NHL insider links Edmonton Oilers to Eastern Canadian team's forward
Photo credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
On the recent episode of TSN's insider trading, Pierre LeBrun believes that the Edmonton Oilers are linked to Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans as the team seeks to improve its bottom six forwards prior to the NHL trade deadline.
Evans was drafted by the Canadiens back in 2014, seventh round, 207th overall. He has spent his entire career with the Canadiens, and it appears that this year will be his best offensive production year. Through 58 games, he has scored eleven goals with 16 assists for 27 points and is a + 2.
Depth scoring needed for Oilers playoff run
The Canadiens will likely not make the playoffs this year which means general manager Kent Hughes and President Jeff Gorton will continue to sell off assets that will not be signed long term.
The 28-year-old centre holds a cap hit of 1.7 million through the remainder of this
season and will be at unrestricted free agent next year.
season and will be at unrestricted free agent next year.
Several pundits indicate that he is looking for a raise and the Canadians appeared not to be interested in giving him that raise but would be a player who could help the Oilers right now as the team is looking for inexpensive options to help bolster their lineup.
Oilers hold some cap space prior to trade deadline
The Oilers have some question marks circulating the team as to how much cap space they will have going into the trade deadline.
The biggest question is Evander Kane and whether he will be ready to play prior to the end of the season which will cause the Oilers not to be able to spend his cap space as he has been on long term injured reserve for the entire year.
That decision will be handed to the doctors and could likely be the major fork in the road for the Oilers on how their trade deadline plans will unfold.
The team is currently going through a tailspin as they have lost all their games on their road trip thus far and are looking for redemption as they take on the Florida Panthers in a rematch from last year's Stanley Cup finals.
Connor McDavid and the rest of the Oilers have not looked good since the restart of the NHL season after the Four Nations face off.
He along with many other teammates have stated that they have to get going and get back to their winning ways in order to secure a playoff spot and potentially lock up the Pacific division.
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