Connor McDavid’s desire to win is unrivaled
October 8, 2025
Oilers juggling transitional season with Stanley Cup expectations
October 9, 2025
October 8, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg
Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman’s busy week continues. It’s clear that he wanted to get his most important work done before Wednesday’s home opener. His latest piece of business is a three-year contract extension for Mattias Ekholm that carries an average annual value of $4 million that was announced on Wednesday.
Ekholm has 360 points in 884 NHL games with the Nashville Predators and the Oilers. He has added 58 points in 119 playoff games as well as three Stanley Cup Final appearances. Ekholm has 92 points in 165 games over parts of three seasons for the Oilers.
The 6’5”, 225 lb defenceman was acquired by the Oilers at the 2023 trade deadline, and he has been a stabilizing force on the back end for the Oilers ever since. Tyson Barrie was a part of the package that went the other way for Ekholm, which opened the door for Evan Bouchard to join Ekholm on a new top pairing for the Oilers. That pairing went on to become the best pairing in the league during the 2023-24 season.
Ekholm is a tremendous all-around defenceman. He uses his size to break up plays, and he moves the puck efficiently. He also has a knack for finding the right times to sneak into the play in the offensive zone to score big goals. The fact that Ekholm’s offensive output has jumped from 0.37 points per game with the Predators to 0.56 points per game with the Oilers is a nice bonus to the defensive stability that Ekholm provides.
Three years at $4 million sounds like a fantastic deal for this player on the surface, but it comes with some risk. Ekholm will be 39 years old when the contract expires. He missed three months at the end of last season with a torn adductor. The injury occurred on April 11, 2025 in a home game against the San Jose Sharks. Ekholm played 1:52 over three shifts before falling awkwardly and leaving the game. He returned to the lineup that night after missing seven games with an undisclosed injury. Ekholm also missed six games in early March. I can’t confirm this, but my gut tells me that this all goes back to a groin injury that caused Ekholm to miss most of the 2023 training camp.
Related: Is it more than maintenance for Ekholm?
Ekholm made his triumphant return to the Oilers lineup in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. He wasn’t his usual self in the playoffs, which included the Stanley Cup Final and one game of the Western Conference Final for him. His expected goals for percentage at five-on-five was 46.71% in the playoffs, compared to 59.4% in the regular season. It was apparent that he was not at 100%.
A summer of training has put Ekholm in a position where he says he feels good, but this type of injury tends to linger. At 35 years old, Ekholm is beyond the point where most players would start to decline. When you add the injury on top of that, it makes me worry about the longevity of Ekholm’s typically high level of play.
The new deal has a no-move clause for all three years, but that doesn’t mean the Oilers would be totally stuck if Ekholm’s play was to fall off a cliff. As noted by PuckPedia, Ekholm’s contract is not a 35+ contract according to league rules despite his age being over 35. There are two reasons for that: the contract is front loaded, meaning that his actual salary is higher in the first year than it is in the subsequent years; and there is no signing bonus involved beyond the first year of the contract.
This matters because 35+ contracts are more player friendly. According to PuckPedia, teams don’t receive any cap relief from buying out a player on a 35+ contract, and the player’s cap hit is only reduced by $100,000 if he is sent to the AHL. Ekholm’s contract being a standard contract rather than a 35+ contract means that he could be bought out should his play deteriorate to the point where a buyout becomes necessary, and the Oilers could receive the regular cap benefit if they were to bury his contract in the AHL at any point.
This is a positive move for the Oilers. The Oilers have locked up their strongest pillars on defence for at least the next four seasons after extending Ekholm on Wednesday and Jake Walman on Monday. Their contracts along with the contracts of Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse all run past Connor McDavid’s next contract. The defence group will have some level of stability as they pursue a Stanley Cup with McDavid over the next three years after extending Ekholm and Walman.
Related: Walman extends with the Oilers
We just have to hope that Ekholm is able to perform at a high level and that he stays healthy throughout the course of the contract.
It’s refreshing and exciting to hear that a player like Ekholm wants to be in Edmonton. He enjoys the city, and he wants to raise his family here. Ekholm said that he wants to retire in Edmonton, which shows just how much he loves the organization and the city. I’m cognizant of the long-term risk associated with this player based on his age and his adductor injury issue, but it’s exciting that Ekholm wants to retire as an Oiler.
