The Edmonton Oilers have spent years collecting contract head-scratchers, but that reputation is starting to fade. Connor McDavid is locked in at $12.5 million AAV without taking a single cent raise.
Zach Hyman sits at $5.5 million AAV. Evan Bouchard’s $10.5 million AAV looks wild when you pair it with a 95-point season.
Leon Draisaitl at $14 million AAV is looking more and more like an absolute steal. Even beyond the stars, the roster is packed with deals that look cleaner by the day, including Vasily Podkolzin, Frederik Andersen, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Mattias Ekholm.
That’s why Dom Luszczyszyn’s annual top 10 list of the NHL’s worst contracts stands out for Edmonton. The analytics expert included two Oilers deals on it, and both names are familiar to fans for very different reasons.
Trent Frederic checks in at No. 6 on the list. Acquired at the 2025 trade deadline, he arrived hurt and played through that issue all the way to the Cup Finals.
The production never really came with him. He didn’t bring much scoring, didn’t bring much physical edge, and overall didn’t give the Oilers the kind of impact they were hoping for.
Stan Bowman still committed to him in a big way, handing him an eight-year, $3.85 million AAV contract in the offseason. Frederic finished the 2025-26 season with four goals and seven points in 74 games.
Jake Walman landed one spot behind him at No. 7.
The defenseman came in on the same day as Frederic and immediately changed the look of Edmonton’s blue line. His puck-moving ability and underlying numbers stood out right away, and he formed a highly effective pairing with John Klingberg through the end of the season and into the playoffs.
That made his seven-year, $7 million AAV deal look like a reasonable bet at the time.
But the 2025-26 season turned messy. Walman played only 53 games, battled injuries, and struggled badly.
He started the year out after an undisclosed injury in the first preseason game, was originally listed as day-to-day, and wound up missing a month. After returning, he played 17 games before a blocked shot led to a deep bone bruise that kept him out for another six weeks.
On top of that, Kris Knoblauch kept moving him between his off-side and strong side, something Walman has said he did not want. “Tell me where I’m playing, and play me on that side,” he indicated.
So are these really two of the league’s worst contracts? Frederic’s deal looks rough at first glance because of the term and the money, but $3.85 million AAV is not as damaging as it sounds in a cap world where bottom-six forwards are increasingly landing in the $4-6 million range.
He showed flashes last season, especially while skating with Colton Dach and Josh Samanski, and he still looks like a player the Oilers could use. With a new coaching staff coming in, he’s one of the names to watch this season, and he could be a bounce-back candidate.
If he doesn’t respond, Mike Babcock might ensure he doesn’t see much ice.
Walman’s case is even easier to defend. If he gets back to the level he showed after arriving in 2025, the contract should age just fine.
A $7 million AAV for a strong second-pairing defenseman is becoming the new normal, especially with the cap rising. Given better health and more stability, Walman looks like a strong bounce-back candidate too.
Luszczyszyn’s list may not be completely off base. Frederic could slide down the lineup and end up in healthy scratch territory.
Walman could keep running into injury trouble and never fully get going. But both deals feel harsh for a list of the NHL’s worst contracts, especially with Frederic’s lower AAV and the difficult season Walman just endured.
In Other News...
Oilers Win Now Wishlist Is Starting To Come Into Focus
The Oilers long-term shopping list is already starting to take shape, and it is built around the same kind of win-now logic that has defined so much of the conversation in Edmonton. With a 2027 free-agency window in mind, the idea is less about fantasy names and more about identifying players who could actually be available, fit the roster and push the team closer to another playoff run. That makes the exercise feel practical even if it is still firmly in the speculative stage.
Jason Robertson, Alex Debrincat, Vince Dunn and Jordan Binnington all surface as the sort of targets that could move the needle if the right circumstances line up. Robertson would require a lot of cap maneuvering, Debrincat carries the appeal of a long-standing fit, Dunn would answer a need on the back end and Binnington would only enter the picture if Edmonton keeps searching for stability in goal. None of it is imminent, but the list says plenty about where the Oilers are already trying to position themselves. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Landed On The Wrong End Of An Oilers Night Fans Wont Forget
The Oilers 2025-26 season had its share of uneven stretches, but January gave them a run of nights that stood out even in a year that ended with a first-round playoff exit. Connor Clattenburgs NHL debut added a fresh prospect storyline to the mix, while an eight-game homestand turned into one of the most memorable offensive bursts of the season, highlighted by back-to-back hat tricks from defensemen Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm.
Bouchards big night came in a wild overtime win, and Ekholm followed two days later with a three-goal performance against Anaheim that capped the kind of blue-line scoring binge few teams ever see. Edmonton also finally strung together its first three-game winning streak late in the year, a small but notable sign of momentum during a season that kept swinging between frustration and flashes of something more promising. [Read more 🡒]
Patrick Kane's Return Says Everything About Where Blackhawks Believe They're Headed
The Oilers are being linked to another aggressive swing as they weigh a possible move for Steven Stamkos, a rumor that fits the same win-now posture that has defined so much of their thinking around Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Edmonton has already shown a willingness to chase proven help when the window feels open, and any conversation about adding a player of Stamkos stature only reinforces how little patience this front office appears to have for a slow build.
What makes the chatter worth watching is the price tag and the timing, because this is the kind of deal that would force Edmonton to part with real assets while also depending on Nashvilles willingness to reshape its own direction. The Predators have been linked to a broader reset, and if they decide to lean into that next chapter, the Oilers could find themselves in the middle of one of the summers most consequential trade discussions. [Read more 🡒]