Simpleton
Joined: Jun. 2017
Posts: 1,365
Likes: 502
I seriously doubt Ken Holland has any interest in Filip Hronek. The Oilers have Barrie, Ceci, and Bouchard on RD and Hronek isn't going to provide any improvement to that cast. For Edmonton, the issue is that Barrie is an offense-first PP QB guy, Ceci is a 4-5 two-way defender, and Bouchard is a potential top 2 who can cover both special teams but is lacking in experience. They need to up the physicality in order for the team to become harder to play against. IMO, the ideal trade for the Oilers is one that moves Barrie and brings in a physical, shut-down RD capable of playing on the penalty kill and covering top-4 minutes if necessary.
Moving Greiss for Smith is also suspect. Greiss is, at best, a 1B at the NHL level. In Edmonton, that's a role that is already occupied by Mikko Koskinen. If Holland expects his team to make it into the playoff and perhaps get past the first round, he'd have to hope that Greiss hits a hot streak and maintains it for 25-30 games. I suppose its possible Greiss could do that, but his career to date suggests its highly unlikely he will. Mike Smith, on the other hand, has a history of those kinds of streaks. Having stated that, I'd be comfortable with a deal that exchanges Greiss for Smith because I doubt Smith is going to have the kind of run that overcomes Edmonton's deficiencies down the stretch and into the playoffs. I think there is advantages for Edmonton if they were to move Smith's contract for Greiss's, especially with salary retention. It clears the books for this summer and allows Holland to pursue a different veteran option to play in tandem with Stuart Skinner next season.
In this CapFriendly dream world I could suggest that moving Smith for Greiss (50% cap retention) allows for Holland to overpay Lou Lamoriello to swap Mikko Koskinen for Semyon Varlaomov, giving the Oilers a goaltending tandem with proven playoff success, and the freedom to let Greiss walk this summer so that Skinner can study under Varlamov next season. In the real world though, that probably isn't of interest to Red Wings AcGMs, and there are many reasons why Edmonton is unlikely to land both Varlamov and Greiss, including NMCs for Varlamov and Koskinen.