Washington Capitals should trade for Jordan Eberle

If the Edmonton Oilers might be looking to trade forward Jordan Eberle, the Washington Capitals should give them a call.

The Washington Capitals will more than likely see some changes to their roster this offseason. Because their two best right wings will be unrestricted free agents beginning on July 1, they’ll go into the offseason needing to add at least one forward to the right side. There are quality free agent options even once you look past Caps free agents T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams.

However, the Capitals could upgrade via a trade. Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers is a guy they should look at. He could be on the move for a variety of reasons. Recently, an Oilers insider questioned his work ethic.

“If you want to get better you’ve got to work at your game”, Sportsnet’s Drew Remenda said, via Edmonton Journal. “You’ve got invest in your career. And I don’t see that from Jordan. And maybe it’s because he does it away from the rink during the summer, I don’t know.”

It’s worth noting any evidence to support Remenda’s theory is hearsay at best and that’s weak by itself. There have been non-stop Eberle trade rumors for the past two years. Lately, they’ve been heating up with the Oilers having to start thinking about extensions to players like Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. The Capitals could be the beneficiaries of this situation.

The Good

Eberle’s a pretty consistent goal scorer. He has at least 20 goals in each of his past four seasons. Of forwards with at least 2500 minutes over the past four seasons, Eberle ranks in the top 25 percentile in points per 60 minutes. He is in the top 50 in goals per 60 minutes too. While Eberle’s 0.74 goals per 60 minutes in the 2016-17 season is the lowest of his career, that was still 56th among the 136 forwards with at least 1,000 minutes.

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His drop in goals is easily explained by his 9.6 percent shooting percentage, the first time in his career it fell below 10 percent. Eberle’s 14.95 individual shot attempts per 60 minutes put him in the top 30 among forwards. His 8.30 shots on goal per 60 minutes puts him in the top 40 and is the second highest of his career.

Eberle ranked just outside the top 50 among forwards in lowest average shot distance at even strength, minimum 1,000 even strength minutes, according to Corsica. He’d be a great second line or first line forward and would be a nice wing for Evgeny Kuznetsov or Nicklas Backstrom.

The Bad

Luckily, Edmonton’s media is going out of their way to lessen his value before trading him. However, it’s still going to cost a pretty penny to get Eberle. Also, his $6 million cap hit in each of the next two seasons isn’t ideal. One might argue it’s a slight overpay. But Eberle’s a guy worth overpaying for because consistent goal scorers are very hard to find.

What Would It Cost?

The Capitals don’t have a first round pick, so that’s out of the question. However, my guess is Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli would want a roster player to be the focal point of a return over prospects or draft picks. Edmonton’s greatest need is on their blue line, especially with the future of Kris Russell uncertain and Andrej Sekera being out for at least the next few months.

John Carlson could be a fit, but the Capitals would be robbing Peter to save Paul, so to speak. Trading him would leave a pretty big hole on their blue line. However, if the Caps can’t work out an extension with Carlson, getting something for him would be a heck of a lot better than losing him for nothing.

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Verdict

The Caps should get more from trading Carlson than just Eberle. If nothing else, quality right-handed defensemen are hard to find. But if the Capitals get creative and find one, if Eberle’s a focal point of the return for Carlson, Washington would be lucky to find a more suitable return.