According to David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period, several NHL teams are calling the Columbus Blue Jackets about acquiring defenceman Ivan Provorov in a trade.
Provorov is a 27 year old left shot defenceman and a former 7th overall draft pick from the Philadelphia Flyers in 2015. He had serious potential to be a star player from his junior career and sophomore NHL season scoring 17 goals, but Provorov has more so developed into a 2-way defender. On poor Flyers and Blue Jackets teams for most of his career, he's often struggled to put up decent analytic metrics.
However, Provorov has the appeal of a player that's been relied on to play nearly 30 minutes a night for an extremely manageable strategy of $4.725M. The Fourth Period mentioned that Columbus may be reluctant to trade Provorov, so he may come at a premium price to any team wanting to acquire him. Of course, contract negotiations with Columbus could also complicate things.
Last season on the Blue Jackets, Provorov had a decent season, scoring 5 goals and 32 points and posting a -11 rating.
The Oilers primarily need a defenceman to play on the right side, but for his experience and salary cap cost, Provorov will likely become a prime candidate for the Oilers to target for their defence.
POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 24 | 115 ANSWERS Oilers Interested in Top Four Defenceman on the Trade Block from Columbus Blue Jackets Do you think the Oilers should trade for Ivan Provorov? | ||
Yes | 76 | 66.1 % |
No | 24 | 20.9 % |
See Results | 15 | 13 % |
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