Hold up on the potential Keith trade to Edmonton finally explained!

Will they make it work and pull the trigger, Friedman?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
Hold up on the potential Keith trade to Edmonton finally explained!
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A week ago, speculation emerged that the Chicago Blackhawks were working on a trade to ship out veteran defenseman Duncan Keith. Sportsnet’s insider Elliotte Friedman added to the rumour when he stated later on that the blue liner could be moved to either the Pacific Northwest or Western Canada. 

For the past seven days, it’s been said that the Oilers have become frontrunner to land Keith seeing that the team needs a solid, reliable blue liner in case sidelined Oscar Klefbom misses next season. He missed the entire 2021 campaign because of a chronic shoulder injury. 

Keith is believed to be looking to move closer to his son, who resides in his offseason home in Penticton, BC. He carries a reasonable $5.538 million annual average value for two more seasons and the Oilers could make it work. 

When rumours of Keith coming to Edmonton started trending, we all thought the trigger would be pulled soon. And we’ve been waiting. In his latest 31 Thoughts podcast, Friedman tried to explained what is the hold up in the Keith trade to Edmonton. 

“I wonder if this Edmonton - Chicago thing is getting to a yes or no situation. I just wonder if Edmonton and Chicago are gonna say ‘we’re doing this or we’re not.’
“They’re kind of staring at each other, they know what’s on the table, are we gonna do it or not? Both these teams have to have certainty on what they’re doing for a) the expansion draft and b) eventually, especially in Edmonton’s case, free agency. Gotta know if this is gonna get done or not.”

Co-host Jeff Marek wondered if Keith shouldn’t be the one to get this deal done, putting pressure on the Blackhawks to move him, though Friedman added that Chicago is looking to trade him, but also want to ensure they have cap space to get a top defenseman on their back end. 

The idea of buying Keith out was brought up, though the Hawks would still need to pay it quite a bundle for the next two seasons, and then a bit less for another two. However, Keith could then sign wherever he wants. 

“I’m betting Chicago would rather trade (Keith) than buy him out, added Friedman. “And also get the cap hit completely gone.”

The Oilers and Hawks will need to decide shortly if this trade is happening or not. As Friedman said himself: are we gonna do it or not?

Source: Sportsnet