As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Edmonton Oilers.
There is a lot of pressure on the Edmonton Oilers this season. The team boasts two of the NHL’s premier offensive talents, but has been unable to find any sort of consistent play, and as a result is on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. They sit a point behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card spot (with two extra games played) and two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. The Oilers got off to a blazing start, but then went on a brutal stretch of games that ended up costing coach Dave Tippett his job. The season is now in the hands of interim coach Jay Woodcroft, and as the deadline nears the heat is on GM Ken Holland to fix the issues with his roster in order to provide Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with the best chance to truly threaten for a Stanley Cup for the first time in their careers.
Record
30-22-4, 4th in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$1.96MM today, $1.96MM in full-season space, 43/50 contracts used, 1/3 retention slots used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd*, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th
2023: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd, EDM 3rd, EDM 4th, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th
* Per the terms of the offseason Duncan Keith trade, if the Oilers make the 2022 Stanley Cup Final and Keith is inside the Oilers’ top-four highest time-on-ice for defenseman during those first three rounds of their playoff run, the Chicago Blackhawks will receive Edmonton’s 2022 2nd instead of the 2022 3rd they are currently owed.
Trade Chips
Much of the conversation surrounding the Oilers this season concerns their goaltending, and it’s not difficult to see why. Their tandem of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen has been challenging, to say the least. Smith, 39, has an .891 save percentage so far this season. Koskinen, 33, has been slightly better, with a mark of .904 in 31 starts. Koskinen is more important for the deadline, though, because of his cap hit. He is on an expiring contract that has a $4.5MM cap hit, a number that the Oilers would likely be eager to ship out in order to facilitate adding additional players to a roster without much wiggle room under the cap. The issue with trading Koskinen, though, is that he has trade protection on his contract. Koskinen is allowed to submit a no-trade list of 15 teams, per CapFriendly, and that reality combined with his play this season could make him a difficult asset to move despite how beneficial it could be for the Oilers.
Pivoting from goaltending, if the Oilers do wish to make upgrades to their team at the deadline they could potentially need to part ways with players on their NHL roster to make a deal work. One of those players who could be moved is winger Kailer Yamamoto. Yamamoto, 23, is the 22nd overall pick from the 2017 draft who has flashed great offensive talent at the NHL level but has yet to put together his game on a more consistent basis. After a brilliant 27-game stretch with the Oilers in 2019-2020 where he had 26 points, Yamamoto struggled to re-capture that offensive spark. He has only 20 points in 55 games this season and had 21 points in 52 games last season, marks that are clearly lower than what a five-foot-eight, skilled offensive player would be expected to produce at the NHL level. But despite those struggles with consistency, Yamamoto remains a somewhat tantalizing offensive talent who has scored at a high level earlier in his career. Given his age and status as a former top prospect, Yamamoto could be a player other teams target to receive in return for the player they send to the Oilers.
If the Oilers need to create some cap space in order to faciliate bigger additions at the deadline, but moving Koskinen’s contract proves to be impossible given his no-trade protection or $4.5MM cap hit, a player who could be shipped out instead (for more modest savings) is center Kyle Turris. Turris is a longtime NHL veteran who was the 3rd overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft and starred with the Ottawa Senators from 2011-12 season to the 2017-18 campaign, when he was included in the blockbuster Matt Duchene trade. Since that point, Turris has struggled to maintain his form as an NHL scoring center. He was bought out of a massive extension with the Nashville Predators, and signed a two-year contract with the Oilers in the 2020 offseason with the idea that he could be a strong third-line-center for the club. Since signing, Turris has continued his struggles and has only nine total points in his 50 games in Edmonton over two seasons. With a cap hit of $1.65MM, he would provide some relatively minor (but still potentially crucial) savings for the Oilers if he is shipped away at the deadline.
Others to Watch For: F Tyler Benson, D Tyson Barrie, D Dmitri Samorukov
Team Needs
1) Quality Goaltending
The Oilers are desperate to make noise in the playoffs this season, something that has not really happened in the McDavid-Draisaitl era. In order to make noise in the playoffs, teams typically need exceptional goaltending. What the Oilers have received from their Koskinen-Smith tandem this season has been far from exceptional, as mentioned before. If Holland is serious about wanting his team to earnestly compete for a Stanley Cup, they simply must have a different goalie starting playoff games for them this spring. Barring some unforeseen miracle, a long playoff run will probably not be possible with Koskinen or Smith minding the crease.
2) Defensive Reinforcements
Evan Bouchard has impressed this season, but if the Oilers are to be Stanley Cup contenders they will need to add some help to their defense. Darnell Nurse is a star, and Keith has had a great career, but as currently constructed their defense is a flawed unit that rarely does its goaltending many favors. We all know that playoff hockey is a different beast than the regular season grind, and perhaps adding some muscle and experience to reinforce a defense populated with offensively-oriented players like Barrie and Bouchard could make for a more well-rounded unit.
3) Additional Scoring Depth
Looking at the situation from a strictly on-ice perspective, Evander Kane has been an important addition for an Oilers team with some issues getting reliable scoring outside of their two offensive dynamos. Adding more experienced offensive scorers to this roster could help them down the stretch as they are currently a bit too reliant on their dynamic power play to create goals. Adding some additional scoring depth should not be the first priority for Holland’s deadline, goaltending is far more crucial, but the team’s issues scoring sustainably at five-on-five is something to definitely keep an eye on.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Team needs: FIRE KEN HOLLAND.
and Bob Nicholson
Yamamoto and Koskinen to NYR for Georgiev at 50% retained. Save salary that the oilers need and upgrade your goaltending.
