REPORT: Edmonton Oilers almost TRADED for a former 4th overall pick defenceman

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Ryan
December 14, 2022 (6:15 PM)

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It's always fun to look back on things that almost happened and try and think of scenario's that wouldn't have occurred if things went as planned. The Edmonton Oilers had a chance to make a move that would have drastically changed the way the franchise is today, and would have definitely changed some of the moves they made after this deal didn't go through.

Seth Jones is one of the best defencemen in the National Hockey League in todays game, but definitely does not receive the recognition he deserves.

Jones was drafted by the Nashville Predators back in 2013, when he slipped to 4th overall. All during his draft year he was a projected to fight for the 1st overall pick, but the Avalanche went with MacKinnon, Panthers went with Barkov and the Lightning went with Drouin instead, which landed him in the Predators lap at 4th.

The Predators definitely could not pass up the chance to draft Seth Jones but sadly, defence was the last thing they needed at that time. In 2013 they already had a Shea Weber in his prime, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Matthias Ekholm, they were loaded on the back end.

Jones played two full seasons for the Predators, and midway through his 3rd season, the Predators were looking to move him for a young first line center. Multiple teams were bidding for Jones, and in the end we know he was moved to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Ryan Johansen, who was coming off a 71 points season.

What we did not know was, the Edmonton Oilers were also heavily involved in the trade talks for Seth Jones. At this time the Oilers had just drafted Connor McDavid, they had Draisaitl producing at an elite pace already, and they still had Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Nail Yakupov before his bust label. So can you guess who they were offering up? 22 year old Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

While Nugent-Hopkins has become a very good NHL player, he has never lived up to the first overall hype. He produced at almost a point per game in his rookie season, but he never really evolved from that.

So with all the young talent the Oilers had, they offered up Nuge to the Predators in exchange for Seth Jones, but the Predators chose to instead go with Ryan Johansen.