Connor McDavid shared his thoughts on the Edmonton Oilers’ trade deadline moves, including the acquisition of defenseman Jake Walman. Speaking after practice on Saturday, McDavid expressed confidence that Walman will bring value to the team’s defensive core.

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 NHL trade deadline. Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman filled some key areas of need by acquiring Jake Walman to bolster the back end, plus Trent Frederic and Max Jones for some speed and muscle up front. The Oilers are better now than they were at the start of the week.

As reported by TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, the Oilers made a huge push to trade for Rantanen. They were also reportedly willing to sign him to an extension bigger than the eight-year, $96 million deal he ended up inking with the Stars.

Overall, it’s solid but not spectacular work by Jeff Jackson, Stan Bowman and the Oilers' management and scouting groups.

The 29-year-old defender is having a career season. In 50 games, he has 32 points while averaging 23:11 a night. Walman led the Sharks in total time on ice per game, powerplay time on ice per game (2:46), and penalty kill time on ice per game (2:40).

Edmonton Oilers fans knew making a trade for an impactful player today wouldn't be easy, but most still believed something would happen.

As the hours tick down to the deadline, the Canadiens find themselves in the unusual position of valuing the present more than the future.

There’s a big difference between a team on paper and how it performs on the ice. The Edmonton Oilers know all about that, especially after how good the team looked this past July 1 when they signed forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner.