A plethora of new names have arrived on <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/islanders-brock-nelson-leads-first-trade-targets-board-of-2025">Daily Faceoff&#8217;s trade targets list</a> and with the trade deadline two months to the day away, it&#8217;s time to start digging deeper and deeper into who makes the most sense for the Edmonton Oilers to target.

Among the names are Chicago Blackhawks winger — and former Oilers first overall pick — Taylor Hall. And as Daily Faceoff&#8217;s Frank Seravalli lists, has seen his year &#8220;be a grind for Hall as much as it&#8217;s been for the Blackhawks.&#8221;
&#8220;His production numbers aren’t bad, but there was <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/nhl-notebook-blackhawks-taylor-hall-healthy-scratched-saturday-night-against-canucks">a glaring healthy scratch</a> from previous coach Luke Richardson that grabbed everyone’s attention,&#8221; Seravalli added. &#8220;The vast majority of Hall’s production has been at even-strength (18 of 21 points) and he’s capable of playing all over the lineup. Hall said he wanted to stay in Chicago, but that doesn’t seem likely at this point. The Hawks retaining half on Hall will make him an intriguing target.&#8221;
Hall has had an up-and-down year himself, scoring eight goals and 21 points in 39 games, even seeing himself as a healthy scratch at one point this season, as Seravalli highlighted.
It&#8217;s more than well known at this point the Oilers top needs are on the blue line rather than up front — more on that later — but if there&#8217;s a scenario where <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/12/19/evander-kane-reportedly-wont-return-to-the-oilers-until-march-at-the-absolute-earliest/">Evander Kane</a> isn&#8217;t able to return from injury during the regular season, it would make sense for Edmonton to sniff around the forward ranks, too. Hall&#8217;s contributions this season have seen him drive offence at a six percent rate above league average and defence at a three percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz.
If the Oilers could pick him up at half of his current $6-million contract, that could be an appealing option.
<h2>What about the blue line?</h2>
I never thought you&#8217;d ask.
<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/11/12/could-cody-ceci-rasmus-ristolainen-ivan-provorov-and-cam-fowler-be-among-trade-targets-for-the-oilers/">The options</a>, at least from Seravalli&#8217;s list, are fairly limited. Just six of the 25 players he listed are defencemen, and only two of them are right-shots: Rasmus Ristolainen and Will Borgen. There&#8217;s also Ivan Proverov, who can play either side, who could also be appealing to the Oilers.
Ristolainen was talked about by <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/09/24/could-defenceman-rasmus-ristolainen-be-a-target-for-the-oilers/">Oilersnation&#8217;s Sunil Agnihotri</a> in late September, and his individual impacts have been stronger than his on-ice numbers reveal. While the Flyers are controlling just 41.3 percent of the goal share and 50.7 of the expected goal share with him on the ice at five-on-five, they also have a .870 on-ice save percentage.
Individually, he&#8217;s contributing at the highest rate of his entire career, according to Hockey Viz, with them being at the rate of a high-end first-pairing defenceman. He drives offence at a one percent rate below league average, but defence at a four percent rate above league average.
With two years left on a deal paying him $5.1-million per year, money could be an issue, but he&#8217;s an appealing candidate.
Borgen, meanwhile, doesn&#8217;t have as much money on his deal left, owed just $2.7-million for the remainder of the year, and while the New York Rangers acquired him not long ago in the Kaapo Kakko trade, they could look to flip him. He is a less appealing option and likely wouldn&#8217;t be an impact player, contributing at the rate of a low-end third-pairing defenceman with poor offensive and defensive metrics, according to Hockey Viz.
Lastly, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-search-for-defensive-help-opens-new-options-as-insider-lists-potential-fits">Provorov has been linked to the Oilers already</a>, and is likely what the Oilers are looking most for. A pending unrestricted free agent with a $6.75-million cap hit, Seravalli noted that &#8220;it&#8217;s far from a slam dunk that Provorov is on the move,&#8221; highlighting how the Columbus Blue Jackets still find themselves in the playoff mix, but his &#8220;mobility and commitment to defend&#8221; are two of his big pluses.
<hr />
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, and senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QX_QCiZyIo&amp;list=PLRSWOpthKmdtmFOKQDd7TQdTU2KSKXYvX">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at <a href="http://www.x.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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A plethora of new names have arrived on <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/islanders-brock-nelson-leads-first-trade-targets-board-of-2025">Daily Faceoff's trade targets list</a> and with the trade deadline two months to the day away, it's time to start digging deeper and deeper into who makes the most sense for the Edmonton Oilers to target.



