3 defenseman trade options for Oilers if they miss out on Erik Karlsson

At the start of the new year, it seems that the Edmonton Oilers were reborn and found new life on ice. The Oilers are currently riding a hot streak with a record of 12-3-6 that pushes them to sit only three points out from the Pacific-leading Vegas Knights. Amidst this success, there were a few bumps in between wherein the team lost in overtime by squandering 3 goal leads multiple times against the New York Rangers and the Colorado Avalanche. The missed opportunity to gain additional points has led us to crave huge impactful moves from the management before the trade deadline.

Even before the hiccup from the Oilers, there was rampant chatter regarding the team’s willingness to acquire a big-name player. Edmonton has been linked to players like Coyotes’ left-hand shooting defenseman Jakob Chychrun, to Blackhawks right-wing star Patrick Kane, but most notably and currently, the team has been linked to Sharks’ defenseman and Norris Trophy front-runner, Erik Karlsson.

The idea of Erik Karlsson, who is having a rejuvenated season with 18 goals, and 58 assists for a total of 76 points, alongside two of the most dynamic players in the league right now in Connor McDavid and Leon Draistl is mouth-watering to us fans. Before we get too enamoured with this fantasy of a trade, there are hurdles for the Oilers to get this done. The biggest hurdle in acquiring Karlsson is his heavy cap hit of $11.5 million which runs through 2026-2027. Edmonton has to convince San Jose to retain some salary back or get a third team involved to make this trade happen. If Oilers exhaust everything and find themselves out in the running to get Karlsson due to the mentioned restraints, they can look toward these defensemen instead.