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One trade target for each of the Oilers’ three needs
Edmonton Oilers Calgary Flames Blake Coleman
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jan 22, 2026, 11:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 22, 2026, 14:11 EST
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The big question entering March 6th’s NHL trade deadline is what will the Edmonton Oilers do?
After making consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, the Oilers are looking to get over the hump in 2026. While the team isn’t perfect, starting the season slow once again, they’ve really come into their own since the end of November.
The Oilers have three main needs: a top-six winger, a third-line centre, and a second-pairing defenceman. With only a finite number of assets, the Oilers may only make one big move. That said, let’s take a look at one player who fits their three needs.

Top-six winger

Artemi Panarin is the best top-six winger on the market, and it’s not particularly close. However, it’s hard to envision a world where the Oilers can get the money to work, as Panarin has a cap hit of around $11.64 million. Even at 50 percent retention, clearing over $5 million just doesn’t seem feasible.
Kiefer Sherwood is off the market as he was traded to the San Jose Sharks, while Alex Tuch is likely off the market due to the performance of the Buffalo Sabres. There are two solid options, both of whom play on a Canadian team in the Pacific Division. Jake DeBrusk of the Vancouver Canucks is an option, but Blake Coleman of the Calgary Flames would be a great fit.
The Flames and Oilers haven’t linked for many trades in their shared history, with the most recent trade seeing the Oilers send Milan Lucic and a third-rounder in 2020 to the Flames for James Neal.
That move was made out of necessity, as both teams were looking to off-load a bad contract, but that isn’t the case this time around. This would be a seller/buyer situation, meaning that the Oilers would have to overpay by quite a bit, especially if they want any retention on Coleman. The winger is in the midst of his fifth year on a six-year deal, as he has a cap hit of $4.9 million. With 50% retention, the Oilers can make this work.
Through 44 games this season, Coleman has 13 goals and eight points. He’ll surpass his goal total of 15 he had last season, but he’s well off the pace of his 30 goals in 2023-24. For the majority of his career, Coleman has scored around 15 goals a season.
It’s a good fit for the Oilers as Coleman can play in the middle six, but because the Flames are the bitter rivals of the Oilers, it’s hard to see a trade like this going through. There just aren’t a ton of options on the market that are also cap compliant.

Third-line centre

There aren’t a lot of options available for a top six winger, but third-line centres in the trade market are plentiful. Earlier this season, Bob Stauffer was alluding to Toronto Maple Leafs’ right-shot centre Nicolas Roy as a target, but the Leafs have been playing better as of late, so that’s probably off the table.
If the Oilers wish to get a right-shot centre, former Oiler Ryan Strome could be an option, while Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Luke Schenn, and Ryan O’Reilly are rather difficult to acquire due to the Oilers’ cap situation. The same can’t be said about Boone Jenner.
Captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 32-year-old is on an expiring contract with a cap hit of $3.75 million, with 50 percent retention, that cap hit just stands at $1.875 million, an incredibly affordable contract.
Spending his entire career with the Blue Jackets, Jenner is a four-time 20-goal scorer, with three of those seasons coming from 2021-22 until 2023-24. Last season, he played just 26 games, scoring seven goals and 19 points, and he has eight goals and 25 points in 35 games this season. This season, he’s won 53 percent of the faceoff he’s taken and is a 54 percent winner in his career.
He’ll be a hot commodity and it’s still undetermined whether or not the Blue Jackets will sell, as they are just six points out of a wild card spot with a ton of teams to pass. If Jenner is shopped, he should be the Oilers’ top target.

Top-four defenceman

A small need for the Oilers is to even out their handedness on the backend. Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, Jake Walman, and Spencer Statsney are all left-shot defencemen. On the right-side, the Oilers have Evan Bouchard and either Alec Regula or Ty Emberson.
It’s not a glaring need for the team, but upgrading on Emberson should be considered. While evening out the handedness issue, that’s not quite an option just yet. With Rasmus Andersson being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, the best right-shot defenceman on the market is Dougie Hamilton. The 32-year-old has a cap hit of $9 million, so that isn’t going to work.
On the other hand, Rasmus Ristolainen could be an option, as Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco reported that the Philadelphia Flyers are listening to offers for the right-shot defenceman. They’re reportedly even willing to retain, albeit it would cost more.
Cap-wise, it could work if the Oilers get 50 percent retention, as his cap hit is currently $5.1 million, and would be $2.55 million with retention. The good news is that there is work to make that work. It’d require Andrew Mangiapane and Emberson to be traded, Isaac Howard or Calvin Pickard to be sent down, and Adam Henrique to be activated. But if the Flyers were to retain 49 percent, this works and would cost the Oilers an arm and a leg.
Ristolainen isn’t the same type of defender when he was picking up 40-point seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. The right-shot defenceman is a defensively steady penalty killer who can play top four minutes. Pairing him alongside Nurse could finally unlock the best of Nurse too.
That said, this trade with this type of retention is far too much for something that is a priority.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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