What a chaotic trade deadline this year brought! Some of the biggest names that have ever been involved in deadline day trades were moving around the league, Mikko Rantanen even moving twice in the deadline period in a crazy turn of events. The prices being paid were absurd with depth players fetching first-round picks and promising prospects. It makes sense for some to have shied away from making a bigger move. But, others may have missed the boat on bringing in a potential haul for some of their players. Looking at you, Calgary Flames.
The Edmonton Oilers were not active on the deadline day itself, with GM Stan Bowman usually preferring to make his moves in advance of the final day. But they did make a couple of noteworthy moves. Trent Frederic and Max Jones were acquired from the Boston Bruins to help increase grittyness and depth in the forward group. While Jake Walman was acquired to help increase griddyness and scoring depth at defence.
The Oilers paid a somewhat hefty price for all of this, giving up two draft picks and a couple of okay prospects for Frederic and Jones and a future first-round pick for Walman. But, the hope is that these players can become guaranteed Oilers, rather than the maybe NHL players that draft picks tend to be.
To review and recap the deadline activities of the Edmonton Oilers, we took to X to ask Oil Country how they feel about the Oilers trade deadline in this week’s Sunday Census.
Want to take part in Sunday Census polls? We send them out every week on our Twitter at @oilrigEDM. Follow along or send in ideas for the next poll!
The #LetsGoOilers have wrapped up their day for the trade deadline. How do you feel about the moves?
— The Oil Rig (@oilrigEDM) March 8, 2025
The Oilers made just the right moves
The Edmonton Oilers were able to identify some of the key holes on the roster and made a solid attempt to fill them. While avoiding the most expensive players on the market. None of the acquired players are high-end impact players who are going to move the needle, but they will all raise the floor on this roster just enough to make a difference within its depth.
Edmonton has had trouble with scoring from the wings, and Frederic is a player who has had nearly 20 goals and 40 points the past two seasons. They needed more physicality, so again Frederic fills that role. Defensive depth was a concern as well, and Walman helps to add another offensive weapon to the defensive unit to hopefully increase depth scoring throughout the lineup.
Finishing second in this week’s poll, 23% of voters felt the Oilers made the right moves.
The Oilers made entirely the wrong moves
Going into this deadline, it seemed the Oilers had a couple of key holes that they needed to fill. And none of those were more depth wingers and another offensive defender. It is reasonable to see the moves that were made and be confused exactly what the gameplan was, since the Oilers have a collection of underperforming depth wingers already and Evan Bouchard and John Klingberg as offensive defenders who are poor defensively.
The team spent many valuable assets to acquire more pieces without a clear fit and without a clear need for them on the roster.
Finishing third in this week’s poll, 3.6% of voters feel the Oilers just made the wrong moves entirely and did not address anything correctly.
The Oilers should have done more
It is rare to find a vast majority of fans agreeing on anything. But here we are seeing just that. This week, 73.3% of voters felt the Edmonton Oilers should have done more at the 2025 Trade Deadline.
This isnt’t to say that these voters necessarily don’t like the moves that were made. But it suggests there are some missed opportunities or additonal holes that should have been filled as well. The Oilers could have gone more all-in on this season with possibly the best roster they’ve iced since the dynasty years.
With rumoured interest in big name players like Rantanen or Brad Marchand surrounding the team, Edmonton could have potentially convinced either player to come join the Oilers and be more impactful in a bigger role than who they acquired. With goalie concerns, could the Oilers have pushed harder for an upgrade in net in some capacity?
There were plenty of options, albeit expensive ones that the team may not have been able to afford. But most fans feel the Oilers should have done more.
The Oilers should have done less
In a rare accomplishment, 0% of voters think the Oilers should have done less. When a team is good and in a Stanley Cup window, every year must be a chasing the Cup year. No room for sitting on one’s hands and wasting more years of some of the best players the league has ever seen.
How do you feel about the Oilers’ trade deadline? Drop a comment down below!
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