Oilers and Panthers Talking Pick #15

Darren Dreger reports that the Florida Panthers who now have three picks in the first round are shopping that #15 pick and Edmonton, who already had eyes on that pick, is interested.

Florida despite moving Nathan Horton out, would like to bring some scoring in and speculation is that Dustin Penner could be a name involved.

If I'm Edmonton, Dustin Penner for the 15th overall is too much for Edmonton to give and I don't suspect those to be the only two parts involved in that kind of trade. If it were, the Oilers and Bruins might have already done some wheeling and dealing. That said, I also think Dustin Penner is enough to get the 3rd overall.

Perhaps making the trade a tad bigger and including other names from Florida like Steven Weiss with the #15 pick for Dustin Penner and Riley Nash or Patrick O'Sullivan is a bit more realistic? That is of course if Florida was actually thinking about moving both Horton and Weiss.

What could be interesting is the news just coming down. Rumblings are the questions about the possible availability of Edmonton forward Gilbert Brule. Jason Gregor reports that Brule is going to be qualified as an RFA by Edmonton, but possibly headed for arbitration as the two sides aren't finding common ground and Brule wants somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2 million per year for more than one year.

Gregor sites the mistake of signing Nilsson as something the Oilers would never repeat, but I don't see Brule and Nilsson as compareable. Brule is just more of what Edmonton is hoping to become in terms of in your face offense, while Nilsson is what the Oilers want to move away from.

Oiler fans were wondering when Edmonton might start to sign some of its many RFA's, but it doesn't look like Brule is going to be one that happens anytime soon. This could make Brule an asset that is available to other teams in trade and because Brule has the potential to be a 20 goal scorer, could Florida be interested?

What about Penner, Brule and the #31 pick for the #3 pick and Steven Weiss? Pure speculation on my part, but something both teams might consider. That still gives Florida two first rounders but also allows them to add a possible 40-50 goals to their lineup and a high second round pick. At the same time, it gives Edmonton a 50 point forward and a franchise d-man who can be part of the Oiler rebuild.

I would hope however, that the #15 straight across for Dustin Penner isn't the crux of the conversation between the two GM's. That's simply an overpayment for the Oilers.