Top 3 Destinations For Josh Archibald To Be Traded To

With the trade deadline on March 21st, the Edmonton Oilers have less than a week to make some changes to their roster. One trade the Oilers could make is trading away Josh Archibald. With his vaccination record he is currently unable to travel so he can only play home games.

Archibald is a very solid player and if he was able to play every game there would be only a small chance he would be traded, but since he can only half the games he becomes expendable. Plus once this team gets healthy with Puljujarvi and Nugent-Hopkins back in the lineup, he may be pushed down in lineup as well. So the Oilers might as well trade him for some sort of asset.

He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and is unlikely to re-sign with the Edmonton Oilers as he can currently only play half the games. This would cause him to only make half of his salary as he would be suspended by the team on the road games.

There are a couple teams that would like to bring a type of player like Archibald to add speed and aggression to their team’s game. Plus his low cap hit make him a player most teams would like to bring in.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are a Stanley Cup contender that will be looking to add some extra depth. The addition of Archibald would help their bottom 6 put pressure on the opposing team. The speed Archibald brings is helpful on both at even strength and on the penalty kill.

The Hurricanes already has the league’s best penalty kill with a 89.37% kill rate. They use their more skilled players on the penalty kill though. So the addition of Archibald could help get those players some much needed rest down the stretch and in the playoffs. There is also a need for shot blocking on the penalty kill, they would much rather have Archibald blocking shots versus Sebastian Aho.

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are tied in the standings with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers will be looking to add pieces at the deadline as they have a few areas in which they would like to improve.

The Rangers penalty kill could also use a bump. They currently sit 8th in the league with a 82.74% kill rate. So the addition of Josh Archibald could help improve this number as well as take off some more skilled players off the kill.

The Rangers do already have a bit of sandpaper players in their bottom 6, but Archibald is skill upgrade on most of them. So if this team can upgrade their roster even if it is a by a small amount they will likely do it.

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are currently in the thick of a Wild Card battle in the Western Conference. They are currently 1 point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card spot, but have 4 games in hand.

Adding a Swiss Army Knife player like Josh Archibald will help them in their goals against. The Dallas Stars are the only team in the playoff hunt with a negative goal differential. His speed would help on the back check and help close gaps on the penalty kill.

The Stars penalty kill is one of this teams weaknesses. They are currently ranked 19th in the league’s penalty kill rate. The 78.79% rate needs improvement, so Dallas would like to add Archibald into the mix to help this area out. Even if he increases the percentage by 3 that would move them into the top half of the league.

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Edmonton Oilers Keep Josh Archibald

Even though Archibald can only play half of the games this season due to the travel restrictions, I think he could stay an Oiler. Trading away Archibald would bring in at best a 4th round draft pick, which isn’t much.

The Oilers will have to weigh this out. A 4th round draft pick is likely not to make a difference in your organization, but keeping Josh Archibald will help your team in half the games remaining this season and with the Oiler penalty kill struggles they could use him.

If the Edmonton Oilers trade Archibald, they would have to move another player up in their lineup. Is Tyler Benson an upgrade on Archibald? Kyle Turris? What about Colton Sceviour? I don’t think they are. So making this trade would be making your team worse.

Unless the Edmonton Oilers bring in a player with a similar skill set as Josh Archibald I don’t see them coming out of an Archibald trade with a better team. There is argument that if you don’t trade him he walks for nothing. So, it will be a decision for Holland to make and hopefully it will work out for both the player and the team.