New Report Connects The Edmonton Oilers To A Former First-Round Pick To Pair With Leon Draisaitl

The Oilers focus to this point has reportedly been keeping their core group together on long-term extensions.

However, a new report has also indicated the Oilers could make a splash on the trade market for a young star.

Edmonton Oilers Reporter Connects The Team To A Former First-Round Pick

Now, Oilers reporter Jim Matheson has connected those dots to Chicago Blackhawks winger Lukas Reichel, who appears to be treading water in Chicago and could be a good pickup for Stan Bowman.

The 23-year old was a former first-round pick back in 2020 by none other than Bowman himself, and after struggling to find his footing with a lack of elite players around him, he could be a low-risk, high reward pickup for the Oilers.

On top of that, he's international teammates with Oilers star Leon Draisaitl, and if the team could get him for cheap, he could become a player that solidifies himself in Edmonton as a genuine star.

In 2024/25 with little talent around him, Reichel posted 8 goals and 22 points in 70 games, and while that doesn't look great, he comes cheap with a salary cap hit of $1.2 million this season, and if the Oilers could land him, even if it doesn't work out, he's a free agent in the summer of 2026.

There are many targets for the Oilers out there this summer, with the team clearly needing to shake things up with their current roster, but few are more low-risk than Reichel, and with his connections to Leon Draisaitl, whom he'll be playing alongside at the Olympics, a deal to acquire him would be a no-brainer.