Oilers Trade Deadline Preview: No contender needs a bigger boost

EDMONTON — Stan Bowman got an early start on his deadline by landing Trent Frederic from Boston on Tuesday, adding some much needed size and grit to a lineup that ranks 32nd in the NHL in hits and lacks energy on a nightly basis.

Now, with the spectre of Evander Kane casting a shadow over the proceedings, Bowman will continue to fix the mess CEO Jeff Jackson made of this roster back on July 1st, when Jackson was at the helm prior to Bowman being hired.

Whether or not Bowman will operate as an LTIR team, telling us that Kane will not play a regular season game, or use accrued cap space — hinting that Kane will return for regular season games — there isn’t enough cap space to fix all the holes in the Oilers’ roster, we fear.

Bowman made his reputation by rebuilding Cup-winning rosters in Chicago that had been decimated by the cap, and winning again a year or two later. This March, he is tasked with cleaning up Jackson’s work, on a tired team that went all the way last year but came up two goals short of the hardware.

At the time of this writing, the Oilers are in a hole, losers of six or their past seven games. They are the NHL’s oldest team, and with 21 games to play, no team needs a boost from its GM more than this one.

Projected deadline day cap space: $4.475 million, per PuckPedia

Contracts: 48/50

Cap space committed to 2024-25: $77,274,166 million (committed to 16 players)

DRAFT PICKS

NEEDS

There are many:

• Leon Draisaitl has somehow fashioned a Hart Trophy-level season, festooned with two wingers who are not of Top 6 quality. He could dearly use a Kyle Palmieri, Brock Boeser type — a genuine NHL finisher.

• As the second pairing left defenceman, Darnell Nurse has not had a consistent partner all season long. This is arguably Edmonton’s greatest need: a shutdown, physical, right-side defenceman to solidify the Top 4. Even a lefty like Anaheim’s Brian Dumoulin or San Jose’s Mario Ferraro could work. St. Louis’ Colton Parayko is equal parts dream and fantasy.

• The Oilers have a rotating cast at fourth-line centre. Which means they don’t really have one they like. An addition would be nice, but likely it will come from AHL Bakersfield in the form of Derek Ryan or Noah Philp.

• Stuart Skinner could dearly use an equal in net – or better. The goaltending has simply not been good enough this season as Skinner’s game, like so many others, has dipped this season. But with limited assets, it’s doubtful this itch gets scratched.

POTENTIAL TARGETS

Alex Tuch — He’s big, shoots right, doesn’t need to carry the puck through the neutral zone, and would be a perfect fit on Draisaitl’s wing. Tuch has one year left after this one with an AAV of $4.75 million, is right in his prime at age 28, a big, skilled 25-goal man who could maximize the one of the best distributing centres in the game. Would Buffalo take picks and a prospect back for him?

Kyle Palmieri — Here’s another legit 30-goal scorer who has been around and can step into a veteran lineup, no problem. He’s a pending UFA, right-shot pure scorer who could — like Tuch — finish some of the plays that guys like Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin have missed on. The Isles would be offered picks for Palmieri.

Brock Boeser — How much fun would this be? Another veteran, right-shot scorer for the same roles mentioned above. We highly doubt the Canucks do anything to help the Oilers out, but the conflicted fan bases would be hilarious, wouldn’t they?

Jamie Oleksiak — You’d prefer righty Adam Larsson off the Seattle back end, but the lefty Oleksiak would do in a pinch. He is six-foot-seven, could stay at home on the right side with Nurse, and brings a solid toughness that every No. 4 should add to a lineup. Again, draft picks would have to suffice.

Connor Murphy — Hers’s a righty who could step right in next to Nurse, if the Blackhawks can afford to move him after already trading away Seth Jones. One problem: Chicago used its last salary retention spot on Jones, so any retention would have to go through a third party.

ASSETS TO TRADE

Edmonton has picks left in Rounds 3, 6 and 7 this June but has its first-, second- and third-round picks in the 2026 and 2027 drafts to move.

As for prospects, Matthew Savoie is likely their top guy. A small but skilled right winger, after losing a pair of 23-year-olds in Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to that St. Louis offer sheet, the Oilers would dearly love to hang on to Savoie.

The pipeline is thin for Edmonton. They don’t have much in Bakersfield, though Sam O’Reilly (London) and Beau Akey (Barrie) are coming up through the OHL. They could be trade bait.