This in from TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger, talking to Dustin Nielson and Lt. Eric on Edmonton Sports Talk Radio about the biggest trade need of the Edmonton Oilers, which Dreger suggested is bringing in help on defence:
“We’re going to be talking for a long time — until or unless management does something — about that defence. It does seem like that’s the deepest and darkest area of concern from a defensive and an offensive perspective. It’s pretty obvious. It’s basic hockey. If you don’t get the puck out of your own end, or you can’t transport the puck, into the hands of McDavid and Draisaitl, and go down the list of all the offensive weapons they have, that’s going to be a problem. And it has been. It’s what I think has put this team in a place of wild inconsistency.
Dreger said that the Vancouver Canucks acquired Nikita Zadorov near the end of November last year, and that some teams can get decent pieces early. “Let’s see if Edmonton fits into that category. There’s no panic in Edmonton. Nor should there be. But there is concern when it comes to the consistency of this team… I paused for a bit because I wanted to use the ‘dysfunction’ word, and I think that applies as well when I look at their overall game and their lack of consistency.”
My take
1. I’m not sure what Edmonton’s biggest need is, but I am sure that Edmonton needs to be careful before it spends assets to fill any one hole.
Edmonton doesn’t have a lot in the way of assets, having traded away its first round pick in June 2025 draft and being mighty short on cap space as well. It strikes me that the Oilers will be able to fire just one big bullet this year to bring in a player. Until GM Stan Bowman is sure what the biggest hole is, best not fire off that special bullet, correct? Patience is in order.
2. I’m certainly not sure where the OIlers greatest area of need is. Are you sure? Is Oilers management?
Is it in net, where Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have yet to remind anyone of a fully competent NHL goaltending partnership?
Is it on defence, where there’s clearly a hole, but we can’t be sure yet if it’s on the second pairing or the third pairing. If Brett Kulak and Darnell Nurse can get it done and done well on the second-pairing, then Edmonton doesn’t have to trade for a second pairing d-man at huge cost, it just needs to bring in a third-pairing guy to help out Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher.
Or is the biggest need on the wing, where the group is underperforming significantly compared to last year? Maybe a big, tough and fast third-line winger will turn out to be the biggest need. Such a player won’t come cheap, correct?
3. The best bet for the Oilers? Hey, if there’s a Zadorov deal out there, Edmonton should make that happen. That would certainly scratch an itch. Vancouver took Calgary to the cleaners on that one, giving up just a third and a fifth round pick.
Is it just me, or did that trade have “Screw the Oilers!” written all over it, with Calgary buttressing a major divisional rival? I’m 83 per cent sure I’m just being paranoid and Oilers-centric there.
But the best bet is to wait and see, build up cap space, see what happens on the injury and performance front, then pounce on a deal that fills that need.
Make sense?