March 8, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers didn’t make any trades on Friday’s NHL trade deadline day. GM Ken Holland did his work earlier in the week. Here is a recap of the Oilers 2024 trade deadline.

The Oilers made two trades this week. Their biggest splash was made on Wednesday when they acquired Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick, and a 2024 seventh round pick for a 2024 first round pick and a conditional 2025 fifth round pick. The Tampa Bay Lightning received a conditional 2026 fourth round pick in exchange for retaining 25% of Henrique’s salary. The Oilers also received the signing rights to former seventh round pick and MacEwan University alumni Ty Taylor.

Related: Oilers Acquire Henrique and Carrick

If the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, then the 2025 fifth round pick will become the Oilers’ 2025 fourth round pick. If the Oilers do not win the Stanley Cup, then the 2026 fourth round pick will become the 2025 fourth round pick. No matter what, the Oilers’ 2025 fourth round pick will be moved in this trade.

Finally, the Oilers acquired Troy Stecher and a 2024 seventh round pick in exchange for a 2027 fourth round pick on Thursday.

Related: Oilers Acquire Stecher

This trade deadline isn’t going to be characterized so much for what Holland did so much as it will be characterized by what he didn’t do. Henrique is a top six scoring winger, but he doesn’t play right wing. The Oilers need a scoring winger on the right side. Henrique is an awkward fit for that reason, but his versatility to play centre or left wing and his ability to penalty kill makes him a valuable addition.

Tyler Toffoli was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2025 second round pick and a 2024 third round pick with 50% of his cap hit retained. Toffoli is the only winger that got moved that I would like to have seen Holland be more aggressive in trying to pursue. The Oilers would have needed to find another team to retain 25% more of Toffoli’s salary to make it work, so the price would’ve been more steep. I wouldn’t have paid much more for him given that he was traded for a third round pick and Yegor Sharangovich this summer. That was before Sharangovich broke out. 

Anthony Mantha went to the Vegas Golden Knights for a 2024 second round pick and a 2026 fourth round pick with 50% of his cap hit retained. Mantha is a left-hand shot that can play either wing. He’s big and he can score, but he has been criticized for his defensive ability and lack of willingness to be physical. I’m actually okay with him going to the Golden Knights.

The price for Jake Guentzel was six assets in exchange for two, and the Oilers would not be able to re-sign Guentzel in the summer. Vladimir Tarasenko was ONLY interested in going to the Florida Panthers, and he had a full no-trade clause. Holland was holding out hope for Jordan Eberle, but he signed an extension with the Seattle Kraken. Pavel Buchnevich was not moved prior to the deadline. Given how the market played out, I think Henrique is a solid addition. 

The Henrique deal had apparently been in the works for a month or so before it actually happened. It likely didn’t happen sooner because the Oilers were also trying to use their 2024 first round pick to get Chris Tanev. The Calgary Flames chose to accept the Dallas Stars’ offer for Tanev because they liked the prospect they got back and they did not want to take the contract that was attached to the Oilers’ first round pick (most likely Cody Ceci). 

Related: Henrique thrilled for opportunity to chase a Cup with the Oilers

Holland is receiving plenty of criticism for not getting an upgrade on Ceci. It’s clear that Holland would rather have used the 2024 first round pick to get an upgrade on Ceci than using it to acquire Henrique and Carrick, but the Flames didn’t want to make that deal. Alexandre Carrier didn’t get traded. Sean Walker is the only other right handed defenceman that could be classified as an upgrade on Ceci that was traded this week. He went to the Colorado Avalanche along with a 2024 fifth round pick for a 2024 first round pick and Ryan Johansen, who was placed on waivers before the trade was even announced. The Philadelphia Flyers wanted a first round pick for Walker, but they had to take on a bad contract to get that first round pick. 

The Flyers also traded for Erik Johnson on Friday, so they wanted to replace Walker on the roster. The Flyers might have accepted a first and Ceci for Walker, but the fact the Oilers didn’t choose to pursue that tells me that they did not feel that Walker was worth a first round pick, especially since he has such a short track record of second pairing caliber performance in the NHL and that the Oilers would have had a tough time re-signing him this summer. I would agree with those sentiments. Walker would be an upgrade on Ceci, but not as significant of an upgrade as they received with Henrique and Carrick.

Some fans will claim that the Oilers didn’t go “all-in” at this deadline because they still have a little bit of cap space that went unused and they still have draft picks in the next two drafts. The Oilers will continue to accrue cap space. Any unused cap space this season will be taken off of the cap hit for Brown and Perry’s performance bonus overages that will be tacked onto next year’s cap hit. Also, the Oilers will be able to recall Gagner, Holloway, or Philip Broberg at some point before the season ends if they need to do so.

In the trades, #LetsGoOilers add Henrique @ $1.45625M & Carrick @ $425K.

After sending Gagner ($775K) down, they have $266K Projected Cap Space remaining with 22 players.

This can fit $1.16M annual cap hit today or $1.22M Friday.https://t.co/onpGRVAQKN pic.twitter.com/kXUHf0Wsg8

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) March 6, 2024

The Oilers are incredibly low on draft pick stock. They are already trading picks in the 2027 draft! Some fans will argue that draft picks don’t matter right now because the team is in “win now” mode. While I agree to a certain extent, teams win by drafting and developing well. Teams stay competitive for extended periods of time because they have internal prospects become cheap contributors on the NHL team. I’ll save my rant on this for another piece, but I feel that the Oilers have spent a lot of draft capital at trade deadlines in recent years, and they spent four more picks at this deadline.

The Oilers entered this deadline needing a scoring right winger, an upgrade on Ceci, and a right-handed depth centre. They got a versatile scoring left-winger/centre, a right-handed depth centre, and a depth defenceman. While that assessment makes the deadline look piss poor and I know what I’m about to say won’t be widely popular, I actually think Holland did well here. Henrique and Carrick are solid additions. Stecher is a sneaky good add as a seventh defenceman. Say what you will about Ceci, but he does provide decent value at his cap hit, and he will only provide more value than the potential replacement options available this week next season as well. I like that Holland didn’t panic on that front. I’ll give this deadline an “A” with the only thing stopping it from getting an “A+” is not getting a right-handed scoring winger.