Does this latest Edmonton Oilers injury news change GM Stan Bowman’s plans to keep his salary cap powder dry?

“Matt Savoie (who took significant strides after the Olympic Break last season) and Mattias Janmark are both PK’ers,” tweeted Stauffer shortly after the news broke. “In theory the Edmonton Oilers have the cap space to look at potentially bringing in a current UFA with PK experience.” 

Eeli Tolvanen is still one of the best free agents available, coming off his third consecutive season of 35-plus points. Although goals dried up for him in 2025-26, scoring just 12, Tolvanen played over 80 minutes on the Seattle Kraken penalty kill last season. The issue is, the Kraken PK was not very good, second-worst in the league. But if his injury were to linger, Tolvanen has at least put up a 20-goal and 40-point campaign before in his career, something young Savoie hasn’t done just yet.

In the last three seasons total, right-handed centre Luke Glendening is just outside of the Top 100 of minutes on the PK across the NHL. Last year, between New Jersey and Philadelphia, he was on the ice four-on-five for just over 113 minutes. By comparison, that would’ve been second-most among Oilers forwards.

Or, would the Oilers dare look at reunions with centres like Adam Henrique and Curtis Lazar? Although his foot speed became an issue, Edmonton did rely on Henrique, when healthy, a lot a season ago to eat up minutes on the PK.

They could also look internally, as winger Trent Frederic said earlier this month that he would relish the opportunity to have a role on the penalty kill, something he did a lot of in Boston, and virtually none of as an Oiler so far.

It’s been a busy off-season for Frederik Andersen since playing the majority of the Carolina Hurricanes’ playoff run. He got married and got his day with the Stanley Cup just a couple weeks later in July.

But this latest news, considering his age and injury history, is obviously not ideal.

Andersen revealed after the Oilers signed him on day one of free agency that he tweaked his knee during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. It was his only injury of last season, he said, but one that reared its head multiple times.

“At medicals, I was reassured that it just needed some time to rest,” Andersen said in July. “No intervention or surgery was necessary. That was obviously very reassuring. I just want to make sure I spend the time wisely and make sure I get some rest, and obviously gear up for the next year.”

From the wording of the Oilers’ statement, it seems that Andersen was training and that this was a setback, rather than a prolonged recovery period for that knee. There was no confirmation it was the knee, either. Maybe it was something else.

Regardless, the Oilers’ contingency plan of running a three-goalie tandem is already coming into play. We don’t know much at this point with the news so fresh, and there will be enough time to speculate whether any of these situations are out of an abundance of caution or whether they are optimistic timelines. Regardless, Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi will get the workload for training camp, which begins in a little over two weeks.