Did Edmonton Oilers blunder by failing to trade for speedy d-man at NHL deadline?

In 2024, the Oilers picked up three new forwards in Corey Perry, Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick, but not one of them could be called a fast NHLer. For all his grit and savvy, Perry is one of the slower players in the league.

D-man pick-up Troy Stecher is a decent skater, but he’s also the team’s seventh d-man, not an obvious pick to force either Cody Ceci or Vincent Desharnais, who are slower skaters, out of the line-up.

Finally, to make room for veterans on the roster, Edmonton moved out two of its best skaters, forward Dylan Holloway and d-man Philip Broberg.

It’s not too late for Holloway and Broberg to find their way back to the Edmonton roster and make significant contributions this year. It’s also the case that Edmonton filled significant needs at centre and on the bottom lines picking up Henrique and Carrick.

But in Edmonton’s 3-2 loss to the Avs of Colorado on Saturday night, Colorado was able to create dangerous rush chances repeatedly against the Oilers, often with fast d-men like Cale Makar and Sean Walker jumping into the play. Walker scored two goals against the Oilers and almost had a third.

This is the same Walker that Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has said the Oilers looked at closely at the trade deadline.

“Edmonton took a long look at Walker,” Friedman said on 32 Thoughts podcast. “Ultimately decided not to do it. And Colorado got him.”

The Avs got Walker by moving the salary of centre Ryan Johansen and a first-round pick in 2025 to Philadelphia. The Flyers also got a 5th round pick in 2026. Johansen has one more year on a deal that pays him $8 million per, with his original team the Nashville Predators paying half of that cap hit, $4 million per year.

On Hockey Night in Canada, commentator Kelly Hrudey said of the Walker deal: “That’s such a good trade by Colorado. He’s on their third-pairing and he does so many things.”

Hrudey noted Walker’s big hit in that evening’s Avs-Oilers game on Evander Kane. “Walker is a guy I’ve really admired ever since he was playing for L.A.”

Walker is explosive, Hrudey said, “Just everywhere, all over the ice.”

“He’s just a smooth, good, overall defenceman,” said fellow commentator Kevin Bieksa. “Good first pass. Can bring you a little bit of offence, but competes a ton and can defend. So just a good pick-up for whoever he plays for.”

I will also note that former Oilers d-man Jason Strudwick, now an analyst with Sportsnet, has been saying for many months now that what the Oilers need is a puck-moving d-man to play with Darnell Nurse.