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Stan Bowman needs to make a big splash and add a scoring winger
Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jul 7, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 7, 2026, 15:21 EDT
As the NHL offseason hits its quiet period, the Edmonton Oilers are still sitting with close to $6 million in cap space and, with a few roster moves, could easily see that number creep up north of $8 million.
They have money to spend and a clear need for a top-six winger. The problem is that the free agent market is all but dried up.
Anthony Mantha is still out there, and he did score 33 goals last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I’m not totally convinced he’s a good fit in Edmonton, and I’m sure he’s still searching for a multi-year deal, which the Oilers really shouldn’t be too interested in.
Patrick Kane is coming off another good season in Detroit, but his preference is reportedly to stay out East.
Michael Bunting is mildly intriguing, but he comes with severely limited upside. I don’t mind him as a depth piece in the bottom six, but signing him doesn’t solve the issue of needing another top-six scoring threat.
A lot of people have been asking about Patrik Laine, but Mike Babcock being the Oilers’ head coach takes them right out of that conversation.
So with close to nothing out there on the free agent market, if Bowman wants to go out and make a move, it’s going to have to come via trade.
Why should the Oilers look to the trade market for a top-six winger?
I know lots of people are advocating for the Oilers to simply keep their cap space and let it accrue during the regular season, but keeping north of $5 million in cap space is just silly.
That amount of money, if held onto until the day of the deadline, would allow the Oilers to add around $27 million in cap hits. That sounds great in theory, but there are two problems with that.
First, with the new playoff cap rules, if the Oilers acquired two or three players making a combined $27 million, they wouldn’t be able to dress them all unless there were significant injuries.
Not having Tristan Jarry on the game day playoff roster would help and a few other players being in the press box would add some space, but it wouldn’t be close to $27 million.
Secondly, the Oilers don’t have the assets to acquire three quality players at the deadline. So they’d really be saving up that cap space for no reason.
The smart play is for Bowman to try to acquire a player in the $5-6 million range, trade Spencer Stastney in the deal, send down Mattias Janmark and let the remaining $2-4 million that they’d have left accrue so they still have some flexibility.
They should not turn down an opportunity to improve their team now because someone better might be available down the line.
Which wingers on the trade market fit the Oilers’ lineup parameters?
So who could be available right now? David Pagnotta from The Fourth Period listed some interesting options on his recent trade board.
The first name that he had connected to the Oilers was Jake DeBrusk.
DeBrusk scored 23 goals last season, but only three of them came at 5v5. A staggeringly low number. His previous four seasons saw him score 11, 13, 19, and 17 goals, respectively.
He is a good candidate to bounce back in the five-on-five scoring department, and he would add some speed to the Oilers’ top six. He is a very intriguing option and is reportedly not willing to sit through what will be a long rebuild in Vancouver.
He would be a solid bet for the Oilers, depending on what Vancouver would want in return. If the ask is a mid-round pick, then Bowman should be all over it.
The other two names that caught my eye on Pagnotta’s board are Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Both players’ cap hits are under $5.5 million, scored north of 20-goals last season, and have experience playing with high-skilled centremen.
Rust is the better goal scorer of the two, but Rakell is a strong defensive winger on top of having really good 5v5 scoring numbers. Either one would be a very good fit with the Oilers.
The Penguins also have a pretty weak left side of their blueline, so maybe Spencer Stastney would be of interest for them. Could Stastney and the Oilers 2027 second-round pick land them Rakell?
Might be a bit of a pipe dream, but the Oilers should be calling the Penguins, and Pagnotta did have the Oilers linked to him.
There are some other dream names out there.
Jared McCann in Seattle is another player who is a lock to score 20-goals a season and comes in at a very reasonable $5 million cap hit.
Alex DeBrincat in Detroit has the highest upside of any of the other players I’ve talked about, scoring 41 goals last season with the Red Wings. He has a history with Connor McDavid as well; the two were teammates in Erie.
I don’t think either of McCann or DeBrincat will be available until their teams inevitably sell at the deadline, though.
Are either of those players worth waiting for? I think they’re great fits.
If the Oilers could find a way to get one of the wingers from Pittsburgh or DeBrusk in Vancouver without giving up Ike Howard or one of their first-round picks, which they should be able to do, then they might be able to have their cake and eat it too.
They could add to their top-six now and then come deadline time, if a scoring winger is still a need, they could go and have the assets to look at one of the premium rentals on the market.
Bowman’s patience has allowed him to make some really smart moves so far this summer, but I don’t want to see him sit on his hands when it comes to upgrading the forward group.
It’s time to get a little aggressive and add a piece that can help this team win right from game one of the season.
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