Among the names are Chicago Blackhawks winger — and former Oilers first overall pick — Taylor Hall. And as Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli lists, has seen his year "be a grind for Hall as much as it's been for the Blackhawks."

"His production numbers aren’t bad, but there was <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/nhl-notebook-blackhawks-taylor-hall-healthy-scratched-saturday-night-against-canucks">a glaring healthy scratch</a> from previous coach Luke Richardson that grabbed everyone’s attention," Seravalli added. "The vast majority of Hall’s production has been at even-strength (18 of 21 points) and he’s capable of playing all over the lineup. Hall said he wanted to stay in Chicago, but that doesn’t seem likely at this point. The Hawks retaining half on Hall will make him an intriguing target."

Hall has had an up-and-down year himself, scoring eight goals and 21 points in 39 games, even seeing himself as a healthy scratch at one point this season, as Seravalli highlighted.

It's more than well known at this point the Oilers top needs are on the blue line rather than up front — more on that later — but if there's a scenario where <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/12/19/evander-kane-reportedly-wont-return-to-the-oilers-until-march-at-the-absolute-earliest/">Evander Kane</a> isn't able to return from injury during the regular season, it would make sense for Edmonton to sniff around the forward ranks, too. Hall's contributions this season have seen him drive offence at a six percent rate above league average and defence at a three percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz.

If the Oilers could pick him up at half of his current $6-million contract, that could be an appealing option.
<h2>What about the blue line?</h2>
I never thought you'd ask.

<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/11/12/could-cody-ceci-rasmus-ristolainen-ivan-provorov-and-cam-fowler-be-among-trade-targets-for-the-oilers/">The options</a>, at least from Seravalli's list, are fairly limited. Just six of the 25 players he listed are defencemen, and only two of them are right-shots: Rasmus Ristolainen and Will Borgen. There's also Ivan Proverov, who can play either side, who could also be appealing to the Oilers.

Ristolainen was talked about by <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/09/24/could-defenceman-rasmus-ristolainen-be-a-target-for-the-oilers/">Oilersnation's Sunil Agnihotri</a> in late September, and his individual impacts have been stronger than his on-ice numbers reveal. While the Flyers are controlling just 41.3 percent of the goal share and 50.7 of the expected goal share with him on the ice at five-on-five, they also have a .870 on-ice save percentage.

Individually, he's contributing at the highest rate of his entire career, according to Hockey Viz, with them being at the rate of a high-end first-pairing defenceman. He drives offence at a one percent rate below league average, but defence at a four percent rate above league average.

With two years left on a deal paying him $5.1-million per year, money could be an issue, but he's an appealing candidate.

Borgen, meanwhile, doesn't have as much money on his deal left, owed just $2.7-million for the remainder of the year, and while the New York Rangers acquired him not long ago in the Kaapo Kakko trade, they could look to flip him. He is a less appealing option and likely wouldn't be an impact player, contributing at the rate of a low-end third-pairing defenceman with poor offensive and defensive metrics, according to Hockey Viz.

Lastly, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-search-for-defensive-help-opens-new-options-as-insider-lists-potential-fits">Provorov has been linked to the Oilers already</a>, and is likely what the Oilers are looking most for. A pending unrestricted free agent with a $6.75-million cap hit, Seravalli noted that "it's far from a slam dunk that Provorov is on the move," highlighting how the Columbus Blue Jackets still find themselves in the playoff mix, but his "mobility and commitment to defend" are two of his big pluses.

<hr />

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, and senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QX_QCiZyIo&amp;list=PLRSWOpthKmdtmFOKQDd7TQdTU2KSKXYvX">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at <a href="http://www.x.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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Star Mechanical is one of Edmonton’s biggest locally owned and operated plumbing and heating businesses. They have been working within the community for over 20 years, and many of the homes built in Edmonton over the last two decades have had their plumbing and heating systems installed by Star Mechanical.  Visit them at <a href="http://starmechanical.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://starmechanical.ca&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1707492487512000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2mVs3WUkp8iUCZ0kJRe9lJ">starmechanical.ca</a> to schedule an appointment and let them help keep your home running smoothly.

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