Oilers’ Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl To Undergo Further Testing
Thursday night’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets was hard for the Edmonton Oilers to bear for many reasons. They entered the night without superstar forward Leon Draisaitl, who was announced as out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury after the team’s morning skate. Edmonton also saw two major injuries occur mid-game. Franchise centerman Connor McDavid left the game before the start of the third period, after appearing to suffer a lower-body injury on his final shift of the second-period – which only lasted 16 seconds. Later in the third, concussion spotters also forced starting goaltender Stuart Skinner to exit the game. The Oilers went on to lose 4-3 in overtime – and are now forced to pick up the pieces of three crucial absences. Both Draisaitl and McDavid will head for further testing on Friday to help determine the severity and duration of their injuries, per Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff.
No update has been provided on Skinner, though head coach Kris Knoblauch did share that Skinner was frustrated over getting pulled early, per Jason Gregor of Sports 1440. He’ll need to be cleared of a concussion before he can step back into the lineup.
This news comes as a terrible blow to an Oilers club that seemed to be firing on all cylinders. They were on a three-game win streak entering Thursday night, having outscored opponents 12-3 along the way. McDavid scored five points, and Draisaitl scored three points, over that streak – while Skinner saved 21 of the 22 shots he faced in one game of action. The trio served crucial roles in Edmonton’s success, and losing them so suddenly will be a blow to the Oilers roster.
Center Adam Henrique took over for McDavid on the top line in the immediate wake of his injury, while newcomer Max Jones slotted into a fourth-line role in Draisaitl’s absence. Henrique will likely maintain a top-six role while McDavid sits out, though priority minutes could go to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who has six points in his last three games. Jones will be the de facto fill-in winger, though he could face competition from healthy scratch Derek Ryan. Ryan hasn’t played since January 11th and has five points in 33 games this season. Jones has one assist in six games with the Oilers.
Edmonton will also keep an eye on Evander Kane as they think of deeper injury concerns. Kane hasn’t played since the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals. He’s been forced out of this season by abdominal and knee surgeries, but returned to Edmonton’s practices for the first time on Thursday. He seems unlikely to return before the regular season ends, but any extended absences for Draisaitl or McDavid could push the Oilers to consider load management with just 13 games left in their season. Edmonton would need to clear roughly $5MM in cap space to active Kane off of long-term injured reserve before the season ended.
Meanwhile, Edmonton will likely be pushed to recall Collin Delia or Olivier Rodrigue should Skinner need to miss additional time. Pickard, who could get an open path to a short-term starting role, has posted a 3-2-0 record and .904 save percentage in his last five starts.
Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl Out Day-To-Day, Evander Kane Returns To Practice
Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury and is expected to miss tonight’s clash with the Jets, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). It’s not all bad news on the injury front for Edmonton, though. Winger Evander Kane skated at practice for the first time this season as he attempts a playoff return from abdominal and knee surgeries that have wiped out his 2024-25 campaign.
While Edmonton has a divisional playoff berth all but clinched, they’ve still got some important games to play to determine where they end up in the Pacific pecking order. A three-game winning streak after a 3-8-0 rut has them back on the right track, but they’re still at risk of being passed by the Kings for second in the division and losing home-ice advantage in what’s likely going to be a fourth consecutive first-round matchup between the two clubs.
That makes Draisaitl’s absence against a conference-leading Winnipeg club a tough one to swallow. The German superstar recently had his 18-game point streak draw to a close in Tuesday’s 7-1 drubbing of Utah, and he’s now the overwhelming favorite to take home the league’s goal-scoring crown with 49 in 68 games. He has an 11-tally gap on second-place William Nylander and trails the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon by three points for the overall scoring title.
It’s unclear what might be hampering Draisaitl with less than one month to go until the postseason. He’s yet to miss a game this year and didn’t miss any shifts against Utah earlier this week. In fact, he logged over 20 minutes for the fifth consecutive game.
