Washington Capitals Trade Target: Jordan Eberle
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals are looking to add a top six forward sometime before the trade deadline on March 2nd. While it is not likely that they make a big move, it is possible that the Washington Capitals could add a really good forward who would be more than just a rental. One of those forwards, according to NHL.com, could be Edmonton Oilers forward Jordan Eberle. Of course it also mentions Mike Green as a trade possibility, but I’ll just ignore that because I’m pretty sure we all know that it would be dumb to trade Green at this point. Here’s what Rosen had to say about Eberle:
"Position: Right wingContract: 4 years remaining, $6 million cap chargeEberle doesn’t require the same level of contractual commitment as Kessel, but it’s still significant. He’s only 24 years old and clearly has tremendous offensive ability."
Let’s take a look at that “tremendous offensive ability”.
Credit:
In other words, his rate stats suggest that his production is at least equal to that of a second line wing, possibly even a first line wing. He’s been a very good possession player despite playing on an Oilers team that is, to put it as nicely as possible, really bad. His 50.6% CF% at even strength is 3.3% higher than the Oilers’ CF% is without him on the ice. He’s definitely the kind of player that the Washington Capitals should be interested in trading for. The second line could definitely use a goal scorer.
His +/- of -20 looks really bad, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s awful defensively. First off, plus/minus is sort of a joke because it doesn’t tell you if someone blew an assignment or a defenseman allowed an odd man rush or the goalie allowed a really soft goal. All it does is tell you that somebody scored against their team while said player was on the ice. Hardly a good way to evaluate whether someone is good defensively or not.
Eberle has been a victim of playing for the Oilers. They’ve been cursed with sub-par defense and sub-par goalies. Eberle’s on-ice save percentage (his goalie’s save percentage when he is on the ice) is 89.1%. That’s something that Eberle can’t really control. Also, Eberle’s still young, so he still has the potential for improvement defensively. Eberle has also never had a good head coach in the NHL. Barry Trotz has proven how much of a difference an experienced head coach who knows what he’s doing can have on a team.
What Would It Take For The Washington Capitals To Get Eberle?
Nothing good in life comes for free. That is certainly true in this case, as the Washington Capitals will obviously have to give up talent to get someone as talented as Eberle. Here’s what Rosen had to say about what the Oilers could seek for him:
"The Oilers would consider trading Eberle in order to shake up their young core and potentially add a proven defenseman or a young goaltender that can grow with the team."
So it would take at least a proven defenseman and/or a young goaltender. My guess is that it could take both because if the Oilers were interested in trading him, roughly 29 other NHL teams would love to have him. Who wouldn’t love to have a young first line wing with a manageable cap hit?
The Caps would have to get rid of roughly $4,200,000 of cap space to get him at the trade deadline this year. Going by what Mr. Rosen said, Karl Alzner would likely have to be in the deal by process of elimination. Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik both have no trade clauses and they likely wouldn’t want to go to Edmonton. John Carlson is arguably the Caps’ best defenseman so obviously the Caps shouldn’t trade him. I actually would include Green in a deal for Eberle since it would clearly make the Caps a better team in the future and arguably make them better now, but the Oilers probably don’t want a rental.
The Washington Capitals could trade Troy Brouwer, Beagle or Latta (for cap purposes), and Philipp Grubauer for Eberle, but then they’d probably have to throw in a first or second round pick. I’d be OK with that. The Caps could also include Connor Carrick in the trade if the Oilers don’t particularly care that the defenseman is proven and the Oilers don’t want the first round pick. Carrick certainly has potential and is likely NHL ready.
The main thing that could halt trade talks would be if the Oilers are insistent that the Washington Capitals throw in a proven NHL defenseman not named Green. At that point, it likely wouldn’t be worth it. Without Alzner, the Caps would have to find another top four defenseman, and we’ve seen what the price of one is in the open market.
The Verdict
If the Washington Capitals can do it without giving up Alzner or Carlson, I think that it would be a great trade for the Caps. However, that might simply not be possible. I don’t know if I’d do it if Alzner was involved, mostly because Dmitry Orlov and Nate Schmidt are two huge question marks right now. Orlov looks like he could be a top four defenseman, but his health is a concern. Schmidt has looked good, but it’s hard not to look good when you’re paired with Green and get a lot of offensive zone starts. It’s nice to hear the Caps being active in the trade market and people expecting them to be active. Certainly a welcome change of pace from the days of George McPhee!
What do you think? Let me know in the comments!