Oilers made "legit" offer for Timo Meier ahead of trade deadline: report

The Edmonton Oilers could have loaded up even more ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

On the latest episode of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman reported that the general manager Ken Holland and the Oilers made a move for then San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier.

“There were teams out there who were saying, ‘what if we add Meier out there for the stretch run, and then punted our major decisions until the summer, and then figured it all out from there,” Friedman said.

“I don’t know if that was Edmonton’s plan initially, but I think it became an idea that they tossed around. I heard the offer they made to San Jose was legit. Obviously, it didn’t win the deal… but I heard it was legit.”

The Sharks didn’t end up selecting the Oilers’ offer, instead sending Meier to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forwards Fabian Zetterlund and Andreas Johnsson, defencemen Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nikita Okhotiuk, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and a second- and a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

New Jersey also got defensemen Scott Harrington and Santeri Hatakka, forward prospect Timur Ibragimov, goalie prospect Zachary Emond, and a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

TIMO MEIER IS A NEW JERSEY DEVIL 😈 pic.twitter.com/tlBiSYlb55

— NHL (@NHL) March 6, 2023

Friedman reported that Edmonton would have planned to play Meier alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisatil on the top line.

“That is a situation where you could see Meir’s value being X at the deadline, and after a playoff with McDavid and Draisaitl, it’s X plus Y, and I think that’s the way Edmonton was thinking,” Friedman said. “We’ll never know because it didn’t happen, but that was one of the ones that I think the Oilers looked at.

Timo Meier was the best available player on the trade market. The Devils just added an elite forward to their group. pic.twitter.com/u7EfHeEEOQ

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) February 26, 2023

Still, Edmonton made their moves in the lead-up to the March 3 deadline, adding defencemen Mattias Ekholm, forward Nick Bjugstad, and AHLer Cam Dineen, hoping to buoy them towards a lengthy Stanley Cup playoff run.

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