Insider Reveals Edmonton Oilers’ Offseason Priorities

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | By Jackson Weber | Last updated Mar 31, 2026 4:36 PM ET

The Edmonton Oilers are currently fighting for playoff positioning in the Pacific Division, and that’s all on their minds with eight games remaining in the 2025–26 regular season.

While this final stretch and the postseason are all anyone is concerned about, the offseason is right around the corner, so GM Stan Bowman and company are also focused on planning for the summer.

According to insider David Pagnotta, those plans could include adding a top-six forward, which might also correlate with trying to move Darnell Nurse in the process.

Pagnotta said:

“I do think they’re gonna consider a variety of options. I think they’re gonna go after somebody that can fit into their top six legitimately this summer, and then it’s a whole Darnell Nurse watch—what’s gonna happen there? Does that factor into bringing in somebody in the top six, or is it a separate situation? I think that’ll be part of the conversation they’ll have in the summer. Obviously, the focus now is playoffs, and let’s try to get home ice, at the very least, if not the division. That’s where the focus is and should be. But certainly, Bowman and company have some ideas in mind based on how the season ends, and that’ll determine what direction and how they act,”

The Oilers are slated to have almost $17 million in cap space this offseason, with Nurse, 31, poised to enter the fifth year of the eight-year, $74 million extension he signed with the team back in 2021.

Aside from Alex Tuch—who has been linked to the Oilers in the past—finding a legitimate top-six winger on the free-agent market might be difficult, which could push Bowman to explore the trade market instead.

Meanwhile, although Darnell Nurse has recently put together a solid stretch of games, Edmonton will need to see more of that consistency the rest of the season; otherwise, his name will almost certainly resurface in trade rumors this offseason. If that happens, finding a way to move him in the same deal to land a top-six forward would certainly be ideal for Bowman and the Oilers. Whether that’s possible, however, is a whole other discussion.

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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