After a disappointing 2025-26 NHL season that saw the Edmonton Oilers backslide from back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals appearances to a first round exit in just six games, general manager Stan Bowman and his staff have a lot of work to do this summer to improve the team.
It will not be an easy task for the Oilers to get back to their former glory but they definitely have their work cut out for them. Fan confidence has been shaken in the men at the helm but after recent front office changes, there is hope that they have shifted their priorities and will allow a more analytical bend going forward.
But, given the track record, you cannot blame fans for being a little wary of Bowman and his staff, especially after this past season.
Find a new head coach
Arguably the most pressing matter -- at least, the one dominating the headlines right now -- is the Oilers need for a new head coach. Former head coach Kris Knoblauch took the fall for the Oilers lost season and now leaves the club without a bench boss. This is also the position that logically, the team sorts out before the draft.
The man who seems like the club wants to take Knoblauch's place is Bruce Cassidy but there have been major complications there. The Vegas Golden Knights refuse to give the Oilers, or apparently anybody, permission to speak with him and the NHL does not seem to want to get in the way of that at all.
There are plenty of candidates available to fill their vacancy, some with NHL championship pedigree like former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube and veteran coach Peter Laviolette. But, there are even more who are very capable. We will see how it shakes out but there is no shortage of viable options right now.
Sort out goaltending situation
The Oilers entered the 2025-26 season with plenty of questions and criticisms of their goaltending tandm of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard but that did not seem to deter Bowman. That was, until their season was going off the rails, forcing him to make an in-season trade to address their biggest weakness, acquiring Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This move has not worked out well for Edmonton and Jarry's $5.375 million cap hit for the next two seasons looks like an albatross contract that the Oilers will have to move. In 19 games in Oil Country, Jarry had an abysmal 3.86 goals against average and .858 save percentage, causing the coaching staff to almost completely lose confidence in him as an option between the pipes down the stretch.
The Oilers eventual starter from last season, 29 year old Connor Ingram is an unrestricted free agent this summer and with Jarry's large cap hit, it makes the possibility of extending Ingram that much harder. This could cause the Oilers to be stuck holding the bag at the end of the day, if they lose Ingram to keep Jarry.
Bowman and the Oilers will need to get this move right, either by making a home run bet on an unproven goalie or being able to pull off a heist, they will need to enter next season with some stability between the pipes.
Fix the defence
One of the Oilers achilles heels this season was their defensive group, the team saw a major dip in terms of their shot attempts allowed and their expected goals against. This means that the Oilers were consistently bleeding high danger shots aganst. This is not good for their goalies and completely antithetical to the premise of the game which is to score more goals than your opponent.
It left a lot of question marks with some wondering if Mattias Ekholm is starting to decline or if the Jake Walman extension was a mistake or not. One thing is for sure, the team needs a shakeup and some of the latest rumours seem to have found their scape goat.
Long time Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse has seen his name circulating in trade rumours lately, with even revelations that Bowman and the Oilers were working on a trade at the deadline. It seems that the 31 year old has played his last game with the team that drafted him, which could open up cap space for the Oilers and help in making a strong shakeup to their backend.
Upgrade depth forwards
One of the areas of the Oilers roster that saw plenty of struggles this season was an area that can be less sexy and can be cast aside, unfairly, their depth forwards. We all know the stars and their surrounding core from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman. However, the players lower down on the depth chart struggled quite a bit.
The team saw a big free agent acquisition from last summer leave the team after mutually agreeing to terminate the contract of David Tomasek. The 30 year old has had a prolific career in Europe, making various stops but could not put it together in Edmonton, scoring just five points in 22 games.
Along with him, rookie and Hobey Baker winner Isaac Howard struggled mightily with only five points in 29 games but an impressive 50 points in 47 games with their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. On top of him, Matt Savoie had an incredibly underwhelming start to his season and really did not take off until after the Olympic break. As well, 2025 NHL trade deadline acquisition Trent Frederic spent most of the season in the bottom-six and did not produce much himself with only sevven points in 74 games.
The Oilers and more specifically GM Stan Bowman has his work cut out for him this summer and will need to pull a rabbit out of his hat to turn things around. The next calendar year may be the most important time period on the job in Edmonton as he tries to show McDavid that he should stay with the Oilers for the long haul and sign another extension.
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