{"id":428816,"date":"2026-01-26T11:44:35","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/428816\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T11:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:44:35","slug":"inexpensive-top-nine-trade-deadline-options-for-the-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/428816\/","title":{"rendered":"Inexpensive Top-Nine Trade Deadline Options for the Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Edmonton Oilers don\u2019t have a ton of room to maneuver if trying to upgrade their team. Stan Bowman is attempting to lead the Oilers to a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final. However, some questions about their goaltending and a tight Pacific Division have people wondering if this year\u2019s team is for real. If nothing else, the Oilers must find some trade targets, specifically to upgrade their top-nine forward group. <\/p>\n<p>The Oilers currently have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/howaris01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=nhltradetalk.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-25_hr\">Isaac Howard<\/a> and Matt Savoie as part of their top nine. While the forwards have shown glimpses of potential this season, it\u2019s a risk to roll with them in crucial roles in the postseason. With <a href=\"https:\/\/nhltradetalk.com\/oilers-eyeing-forwards-on-teams-not-ready-to-sell-who-could-that-be\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">less than $1 million in cap space<\/a>, the Oilers don\u2019t have many options. <\/p>\n<p>Kiefer Sherwood<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s almost surprising that there wasn\u2019t as much noise about <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/sherwki01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=nhltradetalk.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-25_hr\">Kiefer Sherwood<\/a> heading to the Oilers. Understandably, the Vancouver Canucks might not have wanted to be the reason that their division rival got over the hump and won a Stanley Cup. <\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Kiefer-Sherwood-Sharks-trade-flip.jpg\" alt=\"Kiefer Sherwood Sharks trade flip\" class=\"wp-image-106224\"  \/>Kiefer Sherwood Sharks trade flip<\/p>\n<p>The San Jose Sharks aren\u2019t as sold on keeping Sherwood at the deadline as some might think. There is a <a href=\"https:\/\/nhltradetalk.com\/sharks-could-flip-kiefer-sherwood-before-deadline\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">chance that they flip him<\/a> for more assets, and his $1.5 million cap hit should be very appealing to Edmonton. <\/p>\n<p>For the Oilers, Sherwood is a rental. Considering <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NHLRumourReport\/status\/2015590512544321599?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">he\u2019s looking<\/a> at $30 million on an extension, he would be a short-term solution. The price point on a trade has to work. <\/p>\n<p>Eeli Tolvanen<\/p>\n<p>Things <a href=\"https:\/\/nhltradetalk.com\/andrew-mangiapne-trade-clock-ticking-oilers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">haven\u2019t been working out for Andrew Mangiapane and the Oilers<\/a>. One way Edmonton could attempt to open up cap space is by trading his $3.6 million cap hit. If they manage to do that, it\u2019d open up the space to acquire <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/tolvaee01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=nhltradetalk.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-25_hr\">Eeli Tolvanen<\/a> and his $3.475 million hit. <\/p>\n<p>Tolvanen is in the final year of his deal and is on pace for a career year of 48 points. He will also represent Team Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics. It\u2019d be hard to find a better value deal. <\/p>\n<p>Jordan Eberle<\/p>\n<p>There had to be a nostalgia angle here somewhere. The Seattle Kraken\u2019s captain is just $1 million more expensive than Tolvanen, which the Oilers could fit under the cap. All the talk after <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/nugenry01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=nhltradetalk.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-25_hr\">Ryan Nugent-Hopkins<\/a>\u2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Sportsnet\/status\/2013105897799549106\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">1000th game<\/a> was how he was the only player from Edmonton\u2019s dark days to still be on the roster. It\u2019d be fitting if the former Oiler came home at the trade deadline and helped the group finally win the Stanley Cup after coming up short three straight years. <\/p>\n<p>Expect the Seattle Kraken to be sellers and move several pieces. Whether they are open to moving their captain isn\u2019t clear. He is a pending UFA, so perhaps Eberle is looking at options outside of Seattle regardless. <\/p>\n<p>Next: <a href=\"https:\/\/nhltradetalk.com\/bouchard-rantanen-trade-oilers-happy-never-made\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Bouchard-for-Rantanen Trade the Oilers Are Happy They Never Made<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/NHLTradeTalkweblogo4.png\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Edmonton Oilers don\u2019t have a ton of room to maneuver if trying to upgrade their team. Stan&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[4154,5,6208,6386],"class_list":{"0":"post-428816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-eeli-tolvanen","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-jordan-eberle","11":"tag-kiefer-sherwood"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115961231731597028","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}