{"id":454639,"date":"2026-02-11T18:20:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T18:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/454639\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T18:20:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T18:20:25","slug":"insider-says-oilers-will-look-different-after-olympic-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/454639\/","title":{"rendered":"Insider Says Oilers \u201cWill Look Different\u201d After Olympic Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the NHL pauses for the Winter Olympics, don\u2019t assume the Edmonton Oilers are standing still. Speaking on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer<\/a>, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman made it clear that change is coming in Edmonton \u2014 even if it doesn\u2019t happen the moment the Olympic roster freeze lifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [the Oilers] will look different,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cI just don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to be that fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friedman explained that while the hockey world\u2019s attention is focused on Olympic action, general managers are anything but distracted. In fact, he revealed he received a message from a GM while in Italy, reminding him not to take his eye off the ball. Business is still being conducted behind the scenes, including groundwork for trades and contract extensions ahead of the NHL trade deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I was reminded of today is that you can still sign extensions,\u201d Friedman noted. Teams want clarity before the freeze ends \u2014 are pending free agents staying, or will they need to be moved?<\/p>\n

Across the league, several intriguing names are generating quiet buzz. As for Edmonton, Friedman stopped short of predicting a specific move but reiterated that the roster likely won\u2019t look the same by deadline day.<\/p>\n

How Might the Oilers Look Different?<\/p>\n

Some of the names linked to coming in include Bobby McMann from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He\u2019s a forward that many insiders have linked to Edmonton, including Friedman. David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period reports that there have been no talks about him between the two teams. <\/p>\n

\"StanStan Bowman Oilers manager<\/p>\n

Pagnotta did wonder if Oliver Ekman-Larsson or Nicholas Roy might be of interest. <\/p>\n

In a recent article for The Athletic, Allan Mitchell\u00a0suggested<\/a> that Artem Zub of the Ottawa Senators might be a nice fit. He wasn\u2019t sure the Oilers had the assets to pull it off, however. <\/p>\n

A couple of Edmonton-based scribes have <\/a>hinted at a trade involving Andrew Mangiapane for Warren Foegele. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also speculation about Hall of Famer Paul Coffey potentially joining the coaching staff. Friedman sounded more open to that possibility than before, though nothing appears imminent. Meanwhile, Jason Gregor suggested on Sports 1440 that if Coffey were to return, it could signal a much larger organizational shift.<\/p>\n

One way or another, the Oilers appear poised for change \u2014 and the real action may begin the moment the Olympic spotlight fades.<\/p>\n

Next: NHL Insider Warned Not to \u201cTake Eye Off The Ball\u201d, Signings Coming<\/a><\/p>\n

\tDiscover more from NHL Trade Talk<\/p>\n

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the NHL pauses for the Winter Olympics, don\u2019t assume the Edmonton Oilers are standing still. Speaking on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[198,146,5300,5,4,24,2703,6269],"class_list":{"0":"post-454639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-edmonton","9":"tag-edmonton-oilers","10":"tag-edmontonoilers","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-oilers","14":"tag-paul-coffey","15":"tag-stan-bowman"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116053385659860771","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454639","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=454639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}