MacTavish wants 'top center' for DP/STL-EDM Talking Trade

[dmiles2186]

Good luck with that.

(Maybe he thinks Berglund is a top center....)

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[Misc. Blues]

No cap space and wouldn't want him back...closet or no closet...

[glen a richter]

I'd rather have MacTavish than Perron. No helmet and all.

[dmiles2186]

I'm kidding about getting Perron back. Mostly, MacTavish is off his rocker if he wants a top center in return for Perron.

[ViPeRx007]

Can't blame MacTavish. He's never going to get that, but he can at least hope there's some desperate team out there. Maybe he'll get lucky like we did with our guy and net himself a 5th rounder....

[cprice12]

"top center" doesn't necessarily mean "elite".

Surely when he says top center, he means a good center....a 2nd line center. Which I can see him getting.
Some think he would be a real good fit in Pittsburgh, mainly because they could probably get him for less than what he is worth because of his early season struggles...and they feel he would excel there.

Perron had a nice season last year as far as goals and points go, but he's off to a slow start this year. He seems to have worn out his welcome in Edmonton already.
I haven't seen him play much since he was traded there, but I would imagine he's doing the same crap he did here... undisciplined play, too many penalties in the offensive zone, and not listening to the coaching staff.

Dude has a ton of talent. Teams just don't give up on players like that...and it has happened twice in a few years now for him. Not sure what his deal is.

[not_a_wings_fan]

He's a whiny bitch with a prima donna attitude problem.

I'm not shocked Craig doesn't like him and that he has struggled in Edmonton.

Good luck getting someone to take a flyer on him.

[Kerfuffle]

Not surprised that Edmonton is 'working the phones' feverishly. When we beat them this past Sat 7-1 the game was an embarrassment. Their players literally quit out there as soon as the score was 2-0. I've never seen guys mail it in that bad before. Some of our guys had all day long with the puck and no one bothered to challenge them. I got to hold the coach accountable for that but obviously a shakeup in the team personnel is needed as well.

[glen a richter]

If they don't can Eakins and hire Bylsma yesterday, that franchise has officially become the biggest joke in the league. Once a proud organization too, it's so sad.

[not_a_wings_fan]

Edmonton hasn't had a playoff season since they traded Pronger to Anaheim.

I don't see it happening again any time soon. I would be blowing that whole thing up if I was in charge.

[Kerfuffle]

I'll never feel sorry for Edmonton. They had Gretzky and 5 cups in 7 years. They can lose for the next 100 years as far as I care.

[dmiles2186]

I'll never feel sorry for Edmonton. They had Gretzky and 5 cups in 7 years. They can lose for the next 100 years as far as I care.

They also had three #1 overall picks in a row and couldn't find a way to revitalize their franchise with that haul.

[dmiles2186]

Kind of unrelated...but I'd take Jordan Eberle.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/h ... story.html

Any Oilers, Blues trade talks would undoubtedly include Jordan Eberle

Centre Patrik Berglund could be Oilers’ target in a deal that likely wouldn’t be a 1-for-1 swap

By Jim Matheson, Edmonton Journal November 24, 2014



Story
Photos ( 2 )



Edmonton Journal hockey writers Jim Matheson and Joanne Ireland, and sports columnist John MacKinnon, talk about the sub-.500 Edmonton Oilers' lack of team identity as the 2014-15 NHL season nears the quarter pole.

DALLAS — If the Edmonton Oilers are indeed sniffing around St. Louis Blues centre Patrik Berglund, who is currently playing left wing on that stacked team because the team has Paul Stastny, David Backes and Jori Lehtera firmly planted at centre, the Blues conceivably are asking about Jordan Eberle in a package.

Nobody’s saying it would ever be a one-for-one arrangement because Eberle has more currency around the league as an offensive weapon (76- and 65-point NHL seasons on his resume) than the six-foot-three, 217-pound Berglund and he makes considerably more money than the Swede for longer term, but Eberle could take Berglund’s spot as a winger in St. Louis.

There is some history with Eberle and Blues’ management, of course. St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock had the Oilers’ winger at the Canadian Olympic team summer orientation session in Calgary before the 2014 Sochi Games, and Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was also part of the Canadian Olympic management group.

Plus, the Blues and the Oilers have been trading partners before. Oilers GM Craig MacTavish traded forward Magnus Paajarvi and a second-round draft to St. Louis in the summer of 2013 for winger David Perron.

Berglund has this year and two more at a $3.7-million cap hit. The Blues have one very good young centre, Robby Fabbri, who almost made the team this year, and also have Ivan Barbashev, playing in Moncton with Vladimir Tkachev, so giving up Berglund would be a comfortable decision.

