Souray for Fleischmann?

RUMOUR			2009-2010 NHL Statistics				2011 Cap Info
To Washington	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Sheldon Souray	Defense	34	37	4	9	13	2	$5.4 million
--------------
To Edmonton	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Tomas Fleischmann	Forward	26	69	23	28	51	1	$2.7 million

Well, I saw this trade rumour in a couple of tweets (one & two) this afternoon and thought I would have a good time with this one.  The Oilers would move unhappy defenseman Sheldon Souray out of town for Tomas Fleischmann, a scoring winger who has had some longer contract negotiations with the Capitals and only seems to sign on a year-to-year basis.

Souray has been on the blog a couple of times since he had requested to be traded out of Edmonton, so it should be no surprise that he is back, since he hasn't been moved yet.  The Capitals would be an interesting fit for Souray, as they are in need of a bit more veteran scoring from their blueline, lessening the pressure on young John Carlson, who is emerging as a real blue chip prospect. 

The cap hit for Souray is a pretty big one, but with the way the Capitals are built at the moment, they could use twice the cap hit that Fleischmann would leave behind and move forward with it.  Whether or not Souray would live up to that big cap hit depends a lot on his health, as he is a player on my injury-prone list.

The Oilers, on the other hand, would be very happy to be finally rid of the Souray distraction in their office and on their books, taking on another young scoring forward like Fleischmann.  Unfortunately for the Oilers, Fleischmann is another winger, not exactly what they are after, but he could provide some more help to the centres that are already on the team, possibly making them better.

I don't think that this deal as it stands is one that can happen, there will likely have to be some padding from one side or the other to try and even it up. I would think that the Oilers would have to send a prospect or a mid-round pick to the Capitals, just so they would take that cap hit off their hands, especially for a talent like Fleischmann. The essence of the deal would be Souray for Fleischmann, but at the end of the day, there would need to be a bit more to make it real.

For now, I could see this deal being done, because of the higher prices for top-to-mid level defensemen are quite high and I don't believe the Capitals have enough in their system today to make it as far as they would like in the Eastern Conference playoffs.