Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors

The Ottawa Senators find themselves in an intriguing, yet blatantly dubious trade rumor with the Edmonton Oilers.

The buzz is a bi-product of the Cody Ceci contract dispute that is leaving onlookers increasingly pessimistic that the two sides can agree to a deal in a timely fashion.

I’ve been defending Ceci through this whole ordeal based mainly on the fact that the figures he’s likely holding out for are the realistic going rate for a young defenseman with his type of proven production.

Morgan Rielly is better than Ceci right now, and Rielly got $30 million for 6 years. Ceci is currently better than Oscar Klefbom, though, and Klefbom got $29.3 million for 7 years.

That puts Ceci in line to receive something around $27 million for 6 years. Contracts in this league are based on precedent, and according to what comparable players are getting, Ceci shouldn’t be criticized for holding out for what the league has deemed a player like him is worth.

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Speculation is surrounding how far apart Ceci and the team are in negotiations. If an impasse has been hit that is too powerful to overcome, the Senators may feel like they have no choice but to try to trade Ceci.

I’ve argued against that for the time being because I’m optimistic about the forwards the Senators have, and feel Ceci would be better off staying put to try to help a defensive unit that had problems last season.

Andrew Hammond struggled through injuries last season, and he still deserves strong support in any discussions of goaltender of the future based on his historically remarkable 2014-2015 season. Craig Anderson may be inconsistent, but he is also capable of stretches of brilliance. That duo should suffice for the time being in net.

If the Senators were in a position to get an impact player for Ceci, they should do their due diligence in exploring the option.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is being discussed as a possible piece to acquire Ceci, at least in theory. The Edmonton Oilers had been toying with the possibility of trading either him or Taylor Hall, and Hall just got traded to the New Jersey Devils.

Both are former first overall picks, but while Nugent-Hopkins has yet to top 56 points in any of his 5 seasons, Hall scored 80 points in 2013-2014 and had 65 points last season.

For their careers, Hall is averaging 0.86 points per game, while Nugent-Hopkins is averaging 0.71 points per game.

If they deem Hall as tradeable, then I suppose that Nugent-Hopkins would also be moveable in a vacuum, but trading both of them in the same offseason sounds unlikely.

Nugent-Hopkins is an intriguing young playmaker who is both an excellent passer as well as a good defensive forward. It seems like a stretch that the Oilers would trade a guy of his skill level just 5 years removed from being the number 1 overall pick for a young, still somewhat unproven defenseman who hasn’t looked as impressive as other peers who were a part of his same draft class.

Guys like Rielly and Hampus Lindholm have established themselves as more promising defensemen at this point than Ceci, and if the Oilers are intent on trading Nugent-Hopkins, they would likely be able to get a better player than Ceci.

Of course, it’s not every day that a player of Ceci’s talent enters into a public contractual dispute with their team, and while the situation may devolve into unsalvageable on the part of the Senators, the Oilers aren’t in that predicament with Nugent-Hopkins.

This trade sounds like wishful thinking, because not only is Nugent-Hopkins a far superior player than Ceci, but the Oilers aren’t in a vulnerable position of even having to entertain offers for Nugent-Hopkins.

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If the right opportunity comes around, they may very well trade him away, but the player they get in return is going to be a player with more proven production that Ceci. The Senators shouldn’t get too excited about the possibility of acquiring Nugent-Hopkins, because it’s very unlikely.

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