Oilers target 2 players on Maple Leafs roster.

A pair of often bitter Canadian rivals may be laying the groundwork for what could be a very interesting, or perhaps even two very interesting, potential trades ahead of the National Hockey League's trade deadline.

Although the NHL and it's member teams are currently in the midst of a roster freeze due to the upcoming participation of their players in the men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, there has been plenty of trade chatter around the league in recent days. That includes between teams around the league as well, at least that is the case according to NHL insider David Pagnotta who recently revealed that the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs were engaged in talks ahead of the current roster freeze.

"Some word out of Edmonton that leading up to this freeze that they had been having discussion with the Toronto Maple Leafs," revealed Pagnotta.

Much of the trade talk around the Toronto Maple Leafs has focused in on forward Bobby McMann as of late, but according to Pagnotta McMann was not among the Oilers targets. Instead Pagnotta speculated about two other names that he does believe are on the Oilers radar.

"It sounds like maybe it's a Nic Roy, maybe it's an Oliver Ekman-Larsson, those are two that I would not be shocked if they poked on," said Pagnotta.

The insider also hinted at the fact that this could very well be a case of both teams laying the groundwork for what could be a trade coming out of the Olympic roster freeze.

"I was told by a couple people that the Oilers and Leafs had conversations... and that might be something to keep an eye out going out of the break," concluded Pagnotta.

You can hear Pagnotta's full comments in the video below.