Lowetide: Will this season’s Edmonton Oilers trades be good ones?
The Edmonton Oilers’ general manager, Ken Holland, struck a big deal to acquire defenseman Mattias Ekholm during the trade deadline last year.
The club gave up a number of important assets in a transaction that had an immediate and significant effect. Can this team succeed once more?
There are a number of variables at work, such as potential asset outages, cap concerns, and a management transition.
Building up another trade with Ekholm
Ekholm, a top-tier defenseman with a summer 2026 UFA left on his contract, was acquired by the Oilers.
He is capable of playing a prominent role for an NHL team, and over the past five seasons, he has averaged 36 points and nine goals in 82 games.Puck IQ projects that he will play 28% of his total minutes against elites in 2023–24, but given his prior and present usage in Edmonton, Ekholm is capable of playing more.
The asset came at a high cost. The puck-moving defender, Tyler Barrie, was part of a historically outstanding power play, but he was given up. In return for the seasoned defenseman, Edmonton gave up top power-forward prospect Reid Schaefer, a 2023 first-round selection (used on excellent prospect Tanner Molendyk), and a 2024 fourth-round selection.
The final total is as follows: two excellent prospects in Schaefer and the first-round pick; a depth pick (2024 fourth-round pick); and a productive and useful NHL defenseman in Barrie.
Are there enough Oilers left to make that happen once more?
Edmonton’s first-round picks in 2024 and 2025 are still among the team’s current assets. A fourth-rounder is available (2025).
Although Barrie’s caliber of player might be harder to deal with, players like Warren Foegele and Brett Kulak might still be relevant.
Two well-known young players who have spent time with the big club in recent seasons—Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg—would probably be needed in a major trade similar to the one involving Ekholm.
Holland has the resources to close a comparable deal by the deadline this year.
Cap is concerned.
Value contracts are going to be necessary for the new general manager.
Several players in Edmonton are signed for the following season and are making $1.5 million or less this year. While some are RFAs, new deals shouldn’t break the bank.
For the upcoming season, the top players on the Edmonton roster—Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, and Evander Kane—have signed contracts. The combined cap hit of those seven men is $52 million, or 59% of the anticipated cap for 2024–25.For the upcoming season, this team needs as many contracts under $1.5 million as possible.
