Oilers Make Second Trade To Bring In Defenseman From Nashville

The Edmonton Oilers had a very busy morning by making two trades to finally address goaltending. Regardless of how many seem to be feeling and overreacting to the Oilers acquiring Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins, they have also struck a deal with the Nashville Predators to acquire Spencer Stastney, a young defenseman.

The Oilers traded Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round pick to the Penguins for Jarry and Samuel Poulin, so they brought in a starter with a .909 career SV% and a young forward, but also had to trade Skinner and Kulak to make the money work. Stastney is Kulak's replacement on the left side for the third pairing, and he's only 25 years old.

The Oilers feel that Stastney can be the equivalent to Kulak, but much younger and cheaper. Stastney is in the second and final year of his deal and will be an RFA after the season. His cap hit is also only $825,000 AAV. On Nashville, he played 30 games this season, averaging a hair under 15 minutes per game, but was only a -1 on a bad team, plays on the penalty kill, and has a better expected goals for % than Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Ty Emberson, and Jake Walman this season.

The Oilers believe Stastney can be the long-term replacement for Kulak and he has shown positive signs in his young career. The Oilers gave up a third-round pick in 2027 to get the deal done, and it is yet another trade between the Oilers and Predators.

Stastney should slot right in on the third pairing beside Ty Emberson for the time being, and then things will get interesting when Walman returns, but he is still a few weeks away from coming back, as it stands right now. Stastney has played 81 games in the NHL, but was a standout in the AHL. He is fast and has a defense-first mindset, both things, along with his age, that the Oilers have been looking for and could use.