The Edmonton Oilers entered the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on a bad note. The team lost three straight games heading into the break and digging into the numbers, it looks even worse as there are plenty of teams gaining ground on them in the Pacific Division playoff race with games in hand.
This has caused many fans to want the Oilers to make drastic changes behind the bench, especially with the struggles facing the team. Plenty of NHL insiders have speculated on the possible changes that could be made with a main theme being the Oilers potentially hiring back Paul Coffey to oversee the defence.
Recently, on an episode of Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer, he had Sportsnet and NHL insider, Elliotte Friedman on who dropped a few hints into what the Oilers could plan coming out of the Olympic break and approach the March 6th NHL trade deadline.
Oilers expected to make changes
Friedman started off the segment on the Oilers by saying "I think they will look different. I just don't know if it's going to be that fast."
Of course as of right now, there are two weeks until NHL action returns and the deadline is set for only 10 or so days beyond that. This gives a short window for any real roster movement by the Oilers, meaning that things should in fact, move fast.
Friedman even teases by adding "You know, there's a lot of managers here, Bob [Stauffer]. There's a lot of managers here." later saying "I think there's going to be a lot of talk." This alludes to the fact that there are a lot of NHL general managers at the Olympics, something that could help to fuel trade discussions leading up to the deadline and potentially beyond.
He also dropped a tidbit from an unnamed source who told him "... Don't take your eye off the ball."
Friedman later adds on that he does not have any concrete knowledge but does saying "If you're asking me if it's going to happen right at the freeze, I can't answer that. But, I do think this team [Oilers] is going to look different at some point before the trade deadline."
It is unclear if Friedman is completely guessing for the purpose of generating discussion or if he is basing his opinion off of insider knowledge. One thing is clear, that he expects the Oilers to look different by the trade deadline. We will have to see what that could mean, whether it be new faces behind the bench or major upgrades to their roster.