The Edmonton Oilers finally have some breathing room under the salary cap after years of being boxed in, but the clean-up job is far from finished.
Trading Darnell Nurse and his full $9.25 million cap hit for the next four seasons was a major step toward fixing the books. Nurse had been the team’s worst contract, and one of the league’s worst the second he signed that deal in Aug.
- General manager Stan Bowman has helped create some flexibility with smart moves, but he’s also left the Oilers with a few painful commitments of his own.
Heading into the 2026-27 season, three contracts stand out for all the wrong reasons.
Trent Frederic’s $3.85 million cap hit is the kind of number that starts to look ugly fast when the player is stuck in a bottom-six role. He’s now entering the second season of an eight-year deal, complete with a full no-movement clause, and that’s a lot of term for a fourth-line winger who has settled into a replaceable role.
Last season told the story. Frederic opened the 2025-26 campaign on the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but that look fell apart quickly.
He was pushed down the lineup and finished with just four goals and seven points in 74 games, while averaging 11:02 of ice time. He didn’t kill penalties, didn’t produce at 5-on-5, and ended up as a healthy scratch for Edmonton’s final two playoff games.
There is still a path for him to be useful. He can be an effective fourth-liner if he finds the right fit, and new head coach Mike Babcock may be able to carve out a role for him. But the price tag remains too steep for that type of player, and the length of the deal only makes it harder to swallow.
Jake Walman is in a different spot, but the concern is just as real. His seven-year, $49 million contract carries a $7 million cap hit, and the term is what jumps off the page first. He has never played more than 65 games in a season, and last year he was limited to 53 games.
When he was healthy, Walman still had trouble finding his game. He posted eight goals and 20 points while averaging 18:45 per night, with only two points coming on the power play and two shorthanded goals. But the minus-17 rating was a problem - the worst among Edmonton defencemen and second-worst on the team behind Andrew Mangiapane, who was traded at the deadline.
Walman was dropped to the third pair last season, though he’ll likely begin this year on the second pair after Nurse was moved. That means more responsibility and more minutes, which is exactly what a player making second-pairing money should be handling.
The Oilers need him to rebound, because if last season is the start of the trend, this contract could age badly. He’ll be 37 when it ends.
Then there’s Tristan Jarry, whose $5.375 million cap hit has already become a headache. Edmonton acquired Jarry and Sam Poulin from the Pittsburgh Penguins in December for Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak and a 2029 second-round pick, a deal that looked rough immediately and didn’t solve the goaltending issue.
Jarry’s numbers in Edmonton were brutal: a 3.86 goals-against average and a .858 save percentage in 19 games. He missed a month with a lower-body injury, then struggled badly after returning and eventually lost the crease to Connor Ingram.
The Oilers have since added Devon Levi from the Buffalo Sabres and signed Frederik Andersen to a one-year deal, so the goalie picture is crowded. Edmonton is expected to use a three-goalie setup to open the season, but Jarry’s situation could turn quickly if his play doesn’t improve. Waiving him would save only $1.15 million against the cap, and if he clears and lands in the American Hockey League, the Oilers would be left carrying a lot of dead money.
That makes this one especially painful. If Jarry is already third on the depth chart, the contract becomes even harder to justify.
In Other News...
Another Former Oilers First Round Pick Is Suddenly Moving Forward
Xavier Bourgaults development has taken a noticeable step forward in Ottawa, where the former first-round pick has spent most of his recent time with AHL Belleville and started to look like a player who is finding his offensive game. After arriving in the Senators organization as part of roster changes, Bourgault turned in a strong season in the minors and even earned his first taste of NHL action, a sign that his path has started to trend in the right direction.
Now the Senators have rewarded that progress with a one-year, two-way contract that keeps him in the mix for more opportunities next season. Bourgaults rise is the kind of reminder Edmonton fans know well: sometimes a prospects story does not really begin until after he leaves the organization that drafted him, and Ottawa will be watching closely to see whether this latest step leads to something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Connor McDavid May Have Just Boxed Himself In With Oilers
Connor McDavids latest contract decision already had the hockey world reading between the lines, and the two-year extension only sharpened the focus on what comes next in Edmonton. For a player of his stature, every move carries weight, especially when the organization is trying to chart a path back to contention and the captains future remains the franchises biggest storyline.
Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman were part of the same conversation around the bench change, and McDavids public backing of the move adds another layer to the pressure now facing the Oilers. If the season goes sideways, it will be harder for him to separate himself from the direction the club chose, which is why this is more than just another coaching storyline in Edmonton. [Read more 🡒]
One Oilers Roster Decision Is Still Hanging Over The Summer
One roster item is still sitting on the Oilers summer to-do list, and it has less to do with urgency than timing. Edmonton is still in negotiations with restricted free agent winger Colton Dach, but the club is clearly keeping its options open on the open market first, a familiar approach for a team trying to balance depth needs with whatever flexibility it can preserve.
Dachs situation has become one of those quiet campfire stories around the league, the kind that can linger until another move changes the math. For the Oilers, the decision is tied to the bigger picture of how they want to use their remaining room, and until that external addition is sorted out, the contract talks are set to stay in the background. [Read more 🡒]