In Hindsight: The One‑for‑One Trade That Still Haunts the Oilers

Watching Taylor Hall celebrate his day with the Stanley Cup, I couldn’t help but look back at the infamous one‑for‑one deal the Edmonton Oilers made to acquire Adam Larsson. A lot of factors went into that trade — and a lot of overthinking from then‑GM Peter Chiarelli. Here’s a look back at why the Oilers made the deal, and what could have been had they not.

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Taylor Hall: The Franchise Hope

Taylor Hall was the Oilers’ first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft — the crowning moment after years of failure and tanking. He kicked off a run of three straight first‑overall selections: Hall, Ryan Nugent‑Hopkins, and Nail Yakupov. These three were supposed to drag the Oilers back to relevancy, and all had flashes of doing exactly that. Nugent‑Hopkins is still with the Oilers today and is on track to become the first player in franchise history to play his entire career in Edmonton.

The Trade

By 2014 and 2015, the Oilers added Leon Draisaitl and then won the Connor McDavid lottery. Suddenly, Edmonton had a glut of top‑six forwards: Draisaitl, McDavid, Nugent‑Hopkins, Eberle, Yakupov, Hall — and then Jesse Puljujarvi fell into their lap at fourth overall in 2016, just days before the Hall trade.

The defence, however, was another story. Edmonton had just traded Justin Schultz to Pittsburgh for a third‑round pick. On the left side, Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, and Andrej Sekera gave the Oilers a solid foundation. On the right side? Matt Benning. That was it.

So when Bob McKenzie dropped the now‑infamous tweet:

“Trade is one for one: Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall.”

Oilers fans understandably lost their minds. A former first‑overall cornerstone traded for a defensive defenceman?

Adam Larsson

Larsson, a fourth‑overall pick in 2011, was a big, right‑shot defender — exactly what Edmonton desperately needed. He wasn’t flashy, and Chiarelli even defended the return by saying:

“He’s not a sexy defenceman. He’s not in the spotlight. He probably doesn’t deserve to be in the spotlight.”

The trade was shocking, and the Oilers should have gotten more. But Larsson was legitimately excellent for Edmonton. He formed a rock‑solid top pairing with fellow Swede Oscar Klefbom and gave the Oilers exactly what they lacked. His value often gets overlooked because of the trade’s optics.

Larsson played 329 regular‑season games and 19 playoff games for the Oilers before leaving for Seattle in the expansion draft — a move he wanted after the loss of his father and Klefbom’s career‑ending shoulder issues. If Klefbom had stayed healthy, Larsson might still be anchoring the Oilers’ right side today.

League Reaction

Around the league, rival GMs were stunned — not just by the return, but by the fact they didn’t even know Hall was available. Several claimed they would have offered more, which only made Chiarelli look worse. Maybe he did his due diligence, but for Oilers fans, it was salt in the wound.

Hall was beloved in Edmonton. He wore Kevin Lowe’s iconic #4. He was supposed to be McDavid’s winger. And the return felt bleak. It still does.

What If?

What if Taylor Hall was never traded?

Edmonton would have been scrambling for a top right‑shot defenceman. Kris Russell signed on the eve of the season, but he was a leftie playing his off‑side. Their top right‑shot option would have been Benning or Russell — not ideal.

The Oilers likely would have signed Jason Demers instead of Milan Lucic. Demers signed in Arizona for five years at $4.5 million AAV — nearly identical to Larsson’s $4.17 million. Demers famously toured Rogers Place and had dinner at the owner’s house, only to watch Chiarelli repeatedly leave the table to negotiate Lucic’s massive contract, which ate up the cap space. Avoiding Lucic and signing Demers would have charted a completely different path — one I’ll dive into in a future article.

As for the forward core? Hall could have been to McDavid what Draisaitl is now — a ride‑or‑die winger anchoring the left side for years. The Oilers could have run McDavid‑Draisaitl together permanently, with Nugent‑Hopkins and Hall forming a lethal second line. That core four could still be intact today, or Hall and Nuge could be a third‑line juggernaut like Carolina used Hall this season.

The ripple effects are massive. Maybe the Oilers never sign Zach Hyman because Hall already fills that role. Maybe Jordan Eberle never gets traded, avoiding the Eberle → Ryan Strome → Ryan Spooner disaster entirely.

The Aftermath

Hall left Edmonton and immediately exploded, winning the Hart Trophy in his second season with New Jersey. He never reached those heights again due to injuries, but this past season he finally played 80 games and was once again a driving force for the Hurricanes on their most effective line en route to winning the Stanley Cup.

It’s bittersweet for Oilers fans to watch Hall lift the Cup — but undeniably well‑earned for the former franchise star.

Next: In Hindsight: The Nurse Deal That Never Stood a Chance