With the trade deadline on the horizon, just five days away, the Edmonton Oilers are running out of time to acquire reinforcements for what they hope is as a deep playoff run possible. Rumours of possible trade targets swirl, as do players and assets that might be on the way out, a dream of possible futures amidst the shrinking variables of time and available players.
Fans have little to do but to wait to see how this deadline unfolds. Afforded a brief moment to ponder less pressing matters, we asked our readers about past deadline additions.
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Tommy Salo
Acquired from the New York Islanders at the 1999 trade deadline, Tommy Salo would be the Oilers unquestioned starting goalie until being traded to the Colorado Avalanche at the 2004 deadline. A different era, Salo would start 73, 70, 69, and 65 games during his four full seasons as an Oiler. Though the Oilers made the playoff in four of Salo’s six seasons on the team, they never advanced past the first round.
Acquired as a 28-year-old, and in his third season as a full time NHLer, Salo enjoyed the best seasons of his career as an Oiler. The Oilers gave up goalie Mats Lindgren and an eighth-round pick, clearly improving their team in the deal.
Though Salo was a valuable piece to the Oilers he never quite asserted himself into the upper echelon of NHL starters. Famously, it was a goal conceded in the Olympics that many will remember most as an illustration of Salo’s limitations. Despite being the starting goalie for one of the best Olympic teams at the time, as a member of the favoured team Sweden at the 2002 Olympic Games, Salo was often criticised by those focused on his shortcomings. It might be unfair, but despite his contributions and the relatively low acquisition cost it’s clear the voting public does not think as highly of the Oilers acquiring Salo.
Doug Weight
Doug Weight was acquired at the 1993 trade deadline from the New York Rangers for Oilers legend Esa Tikkanen. The Oilers were clearly retooling the husk of their dynastic years, taking a swing on a young centre, a former second-round pick in his second season. Weight would blossom into a point per game player in Edmonton, and like Salo, enjoyed the best seasons of his career as an Oiler.
Though the Oilers would miss the playoffs in each of Weight’s first three seasons on the team, Weight would help lead the team to the playoffs in each of his final five seasons as an Oiler. While the Oilers were not able to win a Stanley Cup in his time, Weight twice helped bring the Oilers to the second round of the playoffs, leading the team in points both times. Without a doubt the Oilers did well in this trade.
For Tikkanen’s part, he and the Rangers fared well in the trade as well. Tikkanen would help the Rangers win their Stanley Cup in the 93–94 season, his fifth after helping the Oilers win four of their five Cups. Tikkanen scored 30 goals three times as an Oiler, would manage 22 goals in the Rangers Cup winning season, but would not reach the 15 goal mark after that.
The mixed feeling of moving on from a legendary player might be at play in the low voting representation in our poll. So too might be element of time, as the Weight trade was the voting option farthest in the past. Weight was eventually traded to the St. Louis Blues in the 2001 offseason, which might not have been the storybook ending that fans were hoping for. Regardless, this trade is a good example of how both teams can win a deal simultaneously.
Mattias Ekholm
While there might be some recency bias at play, as Mattias Ekholm continues to be a major piece of the Oilers core group, his acquisition is deserving of recognition as one of the best Oiler deadline deals. Acquired from the Nashville Predators, Ekholm was well established as a solid top-four defenceman prior to joining the Oilers. In his first calendar year since coming to Edmonton, Ekholm has over-delivered, a nearly unflappable performance paired with an ascending Evan Bouchard.
With a quarter million dollars in retained salary, the cost to acquire Ekholm’s services were steep. Going the other way was Tyson Barrie, a 2023 first-round pick, and Reid Schaefer, a 2022 first-round pick himself. Schaefer and the player selected with the Oilers 2023 pick, Tanner Molendyk, have yet to make their mark on the league, but offloading Barrie was a benefit of its own.
Many across Oil Country hope that the team can replicate the effectiveness of this transaction again this season, perhaps flipping Cody Ceci and a cocktail of futures for a similarly talented defender. Quite simply there are not many defencemen in the league of comparable quality to Ekholm. The Oilers paid a hefty price to acquire Ekholm, but the team is greatly improved by his contribution.
Dwayne Roloson
At the cost of a first- and a third-round draft pick, the Oilers acquired Dwayne Roloson at the 2005–06 deadline. As a 36-year-old at the time, Roloson was putting up career best numbers behind a stout Minnesota Wild team. Roloson would make an immediate impact on the Oilers, backstopping the team to the Stanley Cup finals the season he joined the team. Infamously, Roloson was injured in Game 1 of the series, a devastating blow. The Oilers managed to bring the series to Game 7 despite his absence.
The immediacy of this near glorious playoff success has clearly stayed present in the consciousness of Oil Country, represented by a decisive victory in our poll. Roloson became a fan favourite thanks to his underdog story, a goalie who only became an NHL starter in his 30s, leading an underdog team. Roloson would re-sign with the Oilers, who failed to make the playoffs in each of his final three seasons with the team. Ultimately, Roloson would leave for the Islanders in 2009 as a free agent, but he played into his 40s, even backstopping the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup Finals in the 2010–11 season.
While Roloson was certainly an affable figure during his time with the Oilers, the discrepancy between how voters remember both Roloson and Salo might reveal the nature of what the ultimate measurement of deadline additions is. Salo played more regular season games and more seasons with the Oilers, even adding 16 playoff games against Roloson’s 18 playoff games. The acquisition cost for Roloson was significantly higher as well. Salo brought his Oiler teams to the playoffs at a much greater rate. Over their entire careers one might have an easier time saying Roloson was the better netminder, but confined to their respective stints as Oilers the balance is not so unequivocal.
The main difference is clearly a deep playoff run, the reverence earned by a trip to the Cup finals. Brett Kulak was the Oilers main deadline addition in their trip to the Conference final in 2021–22, and was not an option in this poll, yet the aura surrounding a trip past the third round is to a different level. For his part, Roloson is shielded even from the loss in the Cup finals due to his injury. The thought that things might have turned out differently had he not been injured, an unyielding beacon. As the starting goalie, one is front and centre in any successes or failures of the team, which amplifies positively for Roloson.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
