Rumour Mill: Why Price isn't going to the Oilers

Keep up to date on the latest rumours and speculation around the NHL beat with TSN.ca's Rumour Mill.

No Quick Fix 

The Edmonton Oilers have been one the league's biggest disappointments through 20 games this season, posting a 7-11-2 record. 

Edmonton has made minor changes to their lineup throughout the early season, including calling up Jesse Puljujarvi and trading Jussi Jokinen for Mike Cammalleri. 

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun said Monday on Edmonton's TSN Radio 1260 there is no obvious quick fix for the Oilers, but general manager Peter Chiarelli is making calls to see what minor changes he can make to try to spark his struggling team.

"There is no easy fix," LeBrun said. "I think if you're Peter Chiarelli, and from what I'm hearing around the league, he continues to work the phones. I don't think there's a blockbuster fix, but I think you just keep tinkering, if you're him. In part because part of the message it sends if you try to make another move, even if it's not a big one, it's a message to your dressing room that you're not happy and that you're trying to change things."

LeBrun added that even if Chiarelli wanted to make a big move, completing such a trade during the season is tough to pull off.

"The salary cap world has introduced a system where it's really hard to make wholesale changes mid-season. June is your best friend, that's the big window now to make sizeable change."

According to CapFriendly, the Oilers have $8.2 million in cap space this season, but the team already has $61.4 million committed in contracts for next season to just 14 players.

About those Price Rumours...

With the Montreal Canadiens playing better without Carey Price than with him at times this season, the argument has been made the Canadiens should look to trade the 30-year-old goaltender before his eight-year, $80 million contract begins next season.

Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette argued over the weekend that the Oilers could be a landing spot for the goaltender.

But David Staples of Edmonton Journal did his best to close the door on that possibility Monday, listing six reasons why the Oilers will not be acquiring Price, strictly from the Edmonton angle.

The top reasons include squeezing Price's $10 million cap hit into the team's budget next season, the argument against trading a young centre such as Leon Draisaitl and pointing out the fact the Oilers already have a 30-year-old goaltender who's off to a slow start to the season in Cam Talbot.

Enter the Rebuild?

The New York Rangers currently sit one point of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 10-9-2 record through 21 games. 

As Larry Brooks of the New York Post writes, the Rangers have been as predicted, a playoff bubble team - which he believes has no hope of ending the franchise's Stanley Cup drought.

Brooks argues the Rangers must decide whether to rebuild or spend another year trying to load up for a playoff run. If they choose to load up, he believes San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton would be a person of interest.  However, the returns for their pending and soon-to-be free agents, may be enough to lead the Rangers into becoming sellers. 

Rick Nash, Michael Grabner and Nick Holden are set to hit the open market in July, while top-pairing defenceman Ryan McDonagh and forward Mats Zuccarello are set to become part of the 2019 free-agent class. Brooks believes selling Nash and Grabner could land the Rangers as many as two first-round picks, but it's trading McDonagh that could alter the course of the franchise. 

He notes that Tampa Bay and Toronto could both have interest in the blueliner and a return for the Rangers could be Mitch Marner from the Leafs or standout rookie Mikhail Sergachev from the Lightning.

The Rangers have reached the playoffs in each of the past seven years and have added at the deadline in each of the previous four seasons. The team reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, but lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings.