freelancer

Edmonton • Canada • 25 Years Old • Male

Potential Trade Targets #2 - Jakob Silfverberg

Quick fact about myself. I'm a big fan of the NHL video games. I can spend hours in Franchise Mode signing UFA's, making trades and creating the team I think would be a winner. During a season such as the Oilers are having this year; it's therapeutic.

I'm not sure about other people but when I'm building my team there is usually a couple players I always target to get on my team. One of them we will talk about next Trade Targets. Today we are talking about Jakob Silfverberg.

I've been a big fan of Silfverberg for the past few years. His combination of skill and size makes him the prototypical "Ducks" player. Since joining the Ducks Jakob has been a very consistent player, averaging between 40-50 points a season. This season he looks on pace to score 20 goals, which would be his third season in a row.

Consistency is the name of the game with Silfverberg. His production, possession metrics, shooting percentages. This is a player that if acquired you will know exactly what he will do. This is not a player who will become a 70 point player just because he plays with McDavid.

McDavid isn't the perfect centre for Silfverberg either. That would be Draisaitl. Draisaitl is a player who slows the game down. Aside from his obvious chemistry with McDavid he has shown his best chemsitry with players like Lucic, Maroon, and to a lesser degree players like Slepeshev and Khaira. Draisaitl works well with like minded bigger body players who can grind out the puck on the boards and then get into a position to shoot. Having a player like Silfverberg on his line who can actually finish could be a perfect match.

Now comes the "Why in the hell would the Ducks trade him" part.

The Ducks aren't in a whole lot of cap trouble but they are a team in transition. The team will have to deal with RFA's like Ritchie and Kase, the latter of the two is currently playing on the top line with Getzlaf and Rakell. We are watching the decline of Corey Perry and while his salary might be one the team wishes to move they will be hard pressed to do so. With the addition of Henrique the Ducks have lots of talent up front.

Now comes the "Why in the hell would the Ducks trade him... to Edmonton" part.

This is the tricky part because short answer, they won't. The Ducks biggest need going into the future is a top right shot to play on the top pairing and Edmonton certainly doesn't have one of those to offer. With Bieksa and Beauchemin UFA this season and Vatanen and Theodore gone, the Ducks aren't as strong on D as they were a year ago.

Young up and coming players like Jones or Bear along with something else might interest the Ducks but it would take more than that to trade a player like Silfverberg into the same division. If there was a fair deal on the table I would certainly jump at the opportunity. Too bad it isn't as easy to make deals as it is in NHL 18.

TLDR

- Silverberg is a consistent 20 goal scorer
- Great option on a second line with Draisaitl
- Bigger body who can skate
- Ducks may let him go due to other options up front

Thanks for reading!

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