This is the third installment of the “Edmonton’s latest trade” series, today we move over to the Western Conference, starting with the Central Division. The franchises in this division have had some of the most turbulent histories in the NHL, with four of them having relocated at some point or another. Even though the Utah Mammoth are not the same franchise as the Arizona Coyotes and original Jets, I have them listed in the same heading, though Edmonton has yet to make their first trade with the upstart Utah team.

Considering the Phoenix/Arizona history of going back and forth between divisions, I will just include trades with the Coyotes in this Central Division section as that’s where they were last, even though a large chunk of their history was spent in the Pacific Division.

Though I haven’t taken any statistics yet, something I intend to include in the last segment, I suspect that Edmonton has made the fewest trades with the Central Division.

Here are the most recent as well as some noteworthy trades:

Nashville Predators

Jun 28 2025: 2026 fifth round to Nashville for 2025 fifth-round pick
The latest trade between the the Oilers and Nashville was a simple draft day swap of fifth- round picks.

February 28, 2023: Tyson Barrie, Reid Schaefer, 2023 first-round pick, 2024 fourth-round pick to Nashville for Mattias Ekholm, 2024 sixth-round pick
One of the bigger trades with the Central Division saw Edmonton’s premier defensive defenceman come to Oil City. At the time, this was a pretty big haul for Nashville, though neither Barrie nor Schaefer worked out, whereas Ekholm has been a central part of the recent Oiler’s success.

St. Louis Blues

August 20, 2024: Future considerations to St. Louis for Paul Fischer, 2028 third-round pick
This is the most recent trade between the two teams, you won’t wear out the edge of your seat reading this one.

October 7, 2016: Nail Yakupov to the Blues for Zach Pochiro, 2017 conditional third-round pick
While this trade won’t look like much to people in 10 years, there are still plenty who remember the excitement of drafting Yakupov first overall in 2012, matched by the disapointment of his performance. It would be hard to have seen that coming as Yakupov put up 18 points in 22 games as a 19-year-old in the KHL during the 2012–13 lockout. Even in his debut in the NHL he put up 31 points and 17 goals in 48 games, but he only regressed from that point. Yakupov played for Avangard Omsk of the KHL last year, posting 38 points in 43 games.

August 2, 2005: Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch, Jeff Woywitka to the Blues for Chris Pronger
One of only seven defenceman to win the Hart Trophy and the most recent since Bobby Orr, Chris Pronger is an all time great defenceman, though not known for overwhelming offence as most of the other greats are. He only spent one year as an Oiler but he was a big part of the 2005–06 Stanley Cup run, scoring 21 points in 24 playoff games.

August 4, 1995: 1996 first-round pick (#14-Marty Reasoner), 1997 first-round pick (#15-Matt Zultek) to the Blues for Curtis Joseph, rights to Mike Grier
It’s easy to forget that Cujo played for the Oilers as he was only in town for a few seasons. The Oilers were not great at that time, but he actually put up some of his better numbers in those years, though he really turned it on after he was traded to Toronto.

Utah Mammoth/Arizona Coyotes/Original Winnipeg Jets

March 7, 2024: 2027 fourth-round pick to Arizona for Troy Stecher, 2024 seventh-round pick
The latest trade with Arizona is not a jaw dropper but Troy Stecher is, in my opinion, an underrated defenceman who hasn’t quite found his home.

July 7, 2022: Zack Kassian, 2022 first-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2025 second-round pick to Arizona for 2022 first-round pick
This is probably the most memorable trade that the Oilers made with the Oilers/Original Jets franchise though I’m sure I’m suffering from recency bias. Kassian’s attitude and rough and tumble style made him a fan favourite for the time he spent in Edmonton.

Chicago Blackhawks

July 12, 2021: Caleb Jones, 2022 conditional third-round pick to Chicago for Duncan Keith, Tim Soderlund
The most recent trade with Chicago is the one that brought NHL legend Duncan Keith to Edmonton. Alhough he was firmly planted in the sunset of his career at the time and was searching for that elusive fourth Stanley Cup, that’s what’s known as a good problem to have.

