While it might not be a deal that gets done where all three teams work together, if there’s anything to the talk that the Edmonton Oilers are interested in Duncan Keith and the Chicago Blackhawks are interested in Caleb Jones — as an effort to eventually acquire Seth Jones — these three teams are certainly being linked together.
It started with rumors the Blackhawks and Keith were working together to make a trade to Western Canada or the Pacific Northwest a reality. It then surfaced there was mutual interest between the Oilers and Keith, potentially seeing him come to Edmonton and slot in behind Darnell Nurse on the Oilers left side. There is more information coming to light on Friday.
According the most recent chatter, which includes a piece in the Edmonton Journal by David Staples, the Blackhawks weren’t interested in taking on another big contract in exchange for Keith. Staples writes, “Two of hockey’s most plugged in insiders, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now, dug in deeply on Stauffer’s show today about all the speculation around a potential Duncan Keith to Edmonton Oilers trade.” He then quotes Stauffer who said that Edmonton is a “target location” for Keith but that the Oilers will have to play hardball because the Blackhawks don’t want to retain or take back a bad contract.
The reason the Blackhawks are not looking to add someone else in the trade is because they want to leave room to go after a big fish like Seth Jones or Dougie Hamilton.
Would a Caleb Jones Deal Be Too Much
Realistically, if the Oilers are prepared to lose Caleb Jones — it was possible he would get snagged in the NHL Expansion Draft anyways — the have a real carrot to dangle if Chicago has their sights set on his brother Seth Jones. Seth would see Chicago as an attractive destination anyways, but adding Caleb might be the icing on the cake.
For the Oilers, they’ll need to decide if that’s too much, especially if the Blackhawks don’t help the Oilers with Keith’s $5.4 million cap hit for the next two seasons. Keith could be a decent fit in Edmonton under the right set of circumstances, but at full price with nothing else going out, it’s a tougher sell for Oilers fans.
More must-reads: