Friedman: Oilers have "dipped their toe" on Marincin trade possibilities

Elliotte Friedman was on Edmonton’s 630 CHED on Friday afternoon.

On if there’s a market for Martin Marincin:

“I think a guy like Marincin, who’s got some potential, and is still young, and he’s a restricted free agent after this year - but it’s not like his next contract is going to cost you a ton of money – I think there is value in that. I think - the Oilers won’t talk about it, but I think they’ve dipped their toe in with him. They’ve kind of asked around. They said, ‘If we can get a centre, we would consider doing this.’ And I think he has value.

“Now, the one thing I also wrote that I mentioned in there is that there’s a real mix of opinions on him as a player. I think there are some teams out there who like him, but I think there are some teams out there who don’t like him.

“The one thing I thought was most encouraging was there’s a draft guru who I know on a team who did not like Marincin in his draft year. I called him specifically and I said, ‘I know you weren’t a fan – what do you think?’ And he said, ‘He’s made more out of his career than I thought he would.’

“So if that’s the judgment there, I think there probably is a market for him. I just think that the question is, is it enough for the Oilers to pull the trigger? Young defensemen are hard to find, even though Edmonton’s got some there and a couple more coming, it’s a pretty valuable resource to have.”

Also: 

"The one thing I would certainly say is - like I said, young defencemen are a commodity. The one thing the Oilers have is they have a few of them. There's no question. I think they feel Klefbom is ready to play. I can't imagine they feel Nurse is too far away. And as you're seeing right now though, they need help. They're really dying for a centre. And I think sometimes you have to make judgment calls. You have to say, 'Boy, if we can get some help...' 

"And I don't think they're going to trade him necessarily - Marincin - for a guy who is a short-term fix, but if they could trade him for somebody who could help them for a couple of years and fixes their problems, I understand why they would consider doing it. I really do."

Source: 630 CHED/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey