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Quinn Hutson, Boston University (Photo credit: Adam Sheehan)

Edmonton Oilers 2025-26 Roster Projection 1.0

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Jesse Courville-Lynch | Last updated Jul 4, 2025 8:35 AM ET

The Edmonton Oilers were never considered favourites to land any of the big-name free agents like Nikolaj Ehlers, Mitchell Marner, or Brad Marchand this summer, but fans expected them to be a little more active than they were on day one. However, their patient approach paid off as they were able to land forward Andrew Mangiapane on an incredible two-year contract worth $3.6 million annually.

Utilizing a great idea from The Hockey Writers’ Tony Wolak, who wrote this for the Detroit Red Wings, let’s take a super early look at what the Oilers’ 2025-26 lineup could look like next season.

Over the last few days, the Oilers re-signed Kasperi Kapanen and extended Evan Bouchard, signed Mangiapane, signed Riley Stillman, signed Matt Tomkins, and signed Curtis Lazar. They also traded Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson before free agency, freeing up some cap space.

They have lost Corey Perry, John Klingberg, and Connor Brown so far this summer as they have all signed with different teams, and Jeff Skinner remains an unrestricted free agent.

It’s too early to guess what the Oilers have planned for the rest of the offseason, but let’s take a look at the Oilers’ lineup heading into the 2025-26 campaign at this point.

Oilers Projected Roster for 2025-26

With the new additions, here’s what the forward lineup could look like:

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman

Andrew Mangiapane – Leon Draisaitl – Matthew Savoie

Vasily Podkolzin – Trent Frederic – David Tomasek

Mattias Janmark – Adam Henrique – Kasperi Kapanen

The Oilers have some incredible depth at forward, and with the addition of Lazar, they may have to make some tough choices out of training camp. Quinn Hutson and Noah Philp will also push for a roster spot to open the new campaign, but they will have to beat out a trusted player who is sitting at the bottom of the depth chart to have any chance of cracking the lineup. Lazar is likely the extra forward in this situation, but he is a great extra player to have if they run into some injury issues.

Matthew Savoie is someone who likely gets a full-time opportunity in the top-six forward group next season, so starting him alongside Draisaitl and Mangiapane seems to make the most sense, assuming Savoie has a strong camp. Luckily for the Oilers, their bottom six is very interchangeable, and head coach Kris Knoblauch can change things around until he finds something that works.

Let’s take a look at the defensive pairings:

Jake Walman – Evan Bouchard

Darnell Nurse – Ty Emberson

Mattias Ekholm – Brett Kulak

Now, this is where things get interesting, depending on who you ask. Troy Stecher is a solid partner for Darnell Nurse, but Ty Emberson will likely earn another look out of camp heading into the new campaign. Knoblauch trusted his defenders enough to be able to move everyone around as much as he wanted, but a top pairing of Jake Walman and Evan Bouchard could be chalked up as one of the best pairings in the NHL. Two elite puck-moving defenders? That might be unstoppable.

For the first time in a long time, this is an offseason where Oilers fans aren’t calling for the team to find a new defender to play big minutes, which is a huge positive heading into a campaign where the Oilers want to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final and win their first Stanley Cup since 1990.

There are some open spots available for some of the young guns next season, so it will be interesting to see who earns a spot in the bottom-six group, and if the Oilers are forced to move out one of Janmark or Adam Henrique, who could fall out of the lineup and lose their spot.

General manager Stan Bowman made it clear he wanted to try and get younger as they try to remain in contention for the next few seasons, so that could lead to some extra moves before the season gets underway. For now, this is what the lineup looks like.

In terms of goaltending, fans were hoping the Oilers would make a splash this summer, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. There were some rumours that they could look to add someone to push Stuart Skinner for the starting spot, but for now, it looks like they’re comfortable sticking with Skinner and Calvin Pickard.

The man advantage unit likely doesn’t change from last season, except the Oilers will likely have to find a new net-front presence on their second unit with the departure of Perry. Mangiapane and Savoie likely get looks on the second unit, and Frederic or Podkolzin could get an opportunity as the net-front player.

Final Word

The Oilers might be done for now in terms of adding talent in free agency. They don’t have any large holes in their lineup, but they could benefit from continuing to gauge the goaltending market to see if anyone who is an upgrade on Skinner becomes available for the right price.

With the roster above, including Lazar and Stecher sitting in the press box, the Oilers have $1,175,834 in leftover cap space. That could be enough to target one more depth player, or consider adding some competition between the pipes. They have a strong chance of going on another deep run in the playoffs next season and shouldn’t have any issues that force them out of the playoff picture.

As the 2025-26 season approaches, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news from around the NHL and the hockey world.

Data courtesy of PuckPedia.