The Edmonton Oilers announced Stan Bowman as General Manager and Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations last July, and his biggest move as GM so far came last September, signing Leon Draisaitl to a massive eight-year, $112 million deal.

With the trade deadline just under two weeks away, he and his team are likely mapping out their strategy in hopes of finding the missing piece(s) to the Oilers’ Stanley Cup puzzle. That said, while all eyes will be on the upcoming deadline, Bowman has already made some low-risk moves in his seven months on the job. Let’s take a look at how four of those additions are shaping up.

Bowman, nearly three weeks into the GM role, faced a big predicament—whether to match the St. Louis Blues’ offer sheet for youngsters Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. Broberg’s $4.5 million cap hit was far too steep, but Holloway’s $2.2 million cap hit seemed reasonable to match.

Yet, Bowman chose not to match either contract for one reason or another and instead, he sent a fourth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Vasily Podkolzin, essentially replacing Holloway with another former first-round draft pick on a cheaper contract at $1 million per season.

Although Podkolzin trails Holloway in points, his addition looks like a solid win so far. The 23-year-old has spent most of his time this season on the second line alongside Draisaitl (416 minutes at 5v5). While his numbers (six goals, 14 assists) don’t scream top-six production, he’s still on pace for 30 points, leads the team in hits (118), and has added penalty-killing to his game.

Sure, I’d love Podkolzin to bury more of his chances, but for $1 million a season, you’re getting a physical player who packs a serious punch, is relentless on the forecheck, and looks to make smart plays instead of forcing low-percentage shots. Plus, his style of play complements Draisaitl—currently second in NHL scoring—by getting him the puck and giving him the freedom to play his game.

The early takeaway? Bowman made a solid move by acquiring Podkolzin for just a fourth-round pick, and on top of that, he’s locked in for another season after this one.

When Bowman dealt Cody Ceci and his $3.25 million cap hit and a third-rounder to the San Jose Sharks on Aug. 18, some saw it as a setup to match Broberg and Holloway’s offer sheets. However, as it turns out, it was just about shedding salary, with the Oilers getting Ty Emberson in return.

After drawing praise for his 30-game showing with San Jose in his rookie season in 2023-24, Emberson arrived in Edmonton with high expectations. It was believed the 24-year-old would seamlessly slot into a top-four role on a team that was just shy of winning a Stanley Cup. But after a rough start, he was moved to the third pairing—where he’s steadily improved throughout the season.

Overall, Emberson plays a physical game, sitting third on the team in hits (80), and what impresses me most is that when he throws a check, it’s with purpose. He aims to knock the opposition to the ice rather than just tallying a stat on the box score, and his forearm shiver reminds me of the way former Oilers captain Jason Smith used to do it. His skating and puck-moving have also improved as the season has progressed as he’s become more comfortable. On top of that, Emberson has become a key piece of the Oilers’ penalty kill, playing the second-most PK minutes (97:39) on the team, trailing only Mattias Ekholm (110:25).

The blueliner currently has nine points this season, all assists, but I expect his offensive game to improve over time. Additionally, he forms a very effective pairing with Brett Kulak. According to Natural Stat Trick, among defensive pairs that have played a minimum of 400 mins, the Kulak-Emberson pairing rank 16th in the NHL in expected goals per 60 minutes at 5v5 with 2.73, and they’re also 15th in high-danger chances for per 60 at 11.85.

Not only did Bowman clear cap space by trading Ceci, but he also made a solid move to get Emberson in the deal—and I’m looking forward to seeing the blueliner deliver some big hits in the postseason.

When the St. Louis Blues placed Kasperi Kapanen on waivers, Bowman quickly jumped at the opportunity to claim the 28-year-old on Nov. 19, injecting much-needed speed into the lineup. As per NHL Edge data, he ranks in the 96th percentile in the NHL for top speed, reaching a peak of 94.38 mph this season and Bowman said about acquiring the Finnish forward, “When you think of Kapanen, you think of speed.” He added, “I think he brings a lot of skating to our team, that’s something you can never have too much of.

Kapanen played in stints on the top two lines when he first arrived, and all things considered, he looked comfortable alongside the Oilers’ superstars, Connor McDavid and Draisaitl, knowing his role was to get the puck in their hands. But since then, he’s bounced up and down the lineup, primarily finding a home in the bottom six while producing five goals and five assists in 32 games.

Additionally, since joining the Oilers, he’s played the sixth-most minutes among forwards on the PK (15:55) and ranks seventh among forwards at 5v5 with a 55.11% expected goals for %. Kapanen has settled in well in Edmonton and can play up and down the lineup and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get another shot in the top six down the playoff stretch as the team experiments with different line combinations.

All in all, Kapanen has proven to be another effective depth pickup by Bowman—one that came at no cost.

The Oilers signed defenceman John Klingberg just over a month ago, and before inking him to a one-year deal, Bowman consulted with Oilers forward Mattias Janmark—who is good friends with Klingberg—about the blueliner’s character. It’s safe to assume the feedback was positive.

In five games, Klingberg hasn’t registered any points yet, but he’s averaged 17:21 minutes, and at 5v5, he has a goals share ratio of 3-3. His best performance came against the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 5, where he finished with a +3 plus/minus.

By the eye test, he’s fared decently in his five games played. Does he have room to improve defensively? Absolutely. But he’s still shaking off the rust; however, the upside is apparent—he makes a clean first pass, and you can tell he sees plays that the average defender does not, which explains his 412 career points from the blue line. With more game time this season, there’s potential for him to make a bigger impact offensively.

While it’s still too soon to say what type of player Klingberg will become for the Oilers, one thing is almost certain is that he’ll play more minutes after the 4 Nations-Faceoff break as the team will want to evaluate his fit on the second pairing. That said, Bowman likes the D-man’s instincts, saying in an interview with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun:

Overall, Bowman has made some low-risk moves, and for the most part, each has been decent to solid—and really, it’s hard to complain with the Oilers sitting atop the Pacific Division. That said, the Oilers’ GM has a big test ahead of him, with the trade deadline approaching on March 7th.

With that in mind, what are your thoughts on Bowman’s additions so far? Has your perception of him shifted from when he signed to now?