It’s going to be decision time for the Oilers and several young players entering next season as fast approaching waiver exemptions are going to come to fruition.

There are always a few names that jump out when waiver assignments begin to happen in the lead-up to the start of the season.

Edmonton knows this all too well given the Raphael Lavoie waiver fiasco earlier this year and heading into the 2025-26 campaign, there are four players that will lose their waiver exemption.

But before we dig into them in order of importance, a quick reminder about the NHL’s waiver exemption rules, thanks to PuckPedia.

This will undoubtedly be the most important one to watch next fall. Philp signed his entry-level contract at 24, thus fast-tracking him to waiver eligibility. There’s a player here, no doubt, but his success has been a relative mixed bag. Now 26, he has the tools in the toolbox, and is seeing offence come easier this year than his previous season in the AHL.

His rookie pro season with the Bakersfield Condors he scored 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games in 2022-23 before stepping away from sport entirely last year. This year, he’s drawn in for 52 games already scoring 15 goals and 30 points — a nice jump in his per game production.

Philp’s also had his first taste of the NHL, playing a dozen games for the Oilers this year scoring two assists. The Oilers have already added competition for next season in training camp with European forwards Josh Samanski and David Tomasek signing deals last week.

Hamblin’s a great story, overcoming the passing of his mother as at 18 years old, but he seems to have fallen out of favour in terms of NHL potential within the organization. Signed as an undrafted free agent ahead of the 2022-23 season, he got a 10-game stint in the NHL that year, spending 52 games with the Condors, scoring 10 goals and 28 points.

Last year he got a much longer NHL look, scoring two goals and three points in 31 games, but had a shortened AHL stint due to injury, still scoring four goals and eight points in 13 games. He didn’t make the Oilers out of camp this year, but his offensive numbers have taken a big step forward in Bakersfield with 16 goals and 36 points in 45 games.

He didn’t appear on Bruce Curlock’s prospect countdown ahead of this year, but is under contract with the club for the 2025-26 season. Barring anything unforseen, he’s a player you could almost guarantee will be placed on waivers next year.

Perrault was acquired by the Oilers from the Montreal Canadiens earlier this season in a deal that saw them send back defenceman Noel Hoefenmayer the other way. Perreault was drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft by the Anaheim Ducks, but fell out of favour with their AHL club and landed in Laval part way through the 2023-24 seaoilerson.

He’s drawn in for 36 games with the Condors this year scoring two goals and 13 points, and is in the final year of his entry-level contract. He’s still young at 22-years-old, but I could see the Oilers letting him walk in free agency.

Speaking of players who appear destined to walk, there’s Roby Jarventie. A report in March from Finnish news outlet Ilta-Sanomat indicated that he would be leaving hockey in North America to return home to Finland and play for Tappara, the same organziation where his two younger brothers are working their way through the ranks of.

With his entry-level contract expiring this summer, and the reports of a change in his career path, it appears the Oilers won’t have to worry about his waiver status.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.