That’d be better!
*Lou Brown Voice* “That’s a hell of an idea… Tim!!!”
Hello Ethan!
Can you fix the spelling error of the word ‘recieved’ between ‘What the Oilers have’ & ‘from their Koskinen-Smith tandem’? Please & thank you.
“What the Oilers have ‘recieved’ from their Koskinen-Smith tandem this season has been far from exceptional, as mentioned before.”
^You’re doing this in back to back articles. Who cares. Settle down Josip
edm might make the playoffs but the teams that they will be facing i.e. col, stl, min, clg, vg, nash and heck even dallas. teams that seem that much better. they also haven’t done much to separate themselves from dal, the ducks, sj and van, who are just a few points apart. two of the problems i see with edm other than goaltending is lack of depth and leadership. with depth they seem to be reliant on there superstars and if there hurt or just off that night there doomed. the other and imo the root of the problem is that they have little leadership outside of the c or a. i’m going to use the blues for this example because i follow them, when stl turned things around in there cup run it was largely due to some of the vets willing to change roles or sacrifice something for the good of the team. i.e. when sten embraces moving down to the 3rd and 4th line, and before his injury he was a top 2 line type of player but embraced the role because it would help the team work n and get into the playoffs. that is just the one example i can think off and also a lot of things did fall into place for stl as well. my point is dose edm have those veteran players willing to take on other roles for the greater good and do they really have the horses outside of there 2 studs
Agree on everything except Oilers don’t care about anything.
@josip can you clarify on whose post here says that the o’s don’t care, from all the comments made, mine included nothing in them says that they don’t care. also if your pointing at my comment i would appreciate if you would refrain from “putting words in my mouth” in my long winded post i never said that edm didn’t care if anything i’m guilty of saying other than there c and a’s they really have no leadership or unselfish players, which in my opinion (which i’ll admit can be very wrong) teams that win the “big one” have a few super/star players a lot of good players and depth players. now some of them players fall into more than one category and may be star players (or still stars but are fading) and are willing to take on “lesser” roles because they want there name engraved on the cup. my whole point was is that i feel that edm lacks the depth and vets willing to take on lesser roles because either they lack maturity or the veteran presence to get them over the hump.
Have a wonderful day.
@josip something tells me your a kid in there late teens that thinks he has the world figured out and can start pulling cards. i replied to a response that i thought was directed to (side note my problem here is i thought and i’m not paid enough to think lol) and i thought you added things to my comment i didn’t say and your response was have a nice day is your response it a weak and childish response. just like you want to sit and criticize spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes, as long as the context of the article is correct and they fix errors containing important facts or names it’s all good. most of us that come to this site or sister sites come here for one thing and that’s the latest rumors not if the article is text book accurate
What will the Oilers give the Bruins for DeBrusk? He started slowly but scored his 15th last night. Remember, Jake is an RFA who will need to be qualified at $4.4 million next year.
Likely less than Boston would be asking for them; the Bruins aren’t going to be sellers at the deadline. When you factor in that Edmonton would have to have Boston retain salary as well … well. A month ago I’d have thought that Yamamoto for DeBrusk straight up would be fair, give both guys a fresh start. But with Jake being on fire as of late, Boston NEEDS that production, and you’ll have to bribe the hell out of them to trade it away. They sure won’t take another team’s castoff/s in exchange.
I agree. They won’t/can’t retain money and they shouldn’t give JD away for a 5th rounder. For that price, they’d be better off treating him like a deadline rental. Keep him for the rest of the season and then let him walk at the end of the year.
Good way of looking at it, SkidRowe. They’d want a deadline rental to produce the way DeBrusk is playing right now, and hey look, they don’t have to trade away picks OR prospects for that production.
Koskinen also has a NTC?!? My goodness, that contract is horrendous.
Eh, they signed the guy after a career year, and even with that, three years at 4.5 isn’t horrendous, given the nutzo salaries they’re handing out these days. I wouldn’t have offered that contract myself after the only genuinely good season he ever had (at age 31 yet), but that’s what starting goalies command for a price. Koskinen is in the bottom third of cap hits league wide for a #1.
another first round loss incoming.
I see in this article and I’ve seen written elsewhere that the Oilers could offer Yamamoto in a trade. I live in the East and I don’t follow the Oilers closely. So could someone answer the following question: have teams been asking about Yamamoto’s availability?
WH, there are rumors that Yamamoto is being shopped by the Oil….
Hello Ethan!
I send you a question yesterday, but no response, but that’s okay. My question is down below:
Can you fix the spelling error of the word ‘recieved’ between ‘What the Oilers have’ & ‘from their Koskinen-Smith tandem’? Please & thank you.
“What the Oilers have ‘recieved’ from their Koskinen-Smith tandem this season has been far from exceptional, as mentioned before.”
How is forward depth still a thing the Oilers need. When healthy they might have the best top 9 in the league. They only use 11 forwards abs have a ton of player capable of filling the last two spots.
Oilers need to trade both goalies for anything better. Then they need to trade Keith, Barrie and Bouchard for anything better. It will cost a first and more to do this but that what has to be done.
Step one is Keith to Seattle for Oleksiak. This will likely cost a second and more to get them to take the salary but Keith can fill the leadership role the Kraken will need when Giordano goes.
People may like Keith and he is getting better but it seems impossible to fix the blue line with a 6 mil second pairing LD that can’t play defensively.