The answer has to come from within the Edmonton Oilers’ locker room.
That’s what’s clear after the NHL’s Trade Deadline came and went Friday afternoon, with the team’s front office making just two trades before it passed.
All in all, it shakes out to be three draft picks going out, a 2025 second, a conditional 2026 first and a 2026 fourth, prospects Shane Lachance, Max Wanner and AHL’er Carl Berglund for forwards Trent Frederic, Max Jones and defenceman Jake Walman. The Oilers swung a deal to grab Frederic and Jones from the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, and another that was made official on midnight Friday to snag Walman from the Sharks.
And as the dust settles, it’s hard not to feel like the Oilers should’ve done more. Looking around the Western Conference, some of Edmonton’s biggest competition for a run to the Stanley Cup finals got better. Colorado picked up Charlie Coyle, Brock Nelson, Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Lindgren within the last week, and that’s burying the lede considering the already potent Dallas Stars got even moreso, swinging a deal to acquire Mikko Rantanen in a whopper with the Hurricanes. The LA Kings, Edmonton’s likely first round opponent, added winger Andrei Kuzmenko.
The Winnipeg Jets got a boost with forward Brandon Tanev and defenceman Luke Schenn coming to town, while out east, the Florida Panthers added this guy named Brad Marchand.
The Oilers work was fine. They added a winger in Frederic who has had strong five-on-five production rates in recent years, doesn’t shy away from the physical side of the game and has a knack for getting to the net — all traits the team needs. Jones doesn’t shy from laying the body and if he plays like he did Thursday night against the Canadiens, he might be able to chip in some offence, too.
Picking up Walman is far and away a win for the Oilers. At 29-years-old, he fits right into the Oilers core’s age range and has enjoyed a breakout season with the Sharks. A solid two-way defenceman, he’s munched minutes against top competition this year with strong results on a terrible Sharks team. While his biggest impacts come in the offensive zone at a 13 percent rate above league average, he’s provided league average defence this year, too, according to Hockey Viz.
He’s a transporter of the puck who will undoubtedly help get the puck into the Oilers forward hands, something they’ve been needing more of this year.
But it’s hard to look at what’s gone on around them and be left wanting more. While their hands were undoubtedly tied with Evander Kane having them in the Long-Term Injured Reserve, as well as a plethora of no-movement clauses mucking things up, this was the time to get not only aggressive, but creative, too.
Instead, the Oilers are going to need the players they already have to step up.
That’s what Stan Bowman himself said Friday afternoon in a press conference, saying “I think we need to get the group we had here playing back to (a higher) level.”
Leon Draisaitl had far and away been the brightest star for the Oilers this season, but he’s been largely dragging the remainder of the lineup. Connor McDavid hasn’t looked himself all season, but you can’t count him out of being able to elevate his game to a higher level sooner, rather than later.
Beyond that, it’s been bleak for the roster. Zach Hyman has regressed from his 54-goal regular season back to the consistent 30-ish goal scorer he was previously. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has seen his offensive game take a step backwards from where it’s been over the last three years, while the scoring wingers Jeff Skinenr and Viktor Arvidsson the team signed in the offseason have struggled to find a consistent game all year long.
Wbile Skinner’s offensive game has been there ranking third on the team in both five-on-five goals per hour and points per hour of ice-time, he’s continuing to find himself a healthy scratch more of then than not. Arvidsson, meanwhile, has struggled to find any sort of consistency in his offensive game, an undeniable disappointment given he’s spent over 50 percent of his five-on-five ice-time with Draisaitl.
The Oilers bottom-six, beyond Corey Perry, has struggled, too. Adam Henrique, Connor Brown, Mattias Janmark and Kasperi Kapanen have been okay in their own ways, but you’re still left wanting more. Frederic and Jones may help remedy that, and a healthy Evander Kane should provide some pop in the playoffs.
Defensively, regression from Mattias Ekholm has been an issue as he’s seemingly battled an illness for months, while Evan Bouchard has lost some of his pop, too. Given the minutes they play, that’s been an issue for the Oilers. Brett Kulak has been a bright spot on the blue line, Darnell Nurse has been fine, while the likes of Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher have been fine. Questions remain about what Klingberg can bring, but there’s no denying Walman will provide some jump.
That takes us to the Oilers goaltending — more than a big point of contention throughout the season. Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have been more up and down than a toilet seat this season, struggling to the tune of a combined .872 save percentage since the start of February, the sixth worst mark in the league over that stretch.
The good news in all of it is the Oilers have a track record over the last three years of taking their game to another level in March and April.
Between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons in those months, the Oilers have posted a 52-15-8 record and an NHL best .747 points percentage that towers over the second placed Stars’ .708, and the third placed Florida Panthers’ .697. On top of that, their 3.9 goals per game are the highest, while their +93 goal differential is +24 goals better than the second placed Panthers.
The Oilers are going to need that level of play over the remaining 20 games in their regular season schedule, and hopefully they can parlay it into more playoff success this year.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
