The Edmonton Oilers dismissed Peter Chiarelli before the All-Star break, but that doesn’t mean the urgency to upgrade the roster has stopped.
Edmonton Oilers: Word has it that they’re looking into acquiring one of the best skaters in the entire league. A player who currently plays for the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings have quite a few speedsters on their team from Dylan Larkin to Darren Helm, to Tyler Bertuzzi, but the man I’m talking about is Andreas Athanasiou.
Athanasiou Later
The Edmonton Oilers used to be a team known for being one of the best skating teams in the NHL and in recent years, thanks to Sir Chiarelli, they went away from that. It was a mistake, and now it looks like the brass in Edmonton are seeking a return to a familiar organizational build.
With Athanasiou, the Oilers would be getting one of the quickest players to play the game, and I think the assumed plan would be to put him on Connor McDavid‘s line. I would caution against that line of thinking though. In my opinion, McDavid doesn’t need a player who can skate with him on his line or else Taylor Hall would’ve spent more than a brief moment on his wing. He needs wingers who know where to go to receive a pass for a scoring chance, and he needs wingers who can boss the wall.
I think a speedy winger is more something that Leon Draisaitl needs. The big German who recently won the “Best Passer” event at the 2019 NHL All-Star Competition, loves to dish the puck and he thrives playing alongside Connor McDavid because he knows where to go on the ice to get the scoring change, right? He’s might also be the only guy in the league that can make a 100ft backhand saucer pass to a streaking winger.
Athanasiou makes is in the 1st year or a two-year contract that pays him $3M per season. This is a VERY affordable contract for the Oilers IF they can send some money back Detroit’s way. There’s a rumor out there that the Oilers have offered their 2019 1st round pick and Tobias Rieder ($2M/yr) for the Detroit winger, but TSN’s Darren Dreger has since poured cold water on any notion that Athanasiou is even available.
"“His name crossed my desk last week, and I did some checking with my Red Wings sources. I was told, ‘No, no, no, no.’ Unless it’s one of those can’t miss opportunities, they see Athanasiou as being part of their future, that development of a younger core.”"
To Conclude
I would love for the Edmonton Oilers to go out and grab this player, but as Dreger indicated above, he doesn’t seem to be available. That shouldn’t stop the Oilers from targeting the fastest players in the league like Athanasiou, Ryan Dzingel, or Kasperi Kapanen.
It’s a new day in Edmonton, but it’s time to go back to what made it work. Speed and hard work.