According to Elliotte Friedman in his latest 31 Thoughts article, “Edmonton, which pitched [Patrick] Marleau before the season, considered him again before his trade to Pittsburgh.”
Yes, the Edmonton Oilers apparently tried to land Marleau as another option on the wing on two separate occasions, proving Oilers GM Ken Holland really was looking to maximize as much value as he could in trade at the deadline and give up as little as possible in return. Holland did admit in an interview with Jason Gregor on TSN 1260 that he was “in on” another forward and perhaps Marleau was it, even though he didn’t and couldn’t say as much.
Marleau, 40, had 10 goals and 28 points in 58 games before being moved on Monday.
Noting that the Oilers were really looking to add depth while dealing with multiple injuries, Friedman shared this news again during the Sportnet’s broadcast of the Oilers vs. Vegas Golden Knights game in which the Oilers lost 3-0 and might have lost one of their new acquisitions to a lower body injury in Andreas Athanasiou.
Head coach Dave Tippett said he didn’t think Athanasiou’s injury was anything too major, but he was sore enough he couldn’t play in the third period. “I don’t think it’s too serious,” Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. “I’m hoping not anyway. It was too sore to play in the third, so we took him out.” Either way, it looks like the Oilers keep getting hit with injuries and Marleau might have come in handy right about now.
Obviously, things have worked out for Marleau who was moved to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the NHL Trade Deadline and after missing the first part of the season until San Jose signed him a the NHL’s league minimum. He could have been with the Oilers from the start of the 2019-20 campaing but he’s playing with a contender now and will try to win a Stanley Cup alongside players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Good for Marleau who clearly has something left in the tank. That said, if I’m Ken Holland and the forward doesn’t win the Cup in Pittsburgh and goes into free agency looking for a new destination to play, I’m not sure I’d give him a third crack at saying no to playing with the likes of Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.
The good news is, Edmonton gets Zack Kassian back from suspension on Saturday and Kailer Yamamoto was back skating with the team and appears to be ahead of schedule.
Related: [Rumor] Joe Thornton to the Maple Leafs Next Season an Option
