‘It starts with getting a true starting goalie’: Oilers fans give suggestions for off-season upgrades

With the Stanley Cup awarded, we are officially in the off-season. Teams are already making moves, giving players extensions and brewing up trades. For the Edmonton Oilers, they have a bit of business this summer, like extending Evan Bouchard and locking down Connor McDavid.

In a few weeks, we’ll know who stays in Edmonton, who leaves, and who the newcomers could be. Oilers fans at this time of the year love to speculate and have made a few suggestions online for how the team should approach this off-season.

“Get a good goalie and another shut-down D-man. Remove the old players in the bottom-six and replace them with younger and grittier forwards.” – yestilian via Instagram

“GOALIE AND DEPTH! Look at the coaching staff and make changes. I am sorry, the last two years aren’t good enough. We have the best hockey player talent-wise since No. 99 and can’t get it done because we can’t get a save and no help.” – Giles Macinnis via X

“Move Kane and Ekholm out, waive Pickard, find a goalie like Gibson or Jarry to come in as your 1A, and bring in a strong defensive defenceman to play with Bouchard… and actually find depth at the forward position (easier said than done)” – Overtime Hockey Talk via X

“Find a way to dump Nurse’s contract. Skinner can’t be any higher than a backup next year. When it comes to it, we can’t sign Bouchard to what he’s gonna eventually want. Need a gritty shutdown D-man and ideally a forward to play with Leon.” – Kyle Scanlon via Facebook

“Add youth, speed, and role specialists (PK).” – DreamhomeswithAlex via Instagram

“Trade Arvi, Trade Rico, trade for the RFA rights to JJ Peterka, and sign him ($6Mx5). Re-sign Fredric ($1.8Mx8) re-sign Kapanen ($2Mx2) and most importantly extend Bouch($11Mx8)” – Tristynb_04 via Instagram

A lot of the suggestions make sense in terms of clearing cap space. Viktor Arvidsson didn’t necessarily impress fans this year, considering his salary cap hit of $4 million. However, he did battle some injuries, but he hasn’t had a particularly healthy season since 2022-23 with the Kings, where he played 77 games in the regular season and scored 26 goals.

There is a portion of the Oilers fanbase that wants Evan Bouchard gone. There’s a stronger chance that he signs a large contract with the Oilers this summer, one that will infuriate those who want to see him dealt. Bouchard is a crucial cog to the Oilers’ success and a big reason why they made another deep playoff run. 

Another player whose name has come up often is goaltender Stuart Skinner. Many fans believe that the Oilers need to move on from the Edmonton native and make an upgrade between the pipes.

“Skinner is too inexperienced. Get a temp goalie to give him some more time to improve. Defence needs the most focus. I don’t know if they have to tear it down and try something different, but what we have right now isn’t cutting it. Firing Stan Bowman out of a canon.” – Shima_HD via X

“Nearly every player discussed has a form of NMC and the player they are asking in return also has a NMC. That’s not even counting the obvious cap compliance issues. Expect nothing bold people.” – Nikolai Rolheisov via X

“Skinner out. Nurse out. Keep Podkolzin and Kapanen (short term). Kane can go. Perry should retire here and be given a player liaison role. Sign Bouchard at 75% of whatever he asks for. Need a top-10 goalie desperately. Let Knoblauch hire his own staff so that this team is seamless.” – atiyaxa via X

“For the fourth season in a row……. FIRE DUSTIN SCHWARTZ.” – relli_97 via Instagram

“I have no idea, but it starts with getting a true starting goalie. Skinner is a great backup, just not starter material right now. If somehow you can get Nurse off the books or most of that pitiful contract, do it.” – Keaton Kelln via Facebook

“If the Oilers don’t get a bona fide No. 1 goaltender, they will lose McDavid next offseason.” – Andrew Cline via Facebook

There’s a lot of pressure when it comes to being a goalie for the Oilers. The fans will put a massive magnifying glass underneath you and expect you to stop every puck. However, there’s no secret that Edmonton’s goaltending needs to be better. It will take a lot for a team to trade you a number-one goalie. In the same breath, the Oilers would need to open up a good chunk of cap space if they want one.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Oilers have a new tandem to start the 2025-26 season. The real question is who they will target, and it wouldn’t shock me if it’s someone who is a UFA.

Now, trading Darnell Nurse is another challenge in itself. It’s understandable why fans are frustrated with his performance. For how much he’s making, it seemed like he could only be paired with one other defenceman to have success, and that was with Troy Stecher. His contract is an absolute anchor, and the Oilers would need him to waive his no-movement clause.

You also have to consider his relationship with Connor McDavid and if moving him could impact McDavid’s future in Edmonton. While that sounds silly, relationships are essential for a team. The Oilers have traded teammates who’ve been close before. However, McDavid and Nurse have grown up together during their time in Edmonton and are incredibly close. All in all, trading Darnell Nurse would be challenging and not an easy decision to make.

As in previous years, the off-season for the Edmonton Oilers promises to be busy and interesting.