We now reach the point in franchise history when the trade deadline meant some painful goodbyes. The most galling part of these years? The sheer number of springs as sellers. Amazing, but not in a good way.
2007—KEVIN LOWE
- February 18: Oilers trade D Marc-Andre Bergeron and a 2008 third-round pick (Kirill Petrov) to the New York Islanders for D Denis Grebeshkov.
- February 27: Oilers trade LW Ryan Smyth to New York Islanders for F Robert Nilsson, C Ryan O’Marra and a 2015 first-round selection (D Alex Plante).
I always associate these two trades with each other, they were a week apart and had a major impact on the organization and the fans. Ryan Smyth being dealt, without a Ryan Smyth to replace him (LW depth chart in 2007-08: Dustin Penner, Robert Nilsson, Raffi Torres, Ethan Moreau, Geoff Sanderson and eventually Curtis Glencross) had plenty of varying skills, but Smyth was a unique player. The trade made no sense, and was done in a fit of pique. Terrible trade. The acquisition of Denis Grebeshkov was a good move, although I’m not quite sure it brought less chaos on defense, just different chaos.
2008—KEVIN LOWE
- February 1: Oilers trade D Dick Tarnstrom to the Columbus Blue Jackets for LW Curtis Glencross.
This is a sneaky candidate for Lowe’s best deal, although people don’t remember it fondly because management fumbled re-signing the player. Glencross was a quality winger acquired at a most reasonable price. The Oilers did make good trades in this area, but often (as is the case here) failed to fully capitalize on those deals.
2009—STEVE TAMBELLINI
- March 4: Oilers trade LW Erik Cole and a fifth-round pick (Matt Kennedy) to the Carolina Hurricanes for LW Patrick O’Sullivan and a second-round pick (Jesse Blacker).
- March 4: Oilers trade a 2009 second-round pick (Jesse Blacker) to Buffalo Sabres for W Ales Kotalik.
Steve Tambellini’s first trade deadline involved a three-way trade with the Carolina Hurricanes and Los Angeles Kings. The three key pieces were Erik Cole, Justin Williams and Patrick O’Sullivan. Tambellini came in third place in the deal. Holy crap did he ever. I did like Kotalik, but he played just 19 games with Edmonton. Massive payout by Tambellini and it did not work well for the Oilers.
2010—STEVE TAMBELLINI
- March 1: Oilers trade D Denis Grebeshkov to the Nashville Predators for a 2010 second-round pick (LW Curtis Hamilton).
- March 3: Oilers trade D Lubomir Visnovsky to the Anaheim Ducks for D Ryan Whitney and a 2010 sixth-round pick (D Brandon Davidson).
- March 3: Oilers trade D Steve Staios to the Calgary Flames for D Aaron Johnson and a 2011 third-round pick (C Travis Ewanyk).
It was so disappointing to see Lubo dealt by the Oilers, Pat Quinn didn’t use him properly and Ryan Whitney was a substantial player (before the injury). I’m not arguing the return, but Lubo was a born Oiler with his playing style. Opportunity missed. The Oilers picked up a couple of nice draft picks at this deadline but did not use them wisely.
2011—STEVE TAMBELLINI
- February 28: Oilers trade LW Dustin Penner to the Los Angeles Kings for D Colten Teubert, and a 2011 first-round pick (D Oscar Klefbom).
I argued at the time this trade was a strong one, and it turned out just that way. The Oilers needed Klefboms and got a very good one. Tambellini was not a strong general manager, but I give him credit for a deal that was a no-brainer for a rebuilding organization. The Klefbom pick shows an uptick in organizational drafting, too.
2012—STEVE TAMBELLINI
- February 27: Oilers trade D Tom Gilbert to the Minnesota Wild for D Nick Schultz.
This trade was an exchange of a two-way defenseman (Gilbert) who could move the puck for more of a shutdown type. I’m not in favor of that kind of trade, but my recall of Schultz is that he was fine in that role.
2013—STEVE TAMBELLINI
- April 3: Oilers trade a fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft (Matt Buckles) to the Florida Panthers for C Jerred Smithson.
The television series Oil Change details the moments leading up to this trade, and it’s pure comedy. The Oilers are in on a strong goaltending solution, check down to a fourth-line center, and the punch line came after the deal. Badly needed (and Smithson could have helped) immediately, Smithson was unable to join the team right away. By the time he landed in Edmonton, the Oilers were out of the playoff race and would not win the day. Good grief.
