Report: Should the Canucks trade for Eberle?

Last week, after the Edmonton Oilers had been officially eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs following a game 7 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, Sportsnet reporter and NHL insider Elliotte Friedman posited the idea of the Oilers parting ways with goal-scoring winger Jordan Eberle. The news came as a shock to some fanbases around the league, but not to those closest to the situation. Ederle had a woeful postseason. He failed to produce a single goal and looked lost on the ice defensively. 

If Friedman is to be believed and Eberle is moved this offseason, might the Vancouver Canucks provide a soft landing spot? With his most recent performance aside, Eberle is still a consistent 20 goal, 50 point man in the NHL, something the Canucks require dearly. In fact, for all the consternation around Eberle’s production this season he was just one point behind the Canucks’ leading scorer Bo Horvat. There’s clearly room for a point producer like Eberle in the Canucks top six forward group, given that the guarantees on the wing in the top six are Daniel Sedin and Sven Baertschi. So the question about Eberle in Vancouver isn’t so much about whether or not he’d fit, but rather what would the price of acquisition cost?

Jordan Eberle is arguably in the prime of his career at 27 years-old and he’s offensively talented, so there has to be a catch, right? Teams don’t just decide to trade away prime offensive talent for the sake of it. Well…in Eberle’s case he comes with a whopping $6 million cap hit for the next two seasons. This alone will hinder the Oilers ability to get good return on Eberle, but if the Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson or PK Subban for Shea Weber trades from last offseason taught us anything, it’s to never dismiss a trade proposal based on contract value and term.

In terms of  trade assets, the Canucks have only a few worth mentioning. Defenseman Chris Tanev could fetch a return, but would he be enough to entice the Oilers to move Eberle without additional assets? Certainly the team has draft picks to move, but given that they’re rebuilding wouldn’t it make sense to stockpile the team with young players in development? How about Alex Edler? Could the Canucks manage to pull the wool over another team’s eyes and convince them that Edler is still a viable option in a top four scenario?

While the appeal of Eberle is apparent for the goal-starved Canucks, it’s likely that they simply don’t have the required assets to really make a solid offer. Which is a shame really, because with another bonafide goal scorer on the team’s power play and in its top six forward group, they could make real improvement on an offense that ranked 27th overall in goals scored last season.