The Edmonton Oilers have been floundering, with only two wins in seven games since their 4 Nations break. No one seems capable of scoring outside of Leon Draisaitl (except maybe Corey Perry), team defence has been neglected, and goaltending has been consistently allowing at least one weak goal a game. Friday’s trade deadline presented an opportunity to address some of these issues.
Goal 1: Finding a winger for Leon Draisaitl
It’s hard to believe that after signing Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner this past summer, the Oilers are still searching for top-six wingers to play on the second line. Both of the 2024 free agents have been underwhelming; Arvidsson is currently on pace for just 27 points, while Skinner has found himself in the coach’s doghouse, frequenting the press box as a healthy scratch.
In their desperation, the Oilers even called up blue-chip prospect Matthew Savoie from the AHL to see if he could be a long-term solution alongside the German MVP. With this in mind, there’s no doubt the Oilers were scouring the market for an upgrade heading into the past week.
A limited number of top-six options were publicly reported as available approaching the deadline and here’s where they landed:
- Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars for two first-round picks, two third-round picks, and Logan Stankoven
- Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers for a conditional second-round pick
- Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche for Cal Ritchie, a first-round pick, and a conditional third-round pick
- Oliver Bjorkstrand & Yanni Gourde to the Tampa Bay Lightning for two conditional first-round picks
Given Edmonton’s limited assets, it’s understandable why they missed out on the majority of these players. Without their 2026 first-round pick—sent to Philadelphia last summer so Edmonton could draft Sam O’Reilly—the Oilers were at a competitive disadvantage. To jump in on these negotiations, they likely would have needed to offer their 2027 first-round pick, as well as at least one of Sam O’Reilly, Matt Savoie, or Beau Akey.
It seems Edmonton wasn’t willing to make that move unless it was the perfect fit, and given the options, it’s hard to fault them. The one legitimate difference-maker who may have warranted such a package was Mikko Rantanen, and per Ryan Rishaug, the Oilers may not have had the assets to get the deal done.
Oilers took a huge swing yesterday. Sources say Rantanen had interest in coming to Edmonton and things were well down the path of an extension being agreed to – $ were north of what Dallas signed him for. In the end, the trade assets weren’t there to get it done. Also sounds…
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) March 8, 2025
Of the players who did move, Brad Marchand was the other candidate who may have made sense considering the asking price; however, he may have exercised his no-trade clause to block a deal to the Edmonton.
Other potential targets, including Rickard Rakell of the Anaheim Ducks or Ryan Donato of the Chicago Blackwhawks, may have not moved due to prohibitively high asking prices, and in a market that heavily favoured the sellers, its hard to speculate whether the Oilers would’ve benefited from either trade.
Goal 2: Bolstering the forward depth
Another emerging area of need this season has been bottom-six depth—specifically, a forward who can play with speed and physicality. While running up the hit counter doesn’t necessarily make you a more successful hockey team, physicality does become a bigger factor in the playoffs as games increase in intensity. The Oilers overall team speed has been somewhat overstated as an issue (per NHL Edge, they rank in the 93rd and 96th percentile for top skating speed and speed bursts over 20 mph, respectively), but players like Dylan Holloway and Warren Foegele brought a forechecking tenacity to the offence last year that has been sorely missed.
To address this, the Oilers acquired Trent Frederic and Max Jones from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick, a 2026 fourth-round pick, Max Wanner, and Shane LaChance.
With the benefit of hindsight, this was a decent acquisition price. These are the other candidates who were moved:
- Brandon Tanev to the Winnipeg Jets for a second-round pick
- Andrei Kuzmenko to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick
- Anthony Beauvillier to the Washington Capitals for a second-round pick
- Scott Laughton plus to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a first-round pick
Among these players, Frederic ranks first in on-ice xGF% and GF% over the past three seasons (per Evolving-Hockey). He also leads the list in hits, though Oilers fans may remember him more for his fight with Corey Perry earlier this season. While Jones was likely more of a throw-in and seems destined for Bakersfield, he made an noticeable impact in his Oilers debut, bringing energy to a bottom-six that has felt stale in recent games. Given the Oilers’ bare cupboards, this was a solid move and helps address both across the NHL and AHL level.
