After Mattias Ekholm shines in his Oilers debut, will there be more trades?

EDMONTON — The Mattias Ekholm era couldn’t have started any better.

The 32-year-old defenceman had an assist, two shots, three hits, blocked two shots and was a plus-2 in nearly 21 minutes of work as the Oilers beat the Maple Leafs 5-2 on Wednesday night.

Not bad for a guy who woke up at 5:30 a.m. CT, jetted to Edmonton and arrived at 1:30 p.m., napped and showed up at the rink — where he knew just winger Mattias Janmark and video coach Jeremy Coupal beforehand.

“He showed exactly what he’s going to bring to this team — just stable,” captain Connor McDavid said. “He’s a really, really good, solid defender back there.

“I thought he really couldn’t have done any better.”

Led by McDavid, who equalled a modern-day NHL record with his fifth consecutive multi-goal game, the Oilers dominated the Maple Leafs in all facets of the game. They controlled the high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five — besting Toronto 14-1, per Natural Stat Trick.

These Oilers appear to be turning over a new leaf with their revamped roster, highlighted by Ekholm’s presence.

“He has a way about him that inspires confidence in the people he’s on the ice with,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He has veteran poise.”

This is a player who appears to fit like a glove on the ice. That goes for off the ice, too. He is already embracing the city and his family is excited to do the same.

Ekholm’s wife, Ida, is from northern Sweden and can’t wait to move to a familiar climate along with their son, William, 5, and daughter, Maya, 2. Ida is pregnant with the couple’s third child, due in July, and is planning to give birth in Edmonton.

“It’s not every time you hear about Edmonton that you’re excited to go and see the weather and see the snow and all that,” Ekholm said. “But that’s really what we are.”

Ekholm’s addition represents a huge splash — the biggest GM Ken Holland has made on the trade market during his four seasons in Edmonton.

However, given how stunning this pre-deadline frenzy has been in terms of player movement, Oilers fans are probably left wondering what Holland and his management staff are going to do next.

These are some of the options the Oilers have — whether that means adding or working with what they have.

Defence

Though the Oilers were never fully smitten by the idea of Jakob Chychrun coming to Edmonton amid concerns about his injury history and defensive play, they checked in about acquiring the 24-year-old. The Coyotes’ refusal to retain salary or take on a contract from the Oilers quashed any hope of a deal.

Holland then zeroed in on Ekholm.

The Oilers are much improved by getting a player in Ekholm, an elite defensive defenceman, who perfectly fits their needs. He’s a massive get and will make the Oilers better in two key areas of weakness — five-on-five defending and the penalty kill.

Now the left side of Edmonton’s defence is set barring a trade with Darnell Nurse, Ekholm, Philip Broberg and Brett Kulak anchored there.

“When the batting order is set a certain way, everyone looks good,” Woodcroft said, referring to Ekholm’s addition reshuffling the defence corps.

Even with Ekholm’s inclusion, though, holes remain on this roster.

The right side of the defence is less experienced without Tyson Barrie, the lone roster player dealt for Ekholm. There’s a reasonable chance it’s weaker now, too, even though Barrie didn’t exactly devour the toughest minutes or get much time on the penalty kill.

The three right-handed rearguards are Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard and Vincent Desharnais. One player has taken a step back this season, the next has had an up-and-down campaign, and the last hasn’t even played 20 NHL games yet.

The Oilers paired Ekholm with Bouchard, who now quarterbacks the power play and skated 19 minutes in his first game sans Barrie.

“We’re going to learn a lot about Evan Bouchard down the stretch,” Woodcroft said.

Woodcroft could be on to something.

Though Ekholm and Broberg have NHL experience on the right side and either could be used in that position, the potential exists for an upgrade.

But that upgrade could come in the form of Bouchard, who’s expected to get a ton more opportunity and have a veteran partner to shepherd him along a la Duncan Keith in the second half of last season.

“The biggest thing that stuck out to me was his vision, and the way he saw the ice, found passes. They were always on the tape,” Ekholm said. “I’ve seen him before. I know he’s a really good D-man. I was really impressed with his game.”

The Oilers will surely keep tabs on the blue-line market, but there are those in the organization who see the merits in not making another move now that Ekholm is in the fold.

