Trade Talks, Frustration, and Olympic Break Tension: A Closer Look at the Oilers' Midseason Crossroads
As the NHL hits pause for the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Edmonton Oilers find themselves at a pivotal moment-on and off the ice. With trade chatter swirling and internal frustrations spilling into the public eye, this break couldn't have come at a more critical time for a team trying to rediscover its identity.
Oilers Eyeing Reinforcements, but Not Who You Think
Leading up to the league’s trade freeze before the Olympics, Edmonton was reportedly doing its homework on potential upgrades-particularly at forward. One name that surfaced?
Bobby McMann of the Toronto Maple Leafs. But while there was interest, that trail seems to have cooled.
Despite initial reports linking McMann to the Oilers, NHL insider David Pagnotta clarified that Edmonton’s conversations with Toronto weren’t centered on the 26-year-old winger. Instead, the focus might have been on shoring up the blue line. According to Pagnotta, two names potentially in play were defensemen Nicolas Roy and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
“I was told by a couple people that the Oilers and Leafs had conversations leading up to the freeze,” Pagnotta said on The Jeff Marek Show. “It wasn't Bobby McMann. It sounds like maybe it’s Nic Roy, maybe it’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson.”
The idea here is pretty straightforward: Edmonton is looking for a piece that fits better in Kris Knoblauch’s system than Andrew Mangiapane, who’s struggled to find his rhythm this season. With just 12 points in 49 games, Mangiapane hasn’t delivered the impact the Oilers were hoping for, and that’s left the front office exploring alternatives.
McMann’s Price Tag Complicates the Market
Even though McMann may not be the target for Edmonton, his name is still circulating in league circles-and for good reason. The Maple Leafs forward has put together a solid season, racking up 32 points (19 goals, 13 assists) in 56 games. Toronto knows what it has in McMann, and according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, they’re asking for a first-round pick in return.
There’s just one problem: most of the contending teams, including the Oilers, Avalanche, Wild, Stars, and Golden Knights, don’t have a first-rounder left to move. That makes any potential deal for McMann a tough needle to thread-unless Toronto adjusts its asking price or gets creative with multi-asset packages.
Draisaitl’s Candid Comments Turn Up the Heat
While the front office weighs trade options, the locker room has its own issues to sort out. Before heading off to represent Germany at the Olympics-where he proudly carried the nation’s flag during the opening ceremony-Leon Draisaitl didn’t mince words about the state of the Oilers.
Coming off a three-game skid, the 30-year-old star delivered a blunt assessment of the team’s performance, calling out not just his teammates, but also the coaching staff and goaltending tandem of Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram.
“Yeah, obviously frustration was high after having lost three games in a row,” Draisaitl said this week, addressing the comments he made before the break. “At the end of the day, my message was, ‘We all need to be better.’
I said it in that interview; I said our leadership group has to be better. And talking about the leadership group, I'm part of that, so I can be a lot better.”
That kind of accountability is what you want from a franchise cornerstone, but it also raises questions. When a player of Draisaitl’s stature publicly challenges the team’s direction, it’s hard not to wonder what’s going on behind the scenes.
Knoblauch Under the Microscope
Naturally, Draisaitl’s comments put head coach Kris Knoblauch in the spotlight. Some fans have speculated that the public criticism signals a deeper disconnect between the coaching staff and the locker room. Whether or not that’s true, it’s clear the team is at a crossroads.
Draisaitl didn’t walk back his critique, but he did clarify that it wasn’t about finger-pointing-it was about standards.
“That goes for our coaches, that goes for everybody within our organization,” he added. “We all have to step up.
It's been an up-and-down year and we've got to find our game. We want to be a team that wants to win the Stanley Cup at the end of the day.
We need to have those expectations of ourselves. Yeah, it's just-we all as a group have to be better.”
What Comes Next?
For the Oilers, the Olympic break offers a rare chance to reset. The front office has time to reassess trade targets, the coaching staff can evaluate what’s working (and what’s not), and the players-many of whom are scattered across international rosters-can reflect on what kind of team they want to be down the stretch.
This is a team built to contend, but right now, they’re not playing like it. And as Draisaitl made clear, that has to change-from top to bottom.
Whether it’s a midseason trade, a coaching adjustment, or a recommitment from the leadership core, the Oilers have decisions to make. The path back to Stanley Cup contention is still within reach, but it’s going to take more than talent. It’s going to take accountability, cohesion, and a whole lot of urgency.