Oilers can keep dreaming about Owen Tippett trade

The Philadelphia Flyers made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. Now, their job this offseason is to improve to ensure they can make it to the Final in the very near future. While the Flyers did pull off what many viewed as an upset over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, they realized they still had work to do after they were swept by the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Carolina Hurricanes.

Their chances in the second round weren't the best once they were without forward Owen Tippett. He missed all four games of the second-round series, which he revealed was due to internal bleeding. Without Tippett's speed on the ice, the Flyers didn't stand much of a chance against the Hurricanes.

Now that many teams are in offseason mode, that means the rumors will start running rampant. With the free agent market being as weak as it is, that means there are plenty of trade rumors going around. There is one involving Tippett.

The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta mentioned that the Edmonton Oilers are a team that has Tippett on their radar. During an appearance on Oilers Nation Everyday, Pagnotta says that while the Oilers are interested, and that the Flyers have plenty of depth on the right side, he's not sure what exactly it would take general manager Danny Briere to willingly move Tippett.

Oilers are a lackluster potential trade partner for Owen Tippett

"I think Philly, while they like him, they're getting a little deep on that right side," said Pagnotta. "There may be an opportunity for them to move one of those guys out, presumably Tippett because he's generated interest so far. I'm not sure what the ask is, if there is one right now, if it's just Danny Briere being like, 'yeah, okay, call me I'll take your call,' but not actively shopping him, which I don't believe they are right now. But they're going to listen..."

"I don't know what the price tag would be at the moment. We know that Philly wants to shore themselves up up the middle and they're looking to fix their blue line. So I would imagine they're going to try to use Tippett or another asset like him to fill one of those voids if they can. But whether that works here with the Oilers or not, we'll see."

Of course, for a general manager, it would be foolish to not listen to offers from teams that are interested in particular players on the roster. Briere does listen to calls, as he did during the trade deadline with defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. Even though he listened to calls, Briere said he wasn't actively trying to trade Ristolainen.

Briere may very well listen to trade offers for Tippett, particularly once he's cleared from his internal bleeding issue. But the offer would have to be significant enough for him. Let's not forget that he was the team's leading goal scorer with 28. He was banged up in the playoffs, but not having him available against a stout Hurricanes team did sink their chances.

We all know that the Oilers massively underperformed this season, which ended in a first round elimination against the Anaheim Ducks. General manager Stan Bowman will have yet another chance to prove he can build a championship roster around Connor McDavid. This was a team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row, and are regressing. The clock may very well be ticking on McDavid's time in Edmonton, especially if Bowman can't bring in the adequate help for the Oilers to finally win their sixth Stanley Cup title.

As of now, who could the Oilers offer that would be enticing enough for the Flyers? Not exactly. We know defenseman Darnell Nurse is on the trade block, but do the Flyers really want to bring in his $9.25 million annual salary throughout the next four seasons? Plus, they don't have a lot of premium draft assets within the next couple of drafts. If the Flyers were serious about moving on from Tippett, another team might provide them with more.