The Edmonton Oilers trade rumor isn’t going away, but does it make sense?

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This comes again from Edmonton Oilers insider Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now that’s rumored to not be going away: Stauffer’s hint that the Oilers have their eye on a certain NHL defenseman.

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Stauffer won’t say who that player is, but here are the clues: “I imagine the Edmonton Oilers will add a top-four defenseman. Preferably a guy who can play on the right side and be a left shot, and probably a guy who can move the puck. And perhaps since they’ll move around a few picks and some draft capital, we’re probably looking at a guy with a little bit of tenure left. That is the scenario. I won’t mention the name. Could be someone on a team right now that no one thinks is out of line, but could end up being out of line.”

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My opinion

1. I took a quick look at NHL teams with a percentage between .500 and .600, the playoff tweeners, and then looked at the top 4 D-men who had at least a year or tenure after that year, but not more than two, had years. My best guess is that Stauffer is talking: Philadelphia’s Rasmus Ristolainen, who has two years left at $5.1 million, or Detroit’s Ben Chiarot, another year at $4.7 million, or Nick Jensen from Ottawa, another year at $4.0 million.

2. I can’t tell you which of these players will be the best choice because I haven’t put in the hard work needed to scout, evaluate and rank the players.

3. I’m also not sure the Oilers will actually decide to spend their nest egg on any defensemen. They are currently struggling to score from the wing, a huge problem. Their goaltending was inconsistent and mediocre, an even bigger problem. It could well be that in a few months, Edmonton will be traded for a top winger or top goaltender rather than a top 4 D-man.

4. With Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton has one of the top four D-man pairs in the NHL. Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak appear to be a solid second pairing. That would leave Edmonton needing a third-pairing D-man to pair with Ty Emberson, who isn’t a top-four guy at all.

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