Oilers can’t afford to ignore their draft pick shortage – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers interim general manager Jeff Jackson continued his busy offseason on Monday (July 15) by trading forwards Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Roby Jarventie and Ottawa’s 2025 fourth-round pick.

The big news was that Edmonton had moved on from Bourgault, whom the Oilers had selected in the first round with 22 players.^nd overall pick just three years ago, Bourgault never played a regular season or playoff game for the Oilers.

Related: Roby Jarventie: Everything You Need to Know About the Oilers’ New Acquisition

Meanwhile, fans in Oil Country were interested in learning more about Jarventie. The 33^rd Jarventie made seven appearances for the Senators in 2023-24 as the overall pick in the NHL Draft.

But what wasn’t really talked about was the draft asset Edmonton acquired in the trade. It was the first time in nearly three years that Edmonton made a deal that gave the Oilers more draft picks than they had before the trade.

Holland exchanged the future for the present

With Edmonton in “win now” mode in recent years, the Oilers have traded an alarming number of future draft picks to acquire active players who could help the team immediately.

During Ken Holland’s five-year tenure as general manager, which officially ended on July 1, the Oilers gave away 25 future picks and received just 10. During the Holland era, Edmonton gave away 20 picks in Rounds 1-4 and received just five in Rounds 1-4.

This trend really started around the 2020 trade deadline, when the Oilers made a series of deals that saw them part with a 2020 second-round pick, a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick, a 2021 second-round pick and a 2021 fifth-round pick. The only pick they received back from all of these trades was a 2022 seventh-round pick from the Anaheim Ducks.

During the last trade deadline in March, the Oilers made three deals involving draft picks: they acquired Adam Henrique from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2026; they acquired Sam Carrick, Ty Taylor and a seventh-round pick in 2024 from the Ducks for a first-round pick in 2024 and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2025; and they acquired Troy Stecher and a seventh-round pick in 2024 from the Arizona Coyotes for a fourth-round pick in 2027.

Oilers not primarily built through trades

Despite Holland’s scheming, the trades didn’t play a major role in building the roster that came within one Stanley Cup win last month: Only three of the skaters who played more than 10 games in Edmonton’s incredible 2024 postseason run — Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak and Henrique — were acquired in trades that involved the Oilers giving up draft capital.

Meanwhile, all of these trades have left Edmonton with little to do on draft day of late. The Oilers made just seven total picks in 2022 and 2023, and while they had seven picks this year, only two were in the first 159 selections.

Oilers have a limited supply of picks

Edmonton’s larder isn’t exactly full either: After the trade with Ottawa, the Oilers have five picks in 2025, but none in the first two rounds. They also have no fourth-round selections in 2026 and 2027.

It’s clear that the Oilers haven’t been all that concerned about life beyond their current championship window. Teams can go decades without being in position to win a Stanley Cup, so when you get close, you go all out.

But draft capital is still the key to success in the present. Consider that the Oilers have traded at least one pick around the trade deadline in each of the past five seasons (and have traded at least two picks around four of the last five trade deadlines) to acquire active players. Edmonton will need to have a supply of picks to trade at the 2025 trade deadline, when they will inevitably be looking for pieces to make another championship run.

Besides, you can’t completely mortgage the future. Sure, almost any Oilers fan will tell you they’re willing to put up with hard times in exchange for a championship, but that’s easy to say. Ask how fans have felt over the past decade in Illinois, where the Chicago Blackhawks won three championships in six years between 2010 and 2015 but have since failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs and have missed the postseason the last four years.

Monday’s move shows that Jackson is at least aware of how empty the draft board is. Time will tell if he’ll add much more.