Edmonton Oilers General Manager Peter Chiarelli said the team is mulling over all options, but the talks of P.K. Subban heading out of Montréal are getting louder as the draft rolls closer.
According to Oilers alumnus Georges Laraque, he has heard talks from someone around the Oilers organization, and hears that the team has been offered a deal for P.K. Subban.
Someone around the Oilers organization just confirmed to me that the Canadiens asked for Draisaitl and the 4 pick for Subban!
— Georges Laraque (@GeorgesLaraque) June 23, 2016
Let’s start by looking at Laraque’s credibility. He’s the one who reported that Taylor Hall would be the next captain earlier this season, and that never happened. However, I can only imagine he has sources close to the organization.
If this is the proposed deal for the Oilers, I don’t see why they wouldn’t take it. However, they would have to make some adjustments first. The only true problem that comes with Subban is how expensive he turns out to be. The Oilers would have to take on his $9 million salary, and if they want to be active in free agency (which I imagine they would with the big right-wing names available), they need to dump some more space.
Right now, Edmonton has $12 million in cap space, and more is expected to come off the books. With Nikitin hitting free agency, the Oilers would have $4.5 million more, and they could also possibly add to the deal and trade away more names (i.e. one of their $6 million dollar men). Then, Edmonton could also ask for the ninth-overall pick, and get someone like Mikhail Sergachev.
Don’t forget: Edmonton still has to get rid of Nail Yakupov, and will likely deal him away for a draft pick at this point in time. That takes his salary off the books, and with that, the Oilers have money to add a couple more pieces.
I have an assumption that Milan Lucic is incredibly interested in Edmonton, and that would mean that the Oilers could replace one of their left wingers (i.e. Pouliot) with Lucic. Then, they could go and add right wingers such as Kyle Okposo and Chris Stewart. There’s a lot of hope moving forward,, and this team could look a lot different in the coming hours.
Benning: "nowhere near close" to a Subban deal but expects if there is a deal to be made, negotiations would go through the night tonight
— Matthew Sekeres (@mattsekeres) June 23, 2016
Next: Edmonton Oilers: 'Greater Than 50 Percent' Team Keeps Pick
I thinkt his deal is a no-brainer. Sure, Leon Draisaitl has great potential, but if the Oilers want to win, they need to make changes now. And it starts with Subban.