Not even a week later, we have some more rumours to look at!

Could the Oilers be looking into Niko Mikkola? Perhaps Matthew Dumba could be in play at this deadline. What about Carson Soucy?

Without further ado, let’s look at some rumours!

According to Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts podcast, Seattle Kraken defensceman Soucy could be a potential fit if Seattle is unable to re-sign him.

This season, the 28-year-old left-shot defenceman has just two goals and eight points in just 47 games. This was a far cry from his 2021-22 season, where he scored 10 goals and added an additional 11 assists. In terms of his defensive peripherals, he has a 59.6% goal share when on the ice, along with an expected goal share of 50.3%.

On top of his relatively solid numbers, he also has a $2,750,000 cap hit, which the Oilers could certainly work into their already constrained cap situation.

Although it may be a fit, it’s hard to see a trade developing between two teams battling it out in the Pacific Division even if the Oilers have shown interest in the past.

In the same episode of 32 Thoughts, Marek speculated that left-shot defenceman Mikkola would also be a good fit for the Oilers. This season, he doesn’t have a goal and has only added three assists in his 47 games played.

The 26-year-old has a 48.3% goal share, which is the third highest for St. Louis defenders with 300 minutes of ice time. His expected goal share is a little bit lower at 45.1%.

Mikkola currently makes $1,900,000, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

There is definitely a fit here if the Oilers don’t want to go big and instead want to trade a late-round pick. His best fit would be as a depth left-handed defenceman who can play bottom-pairing minutes.

Moreover, the Blues are currently six points out of a playoff spot, so by the time the March 3rd deal line rolls around, perhaps they’ll be completely out of the race and decide to sell.

Like the last article, we’ll look at some other rumours with less detail.

According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, the Blues captain prefers to stay if possible, going as far as to say that he’d be open to taking a pay cut to remain a Blue. The 31-year-old former Selke winner has a no-move clause and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

The Oilers had a six-game win streak heading into Wednesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Vladislav Gavrikov. Looking for their first seven-game winning streak since the 2006 playoffs (and first regular season seven-game win streak since 2000-01), they put up an absolute stinker against a team which was supposed to be tanking.

The one positive is that the potential trade target, Gavrikov, looked good… which may not be positive after all as it could increase his value.

It’s been said that the Jackets want a first-rounder and more for the defensive defenceman. He’d definitely be an upgrade over Kulak for the second pairing, but that’s a steep price for an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

The 28-year-old left-shot defenceman has had a tough year with the Minnesota Wild. He has only four goals and 12 points in the 44 games that he’s played, and was recently a healthy scratch.

Like most players included in today’s rumour roundup, Dumba (who has a $6,000,000 cap hit) will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

While he’s not close to his 2017-18 self, when he posted 50 points in 82 games, Dumba would be a great fit for the second pairing.

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