As teams who were eliminated from the playoffs evaluate how to improve their respective rosters, the trade winds will be blowing. Here, we are presenting an Arizona Coyotes trade proposal with the Edmonton Oilers.
Arizona Coyotes/Edmonton Oilers Trade Proposal
Both of these teams need different things to succeed. The Coyotes are cap space deficient and desperately need to upgrade their weak offence. The Oilers can score at will with talents like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl turning on the red light with regularity. What they lack is solid goaltending and an improved defence. So, how can both teams help themselves?
The proposed trade would consist of the Coyotes sending Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($8.25M), Antti Raanta ($4.25M), and forward Vinnie Hinostroza ($1.5M) to the Oilers. In return, the Coyotes would receive forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6M) and James Neal ($5.75M). The difference in the salaries is $2.25 million. A team like the Coyotes really needs to shed some salary to be able to make some moves and every little bit helps.
Arizona Coyotes Going to Edmonton
While it has been discussed, Oliver Ekman-Larsson seems to want/need a change of scenery. His play and lack of leadership for some reason has faltered under head coach Rick Tocchet. During Tocchet’s reign as the bench boss OEL has not been terrible and he’s still a top-notch blueliner. His 37 goals and 79 assists over the last three seasons may be shy of what the team expected when they signed him to a lucrative $66 million deal over eight years. He has seven years remaining and has a no movement clause where he can decide where he goes. This past season he had only nine goals and 21 assists, a real drop off.
When compared to the last three years of the Dave Tippett coached team, OEL was a different player. He had 56 goals and 81 assists. That’s a 21-point difference and more importantly a 16-goal difference. Tippett’s offence seemed to better align with OEL’s skillset and he was able tally more goals including power play tallies. He accumulated 36 extra-man scores compared to 28 under Tocchet. It’s a no-brainer that Tippett would love to have OEL quarterbacking his power play and feeding McDavid and Draisaitl.
Rest of the Deal
Another piece of this proposed trade is sending backup goalie Antti Raanta to the Oilers. While Raanta has struggled with injuries, his numbers when he does play are exceptional. He’s a qualified backup or even starter at this point in his career. While in the desert, he has accumulated a 41-37-9 record. His .924 save percentage is attractive and his 2.47 goals-against-average is not bad either. He has had five shutouts while in Arizona.
His skills could even challenge Mikko Koskinen for the starting role in net. It’s a foregone conclusion that Mike Smith will not be on the roster next season. This fortifies a weakness the Oilers had for the goalie position. With their offence, if they can stop the other team, they will prevail.
The final player in this deal could be forward Vinnie Hinostroza. He has fallen off from his first season in Arizona only gathering five goals and 17 assists this season. His first year in the desert he had 16 goals and 23 assists. Hinostroza is also an RFA this coming offseason.
While including Hinostroza in the deal may seem like a bit of an overpayment — with OEL and Raanta’s great ability already providing plenty — it’d be invaluable for Arizona to shed one of their six pending-free agents. The team only has roughly $6 million in cap space, accounting for Marian Hossa being on LTIR. With that money, Arizona has to re-sign Carl Soderberg, Brad Richardson, and Ilya Lybushkin to name a few. They also, of course, want to do all they can to make a run at high-end free agent Taylor Hall, who became the backbone of Arizona for the later half of the season. While getting Nugent-Hopkins would soften the blow of Hall leaving, having a top-line featuring both of them could be scary. Removing one pending-FA, and one worry, helps Arizona at least rival that goal. And in return, Edmonton gets a cheap, productive, bottom-six forward to help round out their lineup.
Edmonton Oilers Going to Arizona
There have been rumours of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins being traded for a while now. His offensive numbers would certainly aide the Coyotes meager offence. He has added 169 goals and 274 assists in 604 games all in Edmonton. Nugent-Hopkins contributed two goals and four assists in four games in the qualifying round. He was the Oilers first overall selection in the 2011 Draft.
He’s still young at 27-years-old and has room for growth. He could be the first-line centre the club has been seeking. He has had 20 or more goals the last three seasons with 22 tallies and 61 points in 65 games this season. It would help fortify the centre position, especially if Barrett Hayton needs more development in the AHL.
The next piece to this proposed deal would be winger James Neal. While he will turn 33-years-old this week, he can still play. He collected 19 goals and 12 assists in 55 games this season. Always known as a physical player, this could add some toughness to a Coyotes’ squad who get pushed around a bit too much. At 6′-3″, 212 pounds, he can stand his ground. For the Oilers it would be a way to exit out of his $5.75 million AAV contract for another three seasons.
Coyotes General Manager Job Needs to be Filled
For this or any trade, the Coyotes need to get a general manager hired. While Steve Sullivan may be quite qualified, he may not have the vision the team or ownership desires. He could have the same concepts of running the team as the man he previously worked for … John Chayka. Owner Alex Meruelo was not a happy camper the way Chayka left the team high and dry. He may even blame him for the training snafu which cost the team it’s two draft picks this year and next.
Whether Sullivan gets the job or someone with more experience, it needs to happen sooner rather than later. The team could lose out improving the roster if the decision is delayed. The other issue is the draft will take place in October and a general manager needs to be in place and ready to make decisions.
Trade Possibilities
While most trades are complicated transactions, what makes this particular trade possible is the familiarity of the Coyotes’ players and Dave Tippett. He knows what OEL can do, he coached him. And, while he may not have coached Raanta, he knows what he’s capable of doing to help his goaltending succeed. Conversely, the Coyotes know that Nugent-Hopkins will inject some offensive firepower into their lineup, and that is definitely a promising endeavor, especially if they fail to sign Taylor Hall.
Two clubs in need of some changes. Will it happen?
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