Report: Oilers almost acquired McDonagh in 2016 Draft Day blockbuster

Yet another Chiarelli deal that fell apart… you just HAVE to feel for Oilers fans.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Report: Oilers almost acquired McDonagh in 2016 Draft Day blockbuster
Zuma Press

According to a report from New York Rangers insider Larry Brooks, former Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh was nearly shipped to the Edmonton Oilers in a proposed blockbuster deal at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

In his latest Slap Shots column for the New York Post, Brooks recounts the failed deal and all the moving pieces in fascinating detail. Check out these quotes:

The blockbuster, Slap Shots has confirmed with multiple sources, would have been with the Rangers and it would have sent Ryan McDonagh to the Oilers in exchange for the fourth-overall selection in the draft the Blueshirts intended to use on Clayton Keller of the USNDT.


The Oilers, of course, kept that pick and ended up selecting winger Jesse Puljujarvi, while Keller ended up being scooped up by the Arizona Coyotes at seventh overall.

Talks with Chiarelli were at a serious stage, we’re told. But the Oilers declined to go through with it. A few days later, instead, Edmonton traded… Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson… and the Blueshirts triggered their relatively short-lived rebuild-on-the-fly phase by sending Derick Brassard to Ottawa for a return that featured Mika Zibanejad.


McDonagh would remain with the Rangers until the 2018 Trade Deadline when he was sent to Tampa Bay with J.T. Miller in exchange for Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, and two first round picks.

Of course… had the Oilers acquired McDonagh, it’s likely that Chiarelli elects to keep Hall and the Hall for Larsson trade does not happen. So… Oilers fans, Larsson and Puljujarvi or McDonagh and Hall? Ouch…

Source: Larry Brooks