Just as the two months leading into the the NHL Trade Deadline are silly season, so are the months leading into the NHL Draft which this year will take place June 28-29 in Nashville, Tennessee.
NHL trade chatter is starting to pick up and an NHL pro scout – pretty much jokingly – suggested the following trade with the Edmonton Oilers if the Boston Bruins are notified soon that team captain Patrice Bergeron, and veteran center David Krejci won’t return for the 2023-24 regular season.
Note: Before you read on, realize that it’s a Tuesday night in mid-May and the Bruins were knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs back on April 30. To news on the Bruins is slim to none, right now is an understatement, but to say the following trade proposal is, would be true. That being said, let’s have some fun with what at this point, isn’t even an NHL trade rumor!
To Bruins:
Center Leon Draisaitl ($8.5M AAV next two seasons), defenseman Vincent Desharnais ($762,500 next season, then becomes an unrestricted free agent), 2024 2nd round pick
To Oilers:
Goalie Linus Ullmark ($5M AAV next two seasons), defenseman Mason Lohrei ($870,000 AAV next two seasons), winger Jake DeBrusk ($4M AAV next season, then becomes an unrestricted free agent), and winger Fabian Lysell ($894,167 AAV next two seasons).
“All of that would obviously be contingent on the Oilers somehow freeing themselves up from Jack Campbell ($5M AAV next four seasons), which will be hard to do, and you’d think the Oilers would need some first round picks which the Bruins don’t have this year or next,” the scout pointed out. “But hey! You never know with the Oilers needing a goalie. The Bruins would be giving up a lot of skill for the now and the future.”
For those who haven’t been watching the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, had the Edmonton Oilers not lost to former Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy and the Vegas Golden Knights in six games, and advanced to the Western Conference Final, Draisaitl would still be the Conn Smythe favorite. The 27-year-old superstar winger finished the playoffs with 13 goals and five assists in 12 games.
The Oilers surely don’t want to trade the German superstar but they’ve got $21 million per season tied up in him and captain Connor McDavid for the next two seasons. As has been the case for so long though, goaltending was the Achilles heel for the Oilers and while it ironically was for the Bruins too, Ullmark is about to win the 2023 Vezina Trophy. Add in a potential 30-goal scorer and Edmonton homeboy in DeBrusk, as well as two blue chip prospects in Lohrei and Lysell, maybe just maybe, the Oilers consider it, salary cap permitting?
In return the Bruins get a bonafide No. 1 center with Pavel Zacha in the 2C, Charlie Coyle in the 3C, and likely Trent Frederic rounding out their centers.
It should be noted that Draisaitl has a modified no-trade clause and no-movement clause, and as of July 1, Ullmark has a 16-team no-trade list.
Again it’s silly season so have fun with this one and fire away in the comments section!
More must-reads: