The NHL’s trade deadline has come and gone and the Edmonton Oilers not only nibbled around the edges, but tried to make some big swings.
The two trades they were able to accomplish saw them move two prospects, Max Wanner and Shane Lachance, a second and fourth round pick to acquire Boston Bruins forwards Trent Frederic, with 75 percent of his salary retained, and Max Jones, while their second swap saw them move a conditional first round picks and 25-year-old AHL’er Carl Berglund to the San Jose Sharks for Jake Walman.
We’ve seen two games from Jones so far with him impressing early, while Walman was a force to be reckoned with in his Oilers debut Saturday against the Dallas Stars.
And while they couldn’t get any other deals consummated by the time the 1:00 pm MT deadline hit Friday, word came out that they were “well down the road” in extension talks that would’ve seen the Oilers acquire Mikko Rantanen and sign the then-pending UFA to a new deal. That didn’t come to fruition before he landed with the Stars, nor did other talks the team was reportedly in to acquire Rickard Rakell and Ryan Donato.
Here’s what experts across the industry thought of the Oilers deadline.
Daily Faceoff — Winners
It doesn’t always have to be sexy. The Oilers may not have secured an exciting top-six forward, and the goalie market was too dead to offer any type of meaningful upgrade, but Trent Frederic is a good get for the bottom six, a bruising center who can chip in the odd goal. Jake Walman bolsters the blueline, too. On top of bringing a colorful personality to Edmonton, he’s quite an underrated scorer. Among 192 defensemen with at least 500 minutes played at 5-on-5 this season, Walman sits 12th in the NHL in points per 60 minutes, between Shea Theodore and Dougie Hamilton – and Walman has done so playing on the NHL’s worst team. So while the Oilers may not have filled every one of their holes to perfection, they emerged from Deadline Week an improved team – arguably more so than anyone else in the Pacific Division. – Matt Larkin
The Athletic – C+
Oilers general manager Stan Bowman filled some key areas of need by acquiring Jake Walman to bolster the back end, plus Trent Frederic and Max Jones for some speed and muscle up front. The Oilers are better now than they were at the start of the week. Those moves didn’t come cheap, though. Bowman said he tried to make a big swing but ultimately didn’t. Though he said the Oilers are “all in to try to win right now,” he opted not to overhaul the mix. There was no goaltending or top-six winger acquired. There wasn’t a fourth-line center, either, although there are internal options and that position isn’t that important given the makeup of this roster. The Oilers have improved, but that improvement isn’t as notable as it could have been. It might not be enough, either. – Daniel Nugent-Bowman
Elite Prospects – Walman trade – B+
think the Oilers’ big need today was a very good puck-moving defenseman who’s not great in his own zone but that’s beside the point. They added a nice player whose value is gonna be a little limited by the fact that he can’t get a lot of power-play time all of a sudden, and if he can hold up even kinda well as the No. 1 guy on the Sharks, he’s gonna look great on the second or even third pair for the Oilers.And I guess I’ll keep saying this kind of thing: What good is a late first-round pick for the Edmonton Oilers these days? Might as well trade it for a guy who is good. – Ryan Lambert
ESPN – Frederic and Jones trade – B+
Frederic is an ideal addition to the Oilers’ forward depth. He brings size (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) and can throw that frame around, leading the Bruins in hits per 60 minutes (11.2) over the past two seasons. But he’s not lumbering — Frederic can skate well and contribute offensively.OK, that last bit is theoretical: The 27-year-old had two seasons of offensive growth, culminating in 18 goals and 40 points in 82 games last season. That has regressed to eight goals and 15 points in 57 games this season. He’s a finisher whose shooting percentage has dropped by 4% year over year. But it should be said that he’s not the only Boston forward to have an offensive setback this season….Jones is a throw-in winger, but one who has seven seasons of NHL experience under his belt — although he saw more time in the AHL than in Boston this season. He was a bust with the Bruins, however. – Ryan S. Clark
and Greg WyshynskiESPN – Frederic and Jones trade – B+
They needed to add some depth to the blue-line group, a search that ended with Walman. He continued to build upon what he did with the Detroit Red Wings in his first season with San Jose. Walman served as a facilitator, who can quarterback a power play and also anchor a penalty kill.Walman was more intriguing because has one year remaining on his contract, at $3.4 million annually; this is part of the reason why the Oilers had to pay such a hefty price. – Ryan S. Clark and Greg WyshynskiThe Athletic – Walman trade – B+
Do you hear that, Steve Yzerman? Moving Walman apparently doesn’t require a sweetener of a second-round pick! In fact, a team is willing to give up a first-round pick for him….Walman’s workload should change in Edmonton, because the Oilers don’t need him to be their No. 1 D or play top minutes. Maybe playing a more manageable workload (and having more support) will help Walman clean up other areas of his game, like his zone entry defense.That Walman can step up into a bigger role if necessary is key here for Edmonton. Not everyone on this blue line is built to play more, which is why the pairs are structured and deployed in a very particular way. To have an extra lefty could be important if Mattias Ekholm doesn’t get back on track after trending down over the last month.Spending a first-rounder for someone who isn’t expected to play on the first pair is steep, but Walman isn’t a rental. He has a reasonable cap hit for another season, and his workload could rise if Ekholm’s recent play is part of a bigger age-related decline. – Shayne GoldmanOne of Edmonton’s biggest flaws in the playoffs last year was its lack of quality defensive depth beyond the top pair of Ekholm and Evan Bouchard. The second pair of Darnell Nurse and Ceci was flat-out unplayable at times, with Philip Broberg, who’s no longer around after signing an offer sheet with St. Louis, forced to stabilize things by playing on his off-side late during the club’s run to the Stanley Cup Final…I know some have thought that the Oilers need more of a shutdown type of defenseman rather than a smooth-skating puck mover, but there are two reasons I still like Walman on this blue line.Firstly, when I look at why Edmonton’s back end struggled last year, the biggest issue wasn’t so much that it lacked defensive prowess but that the blue line lacked another puck mover besides Brett Kulak in the bottom four. Time and time again, the second pair got hemmed in defensively in the playoffs because Nurse and Ceci couldn’t break the puck out against heavy forechecking teams. Walman’s speed and puck transportation skill is going to help the Oilers spend far less time defending in the first place.Secondly, Walman’s defensive play should hold up just fine considering his matchups should be significantly easier in Edmonton compared to his previous stops. In Detroit, he and Seider absorbed some of the toughest matchups in the NHL. This year, he was a do-it-all No. 1 defenseman on the Sharks. Coming to Edmonton, he won’t have to defend against superstars and top lines nearly as often. – Harman Dayal
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.
