Exactly, they need to look at whos available next offseason and make trades then. This season is done, they could bring in oettinger and that wont fix mcdrai playing poorly, nuge being invisible, the defense puck watching. Swayman and hart are available next offseason, those are much better targets than the fucking mediocre habs goalies right now, giving them the entire farm and still missing playoffs
Any trade now will be “Big, ugly, and painful” because the Oilers have no leverage. With a 5-12-1 record, the chances of the Oilers making the playoffs are extremely slim. With each game that goes by without a change this rapidly gets closer to none. McDavid and Draisaitl re-signing is closely tied to both players believing that the Oilers can be contenders moving forward, and a basement finish right now is not going to help in that regard.
Any team in the league can (essentially) offer an unreasonable deal on a goalie or defense man and wait for the Oilers to accept the offer. They know they don’t have to come down because they can eventually trade these pieces at the deadline for more than fair value. The Oilers will be left in a position to take the best terrible deals.
Holland said at the presser where they announced the coaching change that he’s been working the phones for a trade but stated, “we’re 12 games into the season and to make a trade you require a partner on the other end”. Basically there’s ZERO market right now. So fans and media can clamour for a trade all they want but there’s no one out there willing to play.
