It's actually mind blowng to me that the Oilers did not trade a single first rounder at the deadline in the McDavid/Drasaitl era. If I was either of them I'd have asked out at this point just on that principle. It's not like the Oilers are turning those first rounders into gold - their drafting is trash. Even a "hit" like Yamamoto happens in a draft where other teams pick Norris, Thomas, Chytil, Jokiharju, Hague, Robertson right around there.
Imagine the Oilers going into the playoffs with Orlov and Hathaway on top of their roster, plus O'Reilly. They could have paid for both and given up about what the Leafs were comfortable giving up this deadline, on top of the Leafs having paid substantially last year for Giordano and the year before for Foligno. Yet the Leafs are still fine as an organization going forward prospect wise, not great but not terrible. Tampa, an infinitely better organization than Edmonton did not shy from overpaying for the group of Coleman, Goodrow, Savard, Hagel and Jeannot, and have a lot more to show for it than Edmonton. Like, you can trade for players who are cost controlled RFAs or on multi year contracts like Toronto did with McCabe if you're that scurred of burning a 1st for just a few months of play. Someone tell Holland that a Tanner Jeannot can be relatively cheaply extended to remain with your team for a long time and a 2023 1st and 2nd probably had as much value to Nashville with David Poile going out with a bang in his final chance to draft a mofo as Tampa's gazillion 2025 picks.
I guess Edmonton can look forward to having a middle of the road team when Holloway, Broberg, Bourgault and Bouchard all hit their primes as mid lineup players in the post McDavid era
