Edmonton Oilers were finalists to acquire surprising star forward at trade deadline

At this year's trade deadline, the Oilers were reported to be on all sorts of star forwards like Jake Guentzel and Pavel Buchnevich. The deadline ended with a more underwhelming result with the Henrique and Carrick trade, but according to Elliotte Friedman, the Oilers were also one of the last teams in on forward Tyler Toffoli.

It was uncertain the week of the deadline that the Devils would opt to punt on their season and trade Toffoli at all, but the morning of the deadline, the Jets made their offer of a second and third round draft pick that was enough to seal the deal.

Toffoli was one of the higher-end players moved at this year's deadline. Now 31 years old and on the sixth team in his career, Toffoli has always been a consistent offensive contributor. In 61 games this year, he'd scored an incredible 26 goals and 44 points. He's owed $4.25M in salary for just the rest of this season - and New Jersey retained 50% of his salary.


Although the Oilers did improve their team with the Henrique/Carrick trade, GM Ken Holland should've been all over Toffoli at this price. The Oilers don't need to preserve draft picks in a win-now season, and Toffoli could've filled a long standings hole in the lineup on the second line wing. However they would've have to move out a roster player, and it seems like the Oilers front office and their team both believe in the group they have too much to disturb it.