The Edmonton Oilers had a quiet 2025 Trade Deadline day, not making a single move on Friday (Mar. 7). Instead, they made their moves before deadline day and made some additions to their roster that they believe should be enough to help them make a push for their first Stanley Cup since 1990. The Oilers traded prospects Shane LaChance and Max Wanner in exchange for Max Jones and Trent Frederic on Tuesday (Mar. 4) and while Frederic continues to deal with an injury that will keep him out for a little longer, Jones made his Oilers debut on Thursday (Mar. 6) against the Montreal Canadiens, notching an assist. With that, here is everything to know about Jones, one of the Oilers’ newest acquisitions.
Jones Played Junior Hockey in OHL & USNTDP
Jones, who is 27 years old, has just nine games played this season in the NHL notching one point. Throughout his career, he has scored 31 goals and added 32 assists for 63 points through 267 games which comes out to a 0.24 points-per-game average. He was drafted in the first round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks at 24th overall after a strong season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the London Knights where he scored 28 goals and added 24 assists for 52 points through 63 games.
Related: Trent Frederic: Everything to Know About the Oilers’ New Acquisition
He followed it up in the 2016-17 season with another impressive campaign scoring 17 goals and adding 19 assists for 36 points through 33 games. He’d have one more campaign in the OHL during the 2017-18 season where he scored 18 goals and added three assists for 21 points through 25 games with the Knights, then had three points in six games with the Kingston Frontenacs to finish off the season.
Before joining the OHL, Jones played in the NTDP in the USA. In the 2014-15 season, he played 24 games for the USNTDP Juniors in the United States Hockey League (USHL) scoring five goals and adding five assists for 10 points. He also played 38 games with the U17 U.S. National Development Team where he scored 18 goals and added 10 assists for 28 points. He didn’t make his NHL debut until the 2018-19 season with the Ducks, scoring two goals and adding three assists for five points through 30 games in his first campaign.
What Jones Brings to the Oilers
Fans have already seen how strong Jones is physically and how well he can fit into the Oilers’ bottom six. Against the Dallas Stars on Saturday (Mar. 8), he was throwing his body around and making himself known on the defensive end with strong play that proved he might be a mainstay in the NHL when the team is fully healthy. He may not be the strongest offensive producer by any means, but the other aspects of his game make up for his lack of scoring.
Jones wasn’t the key part of the trade between the Oilers and Bruins, but he has already proven he might be one of the steals of the trade deadline. He has taken the opportunity with a new team and is taking full advantage to keep himself in the NHL moving forward.
The Oilers do have a deep forward lineup and with Jeff Skinner seeming like the odd man out, Jones will have to keep playing at close to an elite level if he wants to keep his job with the Oilers when Evander Kane returns from injury. Either way, he has added some much-needed physical play and personality to the Oilers’ lineup as they try to push for a championship.
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