The Oilers, who have juggled their lines with aplomb lately, will likely have Jeff Skinner up with Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid on the first line while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins shifts to center Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin in Draisaitl’s absence.
One of those top-six winger roles could be Kane’s come playoff time. While it’s clear he won’t be returning during the regular season – the Oilers are using his LTIR placement to remain cap-compliant down the stretch – getting back on the practice sheet now could indicate a first-round comeback.
Injuries aside, the 33-year-old is coming off a disappointing 2023-24 campaign. His 44 points in 77 regular-season appearances equated to his worst points-per-game rate since 2015-16, and he only managed eight points in 20 games in Edmonton’s run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. He led the 2022 postseason in goals with 13 in 15 games for the Oilers despite being swept in the Western Conference Final.
The Oilers even attempted to move Kane, who has a 16-team yes-trade list, before the deadline to open up financial flexibility. That ended up not coming to fruition, so he’s now a potential option to insert into the playoff lineup at some point for an Edmonton squad with just five players at or above 15 goals on the season.
Photo courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.
Oilers Recall Derek Ryan
The Oilers have recalled forward Derek Ryan from AHL Bakersfield, according to a team announcement. They’ll add the 38-year-old back to their roster for the first time since he cleared waivers in January.
Ryan has played four seasons for Edmonton after signing there as a free agent in 2021. His role has steadily declined since leaving the Flames for the more northern Alberta team, however, leading to his first AHL assignment since 2016.
The 5’10” center/winger scored 1-4–5 in 33 showings for the Oilers earlier this season, averaging just 9:25 per game but winning a career-high 60.3% of his draws. Since clearing waivers, he has 3-5–8 with a -10 rating in 13 games with the Condors.
Despite not making his NHL debut until age 29 after a lengthy career overseas, he’s managed to parlay his defensively responsible game and once-valuable depth scoring into a 603-game NHL career in parts of 10 seasons. Before breaking into the league with Carolina a decade ago, Ryan had already won MVP awards in two overseas leagues (ICEHL, SHL) and was a USports All-Star with the University of Alberta.
After recalling Ryan, the Oilers have 24 players on their roster with 14 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders. They’ve yet to make a recall since the trade deadline, so assuming Ryan’s summons isn’t under emergency conditions, he counts as their first of four post-deadline standard recalls.
Ryan is set for unrestricted free agency this summer after completing the two-year, $1.8MM extension he signed in 2023.
Zach Hyman Out Tonight For Oilers Despite Practicing Fully
Oilers’ left winger Zach Hyman is out for tonight’s contest against the New York Rangers, despite being a full participant in practice this afternoon, per Oilers commentator Bob Stauffer.
Hyman was officially listed as a game-time decision after sustaining what appeared to be a potentially severe injury Friday night against the New York Islanders. Hyman’s injury occurred early in the game, and despite remaining on the bench the entire game, he played limited minutes all night. He finished with just 10:36 of total ice time, a starch contrast from his season average of 19:11.
While Hyman won’t suit up tonight, it is welcomed news for the Oilers that he is already a full participant in practice. Hyman has once again surpassed the 20-goal plateau this season slotted alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Conor McDavid. Although he’s down from last year’s monster numbers of 54 goals and 77 points, Hyman still serves as a key piece to Edmonton’s Stanley Cup aspirations. In 10 NHL seasons, Hyman has registered 225 goals and 436 points in 641 games. He has registered at least 20 goals in each of his four seasons with the Oilers and adds an incredible plus-149 rating in 296 games with the club.
His importance to the team was perhaps never higher than their run to the Stanley Cup finals last year. Hyman scored 16 goals and 22 points in the team’s 25 playoff games. His 16 goals set a record for single-postseason goals in the salary-cap era. Hyman will look to remain healthy and return to that type of form as the Oilers gear up for another deep run.
