The 2023 NHL Trade Deadline Live Blog

1 year ago

Happy deadline day, folks! As I do every year for the NHL’s annual swap ‘n shop, your ol’ pal Baggedmilk is back with the 2023 edition of the NHL Trade Deadline Live Blog. Once again, I’ll be parked in front of my laptop all day long and bringing you all of the Oilers-related news that may or may not happen until the buzzer goes at 1 PM MT. Are you ready? Are you fired up? Of course you are.

Every year I sit down to write the live blog for the trade deadline, I think of how times have changed so much when it comes to acquiring and consuming information. I remember when I used to take the day off work to sit around and watch TSN all day in the hopes of hearing some news about my beloved Edmonton Oilers. On one such day off, my 22-year-old heart was ripped out of my chest cavity when news broke that Ryan Smyth had been traded to the New York Islanders mere moments after Eklund told the Sportsnet audience that he had signed an extension with the Oilers. It was a devastating day, friends. A trying day, an emotional one. It was the kind of trade deadline that leaves a scar, ya know?

Losing Smytty brought about a level of pain that I wouldn’t wish on an enemy, but at the same time, that trade was also the reason this website exists so I guess the Universe works in mysterious ways sometimes. In the early days before Twitter, all we could do was keep our attention fixed on the TV to make sure we were on top of what was happening, but here in 2023, your favourite mediocre blogger will package up all of the Oilers info you need into one single spot. To this point, we’ve already seen Ken Holland move Jesse Puljujarvi to the Hurricanes for Patrik Puistola, Tyson Barrie + package to Nashville for Mattias Ekholm, and acquired Nick Bjugstad from the Arizona Coyotes but I don’t know is whether or not Ken Holland is done yet. So what else is coming? I haven’t the slightest clue, but I’ll be here all day to make sure we stay up to date.

Let’s get to it…

THE TRADING POST

Failed to load video.

Digging through the contracts at CapFriendly, the Oilers have a handful of expiring contracts that they technically could consider moving provided that Ken Holland would actually want to pull the trigger. That said, they’re right in the middle of a playoffs push so I can’t see them sending too much out, but I’m also a big subscriber of the whole ‘what the hell do I know’ lifestyle when it comes to this team and stranger things have certainly happened.

UFAs & RFAs

Mattias Janmark (UFA) – Even though Janmark will be a free agent when July rolls around, there’s no way he’s getting traded ahead of the deadline unless it’s part of a package for an upgrade. Can’t see it happening tbh.

Derek Ryan (UFA) – No. Not happening. Derek Ryan is elite, and given his production relative to his peers, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him sign the Huberdeau contract before the day is through.

Devin Shore (UFA) – The guy seems to have an incredible attitude about his role with the team and I can’t see him being traded unless it’s a contract dump toss-in on something else. Maybe, but unlikely.

Evan Bouchard (RFA) – Seeing as the Oilers just traded Tyson Barrie as part of the Mattias Ekholm deal, the likelihood of Ken Holland trading Evan Bouchard is zero. It ain’t happening.

Ryan McLeod (RFA) – Right now, Ryan McLeod is on a bargain-bin contract for the Oilers, and while that’s likely to get a modest bump after the year he’s having, I doubt the ask gets anywhere near what it would take to even consider trading the guy. Not happening, we love Clouder.

Klim Kostin (RFA) – LMAO. No. Maybe it’s just because I love Klim Kostin so much and my bias is clouding my judgement, but I truly cannot see him being moved.

DRAFT PICKS

2023 Draft Picks – As of this morning, the Oilers have their 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th round picks available for the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, and I wonder how many of those will be left by the time the buzzer goes this afternoon.

2024 1st Round Pick – Would I unload future assets to help with what’s happening today? Yes. Unload the clip. Spend, spend, spend.

UNDER CONTRACT

Warren Foegele (one year left with $2.75 million AAV) – With one year left on his deal at $2.75 million, Warren Foegele is a guy that I could have seen get dumped for some cap space had he not started to shoot the lights out over the last few weeks.

Kailer Yamamoto (one year left with a $3.1 million AAV) – Kailer Yamamoto’s name has come up a few times over the last couple of weeks with the reason being that the Oilers need players that can stay healthy. It’s not to say that Yamo isn’t skilled — Gord knows he has plenty of it — but the poor guy can’t seem to catch a break with his health and that’s a major concern for both the individual and the hockey team.

RUMOURS

Since I’ll be kicking it at Nation HQ all day with nothing else to do but blog, I’ll be spending the day cruising the Internet for Oilers news so that you don’t have to do it yourself. If I find any rumours or interesting tidbits about what ol’ Ken might be up to today, I will toss those tasty little nuggets right in here. If you’re not on Twitter, this section will be the spot to watch for anything noteworthy from the insiders, beat guys, or otherwise.

THE UPDATES

Don’t care about my nonsense and want to skip right to the updates? You can find those here, friend.

8:00 am MT – Rise and Shine, Nation. It’s deadline day. If what Frank Seravalli is hearing is right and the Oilers are actually done, it’s going to be a long day around here in the ol’ live blog. We’ll see what happens, though.
9:34 am MT – We’re over 90 minutes into the live blog and I’m starting to worry about what the hell I’ll be writing about if the Oilers are indeed done.
10:06 am MT – Jeff Marek is reporting that Zack MacEwen is off to LA for Brendan Lemieux and a 5th round pick.
10:08 am MT – Curtis Lazar is off to New Jersey in exchange for a 4th round pick.
10:24 am MT – The Oilers just announced Ken Holland’s presser is happening at 11:30 AM — 90 minutes before the deadline — which means they’re obviously done. #SadPanda
10:25 am MT – Namestinikov goes to Winnipeg for a 4th RD pick in 2025.
10:52 am MT – Frank Seravalli just hit me up on Twitter and said the Oilers aren’t actively shopping, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re done even with the early presser.
11:26 am MT – Ken Holland presser coming up in a few minutes, I’ll be live tweeting that from the Oilersnation Twitter account.
11:27 am MT – Penguins send Brock McGinn and a 3rd round pick to the Ducks for Dmitri Kulikov.
11:31 am MT – Ken Holland’s presser got moved back to 1:15am MT.
11:51 am MT – I text Tom Gazzola to see if he could give me some info on this Radko Gudas rumour that’s going around Twitter, but I haven’t heard back yet.
11:55 am MT – Tom got back to me and said Gudas is a name the Oilers have discussed, but I have no idea if it’s going to happen.
12:17 pm MT – Jordan Greenway from Minnesota to Buffalo.
12:20 pm MT – Ryan Rishaug tweeted that the Oilers are done. Sad panda.
1:00 pm MT – Deadline has officially passed, this is our hockey team.

THE DAILY FACEOFF TRADE DEADLINE SHOW

Join us on March 3rd for the Daily Faceoff Live: Trade Deadline edition as Frank Seravalli and the panel break down all of the latest rumours, news, and rumblings from around the NHL. The show will be live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter from 10 AM – 2 PM MT to keep you up to date on all things trade deadline no matter where you’re watching from.

Editorials

Featured

Oilers Talk