Multiple insider link Oilers to trade for former first round pick.

Rumblings of a potentially huge trade involving the Edmonton Oilers appear to be gaining more and more steam, with multiple National Hockey League insiders now linking the Oilers to a former first round pick.

Following the shocking decision from Oilers captain Connor McDavid to leave millions on the table when it comes to his new contract, fans have been wondering how the Oilers will use their unexpected cap space to bolster their roster both in the present and moving forward towards the future. While there are many ways in which the Oilers could go about doing so, many fingers appear to be pointing in the direction of the much maligned Buffalo Sabres.

NHL insider David Pagnotta recently expressed his belief that a poor season for the Oilers could lead to pending unrestricted free agent Alex Tuch taking his talents elsewhere.

"I think there are a lot of teams that would love to get their hands on this guy, " said Pagnotta during the Daily Faceoff Live show.

Pagnotta believes that the longer Tuch, who did not reach a deal with the Sabres prior to the start of the season, remains unsigned the more likely he is to start looking elsewhere around the league.

"The longer the season goes without a deal and depending on how the season goes for the Sabres, it could impact the player's decision and the team's ultimate decision on this one," added Pagnotta.

Pagnotta emphasized that a poor season could accelerate this process even further, and as we know the Sabres have gotten things off to a poor start so far.

"Given the circumstances and given where the team is at... interesting decisions because of where the team is at," said Pagnotta. "If this team doesn't have him signed and by the halfway point of the season we already know we're focusing on 26-27 for them, then I think you start to have discussions out there and I imagine the Oilers would be one of them."

Pagnotta isn't the only one hearing these whispers either with NHL insider Jeff Marek recently expressing his own belief that the noise around Tuch and the Oilers is growing louder.

"American Thanksgiving rolls around, how many players are gonna be asking out?" asked Marek during an appearance on Sekeres and Price. "Alex Tuch hasn’t signed; there’s a lot of talk about Tuch around the Oilers."

Tuch plays a physical style that would compliment the Oilers skill very well, at least in theory, and he is coming off of a great season in which he had 36 goals and 31 assists for 67 points in 82 games on a bad Buffalo Sabres team last season. In fact in spite of the fact that Tuch's Sabres are off to an 0-2 start this season, Tuch himself already has 2 goals in just 2 games.

It's hard to imagine a world in which the Oilers would not be the clear frontrunners for the Stanley Cup if this does indeed come to pass.