The 2025-26 NHL campaign is officially a wrap, and the offseason is about to ramp up as teams look to improve their rosters in an attempt to unseat the newly crowned Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes.

And with the way the Edmonton Oilers have been hogging the hockey headlines lately, expect them to explore every possible avenue this offseason.

NHL free agency opens July 1st, and one pending unrestricted free agent the Oilers could have their eye on is forward Ilya Mikheyev. Hockey analyst Kevin Weekes recently posted on X that, per his sources, Mikheyev will be highly coveted by teams looking to improve their penalty kill and add speed to their lineup. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what the Russian winger could bring to the Oilers.

If the Oilers are looking to add speed to their lineup, look no further than Mikheyev.

The forward is one of the fastest skaters among upcoming unrestricted free agents and in the league overall. NHL EDGE data shows his top skating speed in 2025-26 reached 23.54 MPH (95th percentile), while his 194 bursts above 20 MPH ranked in the 94th percentile in the NHL.

He pairs that speed with decent hands and solid five-on-five production, posting a career-high 36 points (18 goals, 18 assists) in 2025-26 with the Chicago Blackhawks, marking the third season in a row with 30-plus points. Fifteen of those goals came at five-on-five, which ranked third among all Blackhawks and would’ve been tied for fourth among the Oilers. Still, it’s worth noting that some who have followed Mikheyev’s career believe finishing has never been his strong suit.

However, much of his point production last season came while playing on the third line, primarily alongside Jason Dickinson (472:01 minutes) before coming to Edmonton and Ryan Donato (459:43 minutes).

Mikheyev is also strong defensively. In the ‘Defensive Zone Retrievals/Exit’ categories according to All Three Zones, Mikheyev posted metrics above league average in 10 of the 12 categories, especially excelling in ‘Exit off Retrieval Percentage’, which measures how often he retrieves dump-ins and successfully skates the puck out of the zone with control. All Three Zones also shows that he’s an excellent forechecker, and more notably, he was the only Blackhawk to finish with a positive plus/minus at +2.

But above all, the Omsk, Russia native is as elite as they come on the penalty kill.

The Blackhawks finished with the second-best penalty kill in the NHL at 83.6%, with the 31-year-old playing a major role in that success. He played a team-high 202:10 shorthanded, nearly 45 minutes more than the next closest forward, Teuvo Teravainen (158:40), and also the fifth-most in the entire NHL, while also recording three shorthanded points (one goal, two assists). Due to his speed and anticipation, he also drew four shorthanded penalties. Moreover, based on Evolving Hockey’s model, he was tied for the fourth-most impactful player while shorthanded in the league.

Further to that, Blackhawks’ sniper Connor Bedard spoke very highly of Mikheyev’s PK abilities last season, saying:

Everything suggests Mikheyev would be an excellent addition to shore up the Oilers’ top nine, likely on the third line, but with some of the best wheels in the league, you’d absolutely take him for a test drive alongside Connor McDavid to see if he’s a fit in the top six.

Overall, Mikheyev would inject speed into the lineup and provide solid five-on-five point production, and above all, he’d be the perfect addition to help the Oilers penalty kill, which finished the 2025-26 playoffs with the worst PK among postseason teams at a 50% rate.

On paper, the Omsk, Russia native looks like an ideal fit to round out the Oilers’ top nine.

However, he’ll be 32 when the 2026-27 season begins, and there’s some concern given he’ll likely be looking for the longest term he can secure after coming off a career-high in points, which is something the Oilers may want to avoid given his age.

At the same time, call it a gut instinct, but a multi-year deal for a 31-year-old, soon to be 32, coming off a career year, feels like the kind of contract that may not age well and could look pretty questionable by year two.

Additionally, Weekes also noted he could be in the range of Kiefer Sherwood money, who signed a five-year, $28.75 million deal at a $5.75 million cap with the San Jose Sharks last March. Mikheyev, however, is likely closer to the $5 million range per season, which may be too rich for the Oilers’ liking.

With the Oilers sitting just under $15 million in cap space per PuckPedia and depth spots still to be filled, and depending on what happens once the Darnell Nurse saga is resolved, Edmonton may only have one real chance to add a top-nine player after that move, given the cap space they’ll have left.

If that’s the case, and the Oilers end up with extra money to play with, they need to aim higher, and that money should be used toward trying to acquire a legitimate top-six forward, whether in free agency or via trade, rather than spending $5 million a season on Mikheyev.