3 positions the Edmonton Oilers have to address this trade deadline

The Edmonton Oilers are right where they want to be: in the middle of the Pacific Division race with their eyes firmly locked on a much bigger prize. This is a team built to win now, stacked with elite firepower that can flip a game on its head in a matter of minutes.

On any given night, their offense can overwhelm opponents and mask a lot of flaws, but playoff hockey has a way of exposing even the smallest cracks. As the trade deadline creeps closer, the front office knows this roster, as dangerous as it is, still isn’t quite finished.

A bold decision in net has already changed the tone of the season, sparking renewed confidence and a more committed defensive effort in front of the crease. The early returns have been encouraging, but one move alone won’t carry a team four grueling playoff rounds.

If the Oilers truly want to turn a strong regular season into a championship parade, they’ll need reinforcements — the kind of depth that wins board battles, stabilizes late leads, and survives the inevitable injuries that come with a long spring. The window is wide open, and now it’s about finding the right pieces to push this group from contender to favorite.

Oilers need a third line centre

It’s officially go-time in Edmonton. With the Stanley Cup firmly in sight, the Oilers can’t afford half-measures or “wait and see” moves anymore — this is the season to push every chip into the middle of the table. While the top of the lineup remains as dangerous as any in the league, the middle of the ice has quietly become the team’s most pressing concern.

An injury to Adam Henrique and the unexpected absence of Leon Draisaitl have peeled back the curtain on a thin spot down the lineup, exposing just how fragile the center depth can become when even one piece goes missing. That is why the Oilers must address this and target a third line centre.

Right now, the Oilers are patching holes rather than solving the problem. Asking Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to anchor the second line weakens the entire lineup, pulling him away from roles where he’s most effective. Jack Roslovic has been given a look in that spot, but he’s better suited to the wing and hasn’t consistently provided the stability or two-way reliability a playoff third-line center demands.

As for Curtis Lazar, he fits the mold of a high-energy fourth-line center, not a matchup piece trusted with meaningful minutes against quality competition. These are short-term band-aids, not long-term answers for a team trying to survive four grueling playoff rounds.

That reality puts enormous pressure on Stan Bowman to act — and act decisively — before the trade deadline. A legitimate third-line center isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity if the Oilers want to insulate their stars, roll four dependable lines, and avoid getting hemmed in during tight postseason games. The right addition would stabilize the bottom six, improve puck possession, and give the coaching staff real flexibility when injuries or slumps hit.

This roster is too talented, and this window is too precious, to let one unresolved position derail a championship run. The message is clear: fix the third-line center spot now, or risk watching a golden opportunity slip away.

Bowman needs to bolster the blueline

With the goaltending situation finally stabilized, the Edmonton Oilers can now turn their full attention to the next weak link that could derail a deep playoff run: the blue line. For long stretches this season, the defense has held its own and even impressed, but those lapses — the blown coverages, the scrambling shifts, the momentum-killing mistakes — still surface far too often. In the regular season, those moments can be survived. In the playoffs, they can end a series. For a team in full win-now mode, that margin for error simply can’t exist.

If Jake Walman is going to be trusted as the second-pair partner alongside Darnell Nurse, then upgrading the other side of that pairing becomes a must. Relying on Ty Emberson in that role is a gamble the Oilers don’t need to take, especially when the stakes are this high. This isn’t a knock on Emberson’s effort or upside, but asking him to handle heavy playoff minutes against top competition is a big leap. At the same time, Mattias Ekholm can’t be expected to carry massive minutes every night, and Nurse shouldn’t be left exposed in situations where he’s forced to do too much on his own. The structure holds — until it doesn’t.

That’s why Stan Bowman has to be proactive at the deadline and reinforce the defense with a proven, steady presence who can eat minutes, win battles, and calm things down when the game tilts the wrong way. In a perfect world, Emberson slides into a seventh-defenseman role where his energy and mobility become assets rather than pressure points.

That one adjustment could have a ripple effect across the entire lineup, making every pairing more stable and every shift more predictable. The Oilers don’t need a flashy name — they need reliability. Fixing the defense now could be the move that turns a legitimate contender into a true Cup favorite.

Adding a winger for Leon Draisaitl is important

For years, it’s been one of the loudest and most persistent debates among Oilers fans: who is the right winger that can truly stick alongside Leon Draisaitl? The search has felt endless, with experiments coming and going without a long-term answer.

Now, for the first time in a while, there’s at least some stability on one side. Vasily Podkolzin has carved out a real role on Draisaitl’s left, bringing a mix of forechecking, physicality, and puck support that complements the star center’s game. With that piece finally in place, the spotlight shifts to the other wing — and it’s a hole the Oilers can’t afford to ignore any longer.

There was genuine optimism when Kasperi Kapanen returned from injury and immediately sparked chemistry on the second line with Draisaitl and Podkolzin. His speed stretched defenses, his timing fit the rhythm of the line, and for a brief stretch, it looked like Edmonton might have stumbled onto a workable solution.

Just as quickly as that momentum built, it stalled again with yet another injury. That’s been the recurring theme: flashes of promise, followed by uncertainty. Internally, the Oilers have tried to patch this spot together with different looks and different skill sets, but none have provided the consistency or reliability needed for a playoff-caliber top-six role.

That reality makes it clear the answer likely isn’t already in the room. If the Oilers are serious about maximizing Draisaitl’s impact and building a lineup that can go toe-to-toe with the league’s best, they need to look outside the organization for a true right-wing fit.

The ideal addition doesn’t have to be a superstar, but it has to be dependable — someone who can keep up, finish chances, win battles along the boards, and stay healthy when it matters most. This team is too close and the window is too wide open to keep rolling the dice on stopgap solutions. Finding the missing piece on Draisaitl’s wing could be the move that finally balances the lineup and pushes the Oilers from dangerous to downright terrifying come playoff time.

The Stanley Cup window is wide open right now, and the Oilers don’t have the luxury of waiting for perfect timing or internal fixes that may never fully materialize. This roster is too talented, and the opportunity is too real, to leave obvious holes unaddressed.

If Edmonton wants to give itself the best possible chance down the stretch and into the playoffs, it has to be aggressive, calculated, and unapologetic at the trade deadline. Championships aren’t won by standing still — they’re won by teams that recognize their weaknesses and act decisively. The Oilers know what they need. Now it’s on them to go get it.