The trade winds are starting to blow louder around the NHL, and it appears the Edmonton Oilers will be involved in quite a few discussions early on.
With the NHL trade deadline still months away at this point, we are starting to get the first real trade rumours of the 2024-25 season. The Oilers will be shopping for a top-four defenceman this season, preferably one that can play the right side alongside Darnell Nurse.
One rumour connected the Oilers to Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Marcus Pettersson, and now the team has been linked to Columbus Blue Jackets defender David Jiricek.
Rumours surfaced on social media about Edmonton’s interest, so much so that Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman felt the need to discuss it on Saturday Headlines’s latest edition.
“I think there are teams making legit pitches for Jiricek,” Freidman reported. “There have been some reports about Edmonton, but just looking at it myself, I don’t know if I see a match there between the Oilers and Blue Jackets.”
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Jiricek is a former sixth-overall pick for the Blue Jackets in the 2022 NHL draft. Despite the team being near the basement of the league since then, Jiricek has struggled to be a full-time NHL player and has just 53 games with the Blue Jackets under his belt.
Frustration seems to be setting in for both sides in Columbus, making a trade like the likely resolution for both Jiricek and the Blue Jackets. Though his value may not be the highest it’s ever been, Friedman reported that Columbus GM Don Waddell is looking for something worthwhile in return.
“Columbus is looking for a young player similar in return,” Friedman said. “I just don’t know that Edmonton has the match to make that kind of deal.”
Indeed, the Oilers don’t have any young players with NHL experience that they could use as the main piece going back in a potential Jiricek deal. Vasily Podkolzin would be the closest player to that description, but the Oilers are adamant about hanging onto the young Russian.
Instead, Edmonton would have to try to sell the Blue Jackets on some players who have limited-to-no NHL experience, like Matthew Savoie or Sam O’Reilly. Both those players have the pedigree of being former first-round picks and probably won’t be helping Edmonton win a Stanley Cup soon.
However, even if this type of deal is possible, Jiricek may not be the bonafide top-four guy the Oilers hope to acquire. He has NHL experience, but his struggles in cracking a bad Columbus team are concerning, especially if they expect him to play premier minutes on a cup-contending Oilers squad.
If the ask is high, Oilers GM Stan Bowman should probably hedge his bets on a more proven defender rather than one that is still looking to play his first entire season in the NHL.