Oilers to tempt Hawks with risky deadline move!

On Tuesday, insider Ben Pope of The Chicago Sun-Times revealed how the Blackhawks could be the saviour of a few teams out there ahead of the trade deadline. He dressed the list of 10 players the Hawks could target at this year’s trade deadline seeing that Chicago could use its ample long-term injury reserve space to get a bad contract but pick up some prospects or draft picks in the process. Essentially, the team has $21 million in LTIR space for this season and still have quite a bit of space for next season too.

So, some teams will come calling and begging the Hawks, and amongst them, it is believed the Edmonton Oilers could ask to move a bad contract. Even Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 31 Thoughts column: 

“One team that will consider taking money? Surprising Chicago. The Blackhawks are in a position to absorb a contract or two if the assets are good enough.”

Pope names players like James Neal in Edmonton. It has been, after all, an on-again, off-again season for Neal, who isn’t playing, at least not regularly. He’s often been a healthy scratch and when he is in the lineup, he’s being limited in his minutes. For $5.75 million per year, we expect more from Neal. He therefore becomes the ideal candidate if the Oilers beg Chicago to take on some of their committed money issues.

Neal is not necessarily the only player that works in a situation like this. Pope also mentions Vancouver’s Loui Eriksson, the Islanders’ Andrew Ladd and Carolina’s Jake Gardiner.

And he is aware it could be a risky move for the Hawks themselves: 

“There are risks to that strategy, but it’s a possibility, especially with many teams around the NHL tight against the cap heading toward the trade deadline April 12.”