David Tomášek is set to join the legion of overseas free agents signed by the Edmonton Oilers who just didn’t work out.

He’s not the first — following suit with the Gaetan Haas’, Joakim Nygard’s and Mikko Koskinen’s of the world — and he likely won’t be the last, and above all, he wasn’t a bad bet. He was the SHL’s leading scorer last season, and the Oilers needed additional offence in their bottom-six. That never worked out, and now, he’s set to have his contract terminated.

The team clearly liked the player. Stan Bowman had travelled to Sweden during the 4-Nations break earlier this year to get eyes on the forward himself, but unfortunately, he couldn’t see into the future and see that the deal wouldn’t work out.

Tomášek had gotten some looks early in the season, spending 30 five-on-five minutes with Connor McDavid on the top line, and even some time on the top power play unit, too. He had a goal and three points in the first seven games of the season, but as his ice time slipped, so did his play, finishing his tenure three goals and five points in 22 games.

So much so that he found himself in the Oilers press box for the last six games before the Christmas break. When he was in the lineup, he was playing fourth-line minutes, not a spot that fits his offensive profile, nor was he able to show he was deserving of a bump in ice-time.

According to Hockey Viz, Tomášek drove offence at a 12 percent rate below league average and defence at a nine percent rate below league average, while having negative impacts on both special teams, too. It was just clear this marriage wasn’t a fit, and it’s for the best that both sides go their separate ways.

Tomášek can return to playing in Sweden and continue his season richer in thanks to months of NHL cheques, and the Oilers can clear $1.2-million in cap space from their books. That’s huge for them, as there’s a litany of players who could be returning from injury soon who can fill his role.

When Tomášek’s termination becomes official, it will leave the team with $1.82-million in cap space, including pool money from players on the Long-Term Injured Reserve. That gives them some room to work with with four players — Jake Walman ($3.4-million), Kasperi Kapanen ($1.3-million), Connor Clattenburg ($828,333) and Noah Philp ($775,000) — on the LTIR and Tristan Jarry ($5.375-million) on the injured reserve, and still on the cap.

That $1.82-million isn’t much, though. Returning the likes of Kapanen, Clattenburg and Philp will be easy, requiring little movement. Kapanen can be activated and Max Jones can be sent back to the AHL, while Clattenburg can be, too, when he’s healthy.

Bumping Jarry to the LTIR when Walman is ready to return can clear the cap space to get him back, but only creates further issues when the team is fully healthy.

While these issues will need to be faced down the road, getting Tomášek off their cap will start to ease some of the salary cap tension that remains.

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