The Edmonton Oilers are in a comfortable position heading into the 2024-25 season coming off of a Stanley Cup Final run, and making moves that should solidify them as contenders have fans excited for what they can accomplish this season. With Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson joining the team in free agency to bolster the Oilers’ forward group as well as bringing back key depth pieces in Connor Brown, Mattias Janmark, and Corey Perry, the team is set up for success and should be able to make another deep playoff run this season. While most Oilers fans focus on the present and are excited to see what’s ahead for this team, it’s fun to sometimes look back at what could have been different. In this article, we take a look at a blockbuster trade that almost sent a future MVP to another Canadian team in exchange for a right-shot defender in 2016.
Oilers Needed Change in 2016
The 2015-16 season for the Oilers was not pretty. They finished 7th in the Pacific Division with a 31-43-8 record and while they were excited about what Connor McDavid could do in his rookie campaign, it was cut short due to a major injury and the team had to rely on other sources for offensive production. In that season, the Oilers were led offensively by Taylor Hall, who finished with 26 goals and 39 assists for 65 points through 82 games. While it was clear Hall could be someone the Oilers continued to lean on, the team knew it was time to shake things up and finally try to fix the defensive issues that had hindered them for several seasons.
Related: Revisiting Oilers’ Draisaitl-for-Subban Blockbuster That Almost Happened
The Oilers chose to trade Hall to the New Jersey Devils prior to the 2016-17 season, in a one-for-one exchange that saw the Devils give defender Adam Larsson in return. At the time, fans seemed happy that the team was finally trying to fix the lack of depth on their blue line and send shockwaves through the locker room by moving out their leading scorer. That same offseason, the Oilers decided it was time to put an end to the Nail Yakupov experiment, as they traded him to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Zach Pochiro and a conditional third-round draft pick. The following offseason, the Oilers made another big move sending Jordan Eberle to the New York Islanders, so it was clear change was underway in Edmonton.
However, the Oilers almost went a different route when trading Hall. The Ottawa Senators almost came into the mix and made a one-for-one deal with the Oilers, but it was nixed by their ownership at the last minute, and then the Oilers shifted their focus onto Larsson (from ‘Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli was willing to move Taylor Hall for Cody Ceci, TSN’s Dreger reports. Hmmmm,’ Edmonton Journal, 1/4/18). The deal would have seen a one-for-one trade of Hall to the Senators in exchange for Cody Ceci. While it never came to fruition, they still ended up with Ceci on their blue line and he is now entering the final season of his contract with the team.
The Oilers almost pulled off another mega deal that same offseason that would’ve seen Leon Draisaitl get traded to the Montreal Canadiens along with Darnell Nurse in exchange for P.K. Subban, but that also fell through. Subban ended up being traded to the Nashville Predators in a one-for-one deal in exchange for Shea Weber, where both players involved had successful runs with their new teams. The Oilers hung on to Draisaitl, and he has proven to be one of the most lethal offensive weapons in the NHL. It’s insane to think about how different the league would look if any of these trades had gone through.
Hall ended up winning the Hart Trophy in the 2017-18 season with the Devils which was awarded to him for being the most valuable player in the NHL. While some Oilers fans still look back and say they lost that deal, it led the Oilers to be where they are today, which is one step away from being a Stanley Cup champion for the first time since 1990. While they were one game away from winning it all last season, they have a stronger team heading into this season and should be more confident of their ability to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada.
