The Edmonton Oilers were eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday night, and there was much rejoicing – at least amongst the supporters of the Vancouver Canucks. In a season where there was little to cheer for in Canuckland, there was still plenty to cheer against, and the Oilers were pretty close to the top of that list.

But the Oilers’ loss may have some more direct implications for the Canucks when the offseason truly begins in a couple of months and trades begin to occur.

It’s no big secret that the Canucks’ Jake DeBrusk is likely to be traded this summer. President of Hockey Ops Jim Rutherford has talked about the need to move a few more veterans and bring in more future assets, and DeBrusk is one of the most movable veterans who could still feasibly bring back a decent return. DeBrusk himself made comments about not wanting to go through a rebuild, and though he later walked those comments back, it seems likely that he would, indeed, welcome a trade under the right circumstances.

DeBrusk’s willingness to accept a trade is a big part of the picture, because his contract includes a full no-movement clause through the end of the 2026-27 season. On July 1, 2027, that clause turns into a 15-team no-trade clause. Until then, DeBrusk has full control over his destination.

But if we were to pick out destinations that DeBrusk would say ‘yes’ to, then that’s another list where the Edmonton Oilers rank right at the top. DeBrusk was born in Edmonton during his father, Louie’s, six-year career with the Oilers. Louie still colour-commentates on Oilers games for Sportsnet.

Edmonton and DeBrusk were rumoured to have a strong mutual interest back in the summer of 2024, when DeBrusk was a UFA, before he ultimately signed with Vancouver. One has to assume that part of the reason he chose Vancouver was to be at least as close to his hometown and family as possible without outright signing in Edmonton. Now, if a trade to the Oilers is possible, why would DeBrusk say ‘no’?

The Oilers are not going through a rebuild of their own, at least not yet. They’ve still got Connor McDavid under contract for two more seasons, and unless he demands a trade or something like that, their goal will be to contend for those two seasons.

When we put it like that, it’s kind of hard to imagine DeBrusk invoking his NMC if a trade to Edmonton were to be on the table. So, the real question is whether or not the Oilers are still interested in DeBrusk.

Quite obviously, offence will not be the number one offseason priority in Edmonton. They scored 21 goals in six games against the Ducks, which is the third-most of any team in the playoffs thus far. But they also allowed 26 goals against, which is the most of any team. The Oilers allowed the third-most shots against in the first round at a rate of 32.3 per game, and those shots didn’t get stopped very often, as Edmonton had a team save percentage of .866, also the worst of the first round.

Fixing the blueline and the goaltending have to take precedent for the Oilers.

But there may be a need for more offensive ability, too, especially as it pertains to scoring depth and complementary wingers. The usual suspects stepped up, with Leon Draisaitl leading the first round in scoring with ten points, Evan Bouchard notching seven points, and McDavid himself posting a pedestrian-but-still-PPG six points. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had five points in six games, and a couple of depth scorers in Kasperi Kapanen and former Canuck Vasily Podkolzin also stepped up with six-point series of their own.

But the entire rest of the Oilers roster scored just seven goals in those six games. Even if Zach Hyman, who had just two goals and no assists in six games, has a bounce back, one can easily look at the Oilers’ top-six and see it is short at least one true top-six-quality winger, and is probably realistically short, too.

The playoff Oilers definitely struggled to produce on the power play. In the regular season, they led the league with a 30.6% success rate. In the playoffs, that dropped to 28.6%, the third-best, which doesn’t sound like that much of a drop-off, until one looks at the actual totals. And the actual totals show that the Oilers scored just four power play goals in their six games against the Ducks. The actual totals show that only four different Oilers recorded a power play point in round one, those being McDavid (4), Bouchard (4), Draisaitl (3), and Nugent-Hopkins (1).

As much of a priority as fixing the blueline and the crease should be in Edmonton, giving that trio of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard someone else to play with, especially on the power play, should be a decently high priority itself.

Enter: Jake DeBrusk.

DeBrusk was famously a power play specialist in 2025-26, notching 19 power play goals, the third-most in the entire NHL. Never mind that DeBrusk only had four even-strength goals. Put him on a wing with McDavid or Draisaitl, and we imagine that total goes up considerably.

Put DeBrusk at the net-front on the power play with McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard directing pucks at him, specifically, and see what happens. That’s normally Hyman’s role, but Hyman’s performance in 2025-26 draws questions about how long he will continue to be effective in that role. At the very least, DeBrusk gives them power play options they don’t currently have.

And as streaky and inconsistent as DeBrusk might be, it’s not hard to see that he’d still be a higher quality winger than most of what the Oilers have brought in lately, especially if he ends up on Draisaitl’s wing. Draisaitl’s most frequent wingers over the past couple of seasons have been names like Podkolzin, Kapanen, and Jack Roslovic. DeBrusk is undoubtedly an upgrade there.

In a vacuum, there does appear to be a fit.

DeBrusk’s contract could be seen as a stumbling block, but then again, perhaps not. His $5.5 million cap hit is rapidly becoming average second line money, and after another round of UFA signings this July, that’ll be even truer. There’s little doubt that signing someone of DeBrusk’s quality this summer would require a higher AAV.

Still, even if the price is right, it may not be one the Oilers can afford. They’ve got about $16.5 million in offseason spending room, but a lot of that will go to replacing or re-signing UFAs like Roslovic, Kapanen, Jason Dickinson, and Connor Murphy. Then, there’s the money that will need to be set aside for blueline and/or crease upgrades.

Still, a $5.5 million cap hit should be fittable if the Oilers want to make it happen. And if there’s some difficulty with it, the Canucks could always help the Oilers out by accepting a minor cap dump back in the transaction, like Mattias Janmark (one year remaining at $1.45 million) or maybe even Tristan Jarry (two years at $5.375 million), depending on what happens with Vancouver’s goaltending. For an additional return, of course.

The asking price might be what attracts the Oilers to DeBrusk more than anything. If the Canucks have a desire to move additional veterans, DeBrusk will be one of them, especially if the Canucks draft a winger early, and his NMC presents a difficulty. If Edmonton is willing to take him, and he’s willing to go there, both of which seem likely, then the Canucks are probably fine taking back something like a second round pick just to see the business complete. Add in a couple of additional sweeteners for any required cap dumps (or a major sweetener if we’re talking Jarry), and we might just wind up with a trade that works for everyone involved.

A homecoming to Edmonton for DeBrusk makes a lot of conceptual sense, and depending on how the rest of the offseason goes for the Oilers and Canucks, it could make a lot of practical sense, too. If one were to make any concrete guesses about any particular Canucks going to any particular destinations this offseason, DeBrusk to Edmonton seems like the safest bet of them all.