Edmonton/Buffalo Rumor

Today Eklund made my day by saying the Oilers and Sabres were working on a major deal. As an Oilers fan this summer has been a big let down. Other than the signing justin Schultz the only other thing I could look forward to was 2 more months and then the season will hopefully start. So onto the rumor Eklund stated that the Oilers would want a significant D-man and right away i thought Tyler Myers but then i saw that the Sabres would also send a prospect or jhonas enroth. A deal like that wouldn't get done unless one of either Hall, Eberle, Nugent or Yakupov was sent to Buffalo. Edmonton I am sure wouldn't part with any of these players. Then I saw what the Oilers were going to give up. A young top 6 center and a young third liner with top 6 potential. Now i narrowed the top 6 center to Sam Gagner and the 3rd liner to either Omark, Paajarvi or Hartikainen. The Oilers I think have expressed that they don't think Gagner will be a part of the rebuild by only giving him a one year deal so I think its a no brainer to deal him. The 3rd liner is a little more tricky because of the possible candidates. I believe the Oilers like Hartikainens size and willingness to play so i'd put him as the least likely of the three to be dealt. Paajarvi has been inconsistent but has shown flashes of brilliance in the AHL and I think is ready for a breakout year in Edmonton. the only problem with Paajarvi is that there is no room on the first or second line so i put Paajarvi as the second most likely to be dealt to the Sabres. That leaves just Omark left. Omark has great potential to be a top 6 forward but has slumps and an attitude that is very Semin like. Reports have said that Omark wants to be on an NHL club that plays him more so I think this would be the smartest decision for Edmonton to make.

So the Oilers offer Sam Gagner and Linus Omark for who? I already ruled out Myers so who could the significant Defencemen be? I am going to narrow this down to 3 possible targets Christian Ehrhoff, Jordan Leopold and Andrej Sekera. Andrej Sekera only scored 3 times and assisted with 10 for a grand total of 13 points his size doesn't help the Oilers intimidation department at only 6'0" and injuries brought him down to only 69 games. So i don't see him being involved in this deal. Jordon Leopold came off a decent season with 10 goals and 14 assists good for 24 points. Leopold is slightly bigger than Sekera at 6'1" but is also older than Sekera at 32. I think Leopold would be a good addition but is not worth Gagner and Omark. So that leaves Christian Ehrhoff. Ehrhoff came of a pretty good season with 32 points in only 66 games. Ehrhoff is also bigger than Leopold and Sekera at 6'2". The Oilers lack a 30 point scoring Defencemen and would be a good pairing with Whitney or Petry.

So the deal now looks like Gagner and Omark for Ehrhoff and ????. The other player eklund said was either Enroth or a solid prospect. I am going to narrow this down to 2 players: Jhonas Enroth and Marcus Foligno. Jhonas Enroth is hard to see because Edmonton is not offering another goalie to buffalo so the Oilers would have 5 goalies in the organization. But if the Oilers do want Enroth that would mean the Oilers are working a deal to move a goalie out . So I am not ruling Enroth out but It would make more sense to go with Foligno. Marcus Foligno is solid young player that has good potential and would give Edmonton a solid group a Left wingers.

So the deal that I think will happen looks like: Gagner and Omark for Ehrhoff and Foligno.


This is my first blog on my Hockeybuzz so I welcome some Constructive criticism

Please No insults I am a rookie at this and this article is 100% my opinion

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to leave a comment.