The Edmonton Oilers made a move Monday and are poised to make another before Friday\u2019s NHL trade deadline.<\/p>\n
Or they hope to.<\/p>\n
First, I really like the Connor Murphy fit in Edmonton<\/a>. It\u2019s exactly what the Oilers needed on the back end to help quiet things down a bit. He\u2019s a defense-first guy, and Edmonton didn\u2019t have enough of those.<\/p>\n According to league sources, seven playoff teams over the past week showed interest in Murphy. The Chicago Blackhawks wanted to do Murphy a solid to show how much they respect the veteran, so they made sure Edmonton was of interest to Murphy \u2014 especially since Murphy is still looking for his first taste of a normal playoffs (he played his only playoff games in the Edmonton bubble with no fans in 2020). So good on the Hawks for finding him a good landing spot.<\/p>\n Chicago told teams on Monday that it wanted to act quickly, so whichever team was ready to pay the second-round price and be a good fit for Murphy was going to get him. The Oilers stepped up quickly.<\/p>\n Now the Oilers need to move Andrew Mangiapane (who cleared waivers) and his contract (one more year at $3.6 million next season), and they hope to do that over the next day or two so they can move on to their second objective, finding a third-line center.<\/p>\n Oilers broadcaster Bob Stauffer has mentioned Nic Roy of the Toronto Maple Leafs as a possible fit, which would make sense based on what I think the Oilers have identified as a need: either a third-line center or a top-nine forward in general who has the ruggedness and physical attributes you need for playoff hockey.<\/p>\n Roy, who has one more season left on his contract at a $3 million cap hit, fits that criteria, but so do others. I wonder if Edmonton could get Toronto to take Mangiapane in a potential Roy trade if the Oilers have the necessary sweetener.<\/p>\n Or could a bigger target, like Brayden Schenn of the St. Louis Blues, make sense? He\u2019s got two years left on his contract at a $6.5 million cap hit, so St. Louis would need to retain some salary there. And what\u2019s the cost of doing that? But in terms of Schenn\u2019s physical makeup and Stanley Cup-winning pedigree, it\u2019s an enticing idea.<\/p>\n If the Oilers go the winger route, pending Nashville Predators unrestricted free agent Michael Bunting could also fit the bill, given his physicality and ruggedness.<\/p>\n Sabres in on Thomas<\/p>\n The price remained sky high for Blues center Robert Thomas as of Tuesday, and I mean, it should!<\/p>\n No. 1 centers who are 26 years old and signed to term on a decent contract almost never become available on the trade market. So I don\u2019t blame St. Louis one bit for asking for what sounds like a huge price.<\/p>\n Colleagues Darren Dreger and Chris Johnston reported Tuesday afternoon about the Buffalo Sabres\u2019 keen interest in Thomas. Given Josh Norris\u2019 struggles to stay healthy, this makes sense on a host of levels for the Sabres.<\/p>\n As mentioned before, the Utah Mammoth are also among the teams in conversations with St. Louis on Thomas.<\/p>\n The question is whether the price will soften by Friday at 3 p.m. ET or whether the Blues are happy to just keep Thomas and try out the market again come the offseason. They\u2019ve acquired a lot of market knowledge on the interest in him.<\/p>\n What\u2019s funny is that I got completely opposite reads on the Thomas situations from two team executives on Monday, one predicting Thomas for sure will get dealt by Friday\u2019s deadline and the other predicting the Blues will wait until the summer to revisit that file.<\/p>\n Johnson not available<\/p>\n Teams have called on Columbus Blue Jackets center Kent Johnson after his recent scratch, but the answer from the Blue Jackets has been that they\u2019re not interested in moving him.<\/p>\n Johnson is having a down year, but the fifth pick from the 2021 draft is still only 23, and Columbus very much still believes in the player he can be.<\/p>\n Predators available<\/p>\n The Nashville Predators are open to moving some parts despite staying in the periphery of the playoff race, a league source said Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n The Preds have a number of pending UFAs in Michael Bunting, Erik Haula, Cole Smith and Tyson Jost.<\/p>\n