Oilers Linked to Penguins’ Three-Time 30-Goal Winger

The Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins are no strangers to making trades, and that appears to potentially be the case again—only this time it isn’t revolving around Darnell Nurse.

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Penguins winger Rickard Rakell has seen his name emerge on various trade boards so far this offseason, and not only did he land at number 24 on David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period’s recent trade board, but he was also linked to just one team: Edmonton.

Pagnotta wrote:

“Given the market landscape, the Penguins are willing to listen on calls for Rakell and if a team is willing to pay a solid price to bolster their offence, Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas is taking the call. Rakell has two years left on his deal and owns an eight-team no-trade list.

Teams Reportedly Linked: Edmonton,”

The 33-year-old Rakell has two years remaining on the six-year, $30 million contract extension he signed with the Penguins back in 2022. He tallied 48 points (24 goals, 24 assists) in just 60 games played last season.

Rakell could be a great fit for the Oilers as a legitimate top-six winger who has proven very capable of playing with high-end talent, having developed tremendous chemistry with Sidney Crosby throughout his time in Pittsburgh.

Given his age, the acquisition cost shouldn’t be anything Edmonton can’t afford to meet. That said, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas has held a high asking price for the likes of Rakell and Bryan Rust in the past, so he may need to come down from that if he wants to get a deal done.

The Oilers need to solve the Nurse situation before anything else, but when they do turn their attention to upgrading the roster and forward group, linking up with a team like Pittsburgh via trade could make plenty of sense.

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