Oilers: What to do with Derick Brassard?
The Oilers acquired F Derick Brassard at this seasons trade deadline and he has been a decent depth player who has played his role really well.
Since joining the team, Brassard has 2 goals in 10 games with 2 PIMS and has been in and out of the lineup. With the Oilers tight salary cap issues it brings up the question, “What do the Oilers do about Derick Brassard?” who is on the last year of his deal, and with him turning 35 this year he’s not going to get a raise, or much term on his next deal.
Personally, the thought of bringing Brassard back is intriguing if the price is right. The Oilers can’t overpay, it has to be close to league minimum. But even with that being said, there is going to be plenty of players available on the market that will be willing to fill the role of bottom 6/healthy scratch with a contending team, so if he’s still a free agent after a little while and the team hasn’t found anybody for that role, Brassard is the perfect candidate.
Comparison
Brassard’s closest comparison in the NHL is Lighting forward Corey Perry. At 36 years of age, Perry is making his final few pushes for a Stanley Cup. Perry brings a more offensive side but definitely benefits from being on a more dangerous team. Brassard is declining and is definitely not the better player, but they do have similar styles to their game. Good hockey IQ with an added physical presence and a fairly solid two way game. If the Oilers could snag Corey Perry going into next season, that would be a really solid pickup. But, settling for Brassard wouldn’t hurt either but this is also assuming the Blue and Orange decide they want a veteran to bring in only for the limited role. If not, Brassard walks for nothing and truthfully, it wouldn’t hurt Edmonton.
Final Opinion
Let Brassard walk. The team has enough guys that can fill in the role he had. It wouldn’t be hard to replace hm, and on top of that the competition for the bottom 6 for the next couple seasons is going to be intense. Guys like Savoie, Holloway, Petrov and more will all be getting ready to make their push, so there’s almost no point in bringing him back.