Montreal wins the Draisatl trade; I’d remove Jones and ask for a second round pick from Montreal (they have 4) in addition to Patches and Gally. It’s a steep price to pay, but they need a #1 C badly; there’s a deal to be made here.

I’m not confident that Yamamoto or Zadina are ready yet; I’d have them marinate a bit before bringing them up. In the meantime sign a vet - say Vanek - on a short term deal as a stopgap for 1-3 years until they’re ready.

Like the Barrie trade.

Like the Kassian trade.

Would prefer that Bear gets 25 minutes a game in the Bake rather than watching Oilers games from the press box as our #7 d-man; suggest signing a veteran in this role.

I actually love all these moves. The Oilers need: winger depth, a right handed d-man to move the puck. You can have a first line of RNH-MCD-RAT and a second line of PACH-GAL-YAM/POOL/ZAD. You are giving the young players a chance to succeed yet not forcing them up the lines. The only concern is the cap space issue. Maybe try to move Lucic or Russell out to free up a million or two. But otherwise I love the look of this team.

Yup I was thinking signing a vet in the 2.5 - 3 range for a couple years as a place holder for Yamo / Zandia would a good bet. Grabner et al. Gives you youth coming up the chain for when Patches contract is up in a year. If the team is not strong into the playoff push trade patches for what you can get for him to a playoff team.