Stan Bowman finally got his hands dirty on July 1.
For two years in Edmonton, the criticism around the Oilers’ general manager was pretty simple: he was working with Ken Holland’s roster, not really his own. That changed on Wednesday. By the time the first day of free agency wrapped, Bowman had pushed through a full slate of moves that gave the team a very different look - and, just as important, a clearer direction.
The biggest swing came first. Darnell Nurse was shipped to San Jose, and Edmonton managed to get out from under the $9.25 million no-movement clause without eating any salary.
That mattered. Bowman didn’t have to keep two or three million on the books just to make the deal happen, and he came away with two assets instead of a cap penalty.
"There's a lot of conversations that go into these trades," Bowman said Wednesday.
That line barely scratches the surface of what it took to move a contract like that.
Once the Nurse deal was done, the rest of the day started to make sense. Ryan Shea was signed, Frederik Andersen was added in goal, Devon Levi arrived from Buffalo for a third-round pick, and Kasperi Kapanen, Max Jones, and Mathieu Joseph were all either brought back or added. Zack Sharp, a prospect Bowman said he’s known since the kid was thirteen, also came back in the Nurse trade, along with Shakir Mukhamadullin, a 23-year-old defenseman with size and NHL upside.
Shea may be the most important piece of the day when you look beyond the immediate shuffle. Bowman drafted him back in Chicago, so this wasn’t some rushed reaction to the Nurse move.
Shea had 35 points in 80 games for Pittsburgh last season, kills penalties, and moves well enough to slot beside Evan Bouchard. He signed for five years at $4 million annually, and that number looks like it should age just fine.
Levi is another move that makes sense in the context of need and opportunity. Buffalo needed cap space.
Edmonton needed a 24-year-old goaltender with strong AHL seasons behind him and a path to actual NHL work. Bowman compared him to Brandon Bussi, another goalie who waited a long time for his chance and made something of it when it finally came.
"He just hasn't had much of an opportunity," Bowman said. "It's not that he hasn't performed well."
Andersen gives the Oilers something else entirely. At one year and $2.8 million, after helping Carolina win the Stanley Cup this spring, he brings championship experience into a room that didn’t have that exact ingredient before.
Earlier in the day, Bowman said he hadn’t decided whether to add an experienced goalie or let Jarry and Levi battle for the crease. A few hours later, Andersen was in the fold.
Jarry and Levi are still there, but now there’s a Stanley Cup champion in the mix too.
The depth signings filled in more of the picture. Kapanen at $2.6 million and Jones at $850,000 keep the bottom six intact without locking Edmonton into too much money.
Joseph adds another forward option. By the end of the day, the roster had an actual shape to it.
It still isn’t finished. The blue line beyond Shea and Bouchard remains shaky.
Goaltending still has to be sorted out in camp. And there’s a real gap between this version of the Oilers and a team that can win four rounds in the spring.
But Bowman came into the day with a list of problems, and he knocked them all down. He moved the hardest contract without retention, added young talent, brought in two goalies, and kept the future from getting stripped apart in the process.
Two years into the job, this was his first real stamp on the roster.
It landed well.
In Other News...
Oilers Goalie Situation Just Took Another Frustrating Turn
Connor Ingrams lone season in Edmonton has become part of a much larger summer scramble in net, with the Oilers still searching for answers after their talks with the veteran goalie failed to produce a new deal. The market has already started to sort itself out around the club, and Edmonton has been tied to a handful of different options as it tries to settle on a direction before the rest of the goalie carousel slows down.
Among the names linked to the Oilers are Sebastian Cossa, Devon Levi and Sergei Bobrovsky, a list that underscores just how wide the teams search has become. Ingram, meanwhile, is also drawing attention elsewhere, including from Ottawa as a possible backup option, leaving Edmonton to keep weighing its alternatives while one of last seasons familiar faces moves toward another stop. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Add Mathieu Joseph And Fans Will Debate What It Means
The Oilers kept busy on the roster front again, this time adding Mathieu Joseph on a one-year deal that gives the club another NHL-tested forward to sort into the mix. Joseph arrives with plenty of mileage on his rsum, having played 471 games in the league, and his path through St. Louis and Los Angeles last season only adds to the sense that Edmonton is still looking for useful pieces wherever it can find them.
For a team that has already layered in a string of other moves, Joseph is the kind of signing that invites debate because it says something about both fit and intent. Edmonton still has cap room to work with, but the real question now is how this latest addition slots into the larger plan as the Oilers continue reshaping the bottom of the lineup and trying to make each move count. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Just Made A Goaltending Gamble That Could Change Everything
The Oilers have taken another swing at solving the one area that has haunted too many of their recent runs, signing Frederik Andersen to a one-year deal and adding Devon Levi in a move that signals a real reset in net. Andersen comes in on a modest salary with performance bonuses attached, while Levi arrives as a younger piece with upside, giving Edmonton a different kind of depth chart heading toward the 2026-27 season.
What makes the decision interesting is the structure around it, because Edmonton is not treating this as a simple starter-and-backup arrangement. The plan is to carry Andersen, Levi and Tristan Jarry in a three-goalie setup, a rare approach for a team trying to build stability rather than just patch a hole, and it leaves the Oilers with plenty to sort out before opening night of that season. [Read more 🡒]