Earlier this month, we took a look at the most recent trade the Edmonton Oilers have made with each Western Conference team. Now, let’s shift things out east and reflect back on more trades.
These are always great to reflect back on. Assuming it is trades that we remember fondly, that is. Some of them on this list are bound to cause some sighs and eye rolling.
Luckily, we can expect the series of eyebrow raising trades with the Detroit Red Wings to be quieting down now that Ken Holland isn’t at the helm. Though that could easily shift to the new GM’s former team in place.
Nevertheless, let’s drop the puck on this post and start reminiscing on past trades!
All trade information courtesy of nhltradetracker.com.
Boston Bruins
Kicking off this list with the oldest one of the bunch. The most recent trade made between the Oilers and Boston Bruins dates back to March 2010.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Boston Bruins acquire |
|---|---|
| Matt Marquardt | Cody Wild |
Not a significant move by any means, as Marquardt spent only parts of two seasons in the organization between the AHL and ECHL.
Buffalo Sabres
One of the most surprising moves on this list came last offseason when the Oilers acquired an exciting young prospect for a fan favourite NHL regular.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Buffalo Sabres acquire |
|---|---|
| Matthew Savoie | Ryan McLeod |
| Tyler Tullio |
This move came out of left field. No one had McLeod on the trade block, and for the Oilers to get one of the league’s top prospects in return was shocking.
Although McLeod was popular and promising, with a great skillset as a defensively sound forward, the Oilers had a surplus in that position. Savoie fit the bill of what they needed more a young, cost-controlled winger with scoring potential to boost the depth on the NHL team in the coming years.
Savoie has been sensational in the AHL so far, sitting second on the Condors in scoring with 37 points in 45 games. He is even getting some attention as a possible option for a call-up in the near future with his Oilers debut being teased for the upcoming road trip.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes were frequent trading partners for a bit in recent years. Their most recent trade came just under two years ago heading into the 2023 Trade Deadline.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Carolina Hurricanes acquire |
|---|---|
| Patrik Puistola | Jesse Puljujarvi |
Puljujarvi was a fan favourite that was let go as a cap dump shortly before the Oilers made the Mattias Ekholm trade. Unfortunately, after five seasons of turmoil and a testy relationship between player and team, Puljujarvi was not going to work out in Edmonton.
Since this deal, he has struggled to hold a spot in Carolina and with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the latter of which he was recently waived for the purpose of a mutual contract termination.
Puistola never signed with the Oilers and has stayed in Finland for his whole career thus far.
Columbus Blue Jackets
There are plenty of players who live on in infamy in Oilers lore from the Decade of Darkness. This defender, acquired in June 2014, is one of them. And based on how it worked out, maybe that’s why the Oilers haven’t made any more moves with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Columbus Blue Jackets acquire |
|---|---|
| Nikita Nikitin | 2014 fifth-round draft pick |
On the surface, this looked like a solid trade. The signing rights to a 20–30 point defender who had played well over 20 minutes per game in recent years for a fifth-round draft pick? Sounds good!
Unfortunately, that did not work out as well as hoped.
Nikitin immediately signed with the Oilers for two seasons. And that was the high point of his time in Edmonton. He played a total of 53 games over two seasons, recording four goals and 11 points.
Tyler Bird, the player selected with the pick Columbus reacquired, played a handful of AHL games but spent most of his professional career in the ECHL.
Detroit Red Wings
It is never easy when fan favourites are traded. Especially when it is two at once. That is exactly what happened in the most recent trade with the Detroit Red Wings.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Detroit Red Wings acquire |
|---|---|
| Future considerations | Klim Kostin |
| Kailer Yamamoto |
Not only did the Oilers give up two beloved players, they got nothing in return for them. It was framed as a cap dump, as Yamamoto was subsequently bought out shortly after.
Florida Panthers
It has been a long while since the Oilers made a move with the Florida Panthers. And given recent events, I suspect that will continue for a while. This trade was another in a string of odd decisions and roster turnover trying to solve the defence.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Florida Panthers acquire |
|---|---|
| Alex Petrovic | Chris Wideman |
| 2019 third-round draft pick |
Wideman spent just one month as an Oiler, playing in five games and recording two points. Edmonton acquired him from the Ottawa Senators on November 22, 2018. And then traded him to the Panthers in this deal on December 30, 2018. One of the weirdest brief sagas for an Oilers player to be a part of.
Not only was the trade weird for the player involved, but it was also a bad trade. Petrovic played just nine games with the Oilers before moving on during the next offseason. Not worth the additional third-round pick at all.
Montreal Canadiens
The Oilers have made a few minor league depth moves since the end of last season involving their prospects. Back in December, the Oilers made a small move with a depth defender to try and find a forward with some potential.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Montreal Canadiens acquire |
|---|---|
| Jacob Perreault | Noel Hoefenmayer |
This move could end up being a sneaky win for the Oilers. Hoefenmayer had appeared to hit a ceiling and wasn’t going to compete for an NHL depth role, but Perreault is much younger and had a strong start with the Bakersfield Condors. He has slowed down in recent weeks, but his 11 points in 26 games could prove helpful in the AHL, if nothing else.
New Jersey Devils
For the most recent trade with the New Jersey Devils, we will be taking a trip back to the 2021 season, where the Oilers were in the North Division building Canadian rivalries. They made one deadline deal that season to bring in some help defensively.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | New Jersey Devils acquire |
|---|---|
| Dmitry Kulikov | 2021 fourth-round draft pick |
Kulikov’s stint in Edmonton was incredibly short lived. He played in 13 total games with the Oilers. 10 regular season and three playoff games before Edmonton was prematurely eliminated in the play-in round. He had two points, both assists, in the regular season as his only offensive contributions.
