How Sharks benefit from Oilers’ Jason Dickinson trade

The San Jose Sharks are making a playoff push and could be buyers at the NHL trade deadline. That is a new sensation for San Jose, as they were sellers as recently as last season. They traded Jake Walman to the Edmonton Oilers for a 2026 first-round pick, but Edmonton’s Jason Dickinson trade changed the protections on that pick.

“The [Sharks] now own Edmonton’s 2026 first-round pick unprotected to complete the Jake Walman trade: It had previously been top-12 protected, unless Edmonton moved its 2027 1st, which is now going to Chicago (top-12 protected) in the Jason Dickinson deal,” TSN’s Chris Johnston reported.

If the Oilers’ pick had landed in the top-12 of the draft this year, the Sharks would have ended up with their 2027 pick. But that is not possible, as the Chicago Blackhawks now own that pick. The Oilers are likely to make the playoffs, which makes the point moot anyway.

The Sharks have already made one buying move this season, getting Kiefer Sherwood from the Vancouver Canucks. They traded two second-round picks to land him back in January. He just signed a five-year extension to remain in San Jose beyond this season.

The Sharks are opening a championship window and have two first-round picks in the upcoming draft. They need defensemen, as their top prospects are almost all forwards. If they could land a defenseman with the Oilers’ pick, it would be a good use of it. That could be either at the trade deadline or in the draft.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Toronto Maple Leafs would be the perfect fit for the Sharks. Giving up the Oilers’ pick to land him would not deplete their prospect pool and drastically improve the offense. What could San Jose do with this extra first-round pick they have?

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