June 26, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers have had a little more than a week to let the reality of their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final loss sink in. The draft is upon us, which means it’s time to go back to the drawing board to figure out what roster moves need to be made to get this team across the finish line.

Oilers GM Stan Bowman has a difficult job ahead of him this summer. Expectations are sky high in Oil Country, as they should be. While the salary cap has risen to $95.5 million, the Oilers will be tight against the cap once again due to big raises for Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard. Bowman already shed some cap space by moving Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, and more cap space is expected to be created by moving Viktor Arvidsson in the coming days.

Related: Kane traded to the Canucks

The amount of cap space available to the Oilers will differ depending on which site you look at because each site includes different players on their active roster. For example, PuckPedia has Max Jones on the active roster whereas I don’t believe that Jones will start the year on the active roster. Here is how the Oilers 2025-26 roster looks as of Thursday night in my estimation:

Player Total: $71,399,166

I did not include Arvidsson on this roster because it’s just a matter of time until he is moved.

Players in square brackets are either impending unrestricted free agents or restricted free agents. The most notable player in square brackets is Bouchard. The exact value of his contract is not yet known, but every rumour out there says the AAV will be approximately $10 million, so it’s safe to use that number for budgeting purposes. That brings the available cap space down to $11,550,834.

The AAV of Trent Frederic’s impending extension is believed to be just shy of $4 million, so I’ll use that number for budgeting here. That brings the available cap space for the Oilers down to $7,550,834.

It sounds like the Oilers are in talks with Connor Brown, Corey Perry, and Kasperi Kapanen. I don’t have clarity on the numbers for any of those three players, but it sounds like both Brown and Perry are looking for raises. Kapanen is likely to ask for a raise as well, but I’m not sure that he will get much of one. I’m confident that the Oilers would have enough space to bring all three players back. I’m less confident that they would have enough left to upgrade the roster if all three of these players were to return.

That’s where the challenge lies for Bowman. The depth forwards of the Oilers were a big reason that the team advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers managed to saw off the five-on-five goal battle (4-4) when Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl weren’t on the ice in the Stanley Cup Final; but it was clear that the Florida Panthers top nine bested the Oilers top nine. Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy on the second line, and Brad Marchand had a tremendous series on their third line. Draisaitl needs a higher quality winger, and the third line needs to be more productive.

Related: Oilers vs Panthers II: Stanley Cup Final Wrap

Filling the second pairing right defence spot was a challenge for the Oilers all year long, and it was a clear issue in the Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers tried multiple configurations with their defence pairings. Troy Stecher performed admirably alongside Darnell Nurse throughout the season and especially in the playoffs, but it didn’t work in the Stanley Cup Final. John Klingberg gave the Oilers a nice stretch in the playoffs once he returned to something resembling full health, but June hockey proved to be too fast for him. Playing any of Brett Kulak, Mattias Ekholm, and Jake Walman on their off side limited the success they could have in the Stanley Cup Final. Ideally, the Oilers would add a second pairing right-handed defenceman that can move the puck.

The most talked about issue facing the Oilers is the goaltending. Stuart Skinner is too inconsistent for most people’s liking, and he wasn’t at his best when it mattered this spring. Calvin Pickard had a brilliant playoff run, but he ultimately isn’t someone that instills a ton of confidence as a goalie that can lead a team to the promised land.

$7,550,834 is supposed to round out the forward group, improve the top nine, land a quality second pairing right-handed defenceman, and secure an upgrade in net. If Bowman wants to accomplish all of that, then he will need to make some hard decisions.

Those hard decisions might include not spending upwards of $5 million on Brown and Perry. It might also include moving another player making significant dollars.There was a report on Thursday that draft eligible defenceman Radim Mrtka has spoken to exactly two teams: the Utah Mammoth and the Oilers. The Oilers currently don’t pick until pick 83. Mrtka is expected to go in the middle of the first round. If the Oilers want to take him, then they would need to trade into the first round like they did last year. You have to give something up to get something. It could be a future first rounder like it was last year. It could also be a roster player.

Social media was buzzing on Thursday evening after someone realized that Darnell Nurse’s Instagram bio doesn’t say “Oilers” on it. Bob Stauffer also made a cryptic comment on Oilers Now on Thursday. He said that Oilers fans “will have something to talk about soon”. One of McDavid’s best friends waiving his no-movement clause to leave a team that has been to two consecutive Stanley Cup Finals just as McDavid is becoming eligible to sign a long-term contract extension would certainly qualify as “something to talk about”. It has since been confirmed that Nurse never had “Oilers” in his Instagram bio, so this is likely a nothing rumour. Nurse’s $9.5 million would certainly give the Oilers some flexibility though.

Shut down the Darnell Nurse rumours, immediately. https://t.co/qPInOIqHca

— Jesse Courville-Lynch (@JCourvilleLynch) June 27, 2025

This won’t be a popular take, but the team can afford to move Ekholm. The Oilers won eleven playoff games without Ekholm this spring, and the defence group was firing on all cylinders while he was injured. Ekholm has been an amazing player for the Oilers, but it might not be wise to carry a 35-year old with a significant groin injury for the last year of his contract. If Ekholm isn’t at 100%, then it’s a risk to keep him. He could miss significant time next season for all we know. It is my belief that this groin issue has been lingering since training camp in 2023. Regardless of whether I’m correct or not, we just watched a player sit out an entire regular season due to a significant core surgery. LTIR might become a possibility for Ekholm. That could lead to more flexibility for the Oilers throughout the season, but that might not be a smart strategy for the Oilers given the current investigation into their usage of LTIR with Kane last season. If Ekholm is able to continue playing without surgery, then he would likely be a ticking time bomb of an injury risk. Given the Oilers’ strength on the left side, it might be wise to move on from Ekholm now if the opportunity exists.

Skinner is another logical candidate to be moved if a goaltending upgrade is to happen. My preference would be to see Pickard moved out over Skinner, but Skinner has a higher cap hit. Elliotte Friedman recently suggested that the Oilers are more likely to trade for a goalie rather than going the free agency route. A team is more likely to want Skinner in return for a higher quality goaltender than Pickard.

Adam Henrique is the only other player with a significant cap hit that could possibly get moved right now. He has a full no-movement clause, so the player is in control; but Bowman might ask him to waive his NMC if a cheaper, faster, and more offensively inclined third line centre was to become available.

The importance of the next week for Bowman and the Oilers can’t be overstated. It isn’t just about building a team that can reach a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final and finish the job. It’s also about showing McDavid that there is a plan in place that would put the Oilers in position to win over the course of his next contract. The prospect cupboard is bare, and only four players are signed beyond 2026-27. Bowman needs to show McDavid that he is committed to winning and that he has an adequate game plan for the future. That is likely going to involve some hard decisions.