Oilers personnel spotted with Eastern Conference team amid trade rumours

General manager Stan Bowman along with his staff have made it clear that the Oilers need secondary scoring and defensive help as he feels the team needs to strengthen their depth. The Oilers took a gamble yesterday when they signed unrestricted free agent John Klingberg to a one year deal worth $1 million prorated.

The team feels that they need to give him a chance till at least March trade deadline to see if he will pan out. But it's certain that the Oilers will continue to scour the league as teams including the Flyers begin to fade with their playoff hopes and drop out of the race.

The Flyers hold several players who could help the Oilers including defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and center Scott Laughton.

The 30-year-old Ristolainen would certainly be an upgrade as he is a right-handed shot, has a very large frame where he stands at six foot 4 and 208 pounds and would be a minute eater as the Flyers give him well over 22 minutes a game. It's safe to say that he would fit on the Oilers right side possibly with Mattias Ekholm.

As for Laughton, he has been coveted by numerous teams even into last season, but many NHL pundits feel that Flyers general manager Danny Briere has asked for a first round pick at minimum in order to acquire Laughton's services and still holds one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $3,000,000.

Bowman and his team will evaluate the cost if interested in these players but it's safe to say that they would help the Oilers and may be worth putting one or both on the roster to help them get over the top.