Oilers to buy out final three seasons of goaltender Jack Campbell’s contract

The Jack Campbell era in Edmonton has come to an end.

The Oilers announced on Sunday morning that the goaltender has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout.

Campbell signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the Oilers on the first day of free agency in July of 2022. He had two unsuccessful seasons with the club and the Oilers will be buying out the final three years of that contract. The team will get a savings against the salary cap for the next three seasons and will take on a penalty in the three seasons after his contract would have expired.

The Oilers came into the off-season with a little over $10 million in salary cap space available, so the Campbell buyout gives the team $3.9 million in much-needed wiggle room. Calvin Pickard re-signed with Edmonton on a two-year deal worth $1 million annually, so assuming he forms next year’s goaltending tandem with Stuart Skinner, the Oilers have a little under $13 million left for the rest of their roster.

Among those in need of new contracts are restricted free agents Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, while Adam Henrique, Warren Foegele, Vincent Desharnais, Mattias Janmark, and Connor Brown are among the group of players who are set to become unrestricted free agents on Monday.

Earlier this week, Oilers CEO and defacto GM Jeff Jackson was asked about a possible Campbell buyout and said: “We’re looking at every option we can on various things, including Jack. But at this point, we’re not planning that. We’re considering it.”

The Oilers tried to move Campbell while teams were in Vegas for the draft this weekend but they weren’t able to find a taker. His contract also featured a modified no-trade clause, which would have allowed Campbell to submit a 10-team no-trade list, making the matter even more difficult.

Campbell will now hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent seeking a change of scenery. He struggled to an .886 save percentage over 41 regular-season games with the Oilers but his performance in the playoffs and in the AHL leave some room for optimism. Campbell turned aside 49 of 51 shots in four relief appearances for the Oilers in the playoffs in 2023 and put up an 0.918 save percentage in 33 games with the Bakersfield Condors after getting waived.