Oil Hunting?

In homage to the latest edition to the FanSided Hockey Club, your very own Edmonton Oilers blog called Oil on Whyte, I’ve been looking at some connections between Deadmonton and the Ottawa Senators. Well, there’s one for sure. They have some players who could be of interest to Bryan Murray and co., if they really want to get that third-line centre they need.

One possiblity is the man above, by the name of Andrew Cogliano. He’s the former wonderkid of the Edmonton Oilers’ prospect pool, although not as hyped as Taylor Hall or even Stephen Strasburg over in D.C. Cogs is a fast skater, smooth puck-handling, and a racket of a shot. He reminds me of a rich man’s Ryan Shannon, although in fact the two had similar production this past season. Although, Cogliano was playing on the worst team in the NHL.

And then there’s Sam Gagner, the 6th overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft. He’s had an up and down career so far. Part of the “Kid Line” a couple years ago, but can’t seems to make a name for himself around the league. This is a bit tricky for Ottawa here. If there’s one Restricted Free Agent this off-season that will be offered Thomas Vanek money, it’s this guy. Don’t get me wrong, Sam’s a fine player but doesn’t deserve more than $2 mil a year.

The Oilers have around $13 million left in cap room. Ottawa has around $6 million left, and if they eventually re-sign all 3 RFA’s they have under the roof, then they should have around $3 mil. That’s isn’t much, but Edmonton does have a whole bunch of guys they need to sign, so what hurts the Oil, may help us.

Go after Cogliano, IMO. Give the Oilers either Nick Foligno or Ryan Shannon and a third round pick in 2011. Sign Cogs to a 2-year/ $3 million contract. Let him prove his worth in a new city and a playoff contender.  Andrew will get much better with age, and Ottawa is able to take advantage of that.

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