The NHL trade deadline has passed, and the Edmonton Oilers had a few holes to fill. They needed to add some grit and physicality to the bottom six, a legitimate top-four defenceman, an impactful top-six forward, and a goaltender to compete with Stuart Skinner.
That’s a long shopping list, and addressing all those needs would be extremely difficult. The biggest question mark heading into the deadline was Evander Kane’s status and if he would be available before the playoffs. It was recently announced that he will miss the regular season, allowing Edmonton to use his $5.125 million cap space and keep him on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). That extra cash allowed the Oilers to shore up the blue line and add a bottom-six forward. They only made two deals and added three players during the trade deadline. Here’s the Oilers’ trade deadline recap.
Trent Frederic & Max Jones
The Oilers’ deadline started on Tuesday (March 4) when they acquired Trent Frederic, Max Jones, and Petr Hauser from the Boston Bruins. They sent Maximus Wanner, a second-round pick in 2025, and a fourth-round pick in 2026 to Boston. Edmonton also traded the rights to prospect Shane Lachance to the New Jersey Devils for salary retention.
Related: 2025 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
This was a solid move for Edmonton, as Frederic is a big, physical forward who can also contribute offensively. While his offensive numbers are down this season, he had 18 goals last season and 17 the season before. He only has eight goals so far in 2024-25, but he brings a lacking element to this team. The 6-foot-3, 221-pounder instantly leads the team in hits with 155, 13 more than Vasily Podkolzin. His physicality is much needed. The 27-year-old is currently week-to-week with a lower-body injury, so it will be a few more weeks before we see him suit up. He’s also a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA).
Max Jones was thrown into this deal as a layer of depth. He made his Oilers debut on Thursday (March 6) against the Montreal Canadiens and was quite impressive. He registered an assist and was extremely noticeable. Jones made a great defensive play on a hustle backcheck, which led to an offensive opportunity the other way. The 6-foot-3, 216-pounder provides depth and energy for the playoff run. This was a good deal for the Oilers.
Jake Walman
In the early morning of deadline day, the Oilers announced they’d acquired defenceman Jake Walman from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Carl Berglund and a conditional 2026 first-round pick. The pick is top-12 protected, but if Edmonton trades its 2027 first-round pick before the 2026 trade deadline, then that pick goes to the Sharks unconditionally.
Walman has six goals and 32 points in 50 games with a minus-1 rating on a rebuilding Sharks squad. The 6-foot-1, 218-pound defenceman is averaging 23:11 minutes of ice time this season, five more minutes than his career average. While he’s a left shot, he can play both sides, and that’s a valuable asset. He’s a versatile player who can play the right side with Darnell Nurse or on the left side with Ty Emberson, thus flipping Brett Kulak to the right side. Edmonton has flexibility on the back end.
Walman is considered an offensive defenseman. He’s a high-volume shooter and uses his puck-moving ability to exit the defensive zone. He’s a transition defender but sometimes struggles defending off the rush.
The biggest takeaway from this deal is that he’s not a rental. The 29-year-old has two seasons left (including 2024-25) with a cap hit of $3.4 million. This was a seller’s market since many teams are still vying for a playoff spot, thus resulting in overpays. For example, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded Luke Schenn to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick. Walman is a much better defenceman than Schenn, and the Oilers got him at a better price. Seeing what some other teams paid, this was a great deal for Edmonton. The Oilers needed an upgrade on the blue line, and they got one.
Oilers Should’ve Done More
While the moves they did make were solid, they needed to make one more impactful addition, but they didn’t. The Dallas Stars added Mikko Rantanen, and the Colorado Avalanche acquired Brock Nelson. Those are two teams in the Western Conference that Edmonton will likely need to beat come playoff time.
Management hindered their ability to improve the roster. The no-movement clauses (NMC) handed out to Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner prevented them from upgrading the top six. Skinner has been a healthy scratch eight times, and Arvidsson has only seven goals and 19 points in 47 games, primarily playing with Leon Draisaitl. That’s not nearly productive enough, and this team needed an upgrade. General manager Stan Bowman had to move at least one of those players to improve the forward group, but the NMCs made that difficult.
Edmonton added a top-four defenceman and a physical bottom-six forward, which was very much needed. But this deadline was a bit underwhelming, and they needed just one more piece to compete with the other elite teams. Hopefully, Kane can return in the playoffs and be that impactful addition this team desperately needs. Keep following The Hockey Writers for all your NHL news and rumours as we head toward the playoffs.
