The Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of having too many players in the NHL. At least one trade and a couple of moves are imminent. The question is, with all the rumors swirling about who is going to go, which players will be traded or sent down.
The Oilers have options, but Alec Regula kicked off the return party and has been inserted back into the starting six, ahead of Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher.
With eight healthy NHL defensemen and the Oilers only sparingly, at best, dressing seven defensemen for a game, at least one has to go. From multiple insiders, the Oilers have been doing their due diligence for two of them, and Regula doesn’t seem to be in the conversation to be moved.
Stecher May Be the Easy Trade for the Oilers
Stecher played a significant portion of the season for Edmonton last season, but changes have been made since he was a regular in the lineup, like Jake Walman being a member of the team and Regula taking a step forward.
On Saturday Headlines, Elliotte Friedman said, “They got a lot of guys coming back from injury. One of the names that’s definitely going around…Troy Stecher. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Stecher. I think the Oilers have considered a bunch of things.”
A couple of days later, Elliotte Friedman was on Oilers Now and added, “I think with Stecher it was more along the lines, he’s not playing very much, and he’d like to get going…the Oilers know that. His was the name I heard on the weekend. They were trying to get him somewhere.”
Stecher only got into games this season for the Edmonton Oilers because Walman started the season injured and Regula got hurt after two games. After playing six games, logging less than 14 minutes per game of ice time, and playing no special teams, Stecher is the eighth d-man on the roster and should be the next man out, whether that’s in a trade or to the AHL.
Stecher isn’t going to cost very much for a team to acquire, but it is also believed the Oilers could get something for him.
Emberson Will Provide More Value in a Trade
The Edmonton Oilers committed to the 25-year-old Emberson for two years, and he has more value than Stecher, but with a healthy squad, it seems like he is an odd man out.
On Insider Notebook, Frank Seravalli shared, “I would move Ty Emberson first. I actually think the Oilers could find some value for him on the trade market.” That could mean a mid-round pick given that he is a solid third-pairing defenseman, has another year on his deal, and has a cap hit of just $1.3 million AAV.
Frank Seravalli also added to that on Oilers Now, saying, “I think Ty Emberson would have value for teams out there that are looking for a player…look at Carolina and the injuries they’ve got. That’s the type of well that Carolina would be digging in to try and acquire.”
The Oilers liked the games of both Stecher and Emberson last season, but 2025-26 is a new season with new pieces. The team is still trying to figure some things out and GM Stan Bowman isn’t sitting on his hands in the hope that everything will figure itself out. It is highly likely that one of the two d-men is traded very soon.
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