With so many different people talking about our Edmonton Oilers, it can be tricky to keep up. Each week, we here at The Oil Rig will compile some of the biggest and best news, updates, rumours, and discussions for you to keep up-to-date on all things Oilers.
This week, the Oilers are showing signs of coming out of the very slow October/November that left them near the bottom of the Western Conference. The return of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has drastically improved the top-six and the offence. Stuart Skinner has had a solid stretch of games where all the rumours about him possibly being shipped out of town have gone basically extinct now.
There’s still a ton of injuries hitting the team, however, and the Oilers still should look at upgrading the goaltending position, giving Skinner a proper guy he can compete starts with.
Let’s get right into exploring these stories, but first, a few quick hit rumours and updates!
Quick hit Edmonton Oilers updates
Riley Stillman called up
With the Oilers about to go on another (and thankfully their last) long Eastern road trip of the season, they’re gonna need a few bodies. Riley Stillman was signed on July 1 solely to be on the Bakersfield Condors second pair and penalty kill units. This season he has seven points for Bakersfield in 22 games with a -8 rating. I doubt he’ll play in the lineup unless the Oilers suffer a few more injuries.
Roslovic and Walman IR
The Oilers also announced they have called up forward Max Jones. Jack Roslovic (injured in the game against the Dallas Stars), Connor Clattenburg (injured against the Seattle Kraken at home), and Jake Walman (injured on the road against Tampa), all have been put on the injured reserve. Walman, on LTIR, opens up $3.4M in cap space for Edmonton, not including the call up to Jones and soon-to-be Stillman.
I know fans, like myself, wanted to see someone like Quinn Hutson get rewarded for his spectacular play, but we all know Kris Knoblauch would have played him six minutes a night. I don’t think Jones will play, however. If he does, it’ll be minuscule.
Injury updates
Wrapping up the news around injuries, we’ve gotten timelines for when we can expect players to return. Noah Philp hasn’t played since November 17 against the Buffalo Sabres, but is supposedly back within the week and could play on the road-trip. If he does, look for him to play 4C.
Jake Walman’s injury has yet to be revealed, but he took a brutal block shot on the road and apparently the bone bruise has yet to heal the way the Oilers envisioned.
Roslovic and Kasperi Kapanen coming around Christmas time almost certainly means they will not play on this road trip, with a slight chance of returning versus Vegas or Calgary at home before the Christmas break happens.
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Rumour updates
Oilers targeting another left-handed defenceman
It’s not a secret that the Oilers need to find a successor to Mattias Ekholm, especially since Philip Broberg went to St. Louis. Ekholm, at his age and next contract, is still very likely to be a top-four D. But to extend the window and keep McDavid around, they need to really plan for the future and make sure they have a plan when Ekholm does drop off due to age. David Pagnotta mentioned this a few days ago that the Oilers are aware of this. I have a few ideas of who they can bring in, but I’ll save that for another article.
The Oilers wanting to add another forward also makes sense. Look at what Florida did last year. Their team was so stacked and then they went out and added Brad Marchand. That Luostarinen-Lundell-Marchand line was probably the best third line the modern NHL’s ever seen.
Let’s just say for example Edmonton went out and acquired a Mason Marchment type player.
A forward core of:
Marchment-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Roslovic
Mangiapane-RNH-Savoie
Frederic-Henrique-Kapanen
would be very nice to have.
Could a trade happen before the freeze?
Our last rumour is involving a potential move before the break starts. Frank Seravalli has gone on record to say the Oilers have been active in calls and may get something done. Pagnotta mentions a potential talent swap.
The Oilers recently went out and acquired goaltender Tristan Jarry and defenceman Spencer Stastney the other day, which impacted the timing of this article due to a heading talking about why a Jarry trade may not be possible (lol). With that, the Oilers may just stay the course as of right now… but just in case that wasn’t what Pagnotta was alluding too, let’s discuss it.
Truthfully, the only guys I can see Edmonton moving out as of right now are Pickard, Mattias Janmark, David Tomasek, and maybe Andrew Mangiapane. Pickard would only fetch you a similar goalie back and Edmonton’s made it clear they want an upgrade on him. Elliotte brought up Alex Lyon’s name and does not believe the team is done making moves. Lyon makes $500k more than Pickard.
Janmark would solely be traded for cap reasons but with the way he’s been playing, Knob’s trust in him, and his shocking offensive output thus far, along with the Oilers injury issues, he’s likely staying.
Tomasek has fallen out of favour with Knoblauch and sending him to Bakersfield almost assuredly means he returns to Europe. Maybe Edmonton can find a spot for him elsewhere in the league while getting back a player on a league minimum deal?
Finally, there’s Mangiapane. It’s been a rough go for Mangiapane, with only four goals this season. Toronto was interested in him and Pagnotta does mention them as a team looking to make a move. Edmonton did have interest in a player beforehand who the Leafs picked up… Matias Maccelli for Mangiapane?
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
