The Oilers are still working the phones, and one of the names floating around their search is a young center from the Eastern Conference.
That’s the picture NHL insider Darren Dreger painted on The Nielson Show, where he stopped short of identifying the player but described the target as a forward with real upside who is still working to establish his NHL game. Dreger said Edmonton has been talking about the move for several weeks and was viewed as the front-runner in discussions with the other club.
“A young forward, a young center potentially, with plenty of upside, plenty of room to grow, and plenty to prove at the NHL level. I know it’s a conversation the Oilers have had for a number of weeks with a team in the Eastern Conference.
[…] We’re talking about a guy who’s still trying to prove his NHL value at this point. […] I just know that Edmonton was considered to be a front-runner in trade conversation with this team about this Eastern Conference player.”.
The mystery has led plenty of people to Kirby Dach of the Montreal Canadiens, a name that has been tied to Edmonton before. But Dreger’s wording doesn’t line up neatly with Dach, since the question there is more about health than proving he belongs in the league.
The player drawing the most attention now is Matt Poitras of the Boston Bruins. Poitras was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 27 after getting hurt on Sept. 22, and he made his season debut Monday. The early read on that return was mixed, but the Oilers apparently believe there’s something to work with.
Poitras was drafted in the second round in 2022 and has 27 points in 70 NHL games. Last season, he played three games for Boston and scored one goal.
Dreger did not say the report was about Poitras, and nothing has been finalized.
For now, Edmonton is not being pushed into anything. The club expects some injured players back soon, with Jason Dickinson among the first and likely to rejoin the lineup during the California road trip. And if Boston is holding firm on the price - or won’t accept a defenseman such as Spencer Stastney in return - the Oilers may simply keep looking.
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For Edmonton, the immediate takeaway is simple: even loose trade speculation around Rust now has a different feel because of the injury timeline. There still have been no confirmed trade talks between the two teams, so the Oilers are not reacting to a real negotiation at this point, but a player who was already a speculative fit is now facing at least a six-week absence, which could alter any broader market conversation. [Read more 🡒]
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The roster move also forced some shuffling behind the scenes, as the club opened a spot to make the transaction work. For Edmonton, the bigger question is less about whether Nugent-Hopkins can help and more about how the forward group looks once everyone is healthy enough to play, especially with a key role in the middle now available for one of the teams most versatile pieces. [Read more 🡒]
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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added an encouraging subplot in his season debut after a lower-body injury, giving Edmonton another familiar piece back in the mix. In a game that swung back and forth all night, the Oilers also showed they can survive a track meet when the margin is thin, which is exactly the kind of depth and response they have been searching for as the schedule tightens. [Read more 🡒]