After a week off, the Edmonton Oilers have had a busy past few days. They wrapped up a three-game road trip last night and now head home for a busy December slate.

The Oilers have been improving but there’s still plenty to work on if they want to reach the Stanley Cup again. Today, we’ll talk about one area the team could improve, possible trade targets, and the mistakes Hockey Canada made with their 4 Nations roster.

The Team Canada roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February will be officially announced later on Wednesday. Unfortunately, in the world we live in now, it’s hard to keep things a secret for long. The roster was leaked last night and Connor McDavid was the only Edmonton Oiler on the list, which we’ve known about for a while. It’s disappointing but understandable considering the lacklustre start to the season Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman and Stuart Skinner have had.

Not selecting Hyman was the most surprising. We all saw Chris Kunitz get a spot on the Canadian Olympic roster in 2014, which led us to believe McDavid could get his wingman on the roster too. Not only that but Hyman has scored a ton of goals the last three years. Only six Canadians have scored more goals than Hyman since he joined the Oilers in 2021 — Connor McDavid (185), Sam Reinhart (164), Brayden Point (164), Nathan MacKinnon (154), Steven Stamkos (140), and Sidney Crosby (138). Hyman has 135 goals in 298 games, which you’d think would be good enough to earn a spot.

Quickly on Bouchard, it’s unfair to label him as only a power-play guy. It’s understandable why he’s pictured like that but he only has 5 of his 18 points have come on the power play this season. While Cale Makar will and should run the top unit power play, you’d have to imagine Bouchard could support the second unit.

Jeff Marek came on Oilersnation Everyday a little while ago and said the Buffalo Sabres could get a little crazy if things go south for them. They’ve had the core group there together for a while now and they may be willing to part ways with the likes of Dylan Cozens and Owen Power. The scenario of Edmonton getting either Cozens or Power feels like a pipe dream. The price for either of them would be through the roof and the Oilers likely won’t have the assets to be in those conversations. Plus, the Oilers’ best prospect, Matthew Savoie, came from the Sabres, so it’s clear they wouldn’t have any interest in acquiring him.

Outside of Cozens and Power, I don’t see the Sabres as much of a trade partner. Henri Jokiharju is an expiring right-shot defenceman but his numbers are no better than Ty Emberson. He’s only 25 but the Oilers can aim higher than him. Jason Zucker and Jordan Greenway are two forwards with expiring contracts but neither fill the void of what the Oilers need. Perhaps Peyton Krebs is an option but calling up Noah Philp saves you money and assets.

Scoring has been hit or miss for the Oilers this season, especially outside of the production from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers’ best two chances missed the net last night against Vegas with Connor Brown missing on a wide-open chance and Evan Bouchard unable to redirect Draisaitl’s pass. They need to find ways to be more critical and take advantage of the chance when they come.

Can Jeff Skinner provide more to the top-six? You’d like to believe so considering his track record and, with the lack of production offensively, he should be getting more opportunity. It’ll be interesting to see where Kasperi Kapanen lands in the lineup when everyone is healthy too. If Kris Knoblauch wants to keep Skinner alongside Adam Henrique and Mattias Janmark, then keeping Kapanen in the top-six instead of Brown could prove beneficial. Kapanen has proven throughout his career that he can play alongside top offensive talent. Maybe playing him next to Draisaitl could work.

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