When Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman faced questions from reporters on Wednesday afternoon, only half of the day’s work was done.

By that time, Edmonton had completed a tricky trade shipping Darnell Nurse to San Jose with no salary cap retention, after the veteran agreed to expand his trade list. He’d also acquired an intriguing goalie-of-the-future candidate in Devon Levi for a 2028 third-round pick from Buffalo and filled the gap on the left side of his blueline by signing Ryan Shea for five years at $4 million.

But adding Stanley Cup champion Frederik Andersen between the pipes, re-signing Kasperi Kapanen and Max Jones, or agreeing with depth forward piece Mathieu Joseph on a one-year deal, was still to come after his 3:15 P.M. press conference.

July 1 was initially shaping up to be a quiet day for the Oilers. But once the Nurse trade went through, Bowman got busy using the $9.25 million in cap space.

“We made the difficult decision here to part ways with a true competitor, lifelong Oiler, tremendous teammate, tremendous member of the community,” said Bowman about the trade.

“I really enjoyed getting to know Darnell and having him on the team. He’s a class act. Nobody competes harder for his teammates than Darnell, so it’s difficult when things like this happen. So we certainly wish him and his family well.”

Shakir Mukhamadullin was the 20th overall pick in the 2020 draft and just the fifth defenceman taken, but his NHL career has been a bumpy road. The 24-year-old is a restricted free agent and needs a contract, but was upended by injury in 2025-26 and played just 50 games. It was his first full season in the league, but he’s capable of playing either side on the blueline, an attractive aspect of his game for Bowman.

Ryan Shea burst onto the scene last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins to become a full-time defenceman and seized the opportunity. He averaged 18:53 of ice-time throughout the season and put together strong numbers, with 35 points, while going plus-30.

As been a calling card in the Bowman era, there’s familiarity with the player. Bowman drafted Shea back in 2015 as a fourth-round pick. Shea never signed in Chicago after four years at Northeastern and has played 186 AHL games lifetime, compared to 150 NHL games in the past three seasons.

With Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman also on the left-side, Shea could play more sheltered minutes, or play up in the lineup. Either way, the Oilers hope this was not a flash in the pan season from Shea and that his skill-set will translate to Edmonton.

“He was one of the players that we targeted in our meetings leading up to today, hoping that if we were able to get some cap space, we might be able to bring him in,” said Bowman. “I thought he had an excellent season, both offensively and defensively. He’s got really good mobility, he’s got the ability to make plays. His penalty kill was excellent this year, one of the best guys in the league at that this year.

Bowman said the focus was on defence first, before looking at signing forwards. But the first move of the day was adding a goaltender.

Devon Levi’s relationship with the Buffalo Sabres seems to have fractured the longer the netminder marinated in the AHL. At one time seen as one of the best goaltending propsects in hockey, Levi had his worst AHL season, but still finished with a .904 save percentage.

With the Sabres linked to Connor Hellebuyck, and three goaltenders still on the NHL roster, Levi was available. It’s an intriguing wager, as Bowman later paired Levi, with Frederik Andersen and Tristan Jarry to complete the Oilers crease situation.

Bowman did confirm that Jarry will be back with Edmonton next year during his availability.

The Oilers have a little over $6.4 million in cap space with 14 forwards, six defencemen, and three goaltenders under contract. That doesn’t RFAs like Colton Dach, Spencer Stastney, or Mukhamadullin.

Adding a top-six winger might be on the Oilers’ wishlist, but could prove difficult once those RFA contracts are signed, unless another trade is made. Otherwise, few were expecting such an active day, and Bowman got busy.