The Edmonton Oilers may have a chance to turn another team’s mess into their own depth chart upgrade.
Around the league, a little internal drama can quickly create opportunity, and that’s exactly the lane Edmonton should be watching. With some cap space to work with, the Oilers could be in position to scoop up a useful forward if the right situation cracks open in Montreal or Philadelphia.
Kirby Dach is the first name worth circling. The 25-year-old Alberta-born center/right wing is coming off a four-year, $13.45 million deal with a $3.36 million AAV, and Montreal has already handed him a $4 million qualifying offer.
Dach chose arbitration instead. On the surface, that might look like a routine contract wrinkle.
Dig a little deeper and it gets more complicated.
Dach has played just 154 of a possible 328 regular-season games with the Canadiens since arriving from Chicago in 2022, and when he has been healthy, the production has been modest at around 0.5 points per game. Montreal’s qualifying offer was a two-way deal, which tells you plenty about how the team views the risk.
He isn’t locked into an NHL spot, and if he’s sent down, the pay drops. On July 5, 2026, he was one of 15 RFAs to file for salary arbitration, which pushes the process toward either a negotiated resolution or a one-year award.
He’ll be arbitration-eligible, then become a UFA in 2027.
For Edmonton, the appeal is obvious. Dach brings size at 6-foot-4, he shoots right, and he can play both center and wing.
He’s the kind of depth piece who could sit behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl while adding some skill to the middle of the lineup. There’s also the Alberta connection, plus brother Colton Dach already in the Oilers organization.
That kind of family tie can matter.
The risk is just as clear. Injuries have followed him, and that’s the big red flag.
The other concern is whether Edmonton wants to spend short-term money on a player whose situation is already getting messy. Still, arbitration can change the temperature fast, and if relations between Dach and Montreal sour any further, this becomes the classic buy-low play.
Owen Tippett is a different kind of target, and maybe the cleaner fit.
Philadelphia is staring down the Leo Carlsson offer-sheet situation with Anaheim, and if that saga gets complicated, the Flyers could end up looking for ways to shuffle salary. Tippett is on an eight-year, $49.6 million extension worth $6.2 million per season, signed in 2024 and running through 2031-32. He also has a modified no-trade clause that begins this summer.
The Flyers do have projected cap space of about $29 million to $30 million for 2026-27 before other moves, so they aren’t exactly in a fire sale position. And Tippett isn’t the obvious cap casualty anyway.
He’s too productive for that. In 2025-26, he put up 28 goals and 51 points in 81 games, and he’s the kind of fast, skilled winger who can shoot, drive play, and help on special teams.
That’s why he makes so much sense for Edmonton. He’s been linked to the Oilers before, and the fit is easy to see: speed, shot, and size alongside McDavid and Draisaitl. He’d bring secondary scoring and some physical edge, and unlike plenty of top-six swings Edmonton has taken in recent years, Tippett feels like a more dependable bet.
The contract may not look like a bargain right this second, but it could age nicely. A $6.2 million cap hit for a prime-age winger won’t seem nearly as heavy a few seasons from now.
The problem is that Philadelphia doesn’t appear eager to move him, especially with the value he brings and the complications of that modified NTC. There’s also the possibility that the Carlsson situation pushes the Flyers toward keeping scoring depth instead of subtracting it.
If Anaheim matches the Carlsson offer sheet, though, the ripple effects could spread quickly. The Ducks would then have to sort out a deal for Cutter Gauthier, and that could open the door for someone else on that roster to become available. Edmonton should be ready to see who might be moved for pennies on the dollar, with salary retention potentially part of the equation to help Anaheim keep its young core intact.
That list could include Chris Kreider, Alex Killorn, or Frank Vatrano.
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What makes the situation interesting is that the likely move does not appear to involve one of the more established names. Edmontons choice seems to be narrowing around a pair of younger defensemen, with handedness and recent usage both part of the equation. One option has the cleaner fit on paper, while the other spent more time on the outside looking in, and the Oilers now have to decide whether they want to keep the extra insurance or turn that depth into something else before camp sorts it out for them. [Read more 🡒]