Before the Edmonton Oilers got their guy on the blue line Monday, acquiring Connor Murphy from the Chicago Blackhawks, one defenceman the team was linked to was Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The Toronto Maple Leafs blueliner has a skill set that the Oilers are looking for, but talks stalled between the two sides over a significant asking price.

On TSN’s trade deadline show, insider Darren Dreger revealed just what that price was: a first-round draft pick, a second-round draft pick, and a prospect.

The asking price is undeniably steep, but with two years left on a contract paying him just $3.5 million, the term and relatively low cap hit were surely appealing for the cap-strapped Oilers. Evidently, the price was just too rich for the Oilers’ blood.

They were able to pivot well, picking up Murphy with 50 per cent of his salary retained for a 2028 second-round pick from the Chicago Blackhawks, swinging another deal with them Wednesday to acquire Jason Dickinson, with 50 per cent of his salary retained, and Colton Dach for Andrew Mangiapane and a 2027 conditional first-round pick.

Pivoting from two of the three assets they would’ve given up for Ekman-Larsson to acquire Murphy, Dickinson and Dach was the right move for the Oilers. Murphy helps fill the defensive defenceman role the team has been looking to fill since Adam Larsson left the organization after the 2020-21 season, while Dickinson does the same as someone who’s been one of the best shutdown centres in the league for years.

Dach, meanwhile, is a solid young player, still having upside as a prospect, and as somebody who is already providing some value as a physical bottom-six player in the present.

Oilers general manager Stan Bowman indicated Thursday that the team had likely accomplished all of its work, but early Friday, hours ahead of the NHL trade deadline, goaltender Connor Ingram’s name surfaced in trade talks, while Sportsnet’s Mark Spector felt Edmonton would be “sniffing around the goaltending market.”

The team has just $475,000 in cap space that could increase to $2.275 million if it sent down Josh Samanski and Colton Dach, according to PuckPedia.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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