EDMONTON – For the second time in 48 hours, the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks have struck a deal. Following the trade for defenseman Connor Murphy on Monday, Oilers GM Stan Bowman has dipped back into his former team’s roster to acquire veteran center Jason Dickinson and forward prospect Colton Dach. The Trade Details Just …
EDMONTON – For the second time in 48 hours, the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks have struck a deal. Following the trade for defenseman Connor Murphy on Monday, Oilers GM Stan Bowman has dipped back into his former team’s roster to acquire veteran center Jason Dickinson and forward prospect Colton Dach.
Just like the Murphy deal, Chicago is eating half of Dickinson’s salary, allowing him to fit onto Edmonton’s roster at a cap hit of roughly $2.125 million. The Oilers are currently 300 k over the Cap but either sending Dach down waiver-free or putting Lazar on LTIR would make room for the cap.
With the Oilers’ defensive structure and penalty kill ranking near the bottom of the league, Dickinson is a “safety first” addition.
To make the money work, the Oilers had to move on from Andrew Mangiapane. The former 35-goal scorer has struggled mightily in Edmonton, recording only 7 goals in 52 games this year. By attaching a 2027 1st-round pick, the Oilers are clearly signaling they are in “desperation mode” to save their season.
This trade comes as the Oilers cling to 3rd in the Pacific Division with 66 points. With the Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks breathing down their necks, the organization couldn’t wait any longer.
The pressure is now squarely on head coach Kris Knoblauch. With two major trades in one week, the front office has given the coaching staff the “shutdown” players they asked for. If the defensive numbers don’t improve and the over-reliance on McDavid and Draisaitl doesn’t decrease, this could be the final straw for the current staff.
The Oilers are much harder to play against today than they were on Sunday. By adding Murphy and Dickinson, they have essentially imported the core of a top-tier penalty kill. However, with their 1st-round pick gone and Mangiapane out the door, the Oilers have very few chips left to play if this doesn’t turn the season around. I do believe that they are not done yet, as they have a few moves they can make to open up some cap. Either way not a terrible few trades, and I am kind of liking the Dickinson one a little more now. Bowman has not done a great job in free agency and had to pay for it today. I’m excited to see these guys in action and see what they can do best. This team better start to turn the corner defensively, or else it’s definitely a coaching problem. I could see them going to get another defenseman or another depth forward. Or they could look to make some sort of Big Splash. Unlikely that they’ll make a big splash, but they’ll definitely be in the market for it. This team is playoff-ready now; they have to start playing like it.
