The Edmonton Oilers don’t have a scoring problem right now. They have a lineup problem.
Through three games, they’ve piled up 17 goals, the second-most in the National Hockey League. But the top nine is already getting stretched thin by injuries, and that’s where the concern starts. Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matthew Savoie are all out, and Jason Dickinson, the third-line centre, is also sidelined, though he returned to practice Monday.
That has forced the Oilers into some uncomfortable combinations, including a second line of Max Jones, Colton Dach and Kasperi Kapanen while Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid skate together.
So yes, help is needed. Elliotte Friedman reported during Saturday’s game against the Seattle Kraken that Edmonton is exploring a swap of a depth defenceman for a forward, a move that would essentially shuffle one area of depth for another.
On paper, the blue line is the part of the roster that can absorb that kind of trade. The Oilers have eight defencemen who merit NHL jobs, but only six can dress each night.
Jake Walman, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Connor Murphy and Ryan Shea have appeared in all three games so far. Shakir Mukhamadullin has played two, Ty Emberson one, and Spencer Stastney has not played yet.
If Edmonton does make a deal, Stastney looks like the most obvious player to move out of the lineup. He’s on an expiring contract carrying a $1.525 million cap hit. Emberson and Mukhamadullin, though, would likely bring more value in a trade.
But there may be a cleaner path for the Oilers: sign a forward instead of trading for one. Vladimir Tarasenko and Michael Bunting are both still available as unrestricted free agents, and either one could slide into the middle six.
Tarasenko put up 23 goals and 47 points in 75 games last season, with most of his scoring coming at even strength. Bunting finished with 14 goals and 33 points in 74 games, which was his lowest total since he became an NHL regular in 2021-22.
Edmonton has done this before. Early in the 2025-26 season, the club signed Jack Roslovic to a “show-me” type of deal, and he responded with 21 goals and 36 points in 69 games while playing in the middle six.
Cap space is the first obstacle. PuckPedia has the Oilers with $761,666 available, but because of overages tied to players on long-term injured reserve, they are not accruing any additional space right now. That means the team is operating in a money-in, money-out setup until those situations change.
In theory, Edmonton could sign Tarasenko or Bunting to a “show-me” deal worth $2 million and waive Stastney to make it work under the cap.
The problem is the asset side of it. The Oilers gave up a 2027 third-round pick to Nashville for Stastney last December, after a separate move in which they sent Brett Kulak, Stuart Skinner and a 2029 second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Tristan Jarry.
So even if waiving Stastney and signing a forward gets Edmonton cap compliant, there’s still the question of whether the club would rather get something back for the defenceman than lose him for nothing.
For now, though, the need is obvious. If the choice is between moving Stastney and bringing in a middle-six forward, that looks like a better play than flipping him for a bottom-six option.
In Other News...
Hurricanes Enter Connor Hellebuyck Talk With One Big Timing Question
Around the league, the Connor Hellebuyck chatter has started to settle into a familiar pattern: contenders wondering whether there is a real path to land one of the NHLs top goaltenders, and clubs with questions in net trying to see if the timing can ever line up. Elliotte Friedman reported that the San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets briefly explored a trade involving Hellebuyck, while other teams such as the Oilers and Hurricanes have been floated as fits because of their goaltending situations and their desire to keep pushing toward a championship window.
What makes the discussion interesting is the standard Hellebuyck appears to be using. He is open to San Jose despite the uncertainty around that roster, but his bigger aim is to end up with a team he believes can win the Stanley Cup within the next three years. For Edmonton, that creates a clear but unresolved question: whether the organization can present the kind of immediate contender profile that would make a goalie of Hellebuycks stature view it as the right destination. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Suddenly Face Real Risk With Simon Edvinsson
With the NHL calendar still early, the trade market is already starting to take shape around a few clubs trying to solve very different problems. Detroits situation with Simon Edvinsson has become one of the more notable ones, as contract talks have reportedly run into trouble and the Red Wings are at least looking at trade possibilities if they cannot get the defenseman locked in.
For Edmonton, the ripple effect is less direct but still relevant. The Oilers are weighing ways to add forward depth, and that kind of search can quickly pull other teams into the discussion as front offices look for pieces that fit their needs. Around the league, there is plenty of movement and speculation already, from the Red Wings' uncertainty on the blue line to other clubs testing trade ideas, which is the kind of backdrop that can turn a quiet stretch into a much busier one. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Trade Focus Turns To One Roster Battle Up Front
As the Oilers sift through the early-season picture, the front offices attention has shifted toward a familiar roster question up front: whether to add another forward without paying too steep a price. Edmonton has been linked to the idea of moving a depth defenseman to address the forward group, a type of deal that usually only makes sense if the organization believes it can protect its blue line while improving its scoring depth.
The timing is part of what makes the discussion more interesting. Edmonton is still waiting on key reinforcements at forward, which should ease some of the pressure to act immediately, but the market chatter keeps circling back to which spare defensemen might be available in the right deal. Around the league, there has also been some loose speculation tying several trade requests to USA Olympic roster overlap, though the stronger read is that each situation stands on its own rather than forming some broader trend. [Read more 🡒]