The dust has settled on the NHL offseason, but that doesn’t mean the work is done.

The Edmonton Oilers’ new coaching staff will be hard at work this summer getting to know the roster, reviewing past footage, and building a plan for how the team will attack the 2026-27 season. The front office, meanwhile, still has some tinkering to do, with restricted free agent Colton Dach needing a new contract, and figuring out what they want to do with their $5.925 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia.

But now, we’ve started to get a look at who will compete for roster spots next season.

There’s a contingent of forwards that are easily considered locks for next year’s roster: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matt Savoie, Kasperi Kapanen, Vasily Podkolzin, Jason Dickinson, Trent Frederic, and Josh Samanski.

That group of 10 will find themselves somewhere in the forward ranks on opening day, and while calling Samanski a lock might be naive, as he still needs to prove himself in camp, the Oilers haven’t brought in anybody to contend for his minutes as the 4C.

Then there’s a group of seven players who will be contending for a winger spot on the third line, two winger spots on the fourth line, and the extra forward: Colton Dach, Isaac Howard, Mathieu Joseph, Max Jones, Connor Clattenburg, Mattias Janmark, and Quinn Hutson. In that order are my favourites to earn those spots.

Dach showed well in a limited role last year after being acquired, and is still in need of a new deal. I see him being on the roster. Howard is close to being ready to take the leap into the NHL, while Joseph’s signing could be sneaky good for the Oilers as a penalty kill, defensive specialist. Jones has shown he can step into the NHL with success, and for as much fun as Clattenburg is to watch, I’d rather see him getting more ice time with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors than playing limited minutes in Edmonton. Janmark’s time with the team has likely run its course, and he’s likely to be buried in the AHL, while I’m not certain Hutson is ready for the jump to the NHL.

The majority of this group is fairly simple. On the blue line, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, Connor Murphy, and Ryan Shea will eat the majority of minutes. But beyond them, it gets murky. Ty Emberson, Spencer Stastney, and Shakir Mukhamadullin, three waiver-eligible defencemen, will compete for the sixth spot on the blue line and a spot as an extra defenceman.

Emberson took a step forward last season, and his being a right-shot defenceman probably helps his case as the sixth blue liner, but Mukhamadullin will have the inside track to remain on the roster after being acquired as the key asset coming back to the Oilers in the Darnell Nurse trade.

Stastney, who was acquired last December for a third-round pick, is likely the odd man out. Can they trade him, or do they run the risk of putting him on waivers?

In the crease, the Oilers will be keeping all of Tristan Jarry, Frederik Andersen, and Devon Levi on the roster. This creates good competition at a position the team needs improvement in, but it also creates a roster crunch, allowing Edmonton to have just two extra skaters on the roster. Logically, that means one extra forward and defenceman.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor and The Nation Network’s news director. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.