Are the Oilers looking to trade Andrew Mangiapane?

On the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman spent a few minutes talking about Andrew Mangiapane and how his time with the Oilers might be winding down. According to Sportsnet’s insider, Mangiapane might be willing to waive his no-trade clause if Edmonton can find him a bigger role elsewhere.

Needless to say, the first half-season of Andrew Mangiapane’s time as an Oiler has been less than ideal. The 29-year-old winger signed a two-year deal with the Oilers back on July 1st, but has since struggled to find his footing through the first 39 games, averaging around 13:31 in TOI per night. And according to Elliotte Friedman, Mangiapane could be the odd man out once the team starts getting healthy again. As you know, dear reader, the Oilers haven’t played a single game with their full lineup yet, and some interesting decisions will have to be made once guys start coming back.

“A lot of this is being led by and in that situation, there’s gonna be guys who have to sit, there’s gonna be less time for other guys, and I think Mangiapane is one of those who could potentially be moved to open up spots. We’ll see how it plays out. All of a sudden, they are about to get healthy. And not only that, but people who have been watching the American Hockey League … say that Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson have extremely good down there. And while the Oilers have been like, ‘Hey, that’s excellent. These guys have been getting experience, and they’re getting confidence; sooner or later, they’re gonna wanna give one or both — probably both — of them another shot in the NHL. So we’re in a situation where there’s gonna be some extra bodies.”

It’s wild to think about how poorly some of our free agents signings have gone over the last two seasons. Both Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner were only here for a season with generally poor results, and now Mangiapane looks like he could be the next UFA out the door. As much as it would be nice to clear up that $3.6 million in cap space depending on what a Bread Man trade would look like, you do have to wonder what’s going on with our pro scouting missing the mark on their big targets two years in a row. Can it really be that hard to come to Edmonton and find some success?

“I don’t think it’s a hard and fast trade demand or anything like that, but I think there’s just a realization like Danault, like Marchment that it just wasn’t working in that spot and if another situation can be found, I think Mangiapane would be willing to look at it.”

I’m torn on what to think about this situation, to be honest. As much as Mangiapane has disappointed so far this season, I do have concerns about how it would look to the rest of the players to see that yet another free agent signing didn’t work out in Edmonton. Yeah, we have Zach Hyman, the greatest free agent signing of all time, under our belt, and the Jack Roslovic bargain contract is a literal steal, but it is curious why veteran players choose Edmonton and seemingly fall apart. Is it a us thing, or can these guys just not handle what it takes to play with the big dogs? I dunno.

“I think there is an understanding there that if the Oilers can find something for Mangiapane with another team where he might have a bigger role, he would be willing to waive in that situation.”

Either way, it’s going to be interesting to watch how this situation plays out. As we know, a lot of rumours come out about a lot of teams, but most of them never go anywhere. Even so, it’s not often you hear guys like Friedman talking about trades with veteran players who aren’t even halfway through the first year of their new deal. Will Mangiapane be the next “oh, I remember that guy” or is there an opportunity for him to figure out a role that works here in Edmonton? I guess time will tell.

In 39 games with the Oilers, Mangiapane has recorded five goals and 11 points, along with 20 PIMs and a -16 rating.