One NHL insider believes the Edmonton Oilers will be “bold” this offseason.

David Pagnotta joined The Sheet with Jeff Marek on Friday, the morning after the Oilers season came to an end in Game 6 against the Anaheim Ducks. It was a disappointing finish to the season, and with Connor McDavid’s two-year extension about to begin in July, the Oilers appear to be on the clock.

Pagnotta says that McDavid, along with long-time teammate Leon Draisaitl, met with management before this season began. The Oilers top players shared what they felt were the missing pieces they think they need to get over the Stanley Cup hump.

This idea of going “bold” isn’t far off from what Chris Johnston and Sean Gentille reported in The Athletic late Thursday night in their examination of what went wrong this season for the Oilers.

As McDavid said, he took a shorter contract at the same dollar figure of $12.5 million as his previous contract, to give general manager Stan Bowman and management flexibility to add pieces for a Stanley Cup.

Adam Henrique, Jason Dickinson, Jack Roslovic, Kasperi Kapanen, Max Jones, Curtis Lazar, Connor Murphy, and Connor Ingram are all unrestricted free agents and the Oilers will have to decide who to return and who they can afford, particularly if they’re going to be “bold.”

Expensive contracts like Darnell Nurse and his $9.25 million deal, for example, will still have a no-move clause in 2026-27. Are the Oilers willing to ask Nurse to waive, again, after attempts in the past?

There are still questions whether coach Kris Knoblauch will come back. Despite receiving a contract extension before the 2025-26 campaign began, the team’s consistently inconsistent play has marred his otherwise terrific start to his NHL career, going to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals.

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