The Edmonton Oilers are in the hunt for a high-end defenceman via trade, and one proposal has surfaced that would send Rasmus Ristolainen to the Oilers.
Insider Bob Stauffer recently claimed the Oilers are looking for a defenceman with term, and Jonathan Bailey of Philly Hockey Now connected the dots with Ristolainen. The 29-year-old defender has three more years left on his contract at $5.1M.
"The one name that fits Stauffer's criteria is Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has three years remaining on his contract at a $5.1 million cap hit."
- Joanathan Bailey, Philly Hockey Now
The Oilers currently only have around $1M in cap space, but if they could work a way to make the money work, Ristolainen is a real candidate to acquire in trade. He's a big body at 6 feet 4 inches tall, a right shot defenceman, and could bring some physicality to the Oilers blueline that may work well in the playoffs.
However, Ristolainen has been prone to some awful defensive mistakes in his career, and at times has been called not worth his contract in Philly - so they have explored trading him. There's also the concern that through his entire career, he's never played a single playoff game. Given the amount of cap gymnastics required to make this trade work, it's probably just not worth the risk.
The Oilers have plenty of time to acquire a defenceman for this year's playoff run, but making a move earlier in the year could really light a spark for the team. Frank Seravalli has reported that the Oilers could really make a trade even before training camp. OilersNow mentioned trading for Ristolainen with half salary retained as well, so there is traction to the rumour.
Jeff Jackson has shown enough in his small tenure running the Oilers for fans to trust his decision when the team makes a trade for a defenceman. With the right move, the Oilers defence could be in great shape, and allow their offence to dominate games.
Do you think the Oilers should trade for Rasmus Ristolainen?
