Canucks, Oilers Complete AHL Trade Swapping Grubbe and Bloom
Both players are in the final year of their entry-level deals — neither was likely to re-sign with their current club anyway.
The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers quietly reshuffled their minor-league depth Friday, completing a post-deadline swap that sends 22-year-old winger Josh Bloom to Edmonton in exchange for 23-year-old forward Jayden Grubbe.
The deal, an AHL-level transaction between the Abbotsford Canucks and the Bakersfield Condors, carries no playoff implications for either player. Trades completed after the NHL trade deadline bar the involved players from suiting up for their new clubs in the postseason, making this purely a look-ahead move for both organizations.
The Oilers' announcement described Grubbe as a 6'3", 201-pound right-shot center and wing who was drafted 65th overall by the New York Rangers in 2021 before his rights were traded to Edmonton in May 2023. He signed a three-year entry-level contract through 2025-26, his final season under that deal. After playing college hockey at the University of Denver and spending two seasons with the Bakersfield Condors, Grubbe dropped to the ECHL this year with the Fort Wayne Komets, posting seven goals and 12 assists in 28 games while also missing nearly half the season to injury. The Oilers characterized him as a versatile two-way forward capable of penalty killing, projecting him as a bottom-six depth piece.
Bloom's 2025-26 season tells a starker story. The Oakville, Ontario native, selected 95th overall by Vancouver in the 2021 draft, put up 15 goals and 13 assists in just 19 ECHL games with the Kalamazoo Wings. But his production stalled badly upon promotion to Abbotsford, where he managed only one goal in 19 AHL games alongside a minus-12 rating. He ranked 15th on Vancouver's prospect list entering the season. A 2024 Memorial Cup champion with the host Saginaw Spirit, Bloom also played for the North Bay Battalion during his OHL career. The Oilers plan to assign him to their ECHL affiliate, the Fort Wayne Komets.
With both players finishing the final year of their entry-level contracts, the most likely explanation for the move is straightforward: neither organization was planning to re-sign them. Bloom's ECHL numbers — 28 points in 19 games — edge out Grubbe's 19 points in 28 games by a significant margin on a per-game basis, giving Vancouver a prospect who at least demonstrated he can score at that level. Whether either player converts these fresh starts into professional contracts next fall remains the only question worth watching.
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