The Oilers Are Officially Out of the Race to Acquire a Forward From St. Louis

NHL insider Pierre LeBrun reported today that the St. Louis Blues are willing to retain salary on a trade involving Pavel Buchnevich. The star winger has another season left on his deal after this one with a 5.8 million dollar cap hit. He also reported that the Blues asking price is high enough that some western conference teams are out on him. LeBrun specifically cites the Oilers and Knights as teams that have asked about him but have balked at the price.

Buchnevich has 24 goals and 48 points this season in 58 games with the Blues. He has 159 goals and 386 points in 495 total career NHL games, split between the Blues and the Rangers.

All of that being said, the Oilers are reportedly looking for help in multiple areas of their team. The organization is reportedly willing to part with their 1st round pick if they can get the right defenseman in return.

The Oilers have famously been an offense-first team throughout the McDavid-Draisaitl era. However, that strategy has not done well in the playoffs, so perhaps targeting defense makes more sense for the team anyways.