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The best, worst, and most realistic trade deadline scenarios for the Oilers
Photo credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
Feb 26, 2026, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 26, 2026, 12:31 EST
The Edmonton Oilers are in a pretty tough spot heading into the March 6th trade deadline.
They have some assets, but they need to be careful how they spend them. Sure, they could dangle a piece like Isaac Howard if they are getting an impact player who comes with term or team control, but I don’t think they want to punt on Howard this early on in his tenure with the organization.
They could dangle pieces like Quinn Hutson, Roby Jarventie, and Beau Akey, but those players are supposed to represent the next layer of young, cheap depth players that will help the Oilers continue to spend big on the top parts of their roster.
They also don’t have a first-round pick in the 2026 draft and have already traded away their 3rd round pick in 2027 and their second-round pick in 2028 this season.
The Oilers also don’t have very much cap space. They could create some by trading Andrew Mangiapane, which I fully expect them to do in the next week, but that will likely require either taking an equally bad contract back or attaching an asset to him.
If there were an easy way for them to dump that contract, they would have done it already.
The other thing that will complicate things is the trade market, and right now, it’s looking like a strong seller’s market.
There are way more teams looking to add than there are teams that are fully committed to selling. That means there might not be a lot of high-end players on the market, and for the few that are available, the prices will be very high.
So with all of that laid out, you can see how it might be tough for the Oilers to go out and have a really impactful trade deadline. There might be a desire to go out and add a really good, young, cost-controlled player, but they just might not have the ability to do it.
BEST CASE SCENARIO
The best-case scenario for the Oilers is very simple: they add multiple young, impactful players who are under team control.
My Oilersnation Everyday co-host Liam Horrobin is really big on the idea of going after the duo of Braden Schneider and Will Cuylle. Both are under 25-years-old, both are having strong seasons with the New York Rangers, and both are under team control for next season.
It would cost a lot, we’re talking multiple high-end assets, but it would improve the Oilers this season and down the line.
If the Seattle Kraken could be convinced to sell, then I would be all over Jared McCann. That seems like a pipe dream, though.
A player like Bobby McMann is a very enticing option as well. He doesn’t quite fit the full description that I laid out above since he is 29-years-old and a pending UFA, but considering his ties to Alberta, I think he’s a player who the Oilers could easily re-sign this summer if they acquired him.
There aren’t a lot of these kinds of players on the market so unless something stunning develops, I’m not sure it’s likely that we see Bowman pull off this kind of a deal. It still stands as my best-case scenario for how the next eight days could play out.
MOST LIKELY SCENARIO
I think what will ultimately end up happening is that Bowman adds a defenseman and a forward who are considered more ‘middle of the lineup’ types of players versus true play-driving pieces.
For defensemen, I think of guys like Artyom Zub, Zach Whitecloud or Nick Perbix. Maybe even a rental like Trevor Van Riemsdyk.
Up front, I could see players like Erik Haula, Anthony Mantha or maybe even Nicolas Roy being of interest to the Oilers, depending on what they’re looking for. Acquiring these pieces wouldn’t take a first-round pick or a high-end prospect like Howard, but these are players who would upgrade certain spots in the team’s lineup.
It wouldn’t be the flashiest of deadlines, but Bowman would be giving this team a little bit of help lower in the lineup without moving away assets or taking on money that would prevent them from making a big splash in the summer.
WORST CASE SCENARIO
I think there are two potential ways that this deadline looks really ugly.
First would be that Bowman misses on the types of players that I listed above and gets desperate.
If he misses on some of the cheaper top-four defenseman and makes a panic move, like trading a first-round pick for Rasmus Ristolainen, then I think it would be fair to call it a bad deadline.
If the right player isn’t out there, then I think the Oilers would be smart to keep some of their higher-end assets in their system and try to make some really meaningful adds in the summer.
They do have to do something, though.
Grossly overpaying would be a big mistake, but doing nothing would also be very bad.
Even if you can’t get your hands on a top-four defenceman, you need to add a layer of depth. Right now, if there are two injuries on the blue line during the playoffs, then they could be relying on Atro Leppanen or Josh Brown. That can’t happen.
At a minimum, Bowman needs to add an extra layer of depth to the blueline.
Up front, even if he can’t get his hands on a Bobby McMann or Boone Jenner, then he should at the very least add a little bit to the bottom parts of this lineup.
I spoke earlier about a versatile piece like Erik Haula. That’s the bar for Bowman. Someone who can be relied on to eat tough minutes in the bottom-six.
Other names I like would include Morgan Barron from the Jets and Teddy Blueger from the Canucks.
Again, not flashy names but players who I think would be upgrades in the Oilers’ bottom-six.
What do you think? Will Bowman surprise us and make a big splash? Or will it be a low-key deadline for the Oilers? Let me know in the comments!
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