The Edmonton Oilers enter the 2025-26 season with a unique circumstance for a team in their position. Despite back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals berths, the team has seen quite a bit of turnover. Still, the team has managed it well and added some key pieces to the club through free agency and trades.
The team needed to shed salary, forcing them to dump the contracts of forwards Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson as well as let multiple pending unrestricted free agents walk. The Oilers underwent quite the roster shake-up.
Although this would normally be a tough position for any general manager to be in, Stan Bowman has experience doing this with the Chicago Blackhawks. He also has done quite well this summer, putting his stamp on the Oilers in his first full summer at the helm.
This turnover creates some uncertainty with the lineup and presents some opportunities for growth from players already on the team and coming in. There are multiple players within the organization who face pressure to perform as well as some players who could be afforded good opportunities to have bounce back years.
Zach Hyman
At 33 years old and having the injury history that Hyman has had throughout his career, any dip in play is scary. Since signing a seven-year deal with the Oilers as an unrestricted free agent (UFA) back in 2021, Hyman has consistently found himself reaching new heights every single season.
His first year he set career highs in goals, assists and points with 27, 27, and 54, respectively. Then the following year smashed those records scoring 36 goals and added 47 assists for 83 points in 80 games. Then the aforementioned 54 goals two seasons ago, and an incredible playoff run it is no surprise that this was unsustainable growth to carry into your 30’s.
Last year, he still posted great numbers scoring 27 goals and 17 assists for 44 points in 79 games. He has been a fantastic player for the Oilers and well worth the $5.5 million annual salary but wanting him to improve on those numbers does not seem unreasonable. Given the injection of high end young talent that the Oilers have seen this summer and with his spot next to McDavid basically guaranteed when he is healthy, Hyman is definitely in a good position to have a bounce back season.
Andrew Mangiapane
Stan Bowman signing forward Andrew Mangiapane is one of his best moves of the entire summer. Earlier in his career as a member of Oilers rivals the Calgary Flames, he established himself as a useful middle-six winger. He was capable of playing with elite players and even driving play himself on lower lines. This skillset allowed him to score at a 40-plus point pace over his career and reach career highs of 35 goals and 55 points in 2021-22.
He had a down year last year with the Washington Capitals, scoring only 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points in 81 games. He also averaged the lowest amount of ice time of his career since his rookie campaign in 2018-19. Bowman took advantage of this dip in production and signed him to a two-year contract worth $3.6 million per season.
At only 29 years old it is likely that Mangiapane can come back to his old scoring ways. If he can, Mangiapane could be a big hit and his cheap deal could pay off in dividends for the Oilers.
Kasperi Kapanen
Kapanen is a player who can fit many roles in an NHL lineup. He has played with star players — filling in alongside McDavid while also playing next to Auston Matthews when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
So, with there being some questions about whether or notZach Hyman may be able to start the season on time. This gives a nice opportunity for the Finnish winger to play some meaningful minutes in the Oilers top-six.
At 29, it is unlikely that we see him deviate far from what he has shown in the NHL in the past but given his drop in production the last two seasons as a member of the St. Louis Blues and Oilers, he does have space to improve. He set a career high in his first full NHL season as a Maple Leaf, scoring 20 goals and 24 assists for 44 points in 78 games.
At 22, Kapanen looked like he was living up to expectations and was going to become a legitimate top six contributor but he saw his production steadily decline year-over-year aside from an incredible 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 40 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2020-21. He has shown flashes of solid production across his career in the NHL and if head coach Kris Knoblauch slots him next to McDavid, we could see him bounce back to those earlier heights.