The Edmonton Oilers are not making the playoffs and have decided to sell off assets. In doing so, they have traded forward Mark Letestu to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Pontus Aberg. The Predators turned around and flipped Letestu to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fourth-round pick. Letestu, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He has been on the block for awhile and the Oilers finally decided to pull the trigger on a deal.
TRADE 🔄 The #Oilers have acquired forward Pontus Aberg from @PredsNHL in exchange for forward Mark Letestu. pic.twitter.com/0f8xBpbgTg
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 25, 2018
Hearing @EdmontonOilers trade Letestu to @PredsNHL for Pontus Aberg Nashville trades Letestu to @BlueJacketsNHL for a draft choice for 4th round pick @Sportsnet
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) February 25, 2018
Edmonton Oilers Trade Mark Letestu to
Letestu isn’t known for his scoring ability but he’s been a bottom-six centre for a while now and plays a lot on the penalty kill as well. He only has eight goals and 19 points this season. His best season stats wise came last year when he had 16 goals and 35 points in 78 games for the Oilers. Both of those were career highs.
Possession wise, he’s hovering at a little over 50 percent Corsi this season (50.8%) with a relative Corsi of -1.5. It’s much better from last season when he was 45.4% and -5.7. Letestu is not a player that should play in a teams top six but if he’s the team’s third or fourth line centre going into the playoffs, then that’s just fine.
As for Letestu in the playoffs, he showed up big-time last year for the Oilers. He had his best playoff run by far. In 13 playoff games, he had five goals and 11 points which blow away the previous three playoff years for him. In the three other years, he was in the playoffs, he had just four points combined and one goal. His shooting percentage was also at 15.2% which shows it might not be something that he can be expected to repeat this year.
Overall, Letestu gives Columbus another centre down the stretch as they try and go on a run before a potential playoff run as well.
Pontus Aberg
Aberg, 24, gives the Oilers a little more speed on the wing, something that Peter Chiarelli said he was interested in on Friday. He has just two goals and eight points in 37 games this year. Aberg has a 45.4 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of -6.2.
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