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Oilers 2026 trade deadline target: Ryan Hartman

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Ryley Delaney | Last updated Feb 24, 2026 11:00 AM ET

Ryan Hartman is an interesting player to keep an eye on ahead of the March 6th trade deadline.

Every player or team we’ve looked at so far in this series has been on a team that will sell in the next couple of weeks. Hartman is not the case, as the Minnesota Wild are firmly in a playoff spot after acquiring Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks earlier this season.

Hartman is available because the Wild want to clear cap space for a second big addition after acquiring Quinn Hughes earlier this year. Hartman, a right-shot centre, is an interesting name for a team like the Edmonton Oilers.

In Daily Faceoff’s latest trade board, Hartman was considered an obvious trade candidate. Let’s take a look at the fit, his cap hit, and the potential cost of acquisition.

Ryan Hartman’s fit

Hartman is a right-shot centre who has 14 goals and 26 points in 54 games, already surpassing his goal total and matching his point total from last season. Over 82 games, the 31-year-old is on pace for 14 goals and 39 points, fantastic production from a third-line centre or a middle-six winger. That said, it’s a far cry from his career-best season that came back in 2021-22, as Hartman potted 34 goals and 65 points in 82 games that season.

While he won’t be winning a Selke Trophy in his career, nor is he a good faceoff taker (43 percent in 2025-26, 44.9 percent for his career), Hartman would be a valuable piece. Something they’ve been missing for a while is chipiness, and Hartman has that in spades. Some could say a little too much, as he’s been suspended numerous times throughout his career. Still, it’s something that the Oilers can use a little bit more of heading into the playoffs.

Hartman is capable of playing in the top six or centring his own line, so he’s definitely a fit for the Oilers, but what about his cap situation?

Ryan Hartman’s cap hit

If the Oilers wish to acquire anyone before March 6th’s trade deadline, Andrew Mangiapane and his $3.6 million cap hit will need to be traded. It looks as if Adam Henrique is set to be activated from long-term injured reserve in the coming days, so they’ll already need to make a move to gain some more cap space.

Hartman has a cap hit of $4 million, becoming a free agent after the 2026-27 season. While the money works in a Mangiapane for Hartman swap, it doesn’t make sense for the Wild as they’re looking to acquire a top six forward, nor does it make sense for them to retain a portion of Hartman’s salary.

So realistically, the Oilers would need to move Mangiapane in a separate trade and make another cap-clearing move, whether that be sending someone down (like Mattias Janmark and/or Alec Regula), or adding someone to LTIR (like Kasperi Kapanen).

Hartman’s cap hit makes any type of trade between the Wild and Oilers difficult, but what would his cost be?

Ryan Hartman’s cost of acquisition

Since the Wild are potentially looking to clear space, it stands to reason they’d be looking for a lesser package than they otherwise would be. That said, Hartman is still a good player with some value in the playoffs, so it could cost the Oilers a pretty penny to land him.

Trades between contenders don’t happen a whole lot, but the best example of that would be last season when the Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes, and Dallas Stars played hot potato with Mikko Rantanen. Clearly, Rantanen is a few tiers above the calibre that Hartman is, but those two trades saw a whole lot of draft picks exchanged, as well as the team trading Hartman getting a need back.

Unfortunately for the Oilers, they don’t really have a top six forward to trade the Wild, so that’s another facet that just makes a hypothetical trade nearly impossible.