Trade rumours might have NHL fans and media in a frenzy, but they don’t seem to have much impact inside the Edmonton Oilers dressing room.
“You just go out there and play, and worry about what you can control,” winger Zach Hyman matter-of-factly stated after practice on Tuesday at Rogers Place. “You don’t really talk about it to be honest. You just worry about winning.”
To varying degrees, the Oilers have been linked to big-ticket targets like Arizona Coyotes defenceman Jacob Chycrun and San Jose Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson. The trade deadline is March 3.
“I don’t read into it too much” added Hyman. “(Oilers general manager) Kenny (Holland) can pick up the phone and call a GM, but it’s just a phone call.”
“I try to keep my focus sharp by eliminating the white noise,” said head coach Jay Woodcroft. “It is always a time where people are on-edge a little bit. There’s anticipation anytime there’s a deadline surrounding something.”
Neither Leon Draisaitl nor Evander Kane practiced. Woodcroft said it was a maintenance day for both players and they’re expected to play Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 6 p.m., game at 7:30 p.m.).
The Oilers are coming off one of their worst games of the season: a 6-2 loss in Montreal on Sunday.
“I’m very interested in seeing how our team plays the game tomorrow night. Nobody was happy with the way we played in Montreal. We weren’t good enough,” Woodcroft said.
The Oilers won 5-2 in Detroit last Tuesday.