Stan Bowman is about to make the trade nobody saw coming

Stan Bowman is not waiting around. If the Edmonton Oilers miss on a top free agent, the Vancouver Canucks are next on his call list.

That is the word from Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now this week, and it fits everything Bowman has done since taking over as GM in July 2024.

Oilers insider Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now says if the Oilers miss out on a veteran forward in free agency, the next move could be exploring a trade with the Vancouver Canucks.

Stay tuned...

Edmonton finished 41-30-11 this year, good for 93 points and a second-place spot in the division.

The Oilers then went 2-4 against Anaheim in a six-game playoff series this spring.

They closed the regular season on a 6-2-2 run, proof the roster still has bite when the lineup is healthy and rolling.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl already carry 12.5 million and 14 million against the cap. There is not a lot of room left for a big free agent swing.

Enter Vancouver. The Canucks finished 25-49-8, dead last in the league at 32nd overall, which puts Ryan Johnson in sell mode heading into the summer.

Why Vancouver looks like a willing trade partner

Elias Pettersson still carries an 11.6 million cap hit on a team that just posted a minus-100 goal differential, 216 goals for against 316 against.

That gap between name value and results is exactly the kind of mismatch that gets trade calls returned quickly.

Edmonton already knows what beating up on Vancouver looks like this season. The Oilers went 3-0-1 against the Canucks, including a 6-0 win in January and a 6-1 finish in April.

A trade built off cap relief and desperation rarely favors the team doing the selling, and Vancouver would be selling from a spot of real weakness here.

Bowman has run Edmonton front office since July 2024, and this would not be his first time picking up the phone to reshape a lineup.

Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remain part of Edmonton top six scoring depth, with Hyman posting 52 points in 58 games and Nugent-Hopkins adding 56 in 72.

None of that changes the math. If July free agency does not deliver the forward Edmonton wants, Vancouver picks up the phone, and Bowman already has their number.