The Edmonton Oilers are on a roll and are looking like a serious contender right now. They are going to add more pieces before the trade deadline, but there seems to still be questions about whether that will come in the form of a top-six forward, top-four right-shot defenceman, or a backup goaltender. I believe the biggest need is to improve the top-four and upgrade over Cody Ceci, not only for this season, but for next season as well.
Any trade involving Ceci will get him off the books for this season and next, as he is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) in 2025. As the numbers of this pairing with Ceci and Darnell Nurse (including Corsi for percentage, Fenwick for percentage, shots for percentage, expected goals for percentage, scoring chances for percentage, and high danger chances for percentage) have been the worst out of the three pairings on the Oilers this season, this is the only change needed. Any talks of needing more depth and bringing someone in without moving someone (Ceci) out isn’t logical as the Oilers have multiple depth options in the minors right now in Philip Broberg, Ben Gleason, and Philip Kemp as
The Flyers hold a spot amongst the top eight in the Eastern Conference right now, so why are we talking about them looking to sell certain pieces? Well, they are still committed to a rebuild, so that means getting futures back for roster players. Walker has had a strong season, especially at the beginning of the season, and is a UFA in the summer. As far as rentals go, the Flyers can get some value from a limited market of right-shot defencemen considering he has an offensive side to his game as well.
