Edmonton Oilers officially cut ties with several players, will hit unrestricted free agency

The Edmonton Oilers have made significant roster changes this off-season, and now they've let three players go as they are all set to hit free agency.

This off-season has been a very busy one for the Edmonton Oilers, with the team set to replace Corey Perry, Evander Kane and Victor Arvidsson in their lineup with Matthew Savoie, Isaac Howard and Andrew Mangiapane.

The changes haven't stopped however, as they have now made the intriguing decision to allow the rights to four players to expire, making all four of the recent draft picks official free agents.

Will the Oilers regret letting any of these players walk?

The four players the Oilers have allowed to walk to free agency are Matt Copponi, Joel Maata, Tomas Mazura and Luca Munzenberger, all of whom were drafted between rounds three and seven in the past six years.

Perhaps the most intriguing of all is centre Matt Copponi, who tallied 6 goals and 24 points a season ago in 40 games with Boston University, but at 22-years of age, the team seemingly don't see a future for him or any of the other three players that were officially allowed to walk into free agency.

What is the future of the Edmonton Oilers?

As of right now, the Oilers have arguably the weakest prospect group in the entire NHL, with very few players knocking on the door of playing in the NHL right now, and while they added Howard and Savoie in separate trades over the last two seasons, letting players walk into free agency is certainly an intriguing decision.

It's unclear if these four players will make anything of themselves at the NHL or AHL level, but right now it's certainly a questionable move for the Oilers to let talented players walk, so we will see how things play out in the coming seasons as they look to chase a Stanley Cup and add talent for the future.