{"id":427585,"date":"2026-01-23T07:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T07:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/427585\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T07:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T07:31:08","slug":"one-trade-target-for-each-of-the-oilers-three-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/427585\/","title":{"rendered":"One trade target for each of the Oilers\u2019 three needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The big question entering March 6th\u2019s NHL trade deadline is what will the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> do?After making consecutive Stanley Cup Finals<\/a>, the Oilers are looking to get over the hump in 2026. While the team isn\u2019t perfect, starting the season slow once again, they\u2019ve really come into their own since the end of November.<\/p>\n

The Oilers have three main needs: a top-six winger, a third-line centre, and a second-pairing defenceman. With only a finite number of assets, the Oilers may only make one big move. That said, let\u2019s take a look at one player who fits their three needs.<\/p>\n

Top-six wingerArtemi Panarin<\/a> is the best top-six winger on the market, and it\u2019s not particularly close. However, it\u2019s hard to envision a world where the Oilers can get the money to work, as Panarin has a cap hit of around $11.64 million. Even at 50 percent retention, clearing over $5 million just doesn\u2019t seem feasible.Kiefer Sherwood is off the market<\/a> as he was traded to the San Jose Sharks, while Alex Tuch is likely off the market due to the performance of the Buffalo Sabres. There are two solid options, both of whom play on a Canadian team in the Pacific Division. Jake DeBrusk of the Vancouver Canucks is an option, but Blake Coleman of the Calgary Flames would be a great fit.<\/p>\n

The Flames and Oilers haven\u2019t linked for many trades in their shared history, with the most recent trade seeing the Oilers send Milan Lucic and a third-rounder in 2020 to the Flames for James Neal.<\/p>\n

That move was made out of necessity, as both teams were looking to off-load a bad contract, but that isn\u2019t the case this time around. This would be a seller\/buyer situation, meaning that the Oilers would have to overpay by quite a bit, especially if they want any retention on Coleman. The winger is in the midst of his fifth year on a six-year deal, as he has a cap hit of $4.9 million<\/a>. With 50% retention, the Oilers can make this work.<\/p>\n

Through 44 games this season, Coleman has 13 goals and eight points. He\u2019ll surpass his goal total of 15 he had last season, but he\u2019s well off the pace of his 30 goals in 2023-24. For the majority of his career, Coleman has scored around 15 goals a season.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good fit for the Oilers as Coleman can play in the middle six, but because the Flames are the bitter rivals of the Oilers, it\u2019s hard to see a trade like this going through. There just aren\u2019t a ton of options on the market that are also cap compliant.<\/p>\n

Third-line centre<\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t a lot of options available for a top six winger, but third-line centres in the trade market are plentiful. Earlier this season, Bob Stauffer was alluding to Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 right-shot centre Nicolas Roy as a target, but the Leafs have been playing better as of late, so that\u2019s probably off the table.<\/p>\n

If the Oilers wish to get a right-shot centre, former Oiler Ryan Strome could be an option, while Jesperi Kotkaniemi<\/a>, Luke Schenn, and Ryan O\u2019Reilly are rather difficult to acquire due to the Oilers\u2019 cap situation. The same can\u2019t be said about Boone Jenner.<\/p>\n

Spending his entire career with the Blue Jackets, Jenner is a four-time 20-goal scorer, with three of those seasons coming from 2021-22 until 2023-24. Last season, he played just 26 games, scoring seven goals and 19 points, and he has eight goals and 25 points in 35 games this season. This season, he\u2019s won 53 percent of the faceoff he\u2019s taken and is a 54 percent winner in his career.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be a hot commodity and it\u2019s still undetermined whether or not the Blue Jackets will sell, as they are just six points out of a wild card spot with a ton of teams to pass. If Jenner is shopped, he should be the Oilers\u2019 top target.<\/p>\n

Top-four defenceman<\/p>\n

A small need for the Oilers is to even out their handedness on the backend. Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, Jake Walman, and Spencer Statsney are all left-shot defencemen. On the right-side, the Oilers have Evan Bouchard and either Alec Regula or Ty Emberson.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a glaring need for the team, but upgrading on Emberson should be considered. While evening out the handedness issue, that\u2019s not quite an option just yet. With Rasmus Andersson being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, the best right-shot defenceman on the market is Dougie Hamilton. The 32-year-old has a cap hit of $9 million, so that isn\u2019t going to work.<\/p>\n

Cap-wise, it could work if the Oilers get 50 percent retention, as his cap hit is currently $5.1 million<\/a>, and would be $2.55 million with retention. The good news is that there is work to make that work. It\u2019d require Andrew Mangiapane and Emberson to be traded, Isaac Howard or Calvin Pickard to be sent down, and Adam Henrique to be activated. But if the Flyers were to retain 49 percent, this works and would cost the Oilers an arm and a leg.<\/p>\n

Ristolainen isn\u2019t the same type of defender when he was picking up 40-point seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. The right-shot defenceman is a defensively steady penalty killer who can play top four minutes. Pairing him alongside Nurse could finally unlock the best of Nurse too.<\/p>\n

That said, this trade with this type of retention is far too much for something that is a priority.<\/p>\n

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.<\/p>\n

Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly \u201cLetters to the Editor\u201d segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation\u2019s managing editor Zach Laing (zach.laing@bettercollective.com<\/a>), titled \u201cLetters to the Editor.\u201d Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and\/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 PM MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.PRESENTED BY SOUTHVIEW ACURA\"\"<\/p>\n

At Southview Acura, luxury isn\u2019t just what you drive, it\u2019s how you\u2019re treated. Family owned and operated, we\u2019re proud to offer an exceptional selection of new and certified pre-owned Acuras, backed by a service experience built on trust and precision. Whether it\u2019s your first visit or your next, our team is committed to excellence every step of the way. Visit Southview Acura today, where luxury meets reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The big question entering March 6th\u2019s NHL trade deadline is what will the Edmonton Oilers do?After making consecutive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-427585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}