Last week, I went through each team in the Atlantic Division and discussed the Edmonton Oilers best trade with them. This week we’ll dive right into the Central Division.
Chicago Blackhawks
Best trade: Edmonton acquires Jaroslav Spacek in exchange for Tony Samelainen
The Oilers acquired a key piece of their 2006 run in Spacek, who was often paired with Chris Pronger. You can argue Spacek’s best hockey came in Edmonton where he put up 19 points in 31 regular season games. Pro-rating that in an entire season that gives him 50 points, which would be a career high. He was even better in the postseason, scoring 14 points in 24 games and played a great shutdown game. While he was shipped off in the offseason, the trade was well worth for Edmonton considering Salmelainen didn’t do much for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Honourable mention: Edmonton acquires Dave Manson in exchange for Steve Smith. Manson put up back-to-back 40-point campaigns while being the tough enforcer on the ice. Steve Smith had one good year in Chicago and saw a drastic decline in play.
Colorado Avalanche
Best trade: Edmonton acquires Tom Gilbert in exchange for Tommy Salo and a 2005 sxith-round pick
After back-to-back subpar seasons, Edmonton packaged Salo to the Colorado Avalanche for Gilbert. Salo played only FIVE games with the Avs and went back home to Sweden. Meanwhile, Gilbert was seen as an up-and-comer on the backend. In Gilbert’s first full season in Edmonton, he scored 13 goals to go with his 33 point season. He improved the next year by getting 45 points. He was the main QB on the Oilers power play. He spent two more years in Edmonton and was later shipped off to Minnesota.
Honourable mention: N/A. The Gilbert trade is the only semi-NHL trade the Oilers and the Avalanche have made together.
Dallas Stars
Best trade: Oilers acquire Philip Larsen in exchange for Shawn Horcoff
This is gonna be short. The Oilers traded then captain Shawn Horcoff to the Dallas Stars for young defenceman Philip Larsen. Horcoff came off a terrible year making way too much money. They had no choice but to offload him. After a season of 12 points in 31 games, he was sent to Texas for the young Danish D. Larsen lasted one season in Edmonton… and ironically had 12 points in 30 games. After going to the KHL for two years, the Oilers traded his right to the Canucks.
Honourable mention: N/A. The Horcoff trade was only ONE of two trades I could find that the Oilers and Stars have made with each other. The other was one Edmonton sending a third rounder for… Mark Fistric.
Minnesota Wild
Best trade: Edmonton acquires Dwayne Roloson in exchange for a 2006 first-round pick (Trevor Lewis) and a 2007 conditional third-round pick (Spencer Machacek)
Like a certain someone—I’ll talk about soon—Roloson was a huge reason why the Oilers made it to the 2006 Cup Final. You could argue that the Oilers would have been lifting the cup that season if he hadn’t gotten hurt. Roloson went 12–5 with a GAA of 2.33 and a SV% of .927. It was an unbelievable run and would extend in Edmonton for the next few years. The best piece Minnesota got was the first-rounder which was later flipped for Pavol Demitra. Fans to this day still love the guy they call “Rollie.”
Honourable mention: Edmonton acquires a 2014 fourth-round pick (William Lagesson) in exchange for Ilya Bryzgalov. The Oilers acquired a pick that turned into an NHLer. Lagesson played 57 games and was later dealt for Habs D Brett Kulak. Bryzaglov played 12 games for the Wild as the backup and albiet had decent numbers (.911SV% and a 2.12 GAA).
Nashville Predators
Best trade: Edmonton acquires Mattias Ekholm and a 2024 sixth-round pick (Albin Sundin) in exchange for Tyson Barrie, Reid Schaefer, a 2023 first-round pick (Tanner Moldendyk) and a 2024 fourth-round pick (Hagen Burrows)
This one was obvious, right? Ekholm was probably the best trade acquisition the Oilers have made since Chris Pronger and I don’t think I’m wrong in that assessment. A legit top-pair stud who had instant chemistry with Evan Bouchard. He’s completely changed the dynamic of the Oilers backend and has finally started to gain recognition around the league of just how good he is. All it cost Edmonton was a third pair D who specializes on the PP (but with Roman Josi there that fit didn’t work), Reid Schaefer who had a terrible first year in the AHL, and Tanner Moldendyk who had a solid DY+1 season but still ways away.
Honourable mention: Edmonton acquires Derek Roy in exchange for Mark Arcobello. Arcobello lasted FOUR games in Nashville before playing in Arizona and Pittsburgh that same season. Derek Roy had instant chemistry with Nail Yakupov and collected 22 points in 46 games with the Oilers in his farewell season in the league. Not bad for the 32-year-old at the time.
Arizona Coyotes (UTAH)
Best trade: Edmonton acquires Nick Bjugstad and Cam Dineen in exchange for Michael Kesselring and a 2023 third-round pick (Vadim Moroz)
While Kesselring has looked solid for Arizona, you cannot deny Bjugstad’s impact on the Oilers lineup. Bjugstad was a cheap and big (quite literally) add for the Oilers bottom six. He was good defensively and could chip in offence when needed. While he had his struggles against Vegas, I don’t think he was ever a liability when he was here.
Honourable mention: Edmonton acquires Lauri Korpikoski in exchange for Boyd Gordon. Edmonton swaps Gordon who had another two years left at a cap hit of $3M for Korpikoski who had a cap hit of $2M. Quite frankly, Korpikoski was bought out the next year and had terrible possession metrics the season he played in Edmonton. Call it a wash but this is the only other notable trade I could find.
St. Louis Blues
Best trade: Edmonton acquires Chris Pronger in exchange for Eric Brewer, Jeff Woywitka, and Doug Lynch
Even though the marriage between Pronger and Edmonton wasn’t long-lived, Edmonton won the deal by a landslide. Acquiring a Hall of Fame defenceman in his prime for basically pennies was an amazing move by Kevin Lowe. In Pronger’s only year here, he racked up 56 points and was one of the driving forces of the Oilers 2006 run where he had 21 points in 24 games. While Brewer was in St. Louis for seven seasons, he was at best a good second pair defenceman there. Woywitka never played a full 82-game season in three years with St. Louis and Doug Lynch never even played a game. This was a heist by Oilers management.
Honourable mention: Edmonton acquires David Perron in exchange for Magnus Paajarvi and a 2014 second-round pick (Ivan Barbashev). While Barbashev was a key piece for the Blues during their playoff runs (ironically with David Perron), acquiring top-six depth for an Oilers team that badly needed it came at a cheap price. Paajarvi never gained traction in St. Louis and would finish his NHL career in Ottawa.
Winnipeg Jets
Best trade: Edmonton receives a 2006 third-round pick (Theo Peckham) in exchange for a 2006 third-round pick (Michael Forney) and a 2006 seventh-round pick (Arturs Kulda)
Peckham spent his entire NHL career with Edmonton playing 160 games spread out from 2007 to 2013. Mostly known as a grinding checker, Peckham collected 17 points in his career. Kulda played 15 games in the NHL before going overseas and Forney never even had a role in the Jets’ farm system.
Besides that small trade, the Oilers have shockingly never really traded with the Jets or the Atlanta Thrashers.
Stay tuned next week for the Metropolitan Division!
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
The only trade of consequence was the acquisition of Matias Ekholm. All the other trades were jockeying for position or to meet the salary cap.