Perhaps mid-November is the time for lateral trades and troubling injuries?
Oilers fans probably tense up whenever their team makes a trade, yet this one is more of a shoulder shrug than a forehead-slapper: Edmonton receives Ryan Spooner, while the New York Rangers get Ryan Strome.
(Hey, stop yawning.)
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Rangers retained $900K of Spooner’s salary (for each of the next seasons) to make the trade work; each forward now carries a $3.1 million cap hit in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
You really need to crane your neck to see the differences between Strome, 25, and Spooner, 26. Reactions have gone both ways as far as which team “won” the trade, as you might expect from a move that more or less merely shakes things up.
Plenty of people are, instead, merely enjoying just how negligible the difference is between the two forwards:
... Or using this as another opportunity to ridicule bumbling Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli, who acquired Strome in that ill-fated Jordan Eberle trade before the 2017-18 season.
Jordan Eberle has as many PPP as Strome and Spooner’s combined points total. #goilers #reptilecharlie
— Ed (@EdofEV) November 16, 2018
As PHT’s Adam Gretz notes, this trade is mainly a reminder of past mistakes:
When Peter Chiarelli was hired in Edmonton he had Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Justin Schultz on his roster and five of the top-80 picks in that draft.
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) November 16, 2018
Here is what he has today to show for those assets. pic.twitter.com/LBlYeFogF2
Chiarelli drafted Spooner during his days with the Boston Bruins, so that likely explains why he targeted the forward.
At least, that explains it beyond making a trade for the sake of making a trade.
While I’d argue that the Penguins edged the Kings by landing Tanner Pearson for Carl Hagelin, it’s most likely to be a small victory. The difference, on paper, might be even less obvious here, unless a change of scenery truly sparks one or the other. Strome’s possession stats have been better and their production has been comparable over the years. Maybe Spooner could find chemistry with Connor McDavid in a way that would allow Leon Draisaitl to play on his own line? From here, this is a marginal trade, but there’s always a chance it might be a little more fruitful than expected.
If nothing else, it could serve as a wakeup call. That sure beats the Oilers’ unfortunate tradition of trades being a kick in the gut.
MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.