Guy Flaming from the
Pipe Line Show and
Coming Down the Pipe blog has an interesting blog post on Cornell Big Red star forward and Edmonton Oilers first round draft choice Riley Nash. It appears that he COULD be heading to the Bruins. It has been speculated
that Rilley Nash who says that he is in no hurry to sign a professional contract with the Oilers could be involved in a draft day trade. Personally I would like to see the Bruins offer Blake Wheeler for Riley Nash.
BOS, EDM & Riley Nash
I'm of the belief that something could happen between the Oilers and the Bruins on draft day. I'm skeptical that it would involve a NHL roster player like Blake Wheeler though just in order to convince the Oilers to pass on the guy the Bruins prefer. That seems like a big price to pay to me. If a deal is made, I won't be surprised if it was a pick or two, maybe a pick and a prospect, coming back to the Oilers instead.
Dean has learned that the two teams had talks earlier this season involving Riley Nash and Mikko Lehtonen. We're not sure if it was a 1-for-1 swap but after we both spoke with sources from teams in each conference, we know that Nash does have some value around the league. In this case we're led to believe that it was Edmonton that wouldn't green light the trade.
Might the Bruins still have an interest in Nash? Lehtonen, a 6'3 and 196 lbs right winger, led the Providence Bruins in scoring this year with 50 points, he had 53 the year before. The Finnish player was drafted by the Bruins in the 3rd round of 2005.
Speaking of Nash, fans speculated that Montréal might have an interest in him after they'd signed his brother to a deal in the spring. About a month ago I asked a scout from the Canadiens if he personally liked Nash in his draft year and was told "I sure did". (I mentally noted that that particular scout survived GM Pierre Gauthier's purge last week). Maybe the Oilers and Habs can work something out on draft day. Would Montréal's 2nd round pick, 57th overall, be too much, too little or just enough?
[Coming down the Pipe]
Is that an equitable trade?
ReplyDeleteWheeler had an off year this year, but is Nash THAT much better than Wheeler?
With the Cornell's offense making Mike Eaves' offense look like the track meet offense (seriously... Cornell hockey: Most boring hockey in all of NCAA) how would you know?
I would love to see Blake Wheeler sent down the road. The kid isn't not very gifted offensively. I don't know how many times I said during the Bruins playoff run this season that Wheeler couldn't score in a brothel.
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