New York Islanders
The 2018 Trade Deadline was the most recent time the Oilers have made a trade with the New York Islanders. And let’s just be glad for a minute that they made this smaller deal to prevent the next two in line from being revisited in this article.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | New York Islanders acquire |
|---|---|
| 2019 third-round draft pick | Brandon Davidson |
This trade marked the end of Davidson’s second tenure with the Oilers. He was first traded to Montreal at the 2017 trade deadline, reclaimed on waivers in December, and then traded to the Islanders at the 2018 trade deadline.
With the pick included in this trade, the Oilers selected goaltender Ilya Konovalov. He had promise and was touted as a potential NHL goalie. But in his one attempt to play in North America, he spent 17 games with the Condors in the 2021–22 season before the team and player terminated the contract for him to return to the KHL.
New York Rangers
The most recent trade the Oilers have made with the New York Rangers is a smaller, minor league move.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | New York Rangers acquire |
|---|---|
| Jayden Grubbe | 2023 fifth-round draft pick |
In practice, being able to acquire an already drafted and partially developed player for a later round pick should lead to a higher rate of success. There is a better grasp of what the player might be and what his potential is.
Unfortunately, this one hasn’t led to much of yet. Grubbe, in his second season with the Condors, has 10 points in 45 games.
What this trade did accomplish was getting the organization a right-shot centre with size, a specific role that the Oilers were weak on. If they were able to specifically target someone to fill this role with a late round pick that may not have even made the AHL, it can still be a win.
Ottawa Senators
One of the many moves made this past offseason involved the Ottawa Senators. And this one took us by surprise. It didn’t involve anyone in the NHL or seemingly at this point, but it did leave many of us slightly confused and doesn’t seem to be paying off in the way the organization may have hoped.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Ottawa Senators acquire |
|---|---|
| Roby Jarventie | Xavier Bourgault |
| 2025 fourth-round draft pick | Jake Chiasson |
Bourgault had hit a ceiling and plateaued in his development and wasn’t looking as though he’d become an NHL player. On the other hand, Jarventie had been getting better and had already played a few games in the NHL.
Unfortunately, Jarventie has spent most of the season injured. After starting the year on injury reserve after undergoing season ending knee surgery last February, he played just two games before being sidelined yet again. Though he did have two assists in those two games, his health is a major concern moving forward. His potential, however, is still good.
Philadelphia Flyers
Another one of the depth moves the Oilers have made this season involved the Philadelphia Flyers. This one was an AHL defender swap.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Philadelphia Flyers acquire |
|---|---|
| Ronnie Attard | Ben Gleason |
A relatively unimpactful move to swap a left defender for a right defender, Attard is a slightly younger option that may have had more NHL upside at one point. Thus far, he has stayed with the Bakersfield Condors and is not very high on the call-up list at this point. In 32 games with the Condors, he has nine points.
Pittsburgh Penguins
This trade from back in the summer of 2019 has turned into one of the worst trades in recent years for the Oilers. The prospect lost is a major case of “the one that got away.”
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Pittsburgh Penguins acquire |
|---|---|
| 2021 sixth-round draft pick | John Marino |
On the surface, this is an awful trade for Edmonton. Marino, after being a sixth-round pick of the Oilers back in 2015, has gone on to have a fairly successful career for a few organizations around the league. He has turned into a 20-point defender and something that would have been nice for the Oilers to have, another right-shot in the middle of their lineup.
But, the context provides more insight into why this trade was made and why Marino is not the one that got away. His rights were about to expire and he was not expected to be willing to sign with the Oilers. So, they trade his rights and at least get something in return instead of letting him walk for nothing.
The player that the Oilers got with the pick? Shane Lachance, who is currently one of the highest scoring prospects in the organization with 24 points in 29 games with Boston University in the NCAA.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The most recent trade, technically, with the Tampa Bay Lightning was a part of the three team trade bringing Adam Henrique to Edmonton. The Lightning retained an additional 25% of Henrique’s salary and sent Ty Taylor to the Oilers in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round draft pick.
For a trade solely between these two teams, we have to go back over a decade.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Tampa Bay Lightning acquire |
|---|---|
| Teddy Purcell | Sam Gagner |
This trade was the end of Gagner’s first tenure with the Oilers. He had seemingly plateaued as a 40 point player, and did not fully reach his intital potential as an offensive leader on the team. He became expendable as the Oilers needed to usher in another rebuild era.
Purcell was not much of an improvement, he played just two seasons in Edmonton with points totals of 34 and 32 in each of those seasons.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Oilers haven’t made a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs since June 2018. And it was an absolute blockbuster that turned the stove from zero to 0.1.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Toronto Maple Leafs acquire |
|---|---|
| Nolan Vesey | 2020 seventh-round draft pick |
This move would be confusing if the return was substantial. Or if the condition was even met, as it appears the Oilers never actually gave up the pick associated with the trade.
Immediately after acquiring Vesey, the Oilers signed him to a two year entry-level contract.
Vesey would spend those two seasons split between the AHL’s Condors and ECHL’s Wichita Thunder where he had four points in 25 AHL games and 16 points in 47 ECHL games.
Washington Capitals
The Oilers and Washington Capitals are very infrequent trading partners. In fact, the most recent trade between these two teams was in April 2013. And it was nothing to write home about.
| Edmonton Oilers acquire | Washington Capitals acquire |
|---|---|
| Garrett Stafford | Dane Byers |
Stafford played eight games in the Oilers organization, all in the AHL. Byers played a few more seasons in North America, all with the Hershey Bears, Washington’s AHL affiliate.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
