Dreger: MacTavish would trade Eberle "in a heartbeat"
/Darren Dreger was on Edmonton’s TSN 1260 on Tuesday morning.
On the spot in which Craig MacTavish finds himself:
“But let’s just look at management for a second. MacTavish is in an impossible spot now. Because he has been working hard. We keep saying that. We keep patting him on the back for doing that, and I know he’s working hard, but I also know there are no general managers in the NHL that are offering up players to do the Oilers any favors. So I’m sure he’s got numerous calls on Taylor Hall, likely on Jordan Eberle. The key components of that core. And I’m not suggesting he wouldn’t trade Jordan Eberle. I think he would in a heartbeat, if the return was fair. It’s not fair. It’s not. It’s the vultures circling over and above who are just simply trying to pick his pocket. Well, you can’t make a deal like that.
“As bad as it is for the Edmonton Oilers, as bad as it is for their fan base, MacTavish just has to stand pat and hope the players show enough pride around that core in that dressing room to work on the details. To execute better than they did. And until then? Unless Daryl Katz tells Bob Nicholson to tell Kevin Lowe to tell Craig MacTavish to fire Dallas Eakins, I don’t think we can expect anything in front office change.”
Source: TSN 1260/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey
Related: The Frustration Tracker: NHL Insiders on the Edmonton Oilers
Darren Dreger was on Montreal’s TSN 690 on Tuesday morning.
On Craig MacTavish:
“And MacTavish, trust me when I tell you, I’ve talked to him a number of times over the last month or so and I spoke to him at length last week. He knows what the areas of concern are. But you can’t throw Jordan Eberle out there in a trade if you’re not getting something valuable in return. Something that’s going to make a difference. And right now, that’s the problem - there’s not enough free money in the system where you can just make a trade. And if you’re the Oilers and you can cleanly see that you’re not a playoff team this year, do you trade that piece of the core – Jordan Eberle – when you might get a lot more for him in the offseason...”
Source: TSN 690/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey