OilersNation has reported:

The Edmonton Oilers could find potential trade targets among teams that have struggled to open the 2026-27 NHL season, including the Calgary Flames, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings. The season is two weeks old, and while Edmonton and the Vegas Golden Knights are competing for the Pacific Division lead, the Flames and Kings sit at the bottom of the standings. It remains early, and not every club that could sell at the 2027 trade deadline has emerged.

Edmonton’s needs include a second-line centre if Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue playing together on the top line. Other possible additions include scoring depth and a defenceman. The players under consideration range from rentals who could be available with salary retention to expensive young stars who would require significant assets.

Morgan Frost is a possible centre target from Calgary. Trades between the Oilers and Flames are uncommon, with the most recent deal between the clubs coming in the summer of 2019. Calgary’s poor start could make it a seller, while Edmonton is expected to buy, creating a possible route to a trade.

Frost is 27 and set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. His cap hit is $4.375 million, and the Flames have one salary-retention spot remaining. If Calgary retained half, his cap hit for Edmonton could fall to about $2.188 million.

Frost scored a career-high 22 goals and 43 points last season. Since 2022-23, he has reached 40 points in three of four seasons; in the other, he recorded 37. He could fill the Oilers’ second-line centre role if the club keeps McDavid and Draisaitl together.

The Flyers have had an even poorer start, beginning the season 1-5-3, and could also sell before the deadline. Defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, while the Oilers were linked to winger Owen Tippett during the off-season. Matvei Michkov is a more ambitious target.

The 21-year-old Russian winger scored four goals and five points through Philadelphia’s first 10 games. The Flyers selected the Perm product seventh overall in 2023. He had 20 goals and 51 points in 81 games last season, after scoring 26 goals and 63 points in his 2024-25 rookie campaign.

Michkov’s fit with Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet has become a concern, and a fresh start may be needed for the winger. He would add skill to Edmonton’s top six, but the price could be high, and the Oilers may not have the necessary assets at present.

The Canucks began 2-6-0, with both victories coming in their first three games. Edmonton was linked to Jake DeBrusk during the off-season, but Elias Pettersson, the forward, is presented as a stronger fit. Pettersson would give the Oilers an established second-line centre and allow McDavid and Draisaitl to play together on the top line.

A deal for Pettersson would carry a major financial and asset cost. He has an $11.6-million cap hit through the end of the 2031-32 season, so Edmonton would need to send salary back. He has started the season with two goals and nine points in eight games, a rebound from two difficult seasons in which he scored 30 goals and 96 points over 138 games in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Pettersson scored at least 30 goals in each season from 2021-22 through 2023-24, including a 102-point campaign in 2022-23. His performance in those seasons helps explain the appeal of adding him, although his cost would be substantial.

Chicago is in a less clear position. The Blackhawks opened 3-6-0, while newly appointed captain Connor Bedard has appeared in three games, with the team going 2-1 in those contests. If Chicago’s rebuild still has a year or two to run, it could again be a trade partner for Edmonton.

Teuvo Teräväinen could provide scoring in the middle six, even though a second-line centre remains the Oilers’ priority. The 32-year-old Finn has been a consistent double-digit goal scorer since entering the league, with four 20-goal seasons. In his 14th season, he has two goals and five points through seven games.

Teräväinen had 14 goals and 35 points in 75 games last season, reached 50 points in 2024-25 and scored a career-high 25 goals in 2023-24 with the Carolina Hurricanes. The 2012 NHL Draft’s 18th overall pick remains an underrated player. He can contribute 15 or more goals, kill penalties and play a responsible two-way game, although he is used mainly as a winger.

Edmonton and Chicago have made deadline deals before: the Oilers acquired Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson in separate trades before the 2026 deadline. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman was Chicago’s manager when the Blackhawks selected Teräväinen in 2012, giving him familiarity with the player. Teräväinen is a pending free agent after 2026-27, carries a $5.4-million cap hit, and Chicago has two retention spots left, factors that could make him the least expensive of the players considered.

Detroit’s opening has also been poor, at 1-3-2. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs after late-March collapses in each of the past three seasons, leaving them with the NHL’s longest active postseason drought. Captain Dylan Larkin requested a trade and reportedly rescinded the request, adding to uncertainty around a team that could miss the postseason again.

Larkin would suit Edmonton, but the source says there is little chance the Oilers could acquire him because he is American and wants to play in the United States. Alex DeBrincat, who was McDavid’s teammate in junior, had been a potential candidate, but reportedly signed an extension with a $13-million cap hit. Simon Edvinsson is another possible target.

Edvinsson is a six-foot-six, 222-pound Swedish defenceman selected sixth overall by Detroit. Acquiring him could, in a sense, address Edmonton’s loss of Philip Broberg to an offer sheet two summers ago; Broberg was selected eighth overall. Edvinsson scored a career-high nine goals and 25 points in 72 games last season. In his 78-game rookie season the year before, he had seven goals and a career-high 31 points. His offensive contribution has been solid, while his defensive work is stronger.

The fit comes with complications. Edvinsson is a left-shot defenceman and a restricted free agent whose eventual contract is expected to carry a cap hit of at least $7 million annually. Edmonton may have deadline cap space, but would need corresponding moves. The Oilers already have four left-shot defencemen: Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Shea, Jake Walman and Shakir Mukhamadullin. Adding Edvinsson would leave Walman as the likely odd player out.

Walman’s play has been concerning since he signed his extension, despite optimism after he was Edmonton’s best defenceman in its ill-fated playoff run. He missed time through injury last season and struggled when healthy, then resumed that form in the current regular season. Moving him would be difficult because his extension includes a no-move clause for its first four years, allowing him to veto a trade. He may not want to return to Detroit, so Edmonton could need another destination, a different deal to clear his $7-million cap hit or a three-team trade.

The Oilers also have limited high-end prospect capital, despite several young players nearing NHL readiness. A hypothetical deal for Edvinsson could require Matthew Savoie, Ike Howard or potentially both, and it is unclear whether that package would be enough. Of the six players discussed, Edvinsson is described as the least likely acquisition.

Los Angeles has started 0-4-2 and is the only team yet to win a game. The Kings have reached the playoffs in each of the past five seasons but have not advanced beyond the first round. Edmonton is their biggest threat, and the question is whether Los Angeles could begin winning playoff series after overcoming its early-season start.

The Kings could pursue a quick, three-year rebuild because they are a borderline playoff team with genuine talent. If they chose to trade players, potential names include Artemi Panarin, Trevor Moore, Erik Haula, Scott Laughton, Corey Perry, Joel Armia, Mats Zuccarello and Drew Doughty, among others. Such a move could bring Los Angeles a large number of first-round picks. Perry or Doughty could interest Edmonton, while Adrian Kempe is the preferred target in the source. The available account ends after describing Kempe as a bona fide 30-goal scorer, without providing further details about his season, contract or a possible trade.