Edmonton Oilers Eyeing Two Major Veterans Ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline

This season has been a promising one thus far for the Edmonton Oilers, but with a superstar laden lineup led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, there's no doubting that it's Stanley Cup or bust in 2025 for Edmonton.

To make that happen, there's been plenty of chatter around the trade market, with Elliotte Friedman noting that GM Stan Bowman has been one of the people checking in around veteran Ryan Donato of the Chicago Blackhawks.

This season, Donato has posted 19 goals and 37 points in 53 games with Chicago, who have been a team that has struggled mightily, but at 28-years of age, he's the perfect fit for Edmonton even though they would have plenty of competition to land the star center.

On top of that, Friedman notes the complications around getting Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson involve his desire to be a No. 1 in the league, with the NHL Insider unsure if he'd be open to sharing a net with Stuart Skinner.

Coming into the 2024/25 campaign, it was well known that Gibson was on the Oilers radar, but Friedman now believes that a trade to the Oilers is less likely than it was coming into this season.

Ultimately, goaltending has held the Oilers back in recent Stanley Cup Playoff runs, so if there's a chance to get John Gibson, the team need to go out and make it happen, but for now, it's seemingly not as sure a thing as it once was.