The Edmonton Oilers got a little younger and a little faster with a trade on frenzy day, sending Raffi Torres to the Blue Jackets for winger Gilbert Brule. The deal also frees up almost $1.5 million under the cap for the Oilers, who were looking to make a splash on frenzy day, but may not have had the full amount of funds to do so.
The Oilers added some potential touch to their line-up with the addition of Brule, but he has failed to show his full potential in Columbus under Ken Hitchcock. He'll now join a line-up that features some very good young talent in Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano, which may help him flourish into the player the Jackets hoped he'd be.
On the flipside, the Jackets get grittier with the acquisition of Torres and they hope that he can remain healthy to make a big difference in their line-up, come opening night. Torres could be counted on as a pool player, as he has featured in the top 250 of pool scoring before.
| To Columbus | Age | Games | Points | Contract on July 1st |
| Raffi Torres, F | 26 | 32 | 11 | 2 years, $2.25 million |
| --- | ||||
| To Edmonton | ||||
| Gilbert Brule, F | 21 | 61 | 9 | 1 year, $765,000 |
The deal almost sounds too good to be true for the Oilers. They get another World Junior alum from Team Canada in Brule and they have the system that he could work well in. Brule could now be the pool pick of our dreams, if he features with one of the key young centres. As for Torres, if you're looking at him to be a dark horse, you may not want to burn a high pick on him, just because his health is still a big question mark.
No comments:
Post a Comment