The Oilers need a veteran National Hockey League centre with some offensive juice to back up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Berglund, in his seventh season has question marks, for sure. He’s had 52- and 47-point seasons but is coming off an ordinary 32-point season in 2013-14 and has just four points this year.

He’s a big body and is only 26, however.

“If you are looking at the numbers, you are going to say ‘gee, he should be doing more,’” Hitchcock told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week, “but it’s a process. He’s a guy we use in a checking role against other top players. Scoring is the last part of it that has to be taken care of. He’s got a better tempo more determination.”

The Oilers have an abundance of wingers, although Benoit Pouliot is out until after Christmas with a broken foot after being hit with a Marek Zidlicky shot.

The Oilers certainly consider Eberle, who is in the second year of a six-year, $36-million deal, one of their core guys, and it would be a big gulp to think of trading him, but the assistant captain is likely not untouchable as Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall are.

Anybody asking about Eberle in a deal would be trying to equalize the dollars in a trade, most likely.

It’s likely teams are asking for Perron, as well, if the Oilers are after a centre.

Would the Montreal Canadiens give up shifty five-foot-seven, 170-pound David Desharnais for Perron, feeling they could move Alex Galchenyuk into the middle there? Desharnais, 28, makes $3.5 million this season and the following two. After Max Pacioretty, there isn’t a veteran left-winger who can provide offence, although Czech rookie Jiri Sekac is an up-and-comer with six goals.

ON THE BENCH

The Blues might not mind divesting themselves of Steve Ott’s $2.6 million deal (this year and next) if he’s going to be a fourth-liner, too.

jmatheson@edmontonjournal.com

Follow me on Twitter:@NHLbyMatty

------

Edmonton Journal hockey writers Jim Matheson and Joanne Ireland, and sports columnist John MacKinnon, talk to sports editor Craig Ellingson about the recent losing ways of the Edmonton Oilers heading into a string of three home games in four nights in late November 2014.

[not_a_wings_fan]

omg, if we could trade ott and bergie for Eberle...

I can't see that deal going down like that, but holy crap I would take that deal.

They need a #2 center and veteran presence to motivate those punks to play and we would be able to get a scoring winger. It's a win win in my book and pretty much salary neutral.

[glen a richter]

Two things:

1. I would absolutely love that trade, the players involved kind of make sense and the money kind of makes sense as well.

2. Now would be the perfect time to do it because it's not too late in the season and it allows plenty of time to have Eberle gel with the team rather than trying to do it in mid-March. I always found the trade deadline to be too late into the season. Also, with a game against Edmonton coming up this week, minimal interruption to anyones travel plans. They can suit up in the opposite locker room just as easily and all play in that game.

[not_a_wings_fan]

I guess it seems my "whiny bitch" statement was closer to the truth than I thought.

mgmt. feels Perron through his coach and his team under the bus in the post-game presser after losing the other night.

Article with his comments is here.

Excerpt:

It's about a full sixty. We need to have accountability from coaches and teammates.

[glen a richter]

I guess it seems my "whiny bitch" statement was closer to the truth than I thought.

mgmt. feels Perron through his coach and his team under the bus in the post-game presser after losing the other night.

Article with his comments is here.

Excerpt:

It's about a full sixty. We need to have accountability from coaches and teammates.

Again, two things... this time about Perron's quote:

1. Fancy him being the one talking about a full sixty from a guy who makes stupid decisions on a regular basis.

2. He's right.

[not_a_wings_fan]

I guess it seems my "whiny bitch" statement was closer to the truth than I thought.

mgmt. feels Perron through his coach and his team under the bus in the post-game presser after losing the other night.

Article with his comments is here.

Excerpt:

It's about a full sixty. We need to have accountability from coaches and teammates.

Again, two things... this time about Perron's quote:

1. Fancy him being the one talking about a full sixty from a guy who makes stupid decisions on a regular basis.

2. He's right.

He may be totally right... but calling out the coaches in a post-game interview is a violation of the code - especially when you are David Perron.

And ya, he's never given a full sixty that I can recall.

[tjk002]

I'd still make the Berglund and Ott trade for Peron any day of the week. Almost a push on the salary cap, and give Porter more playing time.

[not_a_wings_fan]

I'd still make the Berglund and Ott trade for Peron any day of the week. Almost a push on the salary cap, and give Porter more playing time.

you are (Franking) high.

We were talking about trading for Eberle, not Perron.

I wouldn't take Perron back if he was free or they paid us.