When the Edmonton Oilers began a second consecutive season slowly, there was plenty of blame to go around. However, while there was always the utmost confidence they would recover offensively -- how could you not feel like this with Connor McDavid leading the way? -- it wasn't quite the same case defensively.
In fairness though, as they've progressed through the season the defence has improved, playing no small part in the Oilers going a magnificent 15-3-1 in their past 19 games. After allowing an average of 3.27 goals per game in October, the team has seen the number go down each month, to 2.85 in November, 2.46 in December and 1.33 in January, albeit only through three contest to date.
As a result, following Tuesday's slate of action -- which included the Oilers' dominant 4-0 win in Boston against the Bruins -- they find themselves ranked eighth-best among all NHL teams, with an average of 2.73 goals allowed per game. And yet, you know this is the type of organisation which (these days) will not rest on their laurels.
Oilers looking towards Pittsburgh for help
As a result, as has been the case for a while now, the Oilers are continually being linked to quality potential blue line targets, who can theoretically strengthen the team. And this includes an intriguing one in Pittsburgh, at least according to Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required).
Yohe writes that the Oilers and Vancouver Canucks specifically, are interested in Marcus Pettersson, but he expects other teams to emerge. This is due to him being a first pairing defenceman who should be able to help a contender.
Pettersson certainly ticks a lot of boxes for the Oilers, with his main strengths being that he is big, strong, works hard and takes pride in his defence. He can clearly provide a boost for a team which at times seems to be lacking in physicality. (Something which highlights how much Evander Kane is missed.)
We appreciate that critics will state the 28-year-old isn't having a particularly strong campaign. However, this is in large part due to unfair comparisons to last season, which was the best of his career yet, with single-season highs in a plethora of categories including 30 points, a +28 rating, 159 hits and 22:40 of ice time per game.
Whats in this for the Penguins?
At the end of the day though, Pettersson is performing just fine and remains as part of the Penguins' first pairing, helping them make a surprise challenge for the playoffs. In this respect, you can quite reasonably ask why the team would even consider trading him?
The simple answer is that the 2014 second round draft pick is in the final year of his current contract, and the Penguins believe they can obtain quite a decent return package. However, this of course leads to how much the Oilers (or anyone) are prepared to offer for a player who is basically a rental?
There is also the fact that Pettersson is a left-shot defenceman, whereas the Oilers would ideally prefer a right-shot. However, we do believe they could make this work in the grand scheme of things, which we assume they think anyway, pending the accuracy of Yohe's report about their interest in him.
One final factor the Oilers will be considering is the financial aspect of any potential trade, with the Sweden native having a cap hit of just over $4.025 million for this season. As per PuckPedia, the team has cap space of only $428,585, with a projected cap space of just over $1.02 million at the trade deadline.
However, even allowing for who the Oilers could potentially offer in return, they do also have another card up their sleeve, in the form of Kane and his $5.125 millon cap hit for this season. Currently on long-term injured reserve, if the polarising winger is kept there for the duration of the regular season portion of the 2024-25 campaign, the organisation would not have to account for any of his cap hit.
Overall, you can make a case for the Oilers being able to ride their current defensive corps for this season's Stanley Cup challenge, but there is the very real potential for some regression. In this respect we can understand why Pettersson would be of interest to Stan Bowman and company, although ultimately we don't believe he will end up being traded to Edmonton.