As we approach the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, there’s been significant focus on goaltending and defence as areas of improvement for the Edmonton Oilers, which is quite understandable. However, though there’s no doubt that the Oilers possess a talented forward group, they too have significant area for improvement, particularly in one specific area: finishing.
Let’s go back to the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals. Recall that the Oilers dropped Games 1, 2 and 7, ultimately losing the Cup to the Florida Panthers. In those three games, the Oilers were not terrible defensively, allowing seven non-empty-net goals, but on the other side of the ice, they only scored twice. The Oilers accumulated a total of 28 high-danger scoring chances, and Natural Stat Trick’s model had them at roughly 8 expected goals, and yet they only wound up scoring 2 actual goals on Sergei Bobrovsky.
Offensively, the Oilers’ greatest strength is their ability to create quality scoring chances. This season, the team has averaged 14.8 mid and high-percentage scoring chances per game according to CSA Hockey, the highest rate in the league.
However, they rank 23rd in the NHL in shooting percentage. This goes down to 27th if you look at 5-on-5 alone.
We can all recall many games throughout the past few years where the Oilers would overwhelmingly out-shoot and out-chance the opponent, with MoneyPuck’s infamous “Deserve To Win O’Meter” staggeringly in Edmonton’s favour, just for the team to frustratingly wind up losing, often by a single goal. Of course, a big factor in that is simply goaltending, but failing to capitalize on their numerous scoring chances also plays a significant role here.
Simply put, this team lacks consistent finishing talent outside of their two superstars. While the recent promotion of Jeff Skinner to Leon Draisaitl’s wing should improve that, Connor McDavid could still use another top-six winger who can efficiently put pucks in the net. This season, McDavid is operating at a negative goal differential without Draisaitl on-ice at 5v5, being out-scored 23-to-29, and a huge factor is that McDavid’s line has seen a decrease of 35% in goals scored per hour compared to last season.
This is the first of a four-part series where I will be covering trade targets for the Edmonton Oilers at the 2025 Trade Deadline during the Four Nations break. To begin this series, I will analyze top-six forwards targets, players that could help truly solidify the Oilers’ forward group as the best in the NHL.
*All stats via EvolvingHockey, Natural Stat Trick, and AllThreeZones unless stated otherwise, and all cap info via PuckPedia
