The Western Conference standing are tight and there will be no such thing as a easy opponent when the Stanley Cup Playoff kick off. There has been somewhat of an arms race in recent days between Western Conference teams as the March 7th trade deadline creeps ever closer.

The Stars may not just be looking at the rental. One pending UFA they’ve shown interest in is center Brock Nelson. They’ve been reportedly linked to defensemen Seth Jones and Erik Karlsson, but those would be complicated trades to make, though not impossible.

With goalie targets dropping like flies, the Edmonton Oilers might have no choice but to add a defenseman at the trade deadline.

The Dallas Stars have been devastated by injuries throughout the 2024-25 campaign, and they could use some replacements before the playoffs.

Forward Max Jones will make debut with the Edmonton Oilers when they host the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Place on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, SNW). Jones and forward Trent Frederic each was acquired from the Boston Bruins as part of a three-team trade also involving the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday and met their new teammates Thursday.

Before Thursday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, the Sharks had already traded goalie Vitek Vanecek and center Nico Sturm to the Florida Panthers in separate deals. In February, San Jose sent forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci to the Dallas Stars, and goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to the Avalanche in December.

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 NHL trade deadline. EDMONTON — Amid talk of the Edmonton Oilers being a “fragile team,” according to their coach, something must change to prevent a once-promising season from slipping away.

Here are the 14 games that the Oilers have in March 2025: March 1 (Saturday) vs. Carolina Hurricanes @ 5:00 PM Mountain (Away) March 10 (Monday) vs. Buffalo Sabres @ 5:00 PM Mountain (Away) March 13 (Thursday) vs. New Jersey Devils @ 5:30 PM Mountain (Away)

The Golden Knights spent the first part of the season taking control of the Pacific Division. Then they played only so-so hockey in January and let the Oilers to catch them.