Stan Bowman is sitting on a longer list of trade chips than most fans think, and a viral post from The Mug NHL this week put the Edmonton Oilers right back in the offseason spotlight.
The post landed Wednesday night and racked up 29K views in hours. The argument is simple. Edmonton has assets. Plural. Real ones.
The named group includes Isaac Howard, Quinn Hutson, Joshua Samanski, Spencer Stastney, Colton Dach, Matthew Savoie and Ty Emberson. Plus a stack of picks.
Eight first or second-round picks across the next four drafts, by the count in the post. That's not a barren cupboard. That's ammunition.
Here's the eye test from the tweet itself. A simple roster dump, blunt phrasing, one rhetorical jab at the end. It hit a nerve because the narrative has been lazy for months.
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So why has the "Oilers have nothing" line stuck? Probably because the top of the cap sheet is brutal. McDavid at $12.5M. Draisaitl at $14M. Bouchard at $10.5M. That trio alone eats $37M before you blink.
Why Edmonton's bottom of the roster matters more than ever
But the assets aren't at the top. They're underneath. Savoie put up 37 points in 82 games at age 22. Emberson logged 72 games on a $1.3M deal. Useful, cheap, movable.
Howard and Hutson are the lottery tickets. Both 22 or 24, both on entry-level money under $1M. Bowman can package one without flinching.
The Oilers finished 41-30-11 for 93 points and went 6-2-2 in their last 10. Then they ran into Anaheim in the first round and lost the series in six.
That's the context Bowman is working with. A core in its prime, a playoff exit that demands answers, and a back end that bled 269 goals against on the year.
Tristan Jarry posted a .882 save percentage across 33 starts. Connor Ingram's .898 in 32. Goaltending alone could swallow two of those picks.
The "no assets" narrative was never true. It was just easier than reading the depth chart.
Whether Bowman moves on the right deal is another story. He spent last summer trading for Walman and Frederic. The aggression is there. The runway is shorter than it looks.
Should Stan Bowman trade Matthew Savoie this summer to upgrade Edmonton's top six?
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