With the goaltending moves made in Florida, Daniil Tarasov heads to market. A few teams interested, Edmonton among them. Connor Ingram not out of the Oilers picture yet, however.
Nation Sites
The Nation Network
OilersNation has no direct affiliation to the Edmonton Oilers, Oilers Entertainment Group, NHL, or NHLPA
2026 Oilers Free Agency live blog
Photo credit: Baggedmilk/Oilersnation
By baggedmilk
Jul 1, 2026, 11:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 1, 2026, 12:21 EDT
Happy Canada Day and the start of free agency to all of you, my dearest Internet friends! As per tradition around these partsI, I’m back with a fresh live blog to keep an eye on the NHL’s annual parking lot sale, and offer a few takes on how these 32 NHL GMs are spending their owners’ money. It’s a classic Canada Day ritual, and I’ll be parked at my laptop all day to bring you the latest updates, league news, rumours, and whatever else happened today regardless of how active the Oilers end up being.
If we’re going to rebound after a very disappointing 2025-26 season, Stan Bowman needs to get creative with the budget he has available while ensuring that he doesn’t swing and miss again. We don’t need another Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, or Andrew Mangiapane situation happening again. But with gaps in the roster and a shallow free agent pool, there’s significant pressure to get this right. The goal is to get back to being legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, and that makes for an interesting day here in Edmonton as we wait to see what kind of players could get signed.
At this stage of the McDavid and Draisaitl era — with a GIANT countdown clock hanging overhead — Bowman needs to find a way to keep the Cup window open despite the challenges of getting everything done with limited cap space. We’ve seen other teams clear cap space creatively over the last couple of weeks, and I wonder whether the Oilers will be able to do the same. Either way, I’ll be here all day to report on what does or does not get done on the first day of free agency and why we should be thrilled or angry about whatever comes next.
Feel free to join the conversation, talk about what the rest of the league is doing, and break down how our beloved Oilers have done on the first day of the 2026 free agent fishing derby. Happy silly season, everybody!
THE SUSPECTS
With just over $7.415m in cap space available before the Darnell Nurse trade, the Oilers will need to be tactical in free agency, and it will be fascinating to see if Stan Bowman can improve the roster without blowing the money he has left. In this section, I’ve compiled a list of names linked to the Oilers by various media members as potential fits or targets, but as always, we’ll have to wait to see if any of these players and targets get crossed off the list.
The Potentials
Connor Ingram (2025-26: 32GP – 16-10-3, 2.60 GAA, and a .899 save percentage) – We’ve all seen the reports that Connor Ingram is keen on potentially returning to Edmonton, but what remains to be seen is whether or not he and Stan Bowman can get something on paper. Would we like a Jarry/Ingram reunion tour? Is that enough?
Ilya Mikheyev (2025-26: 77GP – 18G, 18A) – I was talking to Tyler Yaremchuk as I was putting this live blog together, and he was telling me how much smoke is surrounding the Oilers and Ilya Mikheyev. Mikheyev is a 31-year-old winger who spent time in Toronto, Vancouver, and Chicago before hitting free agency this morning. He’s scored 38 goals over the last two years, and could be a decent depth scoring option if the money isn’t nuts. According to PuckPedia, his last contract carried a $4.75 million AAV, and a number like that might be a little too rich for Edmonton right now.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (2025-26: 64GP – 7G, 10A) – Oliver Bjorkstrand may not be the sexiest name available, but he is a player best suited for some of the roles the Oilers have available. This is a guy who has scored 20 goals five times in his career, and whole the offence slowed down after leaving Columbus, he could be a secondary scoring target. The problem, of course, is that his last contract carried a $5.4 million AAV, which might be too rich unless he’s planning to take a haircut.
Kevin Stenlund (2025-26: 80GP – 4G, 14A) – I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about Kevin Stenlund. What I do know is that Gregor has been talking about him on The Jason Gregor show for a few days now, and that has me intrigued. Stockholm, Sweden, has played in 386 NHL games with the Blue Jackets, Panthers, and Utah Mammoth. In that time, the right-handed centre has produced 46 goals and 44 assists for 90 points.
THE RUMOURS…
Here is where I’ll drop in the rumours I find on X/Twitter to try and keep everyone in the know. If I see a media member discussing a player in connection with the Oilers, I’ll include their tweet here to provide us with something else to argue about in the comments section.
Don’t rule out Kasperi Kapanen and the Oilers quite yet. Still ongoing conversations between the two sides.
Given the uncertainty of the Darnell Nurse situation it is quite possible that today may be a very quiet day for the @EdmontonOilers on the Free Agent front. EDM will need another goalie…at some point, still need to sign RFA’s C. Dach/S. Stastney and have limited cap space.
It remains status quo on the Darnell Nurse trade front. To this point, Nurse hasn’t expanded his trade list.
Several teams have interest in UFA defenceman Mario Ferraro, including the Rangers, Predators, Maple Leafs, Oilers, Kings, etc. - some teams may need to make other moves before they dive right in.
WHAT’S HAPPENED SO FAR
Jason Dickinson (2025-26: 64GP – 7G, 10A) – The Oilers took care of a little bit of housekeeping on June 21st when they announced that Jason Dickinson had signed a five-year extension that carries a $4 million AAV. I loved Dickinson from the moment he landed in Edmonton for his commitment to defence and taking care of his own end first. I know some folks don’t like the term on his new deal, and I get why you wouldn’t, but I also think that’s a problem for another day when the Oilers literally signed the best defensive centreman available. Give me the shutdown line, please.
Connor Murphy (2025-26: 80GP – 8G, 7A) – The day after Dickinson signed his deal, the Oilers checked another free agent off their list by giving Connor Murphy a five-year deal that carries at $4.1 million AAV. Like Dickinson, there is some concern about giving a 33-year-old d-man a contract that long, but I also think it’s incredibly important to shore up the defence, bring goals down, and Murphy can absolutely help with that. And also like Dickinson, worrying about what happens five years from now doesn’t make a whole lot of sense given the pressure to get something done now.
THE UPDATES…
- 9:00 AM MT – Rise and shine, everybody! We’re back with another live blog to keep tabs on day one of the NHL’s annual shopping day and break down everything that happens here in Edmonton and around the league. We’ve still got about an hour to go until contracts officially start flowing in, but the rumours are already swirling, guys are getting signed or traded, and there’s no better time to start the live blog than right here and now. Happy Canada Day, everybody.
- 9:21 AM MT – Internet issues happening at Nation HQ, and it’s not a great day to have this happen.
- 9:31 AM MT – I just noticed Stauffer’s tweet that the Oilers are going to be quiet today. Part of me doesn’t mind that given how poorly things went last year, but it’s also makes me angry that they may not do much to improve the roster.
- 9:33 AM MT – From Friedman, Radko Gudas 6 x $1.5M. WILD contract. Sticker shock season is here.
- 9:46 AM MT – Friedman is saying that the Oilers did have interest in Sergei Bobrovsky. Doubtful to me, but maybe?
- 9:53 AM MT – Looks like Ingram is testing the market.
- 10:00 AM MT – SHOW TIME! Let’s see what happens.
- 10:07 AM MT – How do we feel about Mario Ferraro? Pagnotta is saying the Oilers are among a list of teams with interest.
- 10:19 AM MT – Zuccarello to the Kings, Viktor Arvidsson to the Red Wings.