"Work the phones": GM Ken Holland reveals next Oilers trade target
The Edmonton Oilers may not be quite done on the trade front.
Just moments after this morning’s Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick trade with the Anaheim Ducks was made official, Oilers GM Ken Holland addressed the media and revealed that he is not done working the phones and is looking for another player to add before Friday’s trade deadline.
“We do have some money, some cap space left so I’m going to continue to work the phones here tonight, tomorrow, and through Friday and see if we can do anything else,” said Holland.
“I am going to continue to talk to teams about another defenceman, a veteran defenceman… we like the six [defencemen] we got, I would think that if we do something, we’re bringing in someone to be number seven.”
From that Holland presser, it certainly sounds like the #Oilers are not done ahead of the trade deadline.
A veteran depth defenceman seems to be the type of player that the team is targeting.
Options out there include Joel Edmundson and David Savard.
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) March 6, 2024
The Oilers do have the cap space to make another addition to their lineup. Salary retention in this morning’s trade was able to bring both Henrique and Carrick down to a combined cap hit of $1.8 million for the remainder of the season. This leaves the team with a little more wiggle room to make adjustments.
Though Holland is not able to bring up any specific names, there are a few players on the trade market that fit the description of a veteran depth defenceman, including Joel Edmundson of the Washington Capitals and David Savard of the Montreal Canadiens.
Edmundson has been connected to the Oilers for two seasons in a row now. He has not had great results over the past few years, but he would bring in a degree of championship experience, having won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
The return would have to be low and the Capitals would have to open to retaining a significant portion of his $3.5 million cap hit.
Savard also doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence with poor on-ice results over the last little while. The Canadiens are reportedly okay with keeping him on their roster and will only move him for a decent haul. Add that to the fact that he still has one more year left at a $3.5 million cap hit and he seems to be less likely for the Oilers.
Holland is usually able to make multiple deadline deals. He has made at least two trades at every deadline except one since he took over as Oilers GM back in 2019.
We’ll see if he can manage to land his defenceman before the deadline hits at 1 pm MT on Friday.
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