Edmonton Oilers Free Agent Frenzy Moves

• A third round pick in 2028 traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for prospect goaltender Devon Levi and a 7th round pick in 2028.
• Darnell Nurse traded to the San Jose sharks in exchange for left shooting defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp.
• Signed UFA left shooting defenseman Ryan Shea to a 5 year contract, paying him $4M per season.
• Re-signed UFA right shooting right winger Kasperi Kapanen to a 1 year contract, paying him $2.6M.
• Signed UFA left shooting right winger Mathieu Joseph to a 1 year contract, paying him $1M.
• Re-signed left shooting left winger Max Jones to a 1 year contract, paying him $850k.
• Signed UFA goaltender Frederik Andersen to a 1 year contract, paying him $2.8M. $1M will count against Edmonton’s cap space, while the other $1.8M are performance bonuses.

My Take:

Levi is turning 25 in December; he should be ready for consistent prime time in this league. Prospects can’t or shouldn’t be shielded forever; they have to play a lot eventually. But when I wrote my article about the team’s rumored interest in Sebastian Cossa, I worried that they’d handle Cossa’s development the same way they handled Stuart Skinner’s, and that Tristan Jarry would become the new Jack Campbell. I’m not a huge fan of keeping Jarry under contract, but bringing in Andersen as his partner also puts less pressure on coaching and management to play Levi more than he needs to. Improvements in the net, at least on the ice, should be expected. Levi can squeak in some NHL action as the third-string option and learn from a franchise with Cup aspirations without thinking he needs to save their season. Andersen was good in the Playoffs, having helped lead Carolina to the Finals before Brandon Bussi took over against Vegas. However, he also has an injury history, like Jarry, and his last two regular seasons weren’t great. Stan Bowman stated in his press conference that Jarry would be coming back, so here’s hoping that they BOTH have bounce-back regular seasons, because you still have to officially clinch a Playoff spot before talking about the Playoffs. It was time for Nurse to have a change of scenery, and he understood that. Oilers fans were calling for Stan Bowman’s head before July 1st, and now want a banner raised at the Rogers Place rafters for moving that large contract with no retention. The contract sucked, but he was a good leader in the locker room and good for the Edmonton community. It’s a business, but Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid shared Instagram stories to show they’ve valued their friendship with him. Shea is a similar type of player to Nurse, with half the dollars. I’m not against bringing Kapanen back, as there’ll be familiarity again from when he played on Draisaitl’s wing. Bringing in Joseph was nice, as was some of the depth pieces in the Nurse trade and bringing back Jones. Having multiple options in bottom roles is never a bad thing. On paper, this might be their best July 1st in the McDavid era. But hockey is played on the ice, so how much of their best it really is will be an October to April question.