When the Edmonton Oilers came into the off-season following a Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, the team had seven forwards, five defencemen, and two goaltenders under contract with about $10 million of salary cap room to work with.
After a buyout, some shuffling in free agency, a few trades, and two unmatched offer sheets, the Oilers will have a handful of new faces when they open the 2024-25 season in a few weeks. Let’s go back through who was added and who was subtracted this summer and get a picture of how the depth chart is shaping up.

Unrestricted Free Agents:

  • F – Connor Brown (Re-signed with Oilers)
  • F – Sam Carrick (Signed with New York Rangers)
  • F – Warren Foegele (Signed with L.A. Kings) 
  • F – Sam Gagner (Unsigned)
  • F – Adam Henrique (Re-signed with Oilers)
  • F – Mattias Janmark (Re-signed with Oilers)
  • F – Corey Perry (Re-signed with Oilers)
  • D – Vincent Desharnais (Signed with Vancouver Canucks) 
  • D – Troy Stecher (Re-signed with Oilers) 
  • G – Jack Campbell (Bought out – Signed with Detroit Red Wings) 
  • G – Calvin Pickard (Re-signed with Oilers) 
  • F – Adam Erne (Unsigned) 
  • F – Greg McKegg (Unsigned) 
  • D – Cam Dineen (Re-signed with Oilers) 
  • D – Markus Niemelainen (Unsigned) 
Seven unrestricted free agents re-signed with the Oilers this summer. The team’s highly effective third line from the playoffs that featured Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, and Connor Brown all opted to re-sign with Edmonton, as did veterans Corey Perry and Troy Stecher. The Oilers bought out the final three seasons of Jack Campbell’s contract and re-signed Calvin Pickard, who took over as the team’s backup goaltender in November. Depth defender Cam Dineen also re-upped on a new two-way deal.
The Oilers saw unrestricted free agents Warren Foegele and Vincent Desharnais leave the team to sign larger contracts than they could afford with a pair of Pacific Division rivals. Sam Carrick also left to ink a three-year deal with the New York Rangers while depth players Sam Gagner, Adam Erne, Greg McKegg, and Markus Niemelainen are still without contracts. Campbell joined the Detroit Red Wings after being bought out.

Free Agent Additions:

The Oilers filled Foegele’s spot on the roster with Viktor Arvidsson, who left the Kings to sign a two-year contract worth $4 million annually in Edmonton. They also filled Desharnais’ spot on the blueline by signing Josh Brown and added defenceman Connor Carrick and goaltender Collin Delia as depth for the AHL squad.
The Buffalo Sabres opted to buy out the remainder of Jeff Skinner’s $72 million contract and he signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Oilers. Skinner has 357 goals and 670 points over 1,006 NHL games but has never played in the playoffs, so he used his first trip to the open market as an opportunity to join a contender.

Restricted Free Agents:

  • F – Dylan Holloway (Signed offer sheet with St. Louis Blues) 
  • D – Philip Broberg (Signed offer sheet with St. Louis Blues) 
  • F – James Hamblin (Re-signed with Oilers) 
  • F – Raphael Lavoie (Re-signed with Oilers) 
  • F – Carter Savoie (No Qualifying Offer) 
  • D – Noel Hoefenmayer (Re-signed with Oilers) 
  • G – Ryan Fanti (No Qualifying Offer) 
Here’s where things started to get interesting. The Oilers issued qualifying offers to five of their seven restricted free agents, as Carter Savoie and Ryan Fanti were both let go. James Hamblin, Raphael Lavoie, and Noel Hoefenmeyer all re-signed in early July, but Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg remained restricted free agents into August.
This seemed like business as usual, considering Evan Bouchard inked his post-entry level contract last August and Ryan McLeod remained unsigned until September the year before that. And then, just out of the blue, St. Louis signed Holloway and Broberg to two-year offer sheets worth $2.29 million and $4.58 million, respectively. The Oilers declined to match either player’s contract and received a second- and a third-round pick in return.

Trade Additions:

The Oilers made a couple of trades early in the off-season to add some young talent to their roster. They moved Ryan McLeod and prospect Tyler Tullio to the Buffalo Sabres for 2022 ninth-overall pick Matthew Savoie. They also traded 2022 first-round pick Xavier Bourgault and ECHL prospect Jake Chiasson to the Ottawa Senators for Roby Jarventie, a winger selected in the second round of the 2020 draft.
Following the two offer sheets, the Oilers made a pair of trades to replace Holloway and Broberg. They acquired former top prospect Vasili Podkolzin from the Vancouver Canucks for a fourth-round pick, giving the team a skilled young forward to try in their top-nine. They also dealt Cody Ceci to the San Jose Sharks to Ty Emberson, a move that saved the team some salary cap room. Podkolzin and Emberson cost the Oilers a shade under $2 million combined, which is around what they had hoped to get Holloway and Broberg signed for.

The Depth Chart Heading Into 2024-25:

  • Centre: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Adam Henrique, Derek Ryan, Lane Pederson, Jayden Grubbe, Noah Philp, Carl Berglund. 
  • Left Wing: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jeff Skinner, Mattias Janmark, Evander Kane*, James Hamblin, Roby Jarventie, Drake Caggiula, Metvei Petrov. 
  • Right Wing: Zach Hyman, Viktor Arvidsson, Connor Brown, Corey Perry, Vasili Podkolzin, Matthew Savoie, Raphael Lavoie, Brady Stonehouse, James Stefan. 
  • Left Defence: Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, Brett Kulak, Ben Gleason, Cam Dineen, Noel Hoefenmeyer. 
  • Right Defence: Evan Bouchard, Ty Emberson, Troy Stecher, Josh Brown, Connor Carrick, Phil Kemp, Max Wanner, Beau Akey.
  • Goaltenders: Stuart Skinner, Calvin Pickard, Collin Delia, Olivier Rodrigue, Connor Ungar. 
Listed above are all the players the Oilers currently have under contract heading into the 2024-25 season. The 13 forwards, seven defencemen, and two goaltenders who aren’t italicized (along with dead salary and overages) would cost the team $87,054,167 million against the salary cap, putting them $945,833 below the upper limit, per Puck Pedia.
The Oilers are expected to place Evander Kane on the Long-Term Injured Reserve, giving them a bonus pool worth $5.125 million to replace him while he’s on the shelf. They can use that wiggle room to call up two players from the American Hockey League and operate with a full 23-player roster. They could also potentially make another addition through trade, waivers, or by signing somebody brought in on a tryout contract.
It’s been a very interesting summer in Edmonton. The Oilers might not be better in August than they were in June, but the team has a cleaner salary cap picture and more draft pick capital than expected to make in-season improvements.