The biggest weight Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman has now been lifted as he was able to sign an extension for his captain, Connor McDavid.
This means that his most important core pieces are locked in for at least the next two or three seasons and beyond. McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are all signed through the 2027-28 season. This gives the club enough stability but also enough flexibility to compete for the next few seasons without being potentially anchored down to aging players.
Outside of their big names, there are only a select few depth pieces that are not signed beyond this year; newly signed Jack Roslovic, Adam Henrique, Kasperi Kapanen, David Tomasek, Curtis Lazar, and Noah Philp are the only forwards currently on the NHL roster whose contracts do not extend beyond July 1st, 2026.
Although the Oilers 2025-26 regular season has already started, it is still worth it to preview the offence since there are still a number of players that have not gotten a chance to play yet and it is still so early.
Oilers healthy ideal lines
The Oilers have started the season but without top line winger in Hyman and the affordable depth piece in Roslovic has yet to touch the ice in an Oilers jersey. So, with both of these players here are what ideal lines seem to look like.
Line No. 1: Mangiapane - McDavid - Hyman
Line No. 2: Podkolzin - Draisaitl - Savoie
Line No. 3: Frederic - Nugent-Hopkins - Roslovic
Line No. 4: Howard - Henrique - Tomasek
Depth: Philp, Kapanen
First line
This line of course features Oilers captain McDavid next to Hyman and with newcomer, Andrew Mangiapane. The duo of McDavid and Hyman already have established chemistry with the latter having scored a career high 54 goals in 2023-24. These two work well together because Hyman is one of the league's best puckhound players who crashes the crease and occupies the net front players as well as anybody else.
Adding Mangiapane to this mix makes a lot of sense, especially since he has shown an ability to play alongside elite players at the various stops throughout his career. In Calgary he was a big part of their top six structure for multiple seasons, setting career highs in goals (35) and points (55) in 2021-22 in an increased role.
This line could also benefit down the stretch from adding in newly acquired rookie, Ike Howard -- who was ranked as the Oilers No. 2 prospect in the system. He has shown some offensive creation throughout his career at the collegiate and international levels and has done work to improve his shot. If he can use this at the NHL level, he could be lethal next to McDavid and Hyman.
Second line
Like McDavid-Hyman, this line features an established pair of Vasily Podkolzin next to Draisaitl. They work for similar reasons where Podkolzin is able to create space for the sniper, Draisaitl. He was able to win his first Rocket Richard trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer with Podkolzin on his wing and he has praised the newly extended Russian winger.
On their wing is Oilers No. 1 ranked prospect, rookie Matt Savoie who is a highly creative playmaking winger who also has the ability to score goals. His quick speed and skating ability will serve him well in the Oilers' top-six and he has already show an ability to create offence at a pro level at only 21 years old.
I could also see the team opting to place Roslovic or Trent Frederic on the wing here depending on chemistry. Roslovic is a very possible projection for Savoie and Frederic who is filling in for Hyman on the top line with McDavid and Draisaitl to start the year, could show some established chemistry with the German star.
Third line
This third line proves the depth of the Oilers offensive group. Nugent-Hopkins as the pivot is an embarrassment of riches in the truest sense of the word. In this lineup he is between Frederic and Roslovic who provide a good blend of grit and forechecking ability with the ability to provide secondary scoring.
Frederic currently occupies the top line wing spot alongside McDavid and Draisaitl, where Hyman normally plays. The assumption can be made that Hyman will reclaim that spot when he returns from injury, which will push Frederic down. The third line makes sense in this configuration because Podkolzin already has established chemistry with Draisaitl on the second line but there is a possibility that Frederic could move to that line instead.
As well, Roslovic being on the wing here is mainly as a continuation of keeping Savoie in the top six. However, if Savoie and Nugent-Hopkins have clear and established chemistry, it may make sense to tether them together. This is especially true with the clear NHL abilities that Roslovic has shown over years of time in the league but as of right now, he fits here.
Fourth line
This is a line that has a good blend of some forechecking ability with some legitimately good skill, giving the Oilers offence some really dangerous looks throughout all four lines. Henrique as the fourth line centre is mainly because his cap hit cannot -- or should not -- allow him to be a consistent healthy scratch. Noah Philp could easily occupy this spot admirably.
Ike Howard, it is strange to see him on the fourth line but he mainly gets pushed down to this line because of the chemistry of the other three lines. He likely should play up and I could see him moving up to any of the three lines above him. But for now, as he gets acclimated to the pace of play, the fourth line is not the worst position for him to be in.
David Tomasek, very similarly to Howard, does not deserve to be here with his skill level. He is another player I could see easily moving up to any line ahead of him, most likely to replace Savoie or Roslovic. His placement here is again an embarrassment of riches and him being able to slot into multiple different lines just further illustrates the depth throughout the lineup.
Extras
In the way this roster is set up, Noah Philp and Kasperi Kapanen are the two players on the outside looking in. Having them as '13th forwards' is a great issue to have with both showing some legitimate abilities to be everyday NHL players.
Kapanen has rich, NHL bloodlines with his cousin Oliver Kapanen currently playing as a rookie with the Montreal Canadiens and with his father, Sami Kapanen having been a long time NHL player. Kasperi has shown throughout his career the ceiling to be a high end companion, producing at top-nine levels and scoring at a fantastic rate.
Philp is an exceptional story, working his way from USports just a few short years ago and now looking like he could be a contributing forward on a true Stanley Cup contending team. He has good size and some secondary scoring necessary to be a bottom-six centre but could potentially move up if need be.
Oilers depth is better than ever before
The most exciting part of this exercise is seeing the depth of the Oilers offence this year, as opposed to years past. Many people have long criticized the Oilers for being too top heavy, relying on McDavid and Draisaitl too much, but that is not the issue this year.
The team has at least three lines worth of players who could not only challenge for top-six positions but who can produce offence at a high level. Of course, Howard and Savoie are relative unknowns but everything they have shown so far in their young careers is that they are play drivers.