Edited Dec. 14, 2018 at 3:51 p.m.
Hard pass on that Rangers trade.
Niskanen is the Caps best RHD at shutdown and PK roles, and can fill in just fine on PP1 if Carlson misses a game. He's finished top-31 among defensemen in even strenth points the last two years, and he's right there again this year, with 11. Kreider has 16, plays wing, and is -6 in his last five games. Injury?
Kreider scored 30 goals one time. So did lots of people. He's not remotely worth a #1 defenseman.
I think you're overpaying for Klefbom. Edmonton is tired of spending 16M a year on three left defensemen who are rarely all healthy, especially since none are as good as Nurse, and none are a wide margin better than Garrison. I think they'd be delighted to cut bait on Russell, Sekera and Klefbom at the first opportunity. Keep that 1st pick, though, and pass on Russell or Sekera.
Klefbom would be the Caps' best option at LD on PK1, when healthy, and he gives them an older, Swedish-speaking defenseman to mentor Djoos, so I kinda like the idea of adding him, but he's averaged 50 games played per year over 5 NHL seasons, with only one season of more than 66 games. That means you only have to give 5/8ths of whatever he's worth when healthy. Less if he misses the end of most seasons, and if the Caps are building for playoff success, as I hope they are.
I'd offer Kempny and Burakovsky for Klefbom. Burakovsky fits on either of the Oilers' top lines. Kempny is leading the NHL in plus/minus and has one more even strength point than Klefbom this year, so if they think Klefbom has the offensive skill to fill in on their power play, they should try Kempny. Or they can trade prospects and picks for Bowey, who I think could be a good power play specialist for the Oilers, right away. Maybe Kirill Maksimov, Ryan Mantha, and a 2nd for Madison Bowey and Jusso Ikonen? Ikonen gives them a new Finnish forward to try out with Puljujarvi. Maksimov's a future Russian to try out with Ovechkin. Mantha's tall, with 10 points in the AHL at 22... future bottom four guy.
Edit: now that I've read that Djoos and Klefbom are both out for weeks, I no longer think the Caps would trade Kempny plus Burakovsky for Klefbom this week..... Oilers have to add a little bit... like.... Garrison and a 3rd. I think the Caps could limp through a few weeks with Garrison, Orlov, and Siegenthaler at left defense. They're definitely not trading Bowey in that state. The chance to get Klefbom back before the playoffs is still tempting. I don't know if Edmonton considers it, in order to add a good defenseman and a good forward, right away.