Oilers could look to trade with Flyers for defensive help
The Edmonton Oilers could use an upgrade on the blueline at this year’s NHL trade deadline, and the Philadelphia Flyers might have some players that could help.
Currently on an 11-game winning streak, Oilers GM Ken Holland will almost certainly be a buyer at the deadline. The team is clinging on to a wildcard spot and is hot on the heels of both the LA Kings and Vegas Golden Knights for a top-three spot in the Pacific Division.
One area that Holland might be looking to upgrade is adding more depth on the backend. Cody Ceci has been underwhelming in Edmonton’s top four and while the third pair of Brett Kulak-Vincent Desharnais has been solid, the team doesn’t have any other veteran options if an injury were to occur down the stretch.
So, could the Oilers look to upgrade on Ceci and add another veteran defender to help fill in the gaps come playoff time with just one trade? If the Flyers are willing to move on from both Nick Seeler and Sean Walker, it could happen.
The Flyers are fresh off trading for young defender Jamie Drysdale, who is expected to become a staple in the team’s top four for years to come alongside Cam York and Travis Sanheim. With the team locked into the contract of Rasmus Ristolainen for the next three seasons and rookie Egor Zamula getting more time, this leaves just one spot open for the Flyers.
This could mean that both Seeler and Walker, who are UFAs at the end of the season, could wind up hitting the trade market despite the Flyers being in a playoff spot.
Walker in particular has been impressive this season. According to Natural Stat Trick, he ranks second among regular Flyers defenceman in high-danger chances-for percentage (HDCF%) at 54.35% and has 15 points in 44 games. He also has an expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) of 52.73%.
This is slightly better than Ceci’s 52.96% HDCF% and 50.88 xGF%.
Seeler has also been decent this year, though he probably wouldn’t play as high in the Oilers lineup as Walker would. He has a 52.97 HDCF% and 58.82 xGF% with just seven points this season. He would most likely find time as the Oilers’ seventh defenceman or on the third pair from time to time.
Those numbers don’t paint Walker as a huge improvement on Ceci, but if you dig a layer deeper you will start to see a wider gap appear. According to TopDownHockey and JFresh’s analytic model, Walker has had much better defensive and offensive results than Ceci while playing against stiffer competition on a night-to-night basis. There is also a world of difference in penalty-killing ability.
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If the Oilers can pull off a trade for both while offloading Ceci, it would save them money in the long run. The combined cap hit of both Seeler and Walker is about $3.42 million, which is just slightly above Ceci’s $3.25 cap hit. This essentially means the Oilers could get two players for the cap hit of one that can help in multiple areas of the roster.
It also allows Edmonton some more flexibility this offseason as both Walker and Seeler are UFAs while Ceci’s contract runs until the end of next season.
But the trade would not be Walker and Seeler for just Ceci; Edmonton would have to make the deal worthwhile for the Flyers. Perhaps Holland could float a prospect like Xavier Bourgault and a second-round pick to get the ball rolling in the right direction.
It could be one of the few trades where Edmonton could fill two holes on defence in one shot.