The Edmonton Oilers are clearly in the market to trade for a defenceman this season, and Insider Bob Stauffer has finally revealed the team’s primary candidate.
For weeks now, Stauffer has been hinting that the Oilers top trade target may be an off the radar player, a left shot defenceman with term on their contract.
On his radio show Oilers Now yesterday, Stauffer finally directly named the players he’s been speaking about: Montreal Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson.
Matheson is a 30 year old left shot defenceman that’s under contract for the next two seasons at $4.875M, and his name hasn’t previously been floated in trade talks much.
Edmonton Oilers Linked to Montreal Canadiens Defenceman Mike Matheson
The Edmonton Oilers are looking for a defenceman to come in and be a jack of all trades: someone that can kill penalties, effectively move the puck, and play hard minutes against the best competition.
Mike Matheson checks all those boxes, and could be a great piece to the Oilers top four. He’s an exceptional skater and passer, which are talents that led him to put up 62 points last year on a brutal Habs team. This season, Matheson has 16 points in 28 games.
Perhaps the best asset of Matheson’s is being an absolute minute eater. In his last 6 games, Matheson’s played over 25 minutes 5 times.
If the Montreal Canadiens could retain salary to bring the cost down for the next two years, the Oilers could acquire a great player for two playoff runs at bargain value. It may cost a big asset in trade however, especially given his 62 point year last season.
Stan Bowman and Edmonton Oilers will likely wait until the last minute at the trade deadline to make their deal, but if they’ve already pegged their primary target, perhaps they strike sooner.
Matheson would be a great fit, and it could be beneficial to get him into the team and acclimated sooner than later.