RealGM

The Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers have made a four-player trade. The Oilers have moved their captain, defencemen Jason Smith and forward Joffrey Lupul for defenceman Joni Pitkanen, forward Geoff Sanderson and a third-round draft pick in 2009.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212468&hubname=

I wonder what this means for Edmonton, as now it seems like their need for a first pairing puck mover has shifted to a need for a first pairing stay at home defensemen.

A good trade, if only because Lupul was never going to win back the fans at this point (shades of Tom Poti) and he was often lost and useless in MacTavish's offensively-challenged system. Hate to see Smith go, but we got the best player in this deal (Pitkanen) and that's the first time I've been able to say that in a while.

As far as a good stay at home defenseman goes, I figure that will be Smid's role as he matures and eventually grows into a 1st pairing calibur defenseman. He certainly has the talent and awareness defensively, and his offensive abilities are no real threat to any team at this point