The Oilers are terrible. Mac T tried to add to the line up in an effort to improve the club, but they are still garbage. This is fact. Now that I got that out of the way, I want to also that Mac T did indeed make some nice additions, but the team needs something much bigger, much
bolder.
I'm going to suggest that 2 players can turn this team around. Not just players, but veteran NHL Superstars. The Oilers have been collecting talent for far too many years and have seen minimal gains. It's time to take a big risk (or two).
The Players I think Mac T should target are Joe Thornton and Shea Weber. I know, I can hear the groans, we've been talking Weber for years, and even me myself always thought it was silly. Of course, Oilers fans were offering up little more than Ales Hemsky, Anton Landers potential and the rights to David Musil and little else, and we of course were laughed off the Hockey Buzz message boards. So whats different now?
Well a couple short years ago we had diddly squat for depth in any position, and the only players of value we had were Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Jordan Eberle recently acquired Justin Schultz and our fresh new draft choice Nail Yakupov. Aside from that we had the oft-injured Ales Hemsky, Captain Shaun Horcoff and the gout infected Ryan Whitney, Nhl players with little or no trade value. Sure we had some prospects, like Oscar Klefbom, Martin Marincin, and Magnus Paajarvi , but they were largely just prospects, nothing that would get us a Hell of a lot in return.
The idea of trading any of the super kids, or “Fab 5” as they have often been referred to was terrifying, mostly because we didn't have much in the way of talent to replace them . We would be digging one hole to find dirt to fill another.
Fast forward to today and it's a much different story. I know, the team is still crap, it's not much different at all, at least not on the score sheet, but now have depth. Wiggle room. House money to play with, not just rent money. The Oilers have done nothing but collect high end prospects, and quality NHL hockey players in the past five years. We can afford to take some chances.
So why would the Nashville Predators want to trade Weber? I don't think they want to at all. Sure, he has a 12 years left on a deal with a cap hit of 7.5+ million annually, but a good chunk of the real money has already been paid. The potential cap recapture probably scares the Preds office a fair amount, and the fan base would likely go bananas if they traded the best player in Predators hockey history. You have to offer the Preds a potentially franchise altering deal.The Predators matched an offer sheet that otherwise would have awarded them 4 1st round draft picks from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers are a decent enough team, and with the addition of Weber it would most likely put them high in the standings, among the elite in the Eastern conference. Those picks would likely be somewhere around 18th to 25th overall, if not lower. That is the benchmark.
My proposal to the Nashville Predators is this:
Jordan Eberle
Darnel Nurse
Jeff Petry
Mitch Moroz
Martin Gernat
2015 1st round pick
conditional 2017 1st round pick
conditional 2016 2nd round pick.
The conditions of the 2017th pick would be that the pick is removed if the 2016 pick is in the top 7 of the draft.
The Conditions of the 2016 2nd round pick would be met only if the Predators do not sign Jeff Petry to a deal by the start of the 2016 season.
In no way shape or form does Jeff Petry replace Shea Weber, but the addition of Darnel Nurse does potentially give them an excellent prospect for the future. Jordan Eberle is a quality asset with game breaking scoring ability and the 2015 1st could end up being a massive piece to the future, with the potential of that draft.
The additional pieces are not likely to be star players, but could be useful to the Preds down the road.
The Predators might pass on the deal, but I think it's a fair offer.
Nashville Cap Dollars out: $7,857,143
Nashville Cap Dollars in: $9,969,167
Nashville Cap Space :$7,175,216
Oilers Cap Space: $5,198,959
Despite losing Weber, I think Petry, Nurse, and Eberle could fit in nicely with the Predators future plans, building around youngsters Filip Forseberg, Setrh Jones, Ryan Ellis, Kevin Fiala and current core pieces like James Neal, Roman Josi and Colin Wilson.
On to Joe Thornton. The biggest problem with trading for Joe Thornton is getting him to waive his NMC. Would he do it now? HELLS NO! Would he do it with Shea Weber suddenly in the line up? I bet he starts to think about it. Let's say he does agree to waive to become an Oiler. What would it take?
If the Sharks GM Doug Wilson isn't completely full of poop and actually wants to move Joe Thornton, it shouldn't cost nearly as much. My guess is he wants some youth, and some talent. Here is my proposal:
David Perron
Mark Arcobello
Dillon Simpson
2016 1st round pick.
I think it's a steep price, myself, but is it enough to convince the Sharks brass?
I think it is a pretty big risk by the Oilers, but one that will pay immediate dividends .
Hall RNH Purcell
Draisaitl Thornton Yakupov
Poulliot Yakimov Pitlick
Hendricks Gordon Lander
Weber Marincin
Fayne Nikitin
Schultz Klefbom/Ference
Scrivens
Fasth
The Real or Jabroni?
wow that is a lot of pieces for Weber...my guess is that is not what it would take. Try fewer but higher quality - Yakupov, Petry, Nurse and 2015 1st
Hahahahahahahaha. Never in a million years.
SHIT.At least you used paragraphs though!
A blog
Nashville could have the first BBC defense pairing in Nurse-Jones.
Derp a derp derp derpity derp.
or you could get a decent coaching staff and then see which players are worth keeping....
I like Eberle but you are asking for a Norris Trophy finalist... If I am Nashville its either Hall or Nuge
Is this a dream journal?
Also you need to address the nightmare between the pipes.
quality over quantity fool
Hard to say what the value of Weber is for a trade. I thought I offered up a boat load.
I like this blog because it is bold and normally bold pieces deserve to be ripped but not this. Realistically unrealistic. I like it. Kudos.
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I agree with Coffee Junky. At least this blog offers something new and interesting. The oilers need to do something bold and this makes a fun, but debatable, proposal. Nashville is a very conservative team on the ice, and in the office. getting them on board will be difficult, but I would be tempted by this offer. Joe I think is worth more though, but I would certainly watch the oilers after these two trades
You need to lay off the NHL15, these trades would never happen, you are way off.
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That 2015 First Rounder that you just gave away meant that we would have McDavid, thus making the Preds win this trade by a landslide.Just saying...but I like the proposal made for Weber, but I think that no matter what you give, the Preds and Weber are stuck together forever.
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