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Oilers are 5-2-0. In that span, they were only outshot once, and they hammered Vezina-winning goalies Carey Price and Sergei Bobrovsky.

A key to the team’s success has been placing Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on their own lines. But while the team boasts three good centres capable of driving a top-six line, the Oilers aren’t particularly strong on the wings.

We knew this was going to be a reality in the off-season, but Peter Chiarelli opted to give opportunities to internal options rather than adding to to the team via free agency. He left the team with a lot of cap room to make a major splash at the trade deadline, but the thing with deciding to acquire a player via trade rather than through free agency is the cost of acquisition.

That brings us to this week’s What Would You Do Wednesday question. Do you pony up this year’s first-round pick as a trade asset to improve the team short-term?

The reality of the NHL’s loser point system is a massive amount of parity in the middle of the league. I’m not sure how many true Stanley Cup contenders there are, but about 25 teams have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. Looking at the standings, the teams who are totally out of it are the Coyotes and Sabres. Florida and Detroit aren’t far behind, but struggling teams like Ottawa and Montreal have playoff aspirations much like the Oilers.

Ultimately, there are more teams interested in buying than selling, it seems. That means it’s going to cost a lot to acquire players at the trade deadline.

Vegas appeared to be a team gearing up for a mid-season fire sale. At the expansion draft, they selected a bevy of soon-to-be free agents, making them a prime candidate to set up shop with rental assets. But the team is playing better than anyone ever could have expected and seem to be a realistic bet to make the playoffs in their inaugural season. Would they trade key forwards David Perron, James Neal, and Jonathan Marchessault, all impending UFAs, to build for the future and possibly sacrifice the momentum of this playoff run? It’s hard to say, but if the Golden Knights decide not to sell, a lot of this year’s best rental assets are off the market.

Let’s look at 2018’s top impending free agent forwards. John Tavares is the obvious top dog and won’t be going anywhere at the deadline. Neal, Perron, and Marchessault would  be great additions, but might not be dealt. James van Riemsdyk is a key cog on a good Leafs team and isn’t going anywhere. Same deal with Paul Stastny, Patric Hornqvist, Mikael Backlund, Andrew Cogliano, and Joe Thornton. The Rangers are back in the playoff hunt, meaning Rick Nash and Michael Grabner might not be sold. The only names I see are Buffalo’s Evander Kane and Florida’s Radim Vrbata as top-six impending UFA forwards that could be sold from teams that aren’t making the playoffs.

There are also longer term assets out there to look at. We already saw Matt Duchene, 2018’s most predictable trade chip, get dealt in a three-team deal involving the Senators and Avalanche. That’s obviously been a big disaster for Ottawa as the team has plummeted down the standings. The Sens could look to deal Duchene, who’s a UFA in 2019, much like the Islanders did after they acquired Thomas Vanek in 2013. They also might be looking to deal Mike Hoffman, a good winger who’s signed for two more seasons after this one. The Avs also probably aren’t done after Duchene, as the team has reportedly considered trading captain Gabriel Landeskog, who’s signed for three more seasons.

So while the 2018 trade deadline rental market isn’t inspiring and it appears to be shaping up to be a seller’s market, there are some interesting longer term assets that could fit on this Oilers roster.

Trading a first-round pick in the salary cap world is a difficult thing to do. Do you think the cap-strapped Minnesota Wild would like a mulligan on the first rounder they gave up last March for Martin Hanzal? For that two months of Hanzal, a good two-way centre, the Wild sacrificed potentially three seasons of a first-round talent.

But since Minnesota was a surefire playoff team, the risk wasn’t that massive. I mean, they lost the No. 23 overall pick in 2017 (plus picks in 2018 and 2019), but there was no risk of that pick being in the lottery. For the Oilers, who certainly aren’t a sure thing to make the playoffs, there’s an added wrinkle to an already large risk trading away the first-round pick.

Last year, the New Jersey Devils jumped all the way up from No. 5 to No. 1 after winning the draft lottery and selected stud forward Nico Hischier. The Flyers were the big winners, jumping from No. 13, just outside the playoffs, to No. 2, where they got Nolan Patrick. The Stars ended up at No. 3 after jumping from No. 8.

This year’s draft features some incredible prospects. The top overall prospect is Rasmus Dahlin, who “defends like Lidström [and] skates like Karlsson,” according to Ray Ferraro. Beyond him, this is a deep draft with good players all the way through the first round.

If you’re the Oilers and you deal your first rounder to help push you to the playoffs, you’re risking the possibility of giving another team a lottery pick. Of course, like the Sens did with Duchene, you can put a condition on the pick to choose if its in 2018 or 2019 with a top-10 protection, but no matter what you’re also likely sacrificing three cheap years of a potentially good player.

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