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Jordan Eberle has the potential to be an elite talent. The Edmonton Oilers are taking that potential (and the potential of many of their other young stars) and crushing it slowly, choking its will to live. Such is life when you have a team whose management is out of touch and whose coaching staff is ineffective despite whatever Taylor Hall says.
Firing Dallas Eakins would not be "unfair." Keeping top notch talent there to languish while the team's management dithers about would be unfair.
The Oilers have already tossed about David Perron as trade bait, possibly because he's been vocal with frustrations. Craig MacTavish would like a top center in return. He may know that's unrealistic, because rumors are also circulating about another potential trade with the Blues, one for Jordan Eberle. According to the Edmonton Journal's Jim Matheson, that deal would be Eberle for Patrik Berglund and something else.
Let's compare the two:
Patrik Berglund, 27: $3,700,000 cap hit through 2016-2017
Jordan Eberle, 24: $6,000,000 cap hit through 2018-2019
Eep. That's an issue. You know what could help? This tidbit from Matheson:
The Blues might not mind divesting themselves of Steve Ott’s $2.6 million deal (this year and next) if he’s going to be a fourth-liner, too.
Yes, please. Please.
The issue here is that both T.J. Oshie, Kevin Shattinkirk, and Alexander Steen are eligible for free agency in 2017-2018, and presumably they would like to stay in St. Louis, and the team would like for them to stay. Same goes for David Backes and Jori Lehtera, who are UFA eligible in 2016-2017. Barret Jackman is eligible next season.
Eberle would be a fine addition to the team, but there are a lot of considerations to be made coming up, especially if the cap isn't raised much, if at all. Dumping Ott's salary, which is absurd for a 4th liner, along with trading Berglund could make sense and would help ease the situation. So would getting a right winger who nearly had 30 goals last year for someone who had 14 - and for someone who has yet to score in a Blues uniform.