It's not a deal either the Edmonton Oilers or the New York Islanders envisioned making when they drafted Jordan Eberle and Ryan Strome, respectively, but years later it was a deal each team needed to make.
The clubs exchanged former first-round selections on Thursday, and while the deal might appear skewed in the Islanders' favor, digging a little deeper it's clear that this trade was one that aids both clubs in different ways.
For Islanders
The benefit for the Islanders is simple: Eberle is an upgrade offensively over Strome. In fact, their totals over the last three seasons show that it's pretty black-and-white between the two.
| Player | Games Played | Goals | Points | Points Per Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eberle | 232 | 69 | 161 | 0.69 |
| Strome | 221 | 38 | 108 | 0.49 |
Eberle should help boost the Islanders' scoring, which was already solid, ranking 10th during the regular season with 2.91 goals per game. It also helps to better spread out the offense across two lines, with budding prospect Josh Ho-Sang able to man the second line alongside Anthony Beauvillier, giving the Islanders a solid two-way punch.
Related: Newest Islander Eberle excited to play with Tavares
Most importantly, though, the trade reunites both Eberle and Jonathan Tavares, who are sure to play together after serving as linemates with Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championship. In fact, the two connected for arguably the most famous goal in the tournament's history, which is still very much engraved in the minds of Canadians everywhere.
The two reportedly still remain in touch, so chemistry shouldn't be an issue. And if reports are true that the Islanders are still in the running to acquire Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche, they might be on the verge of assembling something very special.
For Oilers
They might be getting the slightly less offensively gifted forward in the deal, but the Oilers have bigger fish to fry, which appears to have been the biggest motivator for Peter Chiarelli to pull the trigger on this deal.
Starting July 1, it is believed the Oilers will begin the process of locking up both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl - who becomes a restricted free agent - long term. It's not outrageous to think Draisaitl could command anywhere from $6-8 million per season, while McDavid can essentially set his price at whatever he wants.
So, if the Oilers want to lock those two up - and they would be stupid not to - they're going to need a lot of money to do so.
Thursday's trade allowed the Oilers to shed $3.5 million in salary, giving them slightly less than $24 million heading into next season, when Draisaitl's next contract will kick in (McDavid has one year left on his entry-level deal).
Chiarelli also feels that a change of scenery could help reignite Strome's offensive flare, according to TSN 1260's Jason Gregor, which would also bode very well for the Oilers.
So, while the deal might seem one-sided off the hop, maybe it's just what both Chiarelli and Garth Snow needed to do in order to give their respective teams a boost next season.
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