Oilers Rumors: McDavid Trade Demand Speculation

The Edmonton Oilers are looking to finish out the season strongly, as they hope to have another deep playoff run and finally win their first Stanley Cup since 1990. Recently, they picked up a win against the Anaheim Ducks, which marked just the second time this season that they were able to string together three wins in a row.

In this edition of Oilers News & Rumours, we take a look at some speculation claiming Connor McDavid could demand a trade, a roster move involving James Hamblin, and some milestones for Jack Roslovic and Evan Bouchard.

With the Oilers dealing with some struggles defensively and having inconsistency between the pipes, fans and pundits constantly wonder if the lack of success has started to bother Connor McDavid, with some going as far as to wonder if he could demand a trade. Gerry Moddejonge of the Edmonton Journal writes: “Of course, it’s willful ignorance around here that fans choose to remain blind to the fact Connor McDavid could demand a trade at any point. And he is a guy who gets what he wants — unless, of course, we’re talking about bringing the Stanley Cup back to Edmonton. The harsh truth is he may end up having to go elsewhere in order to cement his legacy with the hardest trophy there is to win in professional sports.”

Unfortunately, speculation surrounding McDavid will last as long as the Oilers go without winning a Stanley Cup with him and Leon Draisaitl on the roster, but there still seems to be no worries in the organization about McDavid’s commitment to winning and staying with the Oilers.

The Oilers made a roster move recently, calling up James Hamblin on an emergency recall basis, but then sent him back down without him playing in a single game. Hamblin has been playing well in the American Hockey League (AHL) this season and has earned a call-up at some point, but it seems as though that opportunity will have to wait.

This roster move does hint at another player dealing with a minor issue, but it’s possible someone was just sick and was questionable, and the Oilers would rather be safe just in case. Either way, Hamblin is back in the AHL.

Evan Bouchard and Jack Roslovic have both been playing extremely solid hockey this season, and both of them recently reached a milestone. Bouchard scored his 20th goal of the season, and is up to 86 points at the time of this article being released. He leads the league in points by a defender and has continued to make a strong case for himself to win the Norris Trophy this season. This is the first time Bouchard has scored 20 goals in a single season.

Roslovic also scored his 20th goal of the season, and is up to 32 points on the season. This is the third time in his career he has reached this milestone, and the second consecutive time he has done so.