Insider Doubles Down On Boone Jenner Being An Oilers Trade Deadline Target

It’s no secret that the Edmonton Oilers are looking to upgrade their forward group ahead of the trade deadline, with a third-line center firmly at the top of their wish list.

We’ve heard names like Nicolas Roy and Charlie Coyle connected to the Oilers by insider Bob Stauffer, while J.G. Pageau and Sean Monahan have also surfaced as speculative targets. All remain in play, but momentum appears to be building around another Columbus Blue Jacket: Boone Jenner.

Insider David Pagnotta has mentioned on multiple occasions over the last week that GM Stan Bowman would love to get his hands on Jenner, recently expanding on Edmonton’s pursuit of the Blue Jackets captain.

Pagnotta said:

“We’ve talked about this for a good chunk of the season that Boone Jenner is going to be a target for a team like the Oilers—and he’d be a perfect fit for them—if the Jackets get to a point where they’re going to try to move him. They’re not there yet… Donny Waddell, their GM, is going to take the Olympic break to figure out their contract situations with their pending guys and then go from there. And if they feel they can’t sign these guys, then there’s a chance—assuming they’re not directly in the wild-card race—that they’re going to look to move those guys after the Olympic break,”

The 32-year-old Jenner is a pending UFA in the fourth and final season of the four-year, $15 million contract extension he signed with the Blue Jackets back in 2021.

Boone Jenner Comes With Some Risk

While it’s easy to understand why the Oilers—and other playoff contenders—would covet a player like Jenner, the situation is more complicated than it appears on the surface.

Not only is Jenner getting up there in age, but he’s also dealt with a plethora of injuries in recent years, and that trend has continued in 2025-26, having missed 14 of 42 games so far. On top of that, Waddell will certainly be demanding a significant return for his captain, a player he values immensely both on and off the ice.

Bringing him to Edmonton still could be worth the risk and price, especially if he’s seen as a rental and only needed for the stretch run. That said, it also can’t just be glossed over for a team with so much riding on the next few years of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s primes.

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