John Klingberg Returns To Practice
Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Chase Pietila has signed an ATO with their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (as per Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). Pietila is fresh off signing a three-year ELC with Pittsburgh earlier this week and will finish out the year getting his first taste of professional hockey in the AHL.
The Penguins drafted Pietila in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The 21-year-old spent this past year in the NCAA with Michigan Tech where he registered seven goals and 15 assists in 36 games. Pietila spent two years in the NCAA after spending the previous three seasons in the USHL.
In other morning notes:
- The Vegas Golden Knights have assigned forward Jonas Rondbjerg to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL (as per SinBin.vegas). Rondbjerg was recalled earlier in the week and dressed in the Golden Knights’ loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night but played just 6:02 and was held scoreless. The demotion is no surprise given that Vegas just welcomed back Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev to their lineup. The 25-year-old Rondbjerg has no points in 12 NHL games this season and has averaged just 9:21 of ice time per game.
- Edmonton Oilers defenseman John Klingberg didn’t play in last night’s game against the New Jersey Devils as he continues to deal with an undisclosed injury. The 32-year-old hasn’t played since March 4th after signing a one-year deal with the Oilers in mid-January. Klingberg has produced offense when healthy, posting a goal and three assists in 10 games. The Oilers are back in action tonight against the New York Islanders and given the tight timeline it seems unlikely that he will play. However, he did re-join the Oilers yesterday at practice and has been travelling with the team (as per Sportsnet).
Latest On The Mikko Rantanen Trade Saga
It is a very rare feat that a player is traded in the middle of a 100-point season. One has to look as far back as Joe Thornton‘s blockbuster move from the Boston Bruins to the San Jose Sharks in 2005, or Teemu Selanne‘s move from the Winnipeg Jets to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 1995. It is near unprecedented that a 100-point scorer gets moved twice in the same year. But that’s exactly what transpired at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, after top winger Mikko Rantanen – pacing for 107 points before his first move – was dealt first to the Carolina Hurricanes and then to the Dallas Stars.
Both trades were groundbreaking. The first moved Rantanen away from the Colorado Avalanche after a decade with the organization; and the second marked the absolute peak of hurt feelings, poor fits, and extension negotiations. With the rare moves has come plenty of media attention, painstakingly scrutinizing the pair of deals from every angle. That has teased out plenty about the motivations and frustrations that drove Rantanen’s cross-country journeys.
The saga began when negotiations on a new contract extension between the Avalanche and Rantanen fell flat. The winger wanted a premium payment after posting career-years in each of the last two seasons – 105 points in 2022-23 and 104 points last year. But Colorado didn’t want to exceed their internal cap limit, and capped their offer to Rantanen at an eight-year, $93.2MM extension – or $11.65MM in per-season salary. But the Finnish wing wasn’t willing to dip that low. Rantanen conceded to take less than Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl, who earned $14MM on his own extension – but wouldn’t settle for too much lower than Avalanche co-star Nathan MacKinnon‘s $12.6MM salary.
Ultimately, it seems the Avalanche and Rantanen were roughly $1MM apart on a new deal. Rather than trying to continue sparring – or risk bending their internal cap – Colorado opted to flip their superstar without much second thought. Rantanen shared he was shocked by the sudden move, which moved him to the Hurricanes alongside Taylor Hall in exchange for Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick. At the time, Rantanen told Corey Masisak of The Denver Post, “I was ready to take a significant discount for my market value. We had some chats, like a couple days before. Then they traded me. That’s what happened. That’s why I didn’t expect what happened.”
Apparently, Rantanen’s frustrations over the trade boiled into his first days in Carolina. To make matters worse, he left for the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament just over a week after playing in his first Hurricanes game – uprooting him as he tried to adjust to the new setting. With so much swirling around the move, it seemed Rantanen wasn’t ever going to be comfortable in Carolina. Canes head coach Rod Brind’Amour told Sportsnet that Rantanen laid it out flat from day one, telling him “There’s four teams I’ll go play for, but [Carolina] is not one of them.” Those are harsh words for an incoming addition – and made it clear that Rantanen had no indication of re-signing in his new destination. That held true even as Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky began his own negotiations, reportedly offering Rantanen as much as $12.6MM and showing the flexibility to go up to Draisaitl’s $14MM mark if need be.
