The Edmonton Oilers are expected to make some moves before the NHL’s trade deadline on March 6. They have many skilled players, but there are definitely some areas where they need improvement.
One position they might want to strengthen is having a right-handed defenseman. Rasmus Ristolainen would be a good option for them.
Ristolainen currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers, but many teams are likely interested in trading for him.
“NHL insider Anthony Di Marco reported on Monday that sources mentioned the Flyers gained a lot of interest in Ristolainen during the Olympic break, and more teams have been impressed by his performance with Finland as the games went on,” Di Marco shared. “While the team has tried to keep things quiet about trade talks involving the Olympian – looking at the situation, it seems Ristolainen isn’t really excited about being traded – I’ve heard that five or six teams have shown interest in Ristolainen in the past two weeks, and it seems like the interest is growing. ”
According to Di Marco, the two teams that have definitely expressed interest in Ristolainen are the Oilers and the Bruins.
He adds that the Bruins may have just been casually looking at him and not seriously pursuing him, but it appears the Oilers really need to make a move.
“They have been searching for a strong defense player who shoots right to team up with Darnell Nurse for what feels like forever,” Di Marco explains. “As per PuckPedia, they have a little over $1 million available in their budget as the deadline approaches, so they would have to find some creative ways to fit Ristolainen’s $5.1 million average salary into their budget – this year and next year. Forward Andrew Mangiapane’s name has been mentioned all season – his performance in Edmonton has been really bad – so he could potentially be traded to balance out the money. ”
During this time of year, managing money can be the hardest challenge for teams that are trying to win, as they often spend all their funds just to be competitive.
However, if the Oilers can manage to make the right moves, bringing in Ristolainen would be a huge boost for Edmonton.
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