Can't see them parting with Larsson. Their only bonafide top 4 righty.

I see you haven’t watched the Oilers play this year.

Larsson has been outplayed by Bear, and probably even Jones.

Too early to trade Larsson. Yes Bear has outplayed him, but we’ll need the depth for the playoffs. We just got 4 competent d men now, no reason to trade one for 20 games of good play so far. Maybe next year’s TDL Larsson becomes expendable but definitely not this year.

Also, Larsson’s just coming back from injury. Not a whole lot of sample size to say “outplayed” by Bear anyways.

Bear has been better this year than Larsson has been at any point over the last two years.

Larsson has been injured virtually all year...... Bear has played a grand total 44 games in his entire career.... lol

But continue to make big assumptions after small samples sizes. I'm sure that's that how things work in the NHL.

Would EDM be interested in Faulk?

Not in any way shape or form.

Bear has also been better this year than Larsson has been over the last two years, healthy or otherwise.

Watch an Oiler game and tell me I’m wrong with Bear, he’s the calmest in the face of a forecheck, and the best passer we have on the blue line, he’s more mobile, cheaper and more offensive than Larsson.

I’m also not trying to say Larsson is bad, in this scenario you’re getting Hall back and it hurts to give Lars up but you have to give to get and this would make our team better.

You’re right about Bear being a better player than Larsson right now, but what about our other D? You cannot name 4 defenceman better than Larsson on this team right now. And no, Caleb Jones hasn’t proved anything yet. Just appreciate that we finally have a quality defence group. Maybe trade one of our D prospects for a young forward instead

Oilers are rebuilding. This year we are better than originally thought. I would trade Larsson as well as long as we could sign hall for the deal to complete. I think giving away our really good defensive prospects like broberg or Bouchard makes no sense. Say bye to Larsson and take a run this year then in the next few years have a solid defense core and a good forward core.

I would say if you account for last year Caleb Jones has proven he’s capable, Tippett is even giving him more ice than both Larsson and Russell right now.

Bear, Nurse and especially Klefbom are better than Larsson right now, and I think the downgrade from Lars to Jones justifies making a trade that brings in a forward on the level of Taylor Hall.

Again; I’m not saying Larsson is bad, but windows open and close very quickly in the NHL and right now the oilers are are a forward or two away from being legitimate cup contenders and we have to give to get.

The team played really well without Larsson, I think he’s somewhat expandable.

Terrible idea to trade larsson for Hall.
1) the toughest player to find is a good RHD - even if you think bear has out played larsson your going off 4 games of larsson this hardly able to tell. Also they are different types of dmen. yes bear skates better and a moderatley better puck mover. LArsson is way more responsible in the Dzone and is brutal to play against both things you need to have success in the ln playoffs.
2) Hall may leave again in free agency in that case waste of assests. even if he stays it will be for a dollar amount that would cripple the oilers again 9M plus i would assume. Why not spend that and as you said get some good 1-2 wingers to play with our super stars and finally have some depth this organization has been lacking imagine having an actual top 6 to play with Mcdavid Dri ad RNH vs patch work.
3) trading a 1st rounder depth again in one of the deepest drafts. oilers will need cheep young talent as they move forward. also they finally have some prospects dont see them moving the 1st they will add so its not a 1 and done trip to the playoffs and they can have some stability.

A marginally better puck mover? Bear is the best puck mover on the team and it’s not even close. Larsson is “marginally better” than Russell.

I’ve read a few articles that seem to indicate Hall’s heart is still in Edmonton, I think we can sign him here for like 8.5mil.

If you don’t want to move the first rounder we can make that conditional on Hall re-signing, but I think you’re way over valuing Larsson and Puljujarvi has little to no value at this point.

We also aren’t multiple wingers away from a real top 6. We are one away.

Leon-Connor-Kass
Hall-Nuge-Neal

That’s a legitimate top 6 and more help is coming to provide depth in the form of Yamo and Benson probably next year, and Lavoie the year after that.

Have you forgotten who the best Oilers d man was during the 2017 playoffs? When skating and puck handling goes away and physical hockey is played? Hall would be a great addition to this team, but you’re effectively creating a massive hole on this blue line trading Larsson. Defenceman are always more valuable in the playoffs. Why do you think the oilers never made the playoffs when we had Hall, Nuge, Ebs, McDavid, Draisaitl. Do you remember our defenceman back then?

I’d suggest we target lower tier top 6 options like Toffoli and Pageau. You don’t give up the world and you still get a top 6 forward. 1 guy will not make the difference from winning the cup. Show me one time a team won the Stanley cup from a TDL blockbuster trade.

And if you knew Hall’s heart is in Edmonton. Then why not wait til the offseason to get him for free instead of spending so many assets? That’s just bad asset management.

In regards to the old days: our goaltending was horrendous, that core essentially never played together due to injuries, and the bottom 6 was filled with the Will Actons and Ryan Jones of the world that weren’t even good in the AHL.

I guess the core of our disagreement here is how important we think Larsson is to the team, you realize we went like 13-6-3 without him right? I know he was real good in 2017, but he’s never had any sort of offensive touch, he’s never been particularly good at getting the puck out of his own end, and on top of that he has been bad for the better part of two years now. Unfortunately I think he’s permanently lost a step due to injuries, he’s just slow now and gets beat often.

I don’t know that it is poor asset management, I guess the first round pick might be to much but I don’t think we are getting a damn thing back for Puljujarvi unless we package him, and if we do want to add a winger like Hall or even Toffoli in the offseason we have to move money anyway, and Larsson is a good candidate for that as he has a 4.5mil contract and I honestly think he’s replaceable. Other big cap hits like Nuge or Neal are needed still and the likes of Russell aren’t movable.

I just think this team is a high end winger or two away from competing, if we want to bank on that coming from within then fair enough but if we’re adding anyone we have to move a player anyway and we appear to be able to replace a d-man or two with young guys like Bear and Jones. Keep in mind Bouchard (a right hand shot) will likely be on the team next year too.

Here's a way we can compete in the playoffs and still maintain the team in the offseason - https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1515928 . I don't think we'll re-sign Larsson but I'm just saying Jones and Bear in the top 4 or even Russell is not enough of a sample size to easily trade Larsson. I think the best time to deal him is next year's dead line. I don't see Bouchard making the team out of camp just yet. His battle level isn't up to NHL standards and if you haven't noticed, Tippett likes the effort players on this team. You do know Bouchard isn't the lightest of foot either. I see Bouchard getting sent down, being recalled by Feb 2021 and we trade Larsson then. Russell probably gets dealt this offseason or he could be traded for a 3C like Perreault or Jenner or whoever and then we replace him with Jones on 3LD.

I honestly think Toffoli is a great fit with Nuge and Neal, he can score and kill penalties. Him and Nuge would be our second line for 3 on 3. and will be a great stop gap until Yamo or Lavoie are ready for top 6 minutes. Here's a second ACGM i made with the changes. Doesn't have to be Strome for 3C but shows you we can afford to sign multiple guys rather than spending it all on Hall. https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1515931

Yeah fair enough, there are other ways to approach it. I’m not the biggest Toffoli fan in recent years, and without getting to deep into it again like I said I don’t think Larsson has what he had in 17 anymore so I guess we just don’t agree on how much of a loss he is.

I agree with most of what you say in this thread, but I disagree with this. I'm not convinced Toffoli is a top-6 forward and I'm 100% sure Pageau isn't.