The Edmonton Oilers were reportedly in deep trade talks with the Pittsburgh Penguins before the Vancouver Canucks swooped in and took their player.
Last week was a busy one for the Canucks, with the team finally shipping out J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers. Yet, it was the team’s second deal with the Penguins to acquire defenceman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor that apparently threw a wrench into Edmonton’s plans.
According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli on Monday’s edition of OilersNow, the Oilers were in trade discussions with the Penguins to acquire O’Connor.
“I think the Edmonton Oilers had gone pretty far down the track with the Pittsburgh Penguins about Drew O’Connor,” Seravalli said.
“They’re gonna continue to look at a forward with speed in addition to giving John Klingberg the runway that he needs to prove himself.”
There is a good argument to be made that the Oilers should have been creeping around a potential trade to land both O’Connor and Pettersson before they both went to the Canucks. Pettersson is a much better bet as a top-four defenceman than Klingberg is, and O’Connor would have added an interesting element to the bottom-six.
The fact that the team was so interested in O’Connor, however, does tip off what the Oilers may be looking to do before next month’s trade deadline. The 26-year-old left-winger had a breakout season in Pittsburgh last season, scoring 16 goals and 33 points in 79 games. He has taken a bit of a step back this season, with only six goals and 16 points through 53 games.
One of the strongest parts of his game is his skating, which has been a season-long issue for the Oilers’ bottom-six. Edmonton opted to get much older down the lineup by moving on from both Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway over the summer, and it has been noticeable five months into the season.
Oilers GM Stan Bowman picked up Kasperi Kapanen off waivers earlier in the year to help with that problem, and the Finn has looked good. If this report is to be believed, the Oilers want to get even faster as they load up for what they hope will be another run at the Stanley Cup.