Goal 3: Adding a top-four defenceman
One of Edmonton’s biggest needs heading into the season was a top-four defenceman to play alongside Darnell Nurse. Although the team acquired Ty Emberson and John Klingberg to compete for the role, it was beginning to look increasingly likely that they would be scouring the trade market for a long-term solution. Thus, it was hardly a surprise when the Oilers spent their biggest assets on a defenceman, acquiring Jake Walman from the San Jose Sharks for a conditional first-round pick and Carl Berglund.
Only a few other blueliners were moved at the deadline:
- Brian Dumoulin to the New Jersey Devils for a second-round pick plus assets
- Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a first-round pick and a blue-chip prospect
- Luke Schenn to the Winnipeg Jets for a second- and fourth-round pick
- Carson Soucy to the New York Rangers for a third-round pick
Again, given the market, the Oilers did well here. Walman has been San Jose’s top defenceman this season, leading the team in on-ice GF% and ranking second in on-ice xGF% (min. 500 TOI, per NST). As @NHL_Sid on Twitter has pointed out, the Sharks are -1 with Walman on the ice and -37 without him, emphasizing his impact on both ends of the ice. From an offensive perspective, Walman has 32 points in 50 games—double that of the next most productive defenceman above. Whether its him that plays on his off-side alongside Darnell Nurse or Brett Kulak, this is a strong addition and provides some reassurance in Stan Bowman’s trading abilities moving forward.
Goal 4: Stabilizing the goaltending position
This is where Edmonton’s trade deadline begins to raise questions. Despite goaltending being the team’s biggest weakness heading into the deadline, management opted to stay the course. Reports suggested they felt confident in their tandem and saw no viable upgrades available.
Of note, only two goaltenders were moved at the deadline (excluding goalie swaps):
- Vitek Vanecek to the Florida Panthers for a prospect
- Petr Mrazek plus to the Detroit Red Wings for a depth player
Detroit’s acquisition of Mrazek likely made either Alex Lyon or Cam Talbot available—both of whom would have been upgrades over Calvin Pickard at likely reasonable prices. Barring that, John Gibson was available as a more substantial upgrade. Had the Oilers been more proactive in addressing their goaltending issues, like the Colorado Avalanche were with Mackenzie Blackwood, there may have been even more options available earlier in the year. Ultimately, the Oilers’ decision to stand pat could be extremely costly if Stuart Skinner does not tangibly improve by the time the postseason rolls around.
Regrouping and looking ahead to the playoffs
When the Edmonton Oilers declined to match offer sheets on Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, they did it to maintain flexibility for midseason additions. Although the Oilers were able to address certain areas of need, including adding physicality, offensive depth, and a quality defenceman, they failed to make a major addition to their top-six or in goal, while other contenders, including Dallas, Colorado, Toronto, and Florida, shelled out heavy assets to bolster their lineup in multiple key positions. Though the moves Edmonton made were solid, they left money on the table (approximately $1M in LTIR space), and were ultimately not bold enough in a crucial year of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid’s prime.
On the flip side, the Oilers’ biggest immediate rivals, the Los Angeles Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights, also failed to make any major upgrades. In what is shaping up to be a four-team bracket with Minnesota Wild as the likely WC1 team, Edmonton was the team that improved the most this week. It won’t be until the Western Conference Final that they may feel the impact of other contenders’ moves, should the Oilers make it that far.
Ultimately, for a team that was universally praised after free agency last summer, Jeff Jackson and Stan Bowman know all too well that success on paper doesn’t always translate to success on the ice. When all is said and done, the Edmonton Oilers may still be the ones having the last laugh.
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