There have been some interesting trades streaming lately, but the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens made one of the purest “hockey” trades, a “player for player” move rather than a straight buy-or-sell.
Canadiens receive: defenseman Brandon Davidson
Oilers receive: center David Desharnais (pictured)
ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Montreal has retained 20 percent of Desharnais’ salary in the deal.
Edmonton’s side is the easiest to understand. The Oilers have been far too dependent upon Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for offense; perhaps Desharnais can give the team a big boost as far as scoring support goes.
Montreal, meanwhile, keeps loading up on defensemen. Almost to the extent where you wonder if there’s something that has to give.
In all seriousness, I would imagine there has to be a defenseman leaving Montreal before tomorrow
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) March 1, 2017
The Oilers might have some more work to do before the deadline expires, too.
"We're still looking at a couple things & we'll see where that goes tomorrow." #Oilers' Chiarelli cont'd on impending #NHLTrade deadline
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 1, 2017