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Speculation: Eberle on the move?
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baggedmilk
Feb 3, 2017, 12:39 ESTUpdated:
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(Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Hockey wizard Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 this morning and shared some speculation on Jordan Eberle’s time with the Oilers potentially winding down. 
It’s no secret that Jordan Eberle isn’t having a banner year for the Oilers, and that fact has caused some contention among the faithful at websites like this very one. 
According to Friedman, management may also be feeling those frustrations as well:
“I think they have tried to trade both Eberle and Pouliot for some time now and I don’t think there’s a market (right now). One of the problems is that the cap is going to be flat next year. So I think it makes it harder for those kinds of guys to get dealt.”
I don’t think it’s unfair to say that Ebs isn’t doing enough considering the salary he earns and that may be more of a problem for Chiarelli then his down year has been. 
“I think everything that Peter Chiarelli does is with the realization that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have to be re-signed. So what are those two guys going to be making… $16 million? $18 million? $20 million? I don’t know. But you have to be prepared for that.”
In the Connor McDavid world that we live in, every dollar against the cap will matter and it’s an inevitable truth that guys are going to have to get moved out. The thing that stings about Eberle is that Edmonton doesn’t have very good depth on the right side and I’m not sure that moving him out for a low return will help the team at all apart from clearing cap space. The problem against not moving him, or someone like him, is that the Oilers are going to really need that space. 
What else did Friedman say?
“They used that (forward depth) last year to get Larsson. I’m sure if they were looking to deal Eberle (instead). Do they need another defenseman now? I guess you could always use another defenseman. And they do want to re-sign Russell too, which only adds to that issue. I think they really think that Eberle needs a change of scenery as much as anything else. I think if they could get that contract off there then it wouldn’t be as much as what they would get, it would be as much for they could remove.”
Who knows what will happen in the future, and I think an Eberle move would make more sense AFTER a playoff push is done, but it seems like more turnover is on the horizon. First Hall gets moved out and now Eberle’s days could be numbered, and all of a sudden that HOPE graphic from 2010 doesn’t make much sense anymore. 
Thoughts?
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