The Lowdown arrives at noon today, Sports 1440. We’ll chat Oilers with Daniel Nugent-Bowman at The Athletic, and dig deep on trade deadline targets. Donovan Paulson will pop in to talk MLB with pitchers and catchers reporting this week. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio, Radioplayer Canada, it’s available post-show on apple and spotify, and we tweet it out on X.
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch has a well-earned reputation for being able to MacGyver roster solutions in-house. Currently, he is casting about in search of freshening Connor McDavid’s wingers. Here’s the situation and the names being auditioned.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6123375/2025/02/10/edmonton-oilers-lines-stats-2025/
I like what you’re saying here. I’m very curious what happens, post-4N.
The O’Sullivans of the world are exactly why if I was running a team, I’d have the best sports psych and mental health crew money could buy.
The guy was a superstar with some serious demons. If he and others like him (Schremp for instance) had gotten in front of the right person, their lives would have been so much better first of all, and they would likely have played some truly tremendous hockey.
Not related to the Oilers TDL history, but has anyone seen Landon DuPont (Everett, WHL) play this year?
15 year old, exceptional player, first WHL rookie defenseman to break 50 points since Scott Niedermayer, and is young for his draft year. Will probably be the #1 pick in 2027.
Here’s hoping he plays in the East!
So McDavid & Marner on the same line.
And Marner is UFA this summer. Huh.
Could you imagine Hyman-McDavid-Marner all together in Edmonton. Marner & Hyman would need to arm wrestle to see who plays on the RW. McDavid with a couple ex-Leafs.
rehashing these old memories of the DoD brings to mind a phrase that was once the Oilers calling card.
When the question was “why”…about anything, the universal answer …”because, Oilers”
Even with Bowman telling Nugent Bowman he is not exploring the goalie market and it’s not near top priority, lots of Gibson talk.
Woodley with some amazing intel on Gibson yesterday. Firstly, no doubt that Gibson is having a very good year – top 20 tender in adjusted stats.
At the same time, some of the micro stats should be looked at via-a-vis the Oilers.
Firstly, Gibson has always struggled on low cross plays – that’s cross ice passes below the hashmarks – and he continues to struggle on those this year. If he was in the Oilers net with his percentage on those as opposed to Skinner/Picks, the numbers shows 6 more goals would have been scored. Oilers are just above middle of pack in defending in that area.
Another struggle for Gibson is “broken plays” and, if he was subbed in, just going by numbers, it would be 13 more goals against.
Now, of course, other areas where Gibson would have saved more goals (by the numbers) but it’s interesting to dig in on some of these.
Gibson wants to be #1 again. He would definitely provide Skinner with some serious competition for the #1 job. Perhaps Skinner has become too comfortable with Pickard as his backup. I don’t see any negativity with the acquisition of Gibson in that regard, except for fitting the salary into the allotted salary structure for goaltending.
If Gibson is brought in, Skinner will be in another town mostly goaltending.
I still remember that 3 way deal with the Hurricanes and Kings thinking “if the ‘canes were willing to trade Williams for Cole, why don’t we have Williams?”
This was during a very long period where I was certain we didn’t even employ pro scouts.
When I saw Colton Tuebert be the return for Penner, I thought for sure Tambo and the “pro” scouts were getting fired on mass. Who knew they would get 2 more trade deadlines.
Ohhh that 2007 draft. Picking #6, 15 and 21 yielded Sam Gagner, Alex Plante and Riley Nash. The real insult is Riley Nash, who the Oilers traded up to pick, actually turning into a bit of a player long after he was gone.
Most disappointing draft in Oilers history? Lots to choose from but this has got to be a candidate.
Gagner never become the scoring threat his junior numbers suggested.
Plante was dead on arrival.
Nash wouldn’t even sign here and I couldnt blame him at the time.
Emphasis on “a bit”.
I always have to give the Oilers credit for these years. It’s one thing to intentionally tank because they wanted high draft picks, it’s another thing to try so hard and suck at everything you do that you earn those high draft picks. Gotta respect them for that.
One of the things that I remember with particular anguish about Lowe years/DoD was the organization’s poor appraisal of other team’s prospects and young players in trades.
Prioritizing certain player styles (big, physical) despite a lack of development from draft day led to a lot of poor returns during these years (Teubert, Reinhart, etc.). This certainly characterized some of their draft decisions (Plante, etc.) as well, but it always stood out to me when the prospects other teams were willing to move were big physical players whose offence hadn’t emerged in their draft+1 and draft+2 seasons, but the Oilers never seemed to be too concerned by that.
