Over a month into the 2026 offseason and the Edmonton Oilers appear to be done upgrading their roster, at least for now.
General manager Stan Bowman has said that there is really only one area that he would add to “We have three goalies and a lot of D, so it’s more likely if we were going to be adding a player, it would be a forward,”. He said on a recent episode of Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer.
Given the time they have taken, the two biggest possibilities for why they have not added another player is that they either A) Do not like what is out there and/or the player they want is not available to them. B) They are not willing to spend the assets or cap space on the players that are available.
As of right now, the Oilers appear likely to enter the 2026-27 regular season with approximately $4.725 million in cap space, according to puckpedia. There is always the possibility that the club is able to sign a player later, as they did last season with forward Jack Roslovic signing him part way through their season opener to a team friendly one-year deal, carrying an annual average value of $1.5 million.
There is risk waiting that long to sign a player but if the opportunity presents itself and if they can make a worthwhile upgrade up front, they might as well. However, they should use the cap space they do have wisely and should not let it burn a hole in their pocket because if they are smart, they could enter the trade deadline with a lot.
Oilers could accrue a lot of money
There are really good resources that can explain the CBA and cap accrual but this article does a very good job.
To put it into simple terms, NHL salaries are paid to players periodically throughout the regular season as with any other job. As such, players who are traded mid-season are actually traded with their contracts worth less than whatever their cap hit may make it appear, this is what some say when they call a players salary 'pro-rated'. Also, NHL club salary is calculated on a per-day basis, meaning that the calculations change daily so when teams carry cap room, they see it accrue value as the season moves along.
So, as the season goes on, when a club has cap space, it accrues over time because as time goes on, your space becomes more valuable as player's contracts are paid out more and more. When the NHL trade deadline approaches, it is typically over 75% of the way through the season and teams that have carried an excess of cap room, are able to fit players with higher cap hit due to them accruing cap space throughout the season.
Long story short, the Oilers who are projected to enter the season with roughly $4.725 million in cap space, could have nearly $22 million in cap space by the time the 2027 NHL trade deadline rolls around. This is how a team like the Oilers can survive with the new CBA MOU banning double retention on trades.
If a team hopes to be competitive and potentially make a big splash and add at the deadline, this is what they will need to do. So, although it may seem boring now, the delayed gratification of the Oilers adding a major piece in March should mroe than make up for it.
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