With that, it was back to the open market for Rantanen. He had four landing spots top of mind but the Hurricanes received rich interest from across the league. The New Jersey Devils were the first team attached to the second market, and were quickly joined by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Florida Panthers, and Dallas Stars.
Negotiations stalled out at different points with each team, but were said to go well down towards completion with Toronto, Edmonton, and Dallas. The Leafs are said to have offered a compelling package of top prospects Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan, and draft capital for the 100-point scorer – but Carolina countered with a package involving Toronto’s own star winger Mitch Marner. Marner was unwilling to waive his full no-movement clause for the move – ultimately caving talks in.
With one Canadian club dissatisfied, Carolina moved on to talks with the Edmonton Oilers – who were able to better match Rantanen’s desires for an extension, but couldn’t put together a return strong enough to sway the Hurricanes brass. That’s certainly no surprise. Edmonton has just one pick in the top two rounds of the 2025 or 2026 drafts – a second in the latter year. Their prospect pool is also relatively scant, headlined by Matthew Savoie with little depth behind him.
Where one bed is too soft – banked on future assets and inter-conference matchups – and the other is too hard – stuffed with filler to make up for lacking future pieces – Carolina was able to finally land on a perfect middle-ground in Dallas. The Stars are quickly turning into a wagon, with star veterans Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn continuing to perform (when healthy) while youngsters like Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley plant their feet at the top of the lineup. With that momentum, and a clear path to the postseason, Dallas was able to shed some layers to land a big fish. They offered Carolina high-upside youngster Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round picks in exchange for Rantanen – an offer far more impactful in the short and long term than Toronto or Edmonton mustered up.
But the move to Dallas wasn’t immediately fruitful. The Stars formed the framework of the trade, but needed to land an extension with Rantanen before things could go through. Dallas wasn’t nearly as liberal with their wallets as some of Rantanen’s other options, and held firm to the $12MM-per-year mark on a new deal. That number came in $500K less than what Carolina had offered Rantanen, which initially put the winger off and seemed to push the deal towards falling flat. But diligent negotiating, and surely a desire to end this saga, ultimately forced Rantanen to cave. He signed an eight-year, $96MM extension with Dallas on the day of the Trade Deadline – finally (finally) landing him in a place where he could plant his feet.
On the organizational level, it seems everyone emerged from the jungle happy. Colorado
landed a major contributor in Necas, who already has 17 points in 16 games as MacKinnon’s new right-winger. Carolina may have lost that point-per-game scoring, but they reeled back in one of the league’s top 23-year-olds, and the draft capital to be satisfied even if he doesn’t pan out. And Dallas added a 100-point scorer to an organization that’s only had one – 2022-23 Jason Robertson – since 1990.
But the deal gets murky as you dig deeper. After beginning the saga with a surprising move to Carolina, Rantanen now finds himself standing directly opposite of his old battery-mate MacKinnon. Colorado and Dallas have fought for majority control of the Central Division for years, intermittently upended by the Winnipeg Jets or Minnesota Wild. It’s not exactly a two-horse race, but Dallas’ success hinges on their ability to beat Colorado in the regular and post seasons – and vice versa. The two sides have already faced off twice this season, splitting the results. They have one more meeting – on Sunday, March 16th – which will give Rantanen a chance to test out facing his former club before they likely reconvene in the playoffs. While all of Rantanen’s matches with the Stars will be closely watched – it will be those meetings against Colorado that many find the most telling, after a trade saga that dragged through months of confusion and rumors.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Oilers Showed Interest In Mikko Rantanen, Ryan Donato, Rickard Rakell
It was a quiet but impactful Trade Deadline for the Edmonton Oilers. They brought in top-four defenseman Jake Walman and bottom-six bruiser Trent Frederic to bolster an offense that already ranked eighth in total goals this season. But as the dust begins to settle, it seems Edmonton came close to a far more exciting deadline season, and even had a chance at Carolina Hurricanes asset Mikko Rantanen. Edmonton was reportedly close to agreeing on extension terms with Rantanen, but ultimately couldn’t build a trade package that enticed Carolina enough to land the deal, shares TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. In the end, Rantanen was moved to the Dallas Stars in exchange for top young forward Logan Stankoven, two first-round draft picks, and two third-round picks.
