3 Oilers players who could be dangled in a potential trade

The Edmonton Oilers will be very involved in trade discussions in the months leading up to the NHL’s Trade Deadline, but who do they have to give up?

After a disappointing start to the season, the Oilers could use some reinforcements to their defensive group. It was reported late last month that Edmonton GM Stan Bowman was “aggressively” working the trade market to improve this Oilers team, and now we have our first target. The Pittsburgh Penguins appear to be on the verge of a fire sale after a poor start, with defenceman Marcus Pettersson being a likely candidate to be shipped out. The Athletic’s Josh Yohe, who covers the Penguins, mentioned that the Oilers have shown interest in the 28-year-old Swede. Yohe also mentioned that the Vancouver Canucks are showing interest alongside Edmonton. Pettersson is in the final year of a five-year contract that carries a cap hit of $4.025 million and has been among Pittsburgh’s best players early in the season. He is currently getting top-pairing minutes with the Penguins alongside Erik Karlsson. Pettersson has a goal and eight points in 20 games this season. Pettersson leads all regular Pittsburgh defenders with a 56.54 expected goals-for (xGF) and a 57.79 high-danger chances-for percentage (HDCF%) at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. Those rates would put him ahead of Darnell Nurse on the Oilers. Pittsburgh would be looking to bolster their defensive ranks in any trade that saw Pettersson go the other way. Edmonton could potentially send over a package that includes a first-round pick and perhaps one of Sam O’Reilly or Matt Savoie to entice Penguins GM Kyle Dubas. Savoie would most likely be the more appealing option, as he holds the distinction of being a former top-10 draft pick. Edmonton will have to be careful in offloading their top prospects; however, as the team’s pipeline for young talent is already quite bare, it is risky, considering Pettersson is set to become a free agent this summer. Outside of the cost, adding Pettersson would make a world of sense for the Oilers. He would slot in perfectly as a second-pair defenceman and plays a solid defensive style that should blend well with Nurse. The only issue is that the Swede is a left-handed defenceman, meaning one of him or Nurse would have to play their off-side to make that work. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has shown a willingness to play defenceman on their off-side this year, with Brett Kulak playing RD beside Nurse despite being left-handed. Perhaps the same thing could be done with Pettersson. The NHL’s trade deadline is still months away, but it’s encouraging that Bowman is reportedly targeting a guy like Pettersson, as he represents a player who would go a long way toward filling some of Edmonton’s most glaring holes.