Then again, those same phrases were used in 2024 when the Oilers signed Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Connor Brown, Corey Perry, and Troy Stetcher, amongst others, on July 1.

Excitement was high as veterans took less to be in Edmonton. Jeff Jackson doesn’t need to hire a GM – he can do the job himself!

That initial excitement was tempered weeks later as the St. Louis Blues took advantage of the situation and offersheeted Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway.

On the face of it, these 2024 contracts weren’t that bad relative to the gobs of money other teams spend at the start of free agency. You can debate the reasons, but they just didn’t fit. Even still, the Oilers were this close to winning anyway. If they had won, those contracts wouldn’t be viewed so negatively. The Cup cures many ills.

So what makes the 2026 free agency different for the Oilers?

If not better, better built

Circumstances.

I didn’t think the Oilers were going to be able to “win” a Nurse trade by gaining enough cap space, but they did.

To Nurse’s credit, he obliged and opened up his trade list, avoiding what could’ve been a knock’em down, drag ’em out soap opera going deep into July and hampering Edmonton’s ability to make moves.

By clearing all $9.25 million and getting a player who could play in next year’s lineup and grow in Shakir Mukhamadullin, the Oilers cap situation is healthier and makes them more flexible long-term.

I’m not a Ryan Shea expert. He bears the greatest risk of any signing with term and legitimate dollars, but if he puts up numbers even close to those of a year ago, he’ll do fine in a bottom pair. Perhaps play more on any given night if Walman or Ekholm aren’t going. It could be a Kulak-type situation.

The biggest piece is how they’re going to make Tristan Jarry compete for a job this season.

I have my doubts that Frederik Andersen has a lot of great hockey left in the tank, but he proved those doubters wrong with 13 of Carolina’s playoff victories, and that’s a lot more than Jarry’s two lifetime playoff wins. Devon Levi has 17 NHL wins, period.

There’s experience and pedigree with Andersen, even if Brandon Bussi finished the job.

Over the course of the last decade, his numbers are comparable to the elite class of NHL goaltenders, but it was a .874 save percentage in 35 games before the postseason, behind a much better defensive system in Carolina than Edmonton.

Thirty-five games are the most games he’d played in the regular season over the last four years.

For all these factors, Stan Bowman is laying the groundwork for a three-goalie tandem, which can be awkward and disruptive. But Frederik Andersen and Tristan Jarry have injury risks. We’ll see how much scrutiny the three-goalie system gets when the Oilers struggle for the first time.

The Oilers had four goalies play double-digit games last year. Vegas had three. One more start for Pyotr Kochetkov and Carolina would’ve had three as well.

Tandems are the way of life in the game today. With more lateral movements and strain on the body, along with the growing technical abilities of shooters, plus the mental aspect, and workloads league-wide are being split up more evenly than ever before.

Considering which goalies were available and Edmonton’s assets, this is amongst the best-case scenarios after handcuffing themselves to Jarry. It’s not impossible Jarry bounces back, but the Oilers’ season doesn’t hinge on it, either.

The move I’m most excited about is Devon Levi, a fascinating gamble by general manager Stan Bowman.

Levi a solid gamble

I like the price and item cost for the Oilers in making this trade.

We’ve heard lots this summer about how they need to target a “distressed asset” from teams clogged in position groups or coming off uncharacteristic down seasons.

Devon Levi fits that category.

At one time, Levi was seen as the top goalie prospect out there. He rocketed up from CJHL Player of the Year in 2020 to one of the dominant goaltending performances for Team Canada at the 2020 World Juniors.

That tournament, he posted a 6-1 record, with .075 goals against average, a .964 save percentage, and three shutouts. His numbers at Northeastern were ridiculous, two seasons of a .952 save percentage and a .933.

But thus far, Levi has not popped at the NHL level. He played 39 games for the Sabres, getting the most runway in 2023-24 in the first half of that season, before Ukko-Pekka-Luukkonen took the crease.

The one-time “goalie of the future” for Buffalo, a big piece from the Florida Panthers in the Sam Reinhart trade, suffered in his last nine games in 2024-25.

It appears the relationship between Levi and the organization became even more strained this season after GM Kevyn Adams was fired, and he didn’t play an NHL game this year.

The 24-year-old has played 120 AHL games, but had his worst season with Rochester this past year.

Levi’s acquisition cost is low, and so is his pay. His cap hit is just $812,500 next season, and he remains an RFA afterwards, according to PuckPedia. They bought three years of team control until he becomes a UFA in 2029.

Although he has arbitration rights, that could be a long runway for a cheap second goaltender in 2027-28 and 2028-29, for example.