March 20, 1999: Jonas Elofsson, Dean McAmmond, Boris Mironov, Oilers option to swap 1999 second-round picks (#46-Dmitri Levinsky) to Chicago for Daniel Cleary, Chad Kilger, Christian Laflamme, Ethan Moreau, Oilers option to swap 1999 second-round picks (#36-Alexei Semenov)
I included this trade partially because of the pure volume of it—it’s pretty rare to see a nine piece trade—and partially because it included Dan Cleary, a part of the legendary Datsyuk-Zetterberg era in Detroit.

October 2, 1991: Steve Smith to Chicago for Dave Manson, 1992 third-round pick (#65-Kirk Maltby)
On its face this trade isn’t very exciting, but Steve Smith had 286 PIMs one year in Edmonton, then 304 later with Chicago which is the 72nd most in a single season and Smith is 43rd overall in career PIMs. It’s hard to be a menace for that long and it deserves recognition.

Minnesota Wild

March 4, 2014: Ilya Bryzgalov to the Wild for 2014 fourth-round pick
Another goalie who it’s easy to forget wore the orange and blue, Bryzgalov had some great years in Anaheim and Phoenix. He is also responsible for some of the funniest sound bites you’ll ever hear.

March 8, 2006 : 2006 first-round pick (#17-Trevor Lewis), 2007 conditional third-round pick (#67-Spencer Machacek) to the Wild for Dwayne Roloson
Dwayne Roloson was brought in at the trade deadline and put on an absolute clinic in the subsequent Stanley Cup Playoff run with a 2.33 GAA and .927 Sv%. He went on to play three more seasons with the Oilers though never found that level of mastery again.

Dallas Stars/Minnesota North Stars

July 4, 2013: Shawn Horcoff to Dallas for Philip Larsen, 2016 seventh-round pick
The most recent trade with Dallas sent long time Oiler and one-time captain Shawn Horcoff to the Lone Star State. Horcoff was second in scoring with 73 points to Ales Hemsky with 77 points in the 2005–06 Cup run; this is wild when you think that McDavid literally scored nearly twice that many points one year, and Gretzky nearly three times that many.

March 2, 1987: 1988 second-round pick (#40-Link Gaetz) and cash to Minnesota for Kent Nilsson
Few will remember that Kent Nilsson played with the Oilers for 17 regular season games and 21 playoff games, winning the Cup with the Oilers in 1986–87 and scoring nearly a point per game.

August 9, 1979: 1979 second-round pick (#42-Neal Broten), 1979 third-round pick (#63-Kevin Maxwell) to Minnesota for Dave Semenko and 1979 third-round pick (#48-Mark Messier)
Even though Neal Broten was a spectacular defenceman for the North Stars throughout the ‘80s, the Oilers roasted Minnesota with this trade, not only picking up protection for the Great One in Dave Semenko, but also drafting the third highest scorer in NHL history in Mark Messier.

June 9, 1979: Oilers promised to not make Paul Shmyr with one of their priority selections in the 1979 NHL expansion draft for 1979 fourth-round pick (#69-Glenn Anderson)
The Oilers couldn’t stop flaying the North Stars in 1979. This trade is wild because you never see a team trade a real asset away for a promise anymore and also because the Oilers drafted a 100-point defenceman in Glenn Anderson simply for not taking someone else.

Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques

February 28, 2011: Shawn Belle to Colorado for Kevin Montgomery
This is the last trade Edmonton and Colorado made.

June 20, 1993: Martin Gelinas, 1993 sixth-round pick (#137-Nicholas Checco) to Quebec for Scott Pearson
I mention this trade mostly because Martin Gelinas was a central piece that Edmonton received from Los Angeles in the Gretzky trade.

Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers

June 24, 2006: 2006 third-round pick (#80-Michael Forney), 2006 seventh-round pick (#200-Arturs Kulda) to Atlanta for 2006 third-round pick (#75-Theo Peckham)
The Oilers have done astoundingly little business with the New Winnipeg/Atlanta Thrashers franchise, and believe it or not the most recent trade is not since Atlanta in 2006.

I will finish this series next week with the Pacific Division, as well as some stats on Edmonton’s most common trade partners.

stats from NHL.com, nhltradetracker.com, puckpedia.com

Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire

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