The Edmonton Oilers salary cap situation didn’t offer them much flexibility at the NHL Trade Deadline. The Oilers started their trade deadline by making an early three-way deal with the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils to acquire Trent Frederic and Max Jones. Everyone waited with bated breath to see how they’d improve the team further, and they made an interesting deal to grab defenseman Jake Walman from the San Jose Sharks. It wasn’t a position many saw them upgrading, but Stan Bowman felt Walman was the piece they needed.
Another interesting piece of the trade deadline for the Oilers was Evander Kane’s contract. Edmonton’s salary cap has been a disaster, and Kane’s pending arrival off of long-term injured reserve was a concern. The Oilers explored trading Kane at the deadline, but they discovered he wouldn’t return before the playoffs. It’s good news for the Oilers, as the cap-strapped franchise will get a free addition at the deadline.
The only question remaining for Edmonton is if they have done enough to win that crucial 16th game after losing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals last season.
Should the Oilers be confident in their goaltending situation?
One of the massive questions entering the trade deadline was whether the Oilers would upgrade their goaltending position. Stuart Skinner had been a valuable piece at times during the team’s playoff run in 2023-24, but there were also times when he struggled, and the doubters began to pile up. It bled into this season, and as the Oilers went through a playoff hangover through the early parts of the year, Skinner’s stock dropped.
Both Oilers goaltenders have impressive winning records at this point in the season. However, considering the Oilers’ overall record and place in the standings, it isn’t too surprising. Edmonton has been struggling since returning from the break, thanks to a lack of offensive production from their forwards. People will point fingers at the offense, but this also leads me to circle the goaltenders as a concern.
Offense doesn’t always come easy in the playoffs. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl won’t have offensive explosions every night, and there will be some games where their goaltenders must steal the victory. Skinner and Calvin Pickard haven’t shown an ability to do that yet this season, and it’s unlikely to see that changing in the postseason.
Goaltenders aren’t an easy position to acquire mid-season. The only goalie we saw move at the trade deadline was Petr Mrazek, and he wasn’t a significant enough piece to justify acquiring him as a replacement for Skinner. The Oilers needed to find a way to land someone like John Gibson or Jordan Binnington.
The Oilers felt it was more necessary to acquire depth forwards like Frederic. Frederic has been a valuable piece in the Bruins’ bottom-six since joining the team, but he doesn’t check the box that Edmonton most needed to address with their forward group.
Edmonton’s depth scoring must improve
The Oilers thought they solved their depth scoring issues when they signed Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson in the offseason. In his career, Skinner never played in the postseason, which Edmonton was confident they could turn into a motivated regular season from the Buffalo Sabres castoff. The same situation was brewing with Arvidsson, who lost three consecutive first-round playoff series against these same Oilers.
Skinner hasn’t been able to redevelop his confidence in Edmonton, which has led to some healthy scratches. Sitting in the press box at Rogers Place won’t do anything to help Skinner’s confidence, and it shows in his play. He did have one of his best games of the season last time out, but that’s more of a slight to the rest of the team than an indictment of Skinner’s play. The Oilers would love to see him regain his form, but they don’t expect him to be the team’s best forward as he was that night. It was Skinner’s first game in nine days, as the Oilers decided they had to give him a shot in his first game back in Buffalo.
Arvidsson is on pace for just 27 points in 67 games. It’s a far cry from his points-per-game pace with the Los Angeles Kings, which is disastrous for the Oilers. Edmonton believed the only thing separating them from winning the 16th playoff game and a Stanley Cup was a lack of depth behind McDavid. They thought it was an easy fix and that they had accomplished it with those two forwards. However, the grade is nothing but a fail after the first 64 games of the season.
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