Oilers Hit The Jackpot With Trade Deadline Acquisitions

With less than an hour left until the NHL trade deadline, the Edmonton Oilers and general manager Stan Bowman look to be all finished picking up three new assets all courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks, and it seems they have hit the jackpot. For Edmonton their biggest needs heading towards the deadline were a third line, blue collar center, a tough defensive defenseman, and a goalie, two of those coming in Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy.

By looking at what Stan Bowman has done on paper, it looks like he has simply bought in two guys who will make his team a tough nut to crack, and added some much needed depth headed towards the playoffs, and has found those two end to end guys he has been needing for a while. Jason Dickinson isn’t only a guy that has exceptional faceoff skills, is a super reliable two way guy, and is your perfect third line center, but across the NHL he has the 2nd-highest percentage of time on ice against elite competition among all NHL forwards. As far as third line guys go, this is exactly who you want, a tough guy who can make the game hard for elite players, shut down space, make things move quicker, and cause problems for opposition, for the Oilers, this looks a sneakily good acquisition.

As well as being one of the most reliable and tough to play against guys in the league, adding him to a star studded lineup is going to allow Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to take less ice time, and take time away from competing against top lines, something Dickinson has shined at this year so far. As well as grabbing Dickinson to serve as that third liner which they have desperately lacked for some time now, picking up another hard hitting, reliable, and ultra defensive d-man like Connor Murphy was massive. It seems like a long term veteran like Murphy is something the Oilers haven't had for a long time, a guy who can  fluidly play with the puck, but also gives everything you want from a second pairing guy, penalty killing, elite defensive structure, and heavy and tight checking, for Edmonton, Murphy is another massive win in a market lacking in those sorts of guys.

For Edmonton they didn't grab any flashy guys, no 30 goalscorers, and no elite playmakers, but getting some blue collar support on both sides of line, even i  young Colton Dach who has a great compete level and physical game is massive in their bid to head to the finals again, and isn’t far from being an A+ deadline.