The 2026-27 season is going to be a do-or-die campaign for the Edmonton Oilers.
Both Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman are entering the penultimate seasons of their contracts, and indications support that the former staying requires major change within the roster, while latter is 33 years old. Leon Draisaitl isn't getting any younger either.
While the Oilers do have younger forward options for the future, the team is clearly in win-now mode and moves to get the Oilers in position to win a Cup must be prioritized.
Why Ryan Hartman should be atop Edmonton's forward targets
The Oilers need forward depth. And not just to acquire it for the sake of doing so.
They need to go out and acquire forwards who can score and who can add an extra level of physicality that can help the team once again win the big playoff games.
Minnesota Wild winger Ryan Hartman is that kind of forward. In fact, he was cited this past season as a potential trade candidate, but he ultimately finished the 2025-26 campaign as part of the Wild.
With Hartman comes a boost in physicality, something that would be incredibly important in the big divisional games and in the playoffs. He probably won't be on a line with the likes of McDavid or Draisaitl, but he could act as a veteran option for the likes of Isaac Howard and Josh Samanski, both of whom enjoyed noteworthy appearances at the 2026 IIHF World Championship. With both forwards set to contest their first full seasons in the NHL after splitting time between Bakersfield and Edmonton in 2025-26, Hartman would help them to not only adjust to playing in the NHL full-time but also in doing so in an environment more suited for postseason contention.
Would the cost this time around be a hefty one? Or could Edmonton get away with a discount?
When Hartman was last on the trade market, any move by the Oilers to acquire Hartman was likely to be quite complicated. Not only would they have to had moved former Oilers forward Andrew Mangiapane, who ended up getting traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach, but they would have also had to move another forward to Minnesota in a separate trade for Hartman.
This time around, the situation is likely to be more favorable for Edmonton. Not only is Mangiapane's cap hit a non-factor, but the Oilers will now have $15 million in cap space to work with.
And the cost to acquire Hartman via trade might be minimal. The Wild are looking to bring defenseman Quinn Hughes back for the long-term via a contract extension, but even then, they still have to build a roster for the long-run. Despite having almost $49 million in cap space for the 2027-28 season, the Wild only have 10 players locked into contracts that run through that campaign.
A Hughes extension will more than likely take up almost a quarter of that space, meaning that Minnesota's remaining cap space for the 2027-28 campaign will be closer to the $35 million mark.
In the more immediate future, the Wild would need to build a new forward line (they would have nine forwards under contract for the 2026-27 campaign if they were to move Hartman's contract) and a fourth defensive line. At the same time, they should to try and get younger; the Wild were the fifth-oldest team in the NHL during the 2025-26 season.
The good news is that all of Minnesota's pending free agent forwards are above the age of 30. The bad news is that they have basically no prospects - a combined 10 players currently occupy the team's non-roster spots.
As a result, any return for Hartman would see Edmonton forced to part with a pick or two and maybe a prospect. The Wild don't own a pick in the first, second, and seventh rounds of the 2026 NHL Draft, but they only lack a second-round pick in each of the next two drafts. Edmonton owns their second-round and seventh-round picks in each of the next two drafts. A potential trade for Hartman could see Edmonton offer one of their second-round picks and, if necessary, their seventh-round selection in this year's draft.
In terms of non-roster players, the Oilers currently have 17 players that are not a part of the main roster. One of those players is Quinn Hutson, who recorded 50 points during his final season with Boston University and most recently posted a 63-point total during his first season with the Bakersfield Condors.
While parting ways with Hutson via trade might be a necessary sacrifice to try and get back to the Stanley Cup Final, it's possible Edmonton opts to move him to the main roster for the 2026-27 campaign. Other forward prospects like William Nicholl have the term that the Wild are looking for; Nicholl's contract runs to the end of the 2028-29 season.
In total you have a trade that sees Edmonton acquire a veteran forward on an expiring contract for an all-in push to win the cup for McDavid. Going the other way is a minimal return that gives Minnesota some building blocks and the cap space required to build another contender.
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