Edmonton Oilers Prime Trade Deadline Target Has Controversial History

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Liam McCormick
October 25, 2024 (11:17)

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The Oilers biggest roster need this season is clearly a top four defenceman, and one prime candidate that recently became available has a controversial history.

According to reports from David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period, several teams are showing interest in acquiring Ivan Provorov of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Oilers weren't named as a team interested, but as a top player at a position of need, it's very possible Edmonton is looking at him.

Back in January of 2023, Ivan Provorov sat out of warm up with the Philadelphia Flyers because he refused to wear a jersey celebrating Pride Night, citing his religious beliefs.

For obvious reasons, there was quite a bit of contention between fans about Provorov's refusal to participate. It was actually because of this controversy directly that the NHL ended up banning all caused-based warmup jerseys, including ones to support Cancer Charities and Veterans.

Provorov is a 27 year old left shot defenceman that's been relied on to play near 30 minutes a night for most of his career. In 620 career games on mostly poor Flyers and Blue Jackets teams, Provorov has struggled to produce great results, but has been known as a workhorse on the blue line. His career best year came in his sophomore season, scoring 17 goals in 82 games. He had a decent first season with Columbus last year, scoring 32 points and only being a -11 in 82 games. Provorov is a pending free agent that comes with a very manageable salary of $4.725M.

The Oilers need to deeply consider whether Provorov would be able to fit within their locker room if they decide to make a trade for him. It will be a move that would be immediately unpopular with many fans, but that's not something the Oilers are strangers to. Many times in the last few years, the Oilers have given «second chances» to players with issues in the past - most notably their general manager Stan Bowman.

It may be best for the Oilers to wait and see every defenceman that becomes available for trade later in the season, but if their slow start worries continue, maybe they need to pounce on a trade to bolster the blue line. Hopefully the Oilers can start rattling off some wins to buy themselves some time to really evaluate the trade market.