Edmonton Oilers actively looking to make trade for a forward: report
The season is young, but Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman is already working the phones.
Though it’s only three games into the season, the Oilers have enjoyed a decent start. They’ve wiped away a disappointing OT loss in their home opener and have opened up a two-game winning streak with victories over the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken.
That has left Edmonton atop the NHL standings, with a 2-0-1 record and five points. Surprisingly, it’s an identical record to last season through three games, which means that it’s still anybody’s guess if the Oilers can keep up the early success.
It’s never too early to make changes to your team, and it appears Bowman is actively looking to do so, with NHL insider reporting on Saturday night that the Oilers are busy trying to acquire a depth forward.
Friedman said the Oilers recognize that they have quite a logjam on defence, and are hoping to parlay that into an addition up front.
“Edmonton has a lot of [defence] and some forward injuries,” Friedman said. “They have explored a lateral trade, is the phrase I’ve heard, maybe a defenceman for a forward. Their forwards are not out long-term, so it’s not like they’re panicked to do it.
“If there is a lateral [defence] for forward move they can make with their depth players, they will look at it.”
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It doesn’t appear that this potential move would be anything earth-shattering for the Oilers. All of their top defenders, such as Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Connor Murphy, Jake Walman, and Ryan Shea, appear to be safe from getting traded early on.
Instead, the focus should shift to the defenders at the bottom of the depth chart, specifically Shakir Mukhamadullin, Ty Emberson, and Spencer Stastney. All three of those players are fighting for a single NHL spot at the moment, with two of them being a healthy scratch on any given night.
Mukhamadullin has not had a great start to the season after playing in the first two games of the season and was replaced by Emberson in Saturday’s victory over the Kraken. Meanwhile, Stastney is awaiting his season debut, having been a healthy scratch in all three games.
No names were given as potential targets for the Oilers. Maybe a team in distress like the Detroit Red Wings could be a potential match, with former Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff running the ship.
There is no rush from the Edmonton side, but it’s a good sign that Bowman is looking for ways to improve the team this early in the new season.