It’s hard to imagine Edmonton could put together an offer better than that. Edmonton only has one pick – a 2026 second – in the top-two rounds of 2025 and 2026. They also don’t have nearly the young talent that Dallas had to offer. Vasily Podkolzin is almost certainly their closest comparable – one year older and as NHL engrained as Stankoven – and he’d be hard to move after a nice stylistic fit in Edmonton has led him to 21 points in 61 games this year. The Oilers could have offered top prospect Matthew Savoie, who ranks third on the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in scoring with 40 points in 47 games. But neither asset quite stands up to Stankoven’s pedigree, and it’s likely their lacking draft capital was the ultimate dividing line.
Rishaug adds that Edmonton also tested the waters on acquiring top winger Rickard Rakell from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and red-hot centerman Ryan Donato from the Chicago Blackhawks. Rakell has been a standout, top-line option for the Penguins this season – boasting 29 goals and 53 points in 64 games this season. That scoring – and his standing as one of a few bright spots in Pittsburgh’s season – certainly hiked up his price at the deadline. Especially in the midst of an inflated market, it’s again hard to imagine Edmonton’s empty draft cabinet could have pried Rakell away. Donato would have likely cost much less – though he is having a career year with 23 goals and 48 points in 62 games – but his center role would have buried him down Edmonton’s lineup. In the end, they landed their third-line boost in a deal with the Bruins – and get the boost of adding a hard-nosed enforcer to protect superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the postseason.
For as quiet as it ended up, it seems Oilers general manager Stan Bowman made sure to busy up his deadline. The Oilers have six players headed for unrestricted free agency, and two headed for restricted free agency, which should clear up roughly $14.71MM in cap space this summer per PuckPedia. That could be just enough space to get Bowman back on the phones as the NHL Draft and start of free agency role around. The Oilers added plenty of new faces last summer, signing each of Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, and Corey Perry to short-term deals.
Edmonton Oilers Reassign Cam Dineen
- According to a team announcement, the Edmonton Oilers have returned defenseman Cam Dineen to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, from his emergency recall. Unlike many of the roster moves on today’s list, Dineen has a solid chance of playing the remainder of the year with AHL Bakersfield. The 26-year-old defenseman has scored five goals and 29 points in 45 games for the Condors this season while only registering one game with the Oilers.
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Canadiens Unlikely To Move Both Joel Armia, David Savard
The Canadiens are receiving high interest in pending UFAs Joel Armia and David Savard. With a playoff spot still in reach, though, they’re not likely to sell both players off before this afternoon’s deadline, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic writes.
That’s disappointing news for parties like the Jets, who David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports have a desire to acquire both. The Capitals and Oilers have also made inquiries on Armia, while the Maple Leafs have talked about picking up Savard from their chief rival to complement their blue line.
Montreal is just one point out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve played one more game than the Senators, who currently hold the spot. There are currently five teams within two points of each other in wild card contention, too, yielding playoff odds of only 14.8% for the Habs, per MoneyPuck. That’s the lowest of the teams in that bubble.
