![[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 11, 2026; Milan, Italy; Eeli Tolvanen of Finland celebrates scoring their first goal with Artturi Lehkonen, Joel Armia and Teuvo Teravainen against Slovakia in men's ice hockey group B play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: David W Cerny/Reuters via Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_84,w_3336,h_1876/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/156/01khmm5axmte0ptzgzv3.jpg "[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 11, 2026; Milan, Italy; Eeli Tolvanen of Finland celebrates scoring their first goal with Artturi Lehkonen, Joel Armia and Teuvo Teravainen against Slovakia in men's ice hockey group B play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: David W Cerny/Reuters via Imagn Images")
If the Edmonton Oilers are going to find their way to their third straight Stanley Cup Final appearance, they're going to need to bolster their lineup at the trade deadline. Right now in Milan, Italy, there's an opportunity to assess NHL players who might be available, playing in some of the most important games of their lives.
Goaltending
Hindsight may be 20/20 but it's also relatively useless. When Edmonton traded back and allowed the Minnesota Wild to select netminder Jesper Wallstedt, they were ignoring a position of organizational need. There may be some who believe Xavier Bourgault is going to be a very late bloomer as an Ottawa Senator, but at this point most of us should be able to admit that the Oilers didn't take the best player available.
The rare opportunity to correct that error exists this season. Wild GM and former Oiler, Bill Guerin, has stated in plain language that the Team Sweden netminder is available for the right price. Whether Edmonton has the assets to send the other way is another question, but personally I'd feel much more confident in a Tristan Jarry and Wallstedt duo than any of the potential combos available to the Oilers today.
Offensive Depth
With the asterisk that this is an article about Olympians the Oilers might acquire, Eeli Tolvanen from Team Finland (and the Seattle Kraken) should be a player the Oilers consider. I don't see him as the number one trade target at the forward position, but he's a useful player, historically good on both sides of the puck. While his advanced numbers have slid backward this season, he's still on pace for between fifteen and twenty goals, and once the Kraken decide they're selling, he could come cheap.
The Kraken were gifted Tolvanen for free when the Nashville Predators placed him on waivers a couple years ago. There can be little doubt that Predators management regretted the decision. If the Oilers strike out on flashier options at center and wing, they could do worse than adding a player like the 26-year-old Finn.
The best offense is a good...
Oliver Ekman-Larsson was a part of the first Florida Panthers team to beat the Oilers in the final round of the playoffs. He followed that success with a signing in Toronto and has generally been a positive addition for the Maple Leafs. Ekman-Larsson offers scoring on the back end, and depth in general is a requirement for a team looking to push deep into the playoffs. Injuries are sure to happen, and if the next player up isn't a huge drop off in skill, the team is naturally in a better position.
Ekman Larsson has been somewhat cursed to play for bad teams in his NHL career. Languishing in Arizona for most of his prime years, and then with the hapless Canucks for a smaller window, it can't have been easy for him. But when he's found himself on a talented roster, he has excelled. With some salary retention, he's an affordable and very complementary option, and with the Maple Leafs likely selling, Oilers GM Stan Bowman should make that call.
It probably won't happen but...
He doesn't fit this article, because he's not an Olympian, but if you're looking for a player who could absolutely push the Oilers over the hump and help them win the Stanley Cup, Nazem Kadri fits the bill. Coming off a 35-goal season in 2024-25, Kadri, like all of the Calgary Flames, is struggling this year. He only has ten goals, and it's possible that at 35 years of age, the wheels have come off.
Or, it may be that playing for a relatively non-competitive franchise has limited his opportunities, and maybe even affected his motivation. A move to a contender where he'd have more limited but vital minutes might be just the inspiration he needs to get back on track.
Kadri is owed $7 million per season for another three years after this one. Completely unaffordable at that number, but we've seen some retention magic in the past, where a team retains and flips to a second team for further retention. There should be a path to getting him on the payroll without a significant player going the other way. But I'll leave that aspect to the number crunchers. If the Oilers can convince their southern Alberta rival to make the trade, Kadri just might be the missing piece of the puzzle.