Elliotte Friedman Reveals The Oilers Have Officially Inquired About This Defensemen

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Ryan Hall
February 1, 2023 (7:21)

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Defense is the buzzword in this year's trade deadline for the Edmonton Oilers. All pundits and the fanbase have described the Oilers' woes as defense and goaltending. Honestly, the Oilers' defense corps is not good enough to go on a long playoff run and a shot for the Stanley Cup.

This leads to reports that Elliot Friedman on the 32 Thoughts has explained that the Oilers have reached out to the Arizona Coyotes and inquired about Shane Gostisbehere.

He was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the third round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, 78th overall. His 29 points this season come from nine goals and 20 assists in 48 games with the Arizona Coyotes.

Unfortunately, on January 23rd, he sustained an upper-body injury and will be sidelined for six weeks. One glaring stat that troubles me is that in the last five seasons between the Flyers and the Coyotes, he has remained in the minus column for his plus-minus including a - 23 last season. We must be mindful that he's with the Coyotes and they're not known as a great defensive team.

This trend should make general manager Kenny Holland nervous if he were to pursue this player. He currently holds a cap hit of $4.5 million and he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. This should also drop his value in return to the Coyotes through trade. Some salary retention would be required to make a deal happen.