NHL insider reveals top Edmonton Oilers priority at trade deadline
The Edmonton Oilers will be making some moves ahead of this year’s trade deadline.
They can’t really afford not to, considering the team’s Stanley Cup window is now and the fact that this year’s roster has shown some obvious flaws. The biggest issue for this Oilers club was goaltending, which seems to have been solved with a new tandem of Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram.
In the weeks leading up to the deadline, the question that every Oilers fan will be wondering is where GM Stan Bowman wants to improve his roster next. The offensive results in the bottom-six haven’t been there this season, and there are still a few question marks on the blueline. So, which area will be the top priority for the Oilers?
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun appears to have the answer, talking about Edmonton’s trade deadline priorities on Thursday’s edition of Early Trading.
“[The Oilers] held their pro meetings last week in Edmonton,” LeBrun said. “In terms of Edmonton, what I’m told is, they came out of those meetings with a very concrete plan in terms of going out and targeting a top-nine forward.”
If this is true, that would mean that the Oilers are more interested in sparking the forward group than they are in bolstering the bottom of the defensive group. It would make a world of sense for Bowman to covet a top-nine forward, as it would not only help boost scoring, but it would also give head coach Kris Knoblauch plenty of options.
We already know that Edmonton may be interested in trading for a third-line centre, but LeBrun said the Oilers may opt to fill that role internally.
“When [Ryan Nugent-Hopkins] is a third-line centre behind McDavid and Draisaitl, who can beat that in the NHL?” LeBrun said. “There are more wingers that are going to be available on the market than there are gonna be centres.
“I don’t think anything is imminent for Edmonton. I think they need the market to continue to play out, but that’s where they hope to upgrade because they like their blueline, they’ve made their goalie trade. Top-nine forward is where GM Stan Bowman hopes to add before March 6.”
If they opt to move Nugent-Hopkins down to pivot the third line, that will require a couple of moves. The biggest would be finding a replacement winger to play top-line minutes with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman. RNH on the third line would also push a struggling Adam Henrique down the lineup, meaning a decision would need to be made between him and Curtis Lazar as the fourth-line centre.
As for who the Oilers could target to fill this need, there are plenty of options. New York Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin is the biggest fish, but his acquisition cost, combined with his high cap hit, may prevent a trade to the Alberta capital.
There are also names like Jordan Kyrou, Jared McCann, and Jake DeBrusk that have been speculated about being potentially available.
The trade deadline will hit on March 6, but a lengthy Olympic roster freeze will take up most of February. If a deal is to materialize for Edmonton, it will likely come within that short window after the Olympics and before the deadline.