The Edmonton Oilers have the best player in the world in Connor McDavid and likely the third-best player in Leon Draisaitl. With that type of firepower, the Oilers will always be in win-now mode and be in the hunt to win the Stanley Cup. However, because McDavid and Draisaitl also command a massive salary, they need to find bargains to supplement their two stallions.
Unfortunately for the Oilers, they had an underwhelming offseason. They fell asleep at the wheel and lost Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to the St. Louis Blues via offer sheets. Holloway and Broberg have enjoyed breakout seasons this year in St. Louis, and their replacements have underperformed.
The Los Angeles Kings are giving the Oilers everything they can handle. The Oilers have not gotten the necessary secondary scoring to compete. Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson have not lived up to expectations, scoring only 29 and 27 points, respectively. Outside of Ryan-Nugget Hopkins and Zach Hyman, offense from the forward group has been hard to come by.
However, the Oilers' biggest weakness is their defense and goaltending. Stuart Skinner has been awful these playoffs and was replaced by Calvin Pickard. The Mattias Ekholm injury was a big blow to the d-corps, but that is not an excuse. Dallas lost Miro Hiskanen, a top-five defender, and they have overcome that loss and stymied the Avalanche.
Who can the Pens trade for to help themselves and the Oilers?
The Oilers need secondary scoring, but also have a very limited amount of cap space. They also need to sign Evan Bouchard this offseason, and he will also have an expensive price tag. The Oilers also lack draft capital; they do not have a pick until the third round this year and do not have a first-rounder next year.
Penguins trade a 2026 second-round pick and a 2025 third-round pick for Matthew Savoie.
If the Oilers want to acquire depth players, they will likely have to trade for them, and they will need draft picks. Savoie is a twenty-one-year-old forward who was the Sabres' first-round pick in 2022, ninth overall. Savoie has only played four NHL games, and there is no path to him seeing significant playing time at the NHL level. The Pens would acquire yet another young player who has the potential to see significant time early in his Penguins tenure.