Grading Edmonton Oilers Trade Deadline Moves

The trade deadline is behind us and the Edmonton Oilers management team done making their moves. The two trades being done were bringing in Brett Kulak and Derrick Brassard. They gave up a second round pick and William Lagesson for Kulak and a 4th rounder for Brassard.

Ken Holland only had so many things that he could trade away to improve this team. He didn’t give up that much. There is several factors that went into each of these moves. I will go through the things done this trade deadline and rate them. I will point out why I thought they were good moves and why they may have been bad moves.

Edmonton Oilers Acquire Brett Kulak-  B

The only problem I can pick out with the Brett Kulak trade is the 2nd round pick. I assume it would have been a 3rd, but with the salary retention by the Montreal Canadiens it became a 2nd. Giving up William Lagesson doesn’t mean much to me. I don’t think Lagesson was in the future plans of the Oilers, so trading him away has the same feel of trading away UFA.

If the Edmonton Oilers are able to re-sign Kulak this offseason this deal will look even better for Edmonton. Kulak is from the Edmonton area so it isn’t a stretch that he many come back. Plus being traded for always give you a good feeling as the team actually gave something up to bring you in.

Kulak is going to likely get his first start Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. I can see him pushing Kris Russell out of the line-up and playing with Tyson Barrie on the 3rd pair. That is where he is going to start at least. He does have the potential to play higher in the line-up.

Playoff Experience

In last season’s playoff run he was playing top 4 minutes on a Canadiens team that went to the Stanley Cup final. I think this is one of the main reasons he was brought in by Holland. Holland likes his veterans that have playoff experience. The fact that Kulak has recent playoff experience is even more of a plus.

The fact that Kulak was part of a Montreal team that was slated to be eliminated in the first round only to upset the Maple Leafs after being down 3-1 in the series is an experience he can share with this team. The Edmonton Oilers will likely be going into the playoffs as an underdog, so Kulak will be able to share his upset stories.

Edmonton Oilers Acquire Derick Brassard- B+

This is a trade that I can find nothing wrong with. A 4th round pick for a veteran centre/winger with a ton of playoff experience is a trade I would make everyday. Derick Brassard has 117 games of playoff experience in 8 playoff runs. That will put him second on the Oilers behind on Duncan Keith(135).

Brassard also adds another forward that can play either centre or wing. That is something the Oilers now have a lot of, which is good. This means they are not forced to play a player just cause they are the only NHL quality player in that position. This will cause more internal competition which will only make this team better.

Over his career Brassard has a face off win percentage 48.7%, but in his past 4 season he has averaged more than 50% winning percentage. Face offs are an area the Oilers have been good at this year, so the addition of another +50% man is only going to improve that area.

Derick Brassard is also a solid player you can relay on not to get scored on. On a struggling Philadelphia Flyers team with a -61 goal differential, Brassard is a +6. The Oilers in recent games have been letting a bit more goals than they would like so adding Brassard should help in that area. If he can be a positive player on a bad team he should be able to make a difference on a good team.

Not Over Paying For A Goalie- A

It is no secret that the Edmonton Oilers are in need for a bonafide starting goalie. There was a couple of goalie trades on Monday, but none of them involved the Oilers. The goalies that were moved were either expensive to bring in or weren’t an upgrade on what the Oilers currently have.

Could the Edmonton Oilers have went out a brought in an upgrade in net? Yes they could have, but it would have came at a high cost. I personally am glad that they didn’t over spend on a deadline goalie. I don’t think this is Edmonton’s year to win the cup so going all in may have been a waste of assets.

Right now Edmonton Oilers goaltending isn’t an area that is causing them problems. Right now their biggest issue is special teams. The return of a healthy Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should help both the penalty kill and powerplay. Having Nugent-Hopkins on the powerplay will hopefully bring the team back to it’s early season form.

Unless the Oilers were going to bring in a cheap back-up, that would have been the only way I think the Holland would have made a goalie trade, but with increase of the recent play of Mike Smith I don’t think it was needed.

Only making two moves is a bit anticlimactic from a fan point of view. I think the biggest move made by the Edmonton Oilers was the signing of Evander Kane. That was a huge move in compared to the trades made at the deadline. The Oilers gave up nothing and got a top skilled player. So Holland did his biggest move prior to the deadline.

I think Ken Holland’s main goal of this trade deadline was to bring in players with playoff experience. More playoff experience is not a bad thing. Knowing how to win in high pressure games is an excellent quality to add to a dressing room. This Edmonton Oilers have struggled in recent playoff/play-in series. Getting swept by the Jets last season was a thing that shouldn’t have happened nor was play-in series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

This team needs to be able to handle the pressure of the playoffs. The additions of Brassard and Kulak will certainly help with this issue. Will all of the experience brought in with those two players, I can see the Oilers winning one round for sure in the playoffs and potentially going further than that.