Edmonton Oilers Free Agent Frenzy Recap

Photo: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Happy belated Canada Day to you all. It’s not always easy to pay attention to more news about your team while enjoying barbeque and fireworks. But I hope you did, nonetheless. The NHL offseason lasts longer than a day, but July 1st, and even June 30th, are always the more fun days. We can be certain that a significant portion of the Edmonton Oilers will be different in 2025/2026. Here are the moves or non-moves that they’ve done so far.

The Oilers re-signed centerman Noah Philp for 1 year at a two-way contract, paying him $775,000 AAV.
The Oilers re-signed right winger Kasperi Kapanen to a 1 year extension, paying him $1.3M AAV.
Restricted free agent right shot defenseman Evan Bouchard signed a 4 year extension with the Oilers, paying him $10.5M AAV.
Left winger Viktor Arvidsson was traded from Edmonton to the Boston Bruins for a 5th round pick in 2027 with no salary retention.
Right winger Connor Brown left Edmonton and signed a 4 year contract with the New Jersey Devils, he’ll be making $3M AAV.
Right winger Corey Perry left Edmonton and signed a 1 year contract with the Los Angeles Kings, he’ll be making $3.5M AAV.
Right shot defenseman John Klingberg left Edmonton and signed a 1 year contract with the San Jose Sharks, he’ll be making $4M AAV.
The Oilers signed left shot defenseman Riley Stillman for 2 years at a two-way contract, paying him $775,000 AAV.
The Oilers signed goaltender Matt Tomkins for 2 years at a two-way contract, paying him $775,000 AAV.
The Oilers signed left winger Andrew Mangiapane for 2 years, paying him $3.6M AAV.
The Oilers signed Centerman Curtis Lazar for 1 year, paying him $775,000 AAV.
Prospect right wingers Cameron Wright and Jacob Perrault, along with prospect goaltender Olivier Rodrigue, were not given qualifying offers by the organization. They will be unrestricted free agents, able to sign wherever in the NHL or AHL they choose.

I think Oilers fans on Twitter grew slightly calmer after the Mangiapane signing happened before they got ready for bed. It’s important for all of us to remember that even though we’re excited and want our team to be super busy every minute, we’re not going to be in on every UFA or trade target. After all, we no longer think Jeff Jackson had a great interim GM period last summer. I don’t know if this is just because the salary cap limit is going up, but some of the contracts we saw get signed were insane. Sometimes, the best deals are the ones you don’t make. Some of the players we let go of, or are expected to let go of, would’ve been nice to keep. But a couple of them also weren’t getting enough minutes to equal how much they were getting paid, no need to waste roster spots on them. Let them get a better chance somewhere else. This team needed to dump money and get younger; that’s exactly what they did, whether the new guys are in the lineup every game or are just depth pieces and call-up options. We all wish Bouchard’s new contract was longer. Management may’ve been afraid someone would offer sheet him, so 4 years secured right now is better than none at all, I suppose. Personally, I’d like Stan Bowman to try moving out one or two more contracts, just so he can afford a Trade Deadline target if he wanted to. Other than that, I don’t take issue with his first Canada Day as Oilers GM. He shaved over a century off the roster’s overall age, but has less than $1M of cap space left. We’ll see if one or two trades or signings will happen before the season opener. For now, you can enjoy the rest of your summer and keep checking the internet 24/7 to see whether or not Connor McDavid re-signed yet.