Oilers Swung and Missed on Different Trade Before Adding Frederic

According to Marco D’Amico of RG.org, “Sources have indicated the Oilers had two-way centerman JG Pageau as their main target at the NHL Trade Deadline.” He adds that the New York Islanders nixed a potential deal with Edmonton, forcing the Oilers to pivot toward the Trent Frederic trade they ultimately pulled off.

While Frederic hasn’t yet played a game for the Oilers, this is an interesting report that leads to speculation about how differently the deadline and the following games would have been for Edmonton.

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Oilers Heavily Pursued Pageau at Trade Deadline

Oilers general manager Stan Bowman pushed for Pageau as a potential solution to the Oilers’ lack of depth at center. However, the Islanders were unwilling to retain salary and did not want to move Pageau for a package primarily consisting of draft picks. Because Edmonton made salary cap retention a big priority, the two sides couldn’t come to a trade agreement that worked. Edmonton pivoted to a three-team trade with Boston, landing Frederic and Max Jones instead.

Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello made it clear after the deadline that he was looking to trade for more than just draft picks. “If we could have gotten younger and better, other than draft picks, we would have done it without question,” Lamoriello said.

Pageau, 32, carries a $5 million cap hit with one year remaining on his contract. The fact that he wasn’t a rental meant the Oilers were likely willing to give up a fair return in trade, but Bowman didn’t want to take on a hefty salary for this season and next. Bowman was reportedly hesitant about adding a player with term at that price and didn’t really have a player to send back to make the money work since many of their forwards were locked in with no-trade clauses.

Had Edmonton landed Pageau, it would have impacted several areas of the Oilers’ deadline deals. They would likely not have traded for Jake Walman since their salary cap situation would have been tight. They also would have had a better read on the impact of the player they did add, as Pageau isn’t out with an injury.

Pageau has produced 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 68 games for the Islanders this season and is on pace to challenge his career-best 43-point campaign from 2015-16. He has two points in his last five games.

Meanwhile, Frederic has yet to debut for the Oilers as he continues to recover from a lower-body injury. With Edmonton now sitting third in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Los Angeles Kings and seven back of the Vegas Golden Knights, they are hoping to have Frederic by the end of the first week in April and will look to get back on the winning track Saturday night versus the Calgary Flames.

Next: NHL Trade Talk Weekend Rumors: Oilers, Blackhawks, Canucks