Edmonton Oilers: Who’s Safe, and Who’s Kicked Off the Island?

Taylor Hall

Of all the players that could be moved, Taylor Hall makes the least amount of sense. I wrote an article three weeks ago to why Trading Hall is a bad idea, so I will not rehash the details too much.

To put it simply, trading Taylor Hall would be a colossal mistake. He is one of two players who are “drivers” with the other being the untouchable Connor McDavid. The team is struggling to score, and I get that his numbers have dipped quite a bit, but how does it make a lick of sense to trade one of our most productive players when the team struggles to produce?

It doesn’t.

People also look at his mistakes with an intense magnifying glass but also give free passes to other players like Nail Yakupov (more on him to come). It’s stuff like that why we don’t deserve good players. There’s a lot wrong with the Edmonton Oilers and Taylor Hall isn’t immune to valid critism, but good lord. He’s a top point producer, is on a value contract and you would make the left side woefully thin.

Next: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Awhile back, I wrote that I would ultimately do a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins trade for Seth Jones or a Seth Jones like defensemen.  Since then, I’ve changed my tone. First, Seth Jones was traded for Ryan Johansen, which I consider to be the better player offensively for the Nashville Predators. Second, you got to see the Edmonton Oilers without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and it wasn’t exactly the prettiest of games. I feel that Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli are likely to keep Nugent-Hopkins. Both men had teams that were deep in the middle: McLellan’s San Jose Sharks featured Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture. McLellan’s solution was to move some of them (namely Marleau to Left Wing and seeing Pavelski in some duty at Right Wing) to spread the talent. Worst case is having three centres for the Edmonton Oilers. There are some people who were saying it wasn’t working after one lousy game. 

Peter Chiarelli was also deeper in the middle with the Bruins having Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Marc Savard (although post injury Rich Peverely filled in). Even during Chiarelli’s Trade Conference alluded to him wanting to see all three centres play, where he really hasn’t had the opportunity.

Next: Jordan Eberle

Jordan Eberle

Jordan Eberle still remains my top pick to getting dealt. Ultimately, as Lowetide has stated, he is a good complimentary winger. He’s better than Nail Yakupov, hence why he gets more minutes. That said, he is the most expendable option to move. Look at previous Stanley Cup Winners and/or finalists over the past few seasons when it comes to top Right Wings:

2010:  Blackhawks: Signed Marian Hossa in the prior offseason long term.

2011: Boston Bruins: Acquired Nathan Horton the off season prior.

2012: LA Kings: Justin Williams was acquired a few years prior (in 2008-09), which is a stretch for this.

2013: Boston Bruins: Acquired Jaromir Jagr at the trade deadline.

2014: Los Angeles Kings: Acquired Marian Gaborik at the trade deadline.

2015: Chicago Blackhawks: Still had Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane (who was drafted)

The point is: acquiring a right wing is not as difficult as say acquiring a top end centre or defensemen. I think Eberle is an attractive piece to moved for a top pairing defensemen, but it would possibly be a package. I still think that Eberle will be swapped for Hamonic and I’m fine with that.

Next: Nail Yakupov

A Word About Yakupov

Joey Degner of theoilersrig.com wrote an excellent piece Nail Yakupov which I like to elaborate on.

I want to say that I love Nail Yakupov the person. He seems like a really outgoing guy and a great kid overall. I love his work ethic that he brings to the team and I’m sure a lot of people do as well.

However, I think the time to move on from Yakupov is near. While he tries his damn hardest every game, it’s all for naught: it’s just a whole lot of endless running around the defensive zone or the offensive zone. He’s a complimentary player but unlike Eberle, Yakupov lacks the hockey intelligence to be a top point producer. People will defend this player to no end but are quick to criticize other players when they aren’t producing, but the problem is, Nail Yakupov doesn’t produce.

Sure, you can fairly state how he has been playing with Letestu who is becoming the second coming of the Belanger Triangle, but given a small sample size with Connor McDavid, Yakupov just doesn’t have that finish.

This is the third coach out of four that is not giving Yakupov the playing time he “needs”. The problem with this, is that there are simply better players on the Edmonton Oilers than Nail Yakupov in the top six (when healthy. I don’t agree with Korpikoski being on the Power play over Yakupov). When three coaches, especially the current one, is still playing you in limited minutes, something has to give.

How many times do we see Yakupov stick handle the puck right close to the blue line while there are two teammates right there, only to lose it out of the zone? Meanwhile, Hall turns the puck over, but he gets flak. Yakupov turns the puck over, it’s the line mates fault. Or the coaches. But he works hard, so he is immune to criticism it seems from some.

It’s too bad, because I absolutely like Nail Yakupov. I have a nice little collection of rookie cards of his. With that said though, at the end of the day, there has to be some production. Right now, I think a change of scenery would be nice for Yakupov. There won’t be a great return on value, because quite frankly Yakupov probably has low value. It’s definitely bittersweet, because you want to see Nail produce 40 goals with McDavid, but I just don’t think he will get there.

Next: Zack Kassian: From Rehab to Fan-Favorite

You never know, but I doubt the Oilers will keep Nail Yakupov going into this offseason.