{"id":480271,"date":"2026-03-02T05:12:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/480271\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T05:12:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:12:27","slug":"oilers-chasing-notable-blues-trade-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/480271\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers Chasing Notable Blues Trade Candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Edmonton Oilers, despite the return of assistant coach Paul Coffey behind the bench, still need to address their defensive concerns ahead of Friday’s trade deadline. This much is clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They have been linked to a couple of candidates. We know that their interest in Toronto Maple Leafs’ puck-mover Oliver Ekman-Larsson “is real.”<\/a><\/p>\n

But according to insider Frank Seravalli, the Oil are also “fixated” on Blues top-four d-man Justin Faulk.<\/p>\n

According to Frank Seravalli Oilers are fixated on Justin Faulk. \ud83d\udc40 #LetsGoOilers<\/a> #oilers<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/nKFs0cO3JP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bleed Oil Blue (@BleedOilBlue) February 28, 2026<\/a>The Edmonton Oilers are one of a few teams fixated on Blues defenseman\u00a0Justin Faulk, the No. 2 player available on our Trade Targets board. Faulk has had a fantastic season in a down year for most of the rest of the Blues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Oilers have begun the process of trying to make room under the cap for a Faulk acquisition by placing Andrew Mangiapane on waivers<\/a>. They were unable to find a trade partner to take on his $3.6M cap hit for the rest of this year and next season. If he clears waivers, they’d gain $1.15 million of cap space, per NHL rules.<\/p>\n

As for the veteran Faulk, the 6’5″ shutdown presence is seen as an ideal fit for the Oilers, even better than OEL, according to former NHLer and now TSN analyst Cameron Guance.<\/a><\/p>\n

“For me, the big separator (between those two d-men) is handedness, and how Faulk defends against the rush. He’s doing an excellent job this season at denying entries into his own zone. The Oilers struggle on rush defence coverage. So there’s already something he does very well. The other thing he does is he creates a lot of offence from the right side… That is the type of upgrade the Oilers have been looking for for years.”<\/p>\n

The Blues, however, have been putting high price tags on their trade assets, and Faulk is no different. Oilers beat writer Jim Matheson feels they would need to take on a 50% retention on the player’s $6 million cap hit for the rest of this year and next in order to make something work. He feels the Oilers would have to surrender their 2027 first-round pick to highlight any package going back to St. Louis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Oilers are after Faulk and want 50 percent salary retention on $6m the 2027 first round pick is clear starting point. Spit-balling but wonder if Blues
would want fellow righty Emberson in deal and some additional stocking stuffers. Emberson has had very good, understated year<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jim Matheson (@jimmathesonnhl) February 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The Oilers need to do something to inject a real upgrade into their blueline if they are to rescue their season. Faulk could be it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo: \u00a9 Jerome Miron-Imagn Images\u00a0<\/p>\n