Oilers Could Look At More Specific Additions Later In The Season

Janmark, Henrique, & Mangiapane, Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers made moves trading out Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak to bring in Tristan Jarry and Spencer Stastney. This addressed issues now and in the future, while also getting younger on the back-end for cheaper. The Oilers aren't done making moves, and while it makes sense to also move out Calvin Pickard now, more may be available at the trade deadline for Edmonton.

David Pagnotta said, "I think they're going to explore adding later on in the season...from a defensive perspective, whether it's the blueline or in their bottom-6." Both of those aspects make sense, but add backup goalie to the mix as well since the Oilers were looking at Alex Lyon and could still acquire him. He costs $500,000 more per year and is signed through next season.

As for two-way depth at forward and another defensive d-man, it makes sense to have options. When the bottom-6 is on the ice and not scoring, they should at least be able to keep the puck out of their own net and match up with other bottom-6 lines. The Oilers didn't have that going last game against the Montreal Canadiens and the players rotating in aren't that consistent.

The Oilers are going to look different when Jack Roslovic, Kasperi Kapanen, and Noah Philp are back in the lineup, because there will be many options, so some tough or not-so-tough decisions will have to be made with the roster, even to the point of moving out money.

With limited money and many options at forward and defense, it doesn't seem like Edmonton is going to make any more big swings this season, but the offseason sees cap space open up and possibilities open up as well. The top guys on the Oilers will continue to carry them offensively, and also play well defensively for the most part as well, but depth is something that is always available at the trade deadline with bad teams looking to make room on their roster for younger players to come up and get NHL trials.

If something is going to happen sooner rather than later, it's going to be Pickard being swapped. But other than that, we might be waiting a while for the Oilers to get healthy and get a good sense of what they have.