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The Edmonton Oilers are reeling after a second consecutive loss to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. But for the front office, led by relatively new general manager Stan Bowman, there isn't a lot of time to dwell on the defeat.
The work has already begun to shape the roster for next season, and that could lead to a couple of players getting a change of scenery this summer. As The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta reported on Wednesday, the Oilers are expected to explore the trade market for forwards Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson.
“Kane owns a 16-team trade list as part of his contract, while Arvidsson has a full no-movement clause but is open to waiving it for the right environment,” wrote TFP. “Moving one or both players would create additional cap space for Bowman to play with.”
Kane made headlines after he was handed a 10-minute misconduct late in Game 6 and refused to shake hands with the Panthers after the 5-1 loss. That certainly didn't endear him to hockey fans. The 33-year-old missed the entire 2024-25 regular season on long-term injured reserve and managed six goals and 12 points in 21 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
As for Arvidsson, he signed with the Oilers in free agency last July after spending three seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. After chipping in 27 points in 67 regular season games, he came in and out of the lineup in the postseason, finishing with seven points in 15 contests.
Both players have one season remaining on their respective contracts; Kane will make $5.125 million in 2025-26, while Arvidsson is due $4 million.
Trading the two forwards would give Bowman and the front office some much needed salary cap relief, which will be important as a couple of key players are going to need new contracts.
Oilers strapped tight to salary cap — and Evan Bouchard needs a new contract
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The Oilers only have $13 million in salary cap space going into next season, and star defenseman and restricted free agent Evan Bouchard is going to need a massive raise.
Along with Bouchard, Connor McDavid is expected to sign a lucrative new deal before the 2025-26 campaign commences — and there is only so much salary cap space to go around.
Assuming Bouchard earns an AAV of approximately $9-10 million, and McDavid gets around $16 million, the Oilers will have four players making a combined total of nearly $50 million. Leon Draisaitl is locked up at $14 million until 2033, while Darnell Nurse is owed $9.25 million for each of the next five campaigns.
All that to say, there won't be a lot of money left to tweak the roster. The Oilers still have six unrestricted free agents in Trent Frederic, Connor Brown, Jeff Skinner, Kasperi Kapanen, Corey Perry and John Klingberg. Considering that, it probably won't take long to find out whether Kane and Arvidsson are part of the team's plans for next season.
At least a few of those pending UFAs will be going to market on July 1, although Pagnotta reports that the Oilers are expected to reach an eight-year extension with Frederic, who was acquired from the Boston Bruins prior to the trade deadline.
It's going to be an intriguing offseason for the back-to-back Stanley Cup finalists, and the work continues to get this squad over the hump and back to championship-caliber for the first time since 1990.
