It’s too early for any significant moves to actually happen, and outside of a few players re-signing with their current clubs, we probably won’t see any real significant moves until after the Stanley Cup final concludes.

So, for now, all we have are bits and pieces of reporting and rumours to quench our thirst for hockey talk. Wednesday, Bob Stauffer, as he’s known to do, sent out a tweet that got the Edmonton Oilers fanbase buzzing a bit:

Bob Stauffer

@Bob_Stauffer

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FWIW. Not sure how the @EdmontonOilers make it happen. But. IMO. The Oilers need to target a legit top-6 FWD via trade. Possibly a distressed asset on another team.

9:39 PM · May 27, 2026

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So who are some players who fit that description? Let’s take a look:

Jordan Kyrou

There are many reasons why Jordan Kyrou would be a perfect fit with the Oilers. He’s a 28-year-old who has already scored 30+ goals three different times in his career, has pretty strong defensive metrics, and has the foot speed to keep up with the Oilers’ big guns.

On paper, it’s a perfect match.

He’s signed for five more years with a cap hit of $8.125 million so even though the Oilers are tight to the cap, they could find a way to squeeze him in.

Is Kyrou a distressed asset, though? I’m not sure that’s a fair way to describe him.

His production fell this season, scoring just 18 goals, but I think it’s easy to look at his track record and see that this past season was likely just an anomaly.

With the free agent market being as weak as it is, even if Kyrou’s value isn’t at its peak, the Blues will likely still be seeking a pretty big haul for Kyrou, and since he has so much term left, they don’t have to trade him this summer.

Kyrou does have a full no-trade clause, so if Kyrou is only interested in joining the Oilers and a small list of other teams, that could help drive down the cost a bit.

It’s still hard to see the Oilers having the assets to win a bidding war for Kyrou. They might have to look for a player who’s trade value is a bit lower, but of course that comes with some risk.

Jake DeBrusk

DeBrusk certainly fits the description of a distressed asset. He’s been very productive during his two seasons in Vancouver, scoring 28 and 23 goals, respectively, but with five years remaining on his deal and a rebuild looming for the Canucks, the word is that he’d welcome a change of scenery, and the team seems motivated to make that happen.

It just hasn’t really been a clean fit.

The word out of Vancouver is that they aren’t interested in just giving DeBrusk away, though.

He’s scored 20+ goals in four of the last five seasons, and he’s only 29 years old. There are plenty of reasons to believe that he should be a consistent 20+ goal scorer for the remainder of his contract.

My only concern with DeBrusk is that a lot of his production in Vancouver has come on the power play. In 2024-25, 50 per cent of his goals came on the power play, and that number actually rose up to 83% last season. He likely wouldn’t get prime power play time in Edmonton, and I think the Oilers should be targeting players who are strong 5v5 scorers.

In Boston, DeBrusk was a strong even-strength scorer. In his final three seasons with the Bruins, he scored 20+ even-strength goals twice.

If the Oilers think that DeBrusk can bounce back to that level by playing with either McDavid or Draisaitl, then they should make a call to Vancouver.

DeBrusk currently holds a full no-movement clause, and considering he’s an Edmonton native, there is a world where the Oilers are on a short list of teams he’d be willing to go to. That could help with the acquisition cost.

Personally, I wouldn’t give up a prime asset like Ike Howard or a first-round pick for DeBrusk, but if Vancouver is desperate and would potentially take a B-level asset for him, then I’d be intrigued.

Considering the Canucks have a bunch of cap space, I’d also be curious if they’d be willing to take back a bad contract in the deal if the Oilers overpay a touch.

Matvei Michkov

I’m including Michkov because he is certainly a distressed asset who is a top-six winger, and Oilers fans were bringing his name up quite a bit online, but this one just isn’t going to happen.

Other fan bases can dream, but all the reports I’ve read suggest that the Flyers have close to no interest in moving the 21-year-old Russian, and honestly, if they were to do it, I just don’t see a world where they do it for future assets. They’d be putting him in a package to land a superstar.

Would it be great if the Oilers could land a forward who has scored a total of 46 goals during his first two seasons in the league and appears to be the kind of natural sniper that could become a 40+ goal guy? Yes, but this one just isn’t happening.

Mason McTavish

Why would the Anaheim Ducks move on from a young player less than a year after signing him to a long-term extension?

I asked insider David Pagnotta, and he said, “I think it’s a combination of seeing what’s out there and also to try and fill some other holes.”

What I read from that is that while the Ducks are open to moving him, they will only do it in a deal that improves the team for next season.

That doesn’t really look like the kind of deal that the Oilers can do. If they add a top-six piece, it’s probably going to be in a deal where they are moving out futures and not one where they are moving out key pieces from their current team.

I really like McTavish as a player, and he’s the kind of piece that should entice the Oilers. I’m not sure if there is a fit here just based on what the Ducks could want back.

Kent Johnson

In 2024-25, Johnson popped off and scored 24 goals and added 33 assists in just 68 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was his third season in the league, and while it hadn’t been smooth sailing so far in the NHL, it appeared as though the fifth overall pick from 2021 had finally found his game.

That all came crashing down this past season.

He was healthy scratched multiple times and scored just seven goals in 76 games. His time on ice per game also fell by over four minutes.

Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness was adamant at the end of the season that he wanted to change the culture in Columbus, and while it hasn’t been confirmed, I wonder if a player like Johnson could be on the move as they attempt to do that.

He might not be a bona fide, established top-six player like the others on this list, but the fact that he is just one year removed from being a 50+ point player and he’s only 23 years old should pique the Oilers’ interest.

He’s also very cost-effective with one year remaining on a deal that carries a cap hit of just $1.8m. He also has two more years of RFA eligibility after that.

Will the Blue Jackets simply give him away? No, but I don’t think they’re going to get a first-round pick for him.

The Oilers got Vasily Podkolzin for a fourth-round pick when he was just five years removed from being a top-ten pick in the draft. Johnson is now five years removed from his draft year.

This is the kind of gamble that I would love to see the Oilers take. Plenty of upside, and the cost shouldn’t be out of this world.

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