Rumor: Connor McDavid may soon have a new line mate.

It's no secret that the Edmonton Oilers are looking for additional help on offense, help that they desperately need up front to support the talents of superstar forward Connor McDavid, and now we may know at least one of their potential trade targets.

In a recent report Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli is looking to bring in yet another aging veteran player, however at least this time around it's on a short deal. In his report Friedman revealed that the Oilers have been actively communicating with the New York Rangers organization in an effort to pry one of their older veterans away from them.

From Friedman:

Here’s my read on Edmonton: With their horse, Oscar Klefbom, getting closer to a return, the Oilers are looking everywhere for forward help. They would prefer to avoid giving up a major young piece for a rental. Sounds like they’ve checked into the recently resurgent Mats Zuccarello, who had three assists in the Rangers’ 6-2 win over Carolina on Tuesday. 

Oilers fans will be, rightfully, wary of any moves that involve Chiarelli bringing in an older player but unlike some of the general manager's previous blunders this move would appear to be relatively low risk. For one the Oilers would not be locked in for the long term given the fact that Zuccarello is on an expiring contract and would effectively only be a rental player, barring any extension from the Oilers of course. Additionally according to Friedman it does not sound like the Rangers would be seeking a massive return for Zuccarello with the team instead content to horde assets for the future as they continue their rebuilding process.

Again from Friedman:

Last season, the Rangers dealt Michael Grabner for a prospect and a second-rounder; that’s probably where they’d like to go with Norway’s Finest.

Zuccarello has had a rather poor start to the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season but it's hard to tell exactly how much of that should be attributed to the current level of the Rangers roster and how much of it is due to Zuccarello's own form dropping off at 31 years of age. That being said he has had somewhat of a resurgence in his last few games so that could further entice the Oilers and Chiarelli to take this relatively low risk gamble. 

Through 34 regular season games this season Zuccarello has 8 goals and 14 assists for 22 points and a rather poor looking plus minus rating of -15. Additionally he has collected 22 penalty minutes thus far on the season.