If Robert Nilsson’s dad hadn’t been an Oiler I don’t think we would have been part of the return for Smyth.
I ran into Curtis Glencross during the summer after that 2008 season in a Red Deer Save on foods. He was so good for that Oilers team and if my memory serves me correctly, they narrowly missed making the playoffs.
I told him I enjoyed watching him play and wished the Oilers had resigned him. He told me that the Oilers never made him an offer and he seemed ticked off about that, like he wanted to play for the team. I was surprised how candid he was about that – I didn’t really know how to respond other than – “good luck in Calgary!”
Tabellini definitely fumbled that one.
I can’t believe they shit the bed on Glencross a power forward that can score 20 plus. The worst part is he ends up on the Flames. The 2007 drive to the playoffs was exciting watching the kid line with Gagner-Nillison they had a lot of youngsters to be excited about. The Cogliano decision was another blunder that I’ll never understand the reasoning off.
These are some dark memories. This is why we drink in Edmonton. What an era. People who say we were gifted McDavid don’t understand what a ‘gift’ like that costs.
Part of why we need to cherish the current ear, even if it doesn’t culminate in a cup. There will be some lean years post-McDrai …
Well said. McDavid, Drai and these heady days have been well earned by every Oiler fan of a certain vintages that wondered the DoD desert.
We have earned the current success, although the PTSD from those DoD days remains.
I’m very interested in how Connor’s wingers mesh with him. Cooper is a smart cookie, seems like that could be a monster to stop – Marner’s motor and high end IQ, Reinhart to finish some plays
I was like most wanting to see him with Sid and/or Nate, but thinking about it those two with Stone is probably a better fit. Those fellas are more north/south with Nate’s blazing speed. Connor and Marner are more along the same style, more creative
I remember arriving at a resort in Tofino for a job and the manager telling me about Nultz brother’s motor mouth lol then it hit the interwebs.
In sports, there are Blues and Track Suits
We have had a lot of track suits managing the Oilers hockey business.
I have been looking for a place to download the Oil Change series for personal interest. I can’t finsd it on any of the usual torrent sites, etc. Anyone have any ideas?
The Belanger Triangle, where many an offensive sortie sunk without trace…
Sure was easy and cheap to get tickets then. Loved it as the kids were young and I could take the whole family to the game (for a couple of periods) to watch some NHL and then home for bedtime.
Now on the other hand, tickets are harder to come by and not cheap by any standard. However, kids are gone so less tickets required. 8 pm starts are now too late for me as the second period ends past my ‘old guy’ bedtime.
It goes from funny to depressing when you read it, and this is pre-Chiarelli.
Chief Wiggum voice: “Dig up stupid!”
Chiarelli actually started to turn things around after Tambo. MacT tried, he did well to draft Leon. I wish they would have stuck with him a while longer, even he would have drafted McD and run with it.
Chiarelli moved the No. 16 and No. 33 overall picks at the draft to the New York Islanders for Griffin Reinhart. And turned Jordan Eberle into Ryan Spooner. Turning Ryan Strome into Ryan Spooner was bad enough.
And Hall for Larsson. And giving Lucic 7x$6M with a NMC. And Koskinen at 3x$4.5M.
He certainly made some questionable decisions. The kind of decisions even an inexperienced Craig McTavish might not have made, if they had retained him as GM, instead of hiring Chiarelli.
Craiggers couldn’t have been worse than Chiarelli. There were some misses, though. Sometimes just STFU instead of asking a question that doesn’t need asking… Who was that 4 year deal defender that he brought in as a free agent and he just sucked like a vacuum? Think he was a blue Jacket before. MacT gets a lot of credit for Leon though. He might have improved from there had he got the chance. The worst thing abut Chiarelli’s era was that there seemed to be so much pressure to fix everything RIGHT NOW and he was swimming from problem to problem and the desperation to do anything created more problems than he was able to solve. His last 3 or 4 moves were seriously detrimental to the team.
Andrew Ference
I’ve wondered about what giving MacT more time would’ve looked like as well, but then I remembered he offered David Clarkson even more $ than Toronto did, and Clarkson’s desire to play for his home town team saved EDM from one of the worst FA contracts in team history.
