The Vegas Golden Knights can do the funniest thing ever to the Edmonton Oilers

It's been a no good, terrible, outright miserable week for the Edmonton Oilers. They saw their two young stars, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, go to the St. Louis Blues. When a team has offer sheets heading their way, it usually happens to one player. However, the Oilers were victims of the double whammy, leaving them with less speed than before.

What's a team to do when you lose out on two younger players? Why, you fill the void with another name. Justin Schultz and Kevin Shattenkirk are two defensemen on the Oilers' radar. Why not replace two fast players with a couple of defensemen? It's like Ken Holland never left the building.

But the Vegas Golden Knights can do the funniest thing ever to Edmonton and make their lives tougher. It's a move they don't need to do, specifically because they have a surplus of defensemen. However, it would leave the Oilers a slow team, making it tougher to repeat as Western Conference champions.

It probably won't happen because the Golden Knights are experiencing a cap space crunch. Only having $1,360,017 in LTIR-added salary cap room (with Robin Lehner's deal) makes it tough for a hockey team to get a one-up on their divisional rivals. However, it's fun to think about what would happen if Vegas made this move.

It would be funny if the Vegas Golden Knights signed Justin Schultz and poached him from the Edmonton Oilers

Now, this isn't a move the Vegas Golden Knights must make. They have plenty of blue-line depth and could explore offloading expensive contracts. Names like Shea Theodore ($5.2 million cap hit) and Brayden McNabb ($2.85 million) are in the last year of their respective deals, meaning players like Ben Hutton and Kaeden Korczak are waiting.

But hear me out. What if they ditched these expensive contracts and added Justin Schultz for giggles? The Edmonton Oilers have been a glass-cannon team during the Connor McDavid era, for they boast a world-beating offense with a top-tier first line and power play. However, they can't stop opposing offenses and have average goaltending.

Of course, this would clear up space to acquire a respectable defenseman with 19 assists with the Seattle Kraken last season. If the Golden Knights wanted more offense, they could add him to add more scoring on the bottom pair. That would mean giving Nicolas Hague a bump in the defensive pairings,

Let's not forget that Edmonton is tied up with Darnell Nurse's contract, which has a cap hit of $9.25 million every year... until the summer of 2030. Imagine tying all your resources to a player not named McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. The Golden Knights didn't pay Jonathan Marchessault $5.5 million AAV until he was 39 because it was a raw deal. Teams don't pay aging players five-year deals when their skills have evaporated completely. You can't say the same for Edmonton, which has had questionable general managers signing head-scratching deals (Nurse included).

The reality is it won't happen

Although this would be a funny joke that would leave the Edmonton Oilers more vulnerable defensively, it won't happen. One, the deal offered would be a PTO, where the Vegas Golden Knights can evaluate which talent to sign. That's what they're doing with Tanner Pearson as they seek to address the forward depth.

Besides, it's been mentioned that there are enough defensemen. Why add to the pile when you already have players waiting in the wings? It's something that Kelly McCrimmon doesn't need to do, for Justin Schultz wouldn't add much to the Golden Knights profile aside from offense. They already have older defenders such as Alex Pietrangelo and Brayden McNabb, which would make them age more (Schultz is 34). Keep in mind this goes for other defensemen Edmonton is pursuing, including Tyson Barrie and Kevin Shattenkirk.

They could also let Edmonton sign him and let them get older. The Oilers do have plenty of questions down the road, concerning players like Leon Draisaitl. Having big contracts like Nurse's will make life easier for the Golden Knights, who want to gain an advantage over their rivals. Still, hitting them where it hurts by stealing a defenseman could be the best prank ever.