As Edmonton keeps looking for help down the middle, Elliotte Friedman’s latest 32 Thoughts column pointed to a very specific need: a right-shot centre.
Friedman put it plainly: “Edmonton has no right-shot centres. That’s why you hear a lot of Kirby Dach (plus his history with Stan Bowman).
They also took a long look at Shane Wright, but it didn’t get to the finish line. Would have liked to see that fit.”
That lines up with the recent report that the Oilers had interest in Montreal Canadiens centre Kirby Dach. The 25-year-old has had a stop-start career because of injury issues.
In 2023-24, he played just two games with the Canadiens. He followed that with 57 games in 2024-25, then appeared in 37 games last season in 2025-26, along with 19 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Friedman also said Edmonton looked into Shane Wright, the former fourth overall pick. Wright was granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada to join the Ontario Hockey League as a 15-year-old in 2019. He hasn’t matched the expectations that came with that label, but there have been signs of promise.
Through 169 career games, Wright has 36 goals and 42 assists for 78 points. He has averaged 13:40 of ice time, mostly working as a third-line centre with limited power-play time on a team that has struggled to score.
The bigger picture here is clear: Stan Bowman is not just chasing a right-shot centre, he seems to be chasing one who is still young and has room to grow. Dach and Wright both fit that mold. Both also fit the profile of players who might be available at a price that doesn’t force Edmonton to overpay in trade assets.
That kind of move is how teams keep finding an edge. If the Oilers can land a younger centre on a cheaper contract and for less than the cost of a more established name, it could end up being exactly the sort of swing that pays off. Florida, Vegas and Carolina have all found success by hunting for that kind of value.
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For the Oilers, the timing matters because the net is one of those spots where confidence can shift quickly, and the margin for error is thin. If Jarry does not settle in, Edmonton will have other options on the horizon, with Frederik Andersen expected back by late October, which could make the early stretch feel even more like a test run than a settled plan. [Read more 🡒]