I believe it was MacT that came in as GM after the Tambellini debacle. So, it must have been tough for a first time GM to come in and get everything right. I mean he hired that coach from the Toronto Marlies whose name I’ve forgotten, you know who I mean. But still, given the chance, MacTavish potentially may not have been as bad as Chiarelli in the long run given the opportunity.
MacT was doomed from the get go. You remember the introductory press conference? Legendary.
Agreed. MacT was not the solution to our GM problem.
In hindsight either was Chiarelli.
And then there was Jultz & Nultz. Those were the days.
You just had to mention Patrick O’Sullivan.
**Slams head on desk 1,000 times**
Great name anyways.
I forget who was the poster here who aptly named Patrick O’ Sullivan “Patty-O-Lanterns”. Wow, that was such a bad trade.
Say what you may about Lowe, but with maybe a couple of exceptions, Tambellini really bled talent at the deadline.
There was a lot of ‘no due diligence’ through those years. Probably lead to most of the fails
It’s just after 11:00 p.m. here in Vietnam (14 hours ahead of Mountain Time) and now I am going to have nightmares as I drift off to sleep. 😎
The Smithson deadline may have been a blessing in disguise in the end. Oilers ran a 5v5 xGF of 43.79%. Wouldn’t have wanted the org thinking they were a playoff roster. Letting Krueger go was the right move (who they chose to replace him, on the other hand).
All roads lead to Connor & Leon.
that is the one redeeming element of every choice pre-2015.
Still wish they’d hung onto Petry for the start of it all.
Petry & Hallsy
You keep Petry no need to move Hallsy. #oneforone
This series really shines a light on how “good not great” young defensemen who make occasional turnovers really get run out of Edmonton like its an annual tradition. Poti, Gilbert, Petry, etc.
There was an anti-Coffey crowd in his early days with the team as well including many in the local press. Fortunately Sather kept the faith and told him to ignore the outside criticism. And Jultzing was a term coined in Edmonton by a fan base that contributed to running Schultz out of town to Pittsburgh where he managed to be their best puck moving defenseman en route to their second straight cup.
Not at all surprised. I’m sure Matheson/Spector would’ve run Coffey out of town before he was 22 …
who was the potential goalie in 2013?
Ben Bishop.
I knew this would be hard to read — with the deadline deals acting as a reminder of the pain I felt at the time as an Oilers fan, at the utter ineptitude of management. The baffling moves made under Tambellini’s leadership especially — one could write a Russian novel on the impact hiring Pat Quinn had on the Oilers.
Some highlights:
1: Remembering Erik Cole’s time as an Oiler
2: Witnessing Oscar Klefbom join the Oilers
It all lead to the drafting of a generational talent named Connor McDavid and then things changed somehow.
One of my “favorite” anecdotes was years after he had left Edmonton, Erik Cole recounted how the Oilers had acquired him to play LW without realizing that in Carolina he’d always played the right side despite being a left shot.
Sums up the Oilers pro scouting department in those days, and makes me wonder how much of the 2006 deadline was blind luck.
I don’t recall who was on the right side for Edmonton, but it doesn’t seem unusual for a left shot to play LW.
The NHL website, Hockeydb and Wikipedia all have him listed as a left wing. Obviously not good sources to base actual NHL transactions on for a GM or scout.
His most common line mates the season before in Carolina besides Eric Staal at center were Ray Whitney and Sergie Samsanov, both listed as LW but shoot right. So Carolina was running lines where both wingers were shooting on their offside. A casual observer might be confused by this. NHL scouts should not be.
With the Oilers, Gagner at center was his most common line mate with Robert Nilsson who shot left and played left, his most common winger so he ended up playing right side. The Oilers did try him at left wing perhaps at the start as he got about 25% of his ice time 5 on 5 with either Hemsky or Pisani, both right shot right wings.
Check Hockey-Reference, it’s much better at season-by-season rankings based on where they played each year. He was RW for his tenure in Carolina.
I wish I could find the interview, but he was shocked – apparently he’d played on his off-side his entire career, and hadn’t played the left side in the NHL other than a shift here or there. When they told him he’d be playing LW, he told them he’d never played it before and they either didn’t know or didn’t care.
The Plante pick in 2007 was ghastly. Apart from poor trades, poor picks were part of the pain of this era.
It took the Oil 7 years from 06 (Petry) to draft 2 quality defencemen that played meaningful games for the team (Klef, Nurse). It took them even longer to truly arrive.
And they were all left handed.
Lordy.
Lordy, the decade of darkness.