3 Edmonton Oilers players who won’t be back next season
While the Edmonton Oilers remain in a prime position to make the 2024 NHL Playoffs, it’s not too early to talk about inevitable roster turnover for the upcoming offseason.
The Oilers will make the playoffs this season, and they have more than enough of a core to make annual trips to the postseason should their top players stay healthy and refuse to regress. But with sustained success comes bigger contracts for players like Leon Draisaitl, who will be eligible for an extension next year.
Others looking for extensions when their eligibility kicks off shortly would be players like Evan Bouchard, while key assets like Evander Kane will be eligible following the 2024-25 season. General manager Ken Holland will be thinking ahead, and that includes pondering the futures of players like Kane, plus those whose contracts are expiring this year.
Edmonton would also be wise to keep tabs on pending unrestricted free agents, who have outplayed expectations like Warren Foegele and Calvin Pickard, even if both may test the market in July.
Not everyone will stick around for the Oilers upcoming annual playoff runs
The reality of the pro sports universe is that not every player will be around for what should be several playoff runs for the Oilers in upcoming seasons. Players like Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick, and Troy Stecher are likely rentals, so when concocting a list like this, they won’t be mentioned in the following slides because of their ‘rental status.’
But others who have been part of the organization for a while may find themselves playing for a division rival, in the Eastern Conference, or even in the Central Division next season. Not every player not slated to return will also be a pending unrestricted free agent, and to foreshadow, that accounts for two on this list.
So, which Oilers players won’t find themselves in Edmonton next season unless Holland decides not to move them or, in the case of one, to re-sign? Let’s start with someone who has been one of the driving forces of the organization’s latest playoff push.
Cody Ceci will find himself traded in the offseason
There was a good chance the Oilers would have traded Cody Ceci before the trade deadline, but when that didn’t happen, it’s almost a foregone conclusion Holland will move the blueliner in the offseason. While Ceci is still logging top-four minutes, and his overall numbers haven’t been bad, Edmonton has also recently been having a tough time finding a permanent spot for him in the lineup.
This is often a sign that Ceci hasn’t been as good of a fit lately despite his 50 percent Corsi For at 5-on-5, an on-ice save percentage of 91.5, and the fact that they still trust him as his ice time hasn’t necessarily dropped this season - from 20:08 in 2022-23 to 19:58 in 2023-24.
There is an obvious disconnect between Ceci and the current system if he’s already been moved and hasn’t quite picked up his game recently. The only way we will see Ceci continue in Edmonton is if he either improves on his recent performances alongside Brett Kulak or if they find another place for him and he returns to form.
Keep a close eye on whether Edmonton starts playing Troy Stecher more. If they do play the likely rental, Ceci sees his ice time curtailed, and the entire rotation benefits, the latter will be on the trade block this offseason.
Jack Campbell won’t stick around the organization following the season
If there is any one player in Edmonton’s organization who everyone knew would be long gone since October, it’s Jack Campbell. We all know how badly the 32-year-old played early this year, and there is no way the Oilers will keep paying such a high buried cap penalty until the 2026-27 season.
Look for the Oilers to extend Pickard if he doesn’t test the market, and that will give them stability in the net next season and perhaps the following year while they find a suitor for Campbell. Even if Pickard enters free agency and doesn't re-sign, there is also a chance Olivier Rodrigue shows enough to move up.
At that point, the younger, more upstart Rodrigue would appear to be the much better fit over Campbell, who looks nowhere near the goaltender he was earlier in his career. Through his short time with the Oilers, Campbell has 41 appearances, 22 wins, a 3.53 GAA, an 0.886 save percentage, and a quality starts percentage of just 0.333.
But the Oilers may not have a tough time trading the star-crossed netminder thanks to the success he sustained earlier in his career. Flashing back to his two full years in Toronto, Campbell had 71 appearances, 48 wins, a 0.916 save percentage, a 2.49 GAA, and seven shutouts.
If a goaltender-needy team is looking to take a flier on an established player, they may be interested in Campbell, even if he won’t go for much at this time.
Warren Foegele will be looking to cash in when he tests the free agent market
Warren Foegele is one player Holland should do everything in his power to bring back to Edmonton, even if the likelihood of it happening is less than slim. Foegele may only have 36 points on the year in 70 games, but for him, it’s been a career season.
Foegele has already hit his career-best in points, and there is a good chance he ends the season at the 20-goal threshold. He’s also been a force defensively, and his Corsi For at 5-on-5 just keeps getting better. The winger will get his payday in free agency, and it’s all just a matter of whether Holland is able to fork out the cash alongside guaranteed extensions coming up for Draisaitl and Bouchard as to whether he ultimately sticks around in Edmonton.
Foegele is the one example on this list who will end up elsewhere not because of poor or up-and-down play, but because of how well he’s performed in his role this year. If Holland manages to trade away Ceci and Campbell, perhaps he will have enough to keep Foegele around and for a respectable length of time, regardless of how much he pays Draisaitl and Bouchard.
If not, the 27-year-old will become an integral part of someone’s organization, even if it’s not in Edmonton. And if he can parlay this season’s success into something more at his next stop, there is a good chance Foegele moves into the upper echelon tier in the league.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)