The Edmonton Oilers lost some skill and toughness from their lineup when Evander Kane went down with an injury on Nov. 8. He’s likely out for a few months, and in his absence, the Oilers haven’t been able to gain traction and string together consecutive wins. It’s obvious they’ve just been too easy to play against too.
Recently, hockey insider Frank Seravalli released a list of trade targets, and the usual suspects that the Oilers have been rumoured to be interested in — Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Jakob Chychrun — were mentioned. Those three players would each have high costs to acquire, though the Oilers should still explore their availability. Yet, another intriguing player that stood out from the list that would be relatively inexpensive to acquire is Chicago Blackhawks forward Max Domi.
Domi has been playing on the Blackhawks’ first line, has a $3 million cap hit this season, and is an impending unrestricted free agent. Since the Oilers are without forward E. Kane for the next few months, Domi could be a suitable replacement in the interim to add skill (14 points in 19 games) and the toughness that has been missing from their lineup.
Domi Is Having a Good Offensive Season
Domi is in his eighth season in the NHL and was originally drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in 2013. He’s had stops with the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes, and now the Blackhawks. His offensive production had declined from when he recorded a career-high 72 points in 2018-19 as a member of the Canadiens. But he’s had somewhat of a resurgence this season, as his five goals and nine assists in 19 games suggest. He’s on pace for 60 points, which would make him the fifth-highest scoring forward on the Oilers (not counting E. Kane). All things considered, he would be an excellent complementary player to the Oilers’ star players and could provide secondary scoring within the team’s top-nine.
He’s primarily played center on the first line with the Blackhawks with superstar P. Kane this season. And while the underlying 5-on-5 analytics aren’t necessarily in his favour, it’s worth noting that Chicago is rebuilding and that he also plays against the opposition’s top defensemen. Natural Stat Trick shows he’s played the most minutes against top blueliners like Drew Doughty (18:55), Moritz Seider (11:58), Ben Chiarot (11:25), Josh Morrisey…
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