Armia, in particular, has been a significant driver of Montreal’s unexpected success this season. The 31-year-old winger has re-emerged as a bottom-six fixture after a tumultuous 2023-24 season, which saw him clear waivers and log his first minor-league action since the 2015-16 campaign. Since being added back to Montreal’s roster after his brief AHL stint to begin last year, the 6’3″ Finn has posted 27-22–49 in 127 games for a 17-goal, 32-point pace per 82 games. He’s done so while averaging about 15 minutes per game, serving on the Habs’ top penalty kill unit with the recently-extended Jake Evans. He’s also got a plus-three rating on a team with a cumulative -33 goal differential at 5v5 over the last two years.
He’s in the final year of a four-year, $13.6MM deal he signed with Montreal following his strong showing in their run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. Carrying a $3.4MM cap hit, interested parties may want some salary retention for a player who will factor into a third- or fourth-line role for them. Montreal has one retention slot left and is willing to use it this deadline for the right price, according to Pagnotta.
Savard has been less of an impact piece. His ice time has been slashed in what’s now his age-34 season, averaging under 18 minutes per game for the first time in a decade. The right-shot defender has 1-11–12 in 55 games this year, but grades out as Montreal’s worst possession player at even strength with a 41.7 CF% and 40.4 xGF%. He’s a highly low-event player. Montreal only allows 2.8 goals per 60 minutes with Savard on the ice at even strength, fourth on the team among players with at least 20 games. However, he’s becoming a significant enough liability offensively to cause concern. Montreal only generates 50.2 shot attempts per 60 with Savard on the ice at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick, the worst number on the team aside from Patrik Laine‘s 50.1.
Oilers Acquire Jake Walman From Sharks
3/7: The Edmonton Oilers have confirmed the acquisition of Walman, documenting the return as a conditional 2026 or 2027 first-round pick and minor-leaguer Carl Berglund. Berglund has 12 points in 45 AHL games this season.
3/6: According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers are working on a trade that would send defenseman Jake Walman north to Alberta. Pagnotta later shared that the trade is nearly complete, and there are rumblings that a first-round pick is headed to San Jose. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug added that Edmonton is expected to send a prospect back to the Sharks as a part of the deal, and the pick will have conditions on it.
The deal may take some time to finalize. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported that the Oilers have some roster constraints, meaning the trade may not be completed until later tonight or early tomorrow morning.
In another master class move with one of his assets, general manager Mike Grier continues to collect future assets for the Sharks. Remaining one of the more baffling moves of the summer, San Jose acquired Walman and a 2024 second-round pick from the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations last off-season. He’s now added two picks in the top 64 at no cost.
Walman has thrived in his new environment, too. He leads all San Jose defensemen in scoring with six goals and 32 points in 50 games, averaging 23:11 of ice time per night. He hasn’t been a drain on their possession metrics either, as Walman has maintained a 49.4% CorsiFor% at even strength, which is good for fourth on the team.
To put this season into perspective, Walman is only seven points away from matching his total point production with the Red Wings. Granted, he’s averaged nearly four minutes more a night, but it’s still a noteworthy development for the Toronto native.
He should fit seamlessly into the Oilers’ lineup. Although Edmonton could have used a right-handed defenseman, Walman isn’t a stranger to playing his off-side. He’ll join Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and Darnell Nurse in the Oilers’ top four, giving them flexibility to build their bottom pairing with Brett Kulak, John Klingberg, Ty Emberson, and Troy Stecher.
Unfortunately, Walman doesn’t have much postseason experience. Despite the 2024-25 campaign being his seventh year in the NHL, Walman has one postseason contest to his name, coming back in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs with the St. Louis Blues. Walman can rely on his teammates for that, given that much of the roster made it to Game Seven of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final less than a year ago.
The last major benefit to Edmonton is that Walman is signed to an affordable $3.4MM salary through next season. The team still has to figure out a new contract for Bouchard, but Walman gives them more clarity on their blue line, at the very least.