Here’s a blind resume comparison of Levi and another top-end goalie prospect in 2024-25 in the AHL:

Levi: 25-13-4, 2.20 goals against average, .919 save percentage
???: 9-14-4, 3.59 goals against average, .879 save percentage

The mystery player is Jesper Wallstedt, who stole the crease in Minnesota down the stretch and became the starter for the Wild in the postseason. In fact, Wallstedt’s best AHL season only compares to Levi’s worst.

I’m not a goalie expert. I’m not saying Levi is primed to have an NHL season like Wallstedt’s, and all those numbers show is that Levi is a great AHLer. His complete body of work through junior, NCAA, and the AHL is worth a risk to see if he just needs a chance.

If Oilers fans were excited to look at Michael DiPietro or another AHL stalwart, Devon Levi could still have the highest ceiling. Or Levi could play like an average NHL goalie. Or even worse.

If you were looking for certainty, you won’t get it here or in almost any goalie move Edmonton would make on July 1.

But this type of wager is the one winning organizations make all the time.

Carlsson’s crazy offer

Leo Carlsson has changed the game.

For a long time, NHL superstars helped the league keep salaries low by refusing to reset the market. They had their own reasons in a salary cap world of keeping their team’s overall competitiveness alive.

That salary cap, flat for several years in and out of the COVID era, is now alive again and growing year by year.

Connor McDavid refused to reset the market, opting for the friendliest of team deals, eyeing Stanley Cup hopes. Most of the league’s stars came in near that number, though. Eichel for $13.5 million, Kyle Connor for $12 million, Adrian Kempe for $10.6 million, and so on.

But Kirill Kaprizov did not, turning down $16 million, and eventually agreeing to $17 million and the richest total contract in NHL history at $137 million. He was the lone wolf of the pending UFA market, forcing his team to buy future years at a discount by “overpaying” in the moment.

Our eyes are still adjusting to these new figures.

Kaprizov’s deal was significant, but Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet is the true evolution to a new NHL salary era, accepting a $18 million AAV deal, $90 million, for just five seasons from the Philadelphia Flyers.

Unless a new offer sheet comes this summer, Carlsson will have the highest AAV in the league next season.

Pat Verbeek has grinded some of the Ducks’ top RFAs in recent years, from Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, and Mason McTavish. On the one hand, if that’s your GM, you have to like that he’s not keeping an eye on the books. Then you look at unrestricted free agent contracts he’s handed out, and you wonder…

But making it such a grind can leave a sour taste after the dust settles, and it’s been Anaheim’s MO through the rebuild to the competing arc of their organization. The Ducks also don’t do signing bonuses. Not one contract Verbeek has done on their current roster has one.

That history oughta played a part in Carlsson’s camp and his agency. How could it not?

The Ducks sat pat on July 1 to cover any potential offer sheets — these same deals that could’ve been signed a year ago, like Verbeek did with Jackson LaCombe, and may have saved 40 per cent of Carlsson’s new contract.

On the other hand, Verbeek isn’t entirely to blame. Although you have concerns that an offer sheet is possible, I wouldn’t be convinced a team would nuke itself financially and four first-round picks to get your player.

The Ducks were reportedly in the $12-13 million range in their last offer because Philly’s offer sheet was signed. Even that would seem a touch high by comparison today, but reasonable.

Verbeek must be thinking, why the hell is this happening to us and not Montreal?

Montreal’s healthy cap

On July 1, the Canadiens signed the best contract of the day, locking up Ivan Demidov just north of $9 million for eight years. An overpay today, but could be a value as soon as it starts in 2027.

Carlsson is a much better defensive player and also is a centre. But in the pure counting stats, Carlsson had just five more points than Demidov, 67 versus 62.

Montreal somehow convinced Lane Hutson to sign last fall, and he will begin an $8.85 million deal now where he’s already underpaid.

There were questions in the moment about giving Slafkovsky $7.6 million two summers ago before he’d really achieved anything yet. Today, it looks real tidy.

Whether it be the culture, environment, or personalities of the players, GM Kent Hughes has found a way to get his budding stars to buy in. A little more now, a little less later, and hopefully success for all. It has been the hockey way for a long time.

But it’s fair to wonder if they’ll be the last team to do so efficiently relative to the cap. Will there be so much money in 5-10 years that the decision is between $24 million and $29 million, and therefore matters less because either offer is so much goddamn money?

I’ve spent a lot of time reading fan opinion about the Ducks’ situation. Seems they’re taking their pound of flesh on Verbeek and his way of doing things. It looks deserved to me. But as expected, a growing faction has begun resenting Carlsson and the potential destruction to their franchise this causes.

It takes a stronger man than I to turn down $39 million in under one calendar year with the signing bonuses Carlsson will receive. Flyers GM Daniel Briere said, “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

Leo Carlsson money? That’s Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman. Talk about a reprieve for an Oilers fan.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.

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