While the Edmonton Oilers are one step closer to hiring their next head coach, they are eyeing up re-signing their top free-agent defenceman.

TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported Thursday afternoon that discussions continue between the Oilers and Connor Murphy’s camp.

“Today’s Babcock news doesn’t change anything as far as the player’s willingness to consider a return to the Oilers, but term and dollars will have to make sense based on the market,” said Rishaug.

This is interesting timing, as it comes just a couple of hours after the NHL’s investigation into Mike Babcock concluded. Babcock is free to be hired by the Oilers as the next head coach.

Murphy just completed a four-year, $4.4 million annual contract, after turning 33 in March.

AFP Analytics projected Murphy’s contract to be a two-year deal with just over $3.6 million, but with a weak free agency class, plus his age, this would seem like Murphy’s last chance to make good NHL dollars.

However, when acquired by the Oilers, he spoke about the exciting opportunity to win in Edmonton, since he’d only played in the playoffs once before the 2025-26 season.

Mark Spector tweeted on Friday and touched on the Darnell Nurse factor, who is expected to be traded soon. Murphy played primarily with Nurse on the Oilers’ second pair.

Murphy’s work as a shot suppressor and strong even-strength defender helped Edmonton down the stretch after being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks.

“In the past 10 years, Murphy’s defensive impact has ranked above the 63rd percentile in nine of them,” wrote NHL_Sid in early May about Murphy’s strengths.

“It has exceeded the 80th percentile on numerous occasions as well, and in fact, this past season in 2025-26, Murphy ranked fourth among all defencemen with an EVD of +9.4.”

He doesn’t bring much to the offensive side of the game. Last season, Murphy scored five goals and 12 assists in 80 games.

Pierre LeBrun also believes the Oilers will not re-sign Jack Roslovic, or at the very least, he’s going to see what’s out there. In an article in The Athletic, LeBrun said, “at the moment, he’s also likely headed to market.”

Roslovic scored 21 goals in 69 games this season, one away from a career high, after the Oilers were able to sign the forward in October. He’s been hoping for a bigger payday for a couple of years now.

The Oilers have other free agent considerations as well. In total, there are eight unrestricted and two restricted free agents. The UFAs include Jason Dickinson, Kasperi Kapanen, Adam Henrique, Curtis Lazar, Max Jones, and Connor Ingram. The two restricted are Colton Dach and Spencer Stastney.