Are Oilers Open to Getting Fleeced In Whopper Flames Trade?

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman got into a discussion on their latest 32 Thoughts podcast about the Edmonton Oilers and what is ailing this team right now. Saying that their two biggest issues are that they are not getting key saves at the right time and that the opposition is allowed to pretty much skate wherever they want to against the team’s current blue line corps, Friedman wondered if the Oilers would look towards the Calgary Flames to solve some of their issues.

Related: McDavid Has Asked Oilers Specifically Not to Trade Depth Forward

Specifically, he noted that the Flames have three defensemen that could all wind up in different cities before the end of this season — Nikita Zadorov, Noah Hanifin, and Chris Tanev. Saying the Maple Leafs might also be looking at a couple of these players, Friedman wondered if there was ever world in which Calgary would help bail out both the Oilers and the Flames in the same season. Marek said he didn’t see it, but Friedman wondered how open the Oilers would be to make the necessary changes to improve this team during the prime years of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

He quote one NHL GM who suggested the Oilers should be willing to go to the bottom of the ocean to solve their goaltending woes. As for their defense? Friedman didn’t say how badly that needed to be changed, but the principle still applied — Edmonton potentially needs to do something.

Oilers Would Have To Offer One Heck of a Sweetener

Marek said that Edmonton would need to supply a sweetener if Calgary was going to bail out Edmonton as one of his first major moves as the GM of the Flames. Friedman said that’s true, but it would take way more than a premium offer. “I’m talking about a deal that would get a banner hung up..” He suggested that Craig Conroy would have to win the trade so obviously that everyone would overlook how much the Flames helped the Oilers in the present.

“If you’re gonna do that, and I agree it’s incredibly unlikely…” He added, that if Edmonton ends up winning because of that deal, the Flames have to be OK with it. Neither got into specifics about what would have to come back to the Flames in the deal. All that was clear is that it wasn’t going to be something that the Oilers immediately needed to win, but it was going to be something the Flames would have a hard time saying no to.

At the same time, there would have to be subsequent moves for Edmonton because they don’t have the salary cap space to land any one of those three defensemen.

Next: 2 Flames Defensemen on Trade Radar as Maple Leafs Eye Shakeup