Looking at the uninspiring list of pending UFAs for right-handed defencemen, it’s not hard to understand the logic there.

Of course, that doesn’t have to be the only type of player they could covet. Colleague Jeremy Rutherford, for instance, wonders about the Oilers’ potential interest in Colton Parayko, who’s signed until 2030. Though there could be a stylistic fit and Parayko is from St. Albert, the understanding here is the Oilers would prefer to keep their powder dry for a run at Erik Karlsson — likely in June around the draft.

So, let’s circle back to those pending UFAs again — a list that was further thinned after Nick Jensen, a player they reportedly had interest in, re-signed with the Capitals.

The players that stand out now (among those on non-playoff teams) are John Klingberg, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Mathew Dumba.

The Oilers considered signing Klingberg as a free agent last summer but couldn’t make the money work. They scouted him heavily early in the season and came away thoroughly unimpressed.

Klingberg has had a poor season on a bad team, but that could work to the Oilers’ benefit. Getting Anaheim to eat half of his $7 million cap hit while not having to relinquish much shouldn’t be a big ask. Whittling that cap hit down to 25 percent or just $1.75 million via a third organization would make a Klingberg addition more palatable.

The Oilers getting him appears unlikely. They felt like they had a roster redundancy with Barrie and Bouchard on the same blue line. Klingberg and Bouchard creates the same issue. And Klingberg is having a far worse season than Barrie.

Van Riemsdyk has performed well against middle-tier and low-end competition with the Capitals, per PuckIQ, and his cap hit is just $950,000.

Dumba is someone the Oilers have been linked to this season. He has a $6 million cap hit and has had a below average campaign in Minnesota. It would be very surprising if the Oilers went for him now.

Forwards

A right-handed centre or winger for the bottom six would have been a useful addition — and that was before the Oilers dealt Jesse Puljujarvi to Carolina as a precursor to the Ekholm trade.

Opinions about Puljujarvi varied among the Oilers faithful, but, as Woodcroft said on Tuesday, the team lost an NHL player.

That leaves them down one winger, and they’re still without that righty forward that would be nice to add.

One thought within the organization is that Evander Kane and Dylan Holloway, both sidelined with injuries, will be added at some point to augment the forward ranks that took the ice on Wednesday against Toronto.

Kane is out with a rib injury. His status remains day to day as it has been since he missed a Feb. 19 game in Denver. Holloway is out four to six weeks with a shoulder injury, but the Oilers have pencilled him on their playoff roster.

Yes, they’ll scour the market before Friday at 1 p.m. MT, but management doesn’t feel a ton of pressure to bring in another player or two.

Jonathan Willis had a recent thread about some of the types of players the Oilers should be coveting.

1/X. Some forwards who strike me as interesting for Edmonton.

Adam Henrique, Anaheim

– good scoring clip
– good play-driving
– at 50% the money works
– can play C or W
– good faceoff guy

He's a versatile piece who can pinch in anywhere on L2 or L3 and help in multiple ways.

— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) March 1, 2023

Nick Bjugstad, who was held out of Arizona’s game on Tuesday for trade reasons, and McDavid’s former junior teammate Taylor Raddysh of Chicago could be options. Both have cap hits of less than $1 million, are right-handed and have hit double digits in the goal department. Bjugstad can also help in the faceoff circle, where Derek Ryan is their only righty draw guy.

The Oilers might even be able to add one of those players without having to clear a contract off the books to be cap compliant. (The likely subsequent move in that scenario would be Devin Shore being sent to AHL Bakersfield.)

The Oilers could take on some money if they want to add a more expensive forward depending on how much their trading partner — and potentially a third team — is willing to retain.

It also depends on if they get another blueliner. Remember, after moving out Barrie and Puljujarvi, the list of Oilers that could be moved making more than Janmark’s and Ryan’s $1.25 million cap hits has shrunk to Ceci, Kulak, Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele. They might need every last one of them for their playoff drive.

In that respect, the Oilers feel like they’ve boxed themselves into a corner. That isn’t ideal as they look to further enhance their team.

But they’re in that position after getting Ekholm, the player they desperately wanted and needed.

(Photo: Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images)