Edmonton Oilers GM wants to add 'player or two' before trade deadline
Trade deadline week is upon us, and the Edmonton Oilers will be looking to turn things around.
It’s been a miserable month and a bit for this Oilers team. They have a dismal 4-6-0 record in their last 10 games and have now dropped to third in the Pacific Division. Teams like the Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks, and LA Kings are nipping at their heels as well.
Reinforcements will be needed before the deadline hits on Friday afternoon, but will GM Stan Bowman be among those making deals? The veteran GM met with Edmonton media on Monday, where he outlined a bit of the team’s strategy heading into the week.
He stopped short of delving into specifics, but did say the organization has had discussions on the type of player they want.
“We might add a defenceman, we might add a forward, I don’t know at this point,” Bowman said. “I think we’ve had conversations on both of those… If you’re adding a defenceman, you can never have too many D going into a playoff run.
“Always looking to add a player or two. I think we’ve been able to do that the last few years, and they’ve made contributions, positive ones, and I’m hopeful that we can do that this year too.”
"There’s a lot of ways to improve as a team, part of it is new players, part of it is our existing players dialling it in a bit better."#Oilers General Manager Stan Bowman addresses the media from @RogersPlace as Friday's trade deadline approaches.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/7JiQLJM2Ig
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 2, 2026
Rumour has it that the Oilers have had their eyes set on adding either a right-shot defenceman or a third-line centreman ahead of the deadline. Bowman did not tip his hat in either direction, but did agree that a right-shot defender would be an ideal add.
Though he didn’t rule out a left-shot D as well.
“We have more lefts than rights,” Bowman said. “You also don’t want to overdo that too much because sometimes, a better player is a left shot that can play the right side… Ideally, you’d like to have three lefts and three rights.”
Much has been said about the struggles of the Oilers’ goaltending tandem of Tristan Jarry/Connor Ingram lately. Many fans speculated that Bowman could potentially enter the goalie market ahead of the deadline to bring in a new netminder.
Bowman admitted that the goaltending hasn’t been good enough, but seemed to downplay how effective adding a new goalie could be for this team.
“I think our goaltending hasn’t played great, but, at the same time, I think the bigger problem is we put our goalies in a really tough spot… I don’t think that’s a winning formula, no matter who you have in net,” Bowman said. “I’d like to see our goalies find some more consistency to their game… I’m not absolving them; I think they can certainly play better.
“I think the way that we play as a team is going to play a bigger role than just a new person in the uniform.”
Creating enough cap space to facilitate a deal will be important as well. Edmonton has yet to dump Andrew Mangiapane’s $3.6 million cap hit, despite furious rumours, but it may be a necessity in the coming days to open up space for more deals. Mangiapane and Alec Regula cleared waivers shortly before Bowman’s availability.
The Oilers GM didn’t seem overly concerned about the team’s cap situation hindering him from making trades.
“I think we’ll be able to do some things,” Bowman said after being asked about the cap.
It does sound like Edmonton will be active with at least a trade or two this week. Though Bowman did spend a lot of time talking about the team’s mentality and how better results can be achieved without necessarily adding players via trade.
“Adding a player or two is something we’re looking for, and I think it can be helpful,” Bowman said. “But it’s not like it’s going to completely change the fortunes of our team. We’ve got a lot of really good players here, and that commitment from our group to playing smarter hockey, winning hockey, I think is going probably to pay the biggest dividends.
“There’s a lot to improve as a team. Part of it is new players, and part of it is our existing players to dial it in a little bit better.”
The clock is ticking in Edmonton to get better, and the trade deadline will offer the last bit of a lifeline for this team to shake things up on the ice.