Oilers’ 2025 Offseason To-Do List

After coming up just short in the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season, the attention turns toward the offseason. This is Stan Bowman’s first full offseason as the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, and he needs to make his mark. He acquired defenceman Jake Walman at the trade deadline, which was a great move. Now, he has more tasks to achieve to improve the roster while juggling the salary cap and ensuring his team is a perennial Stanley Cup contender. With that said, here’s the Oilers’ offseason to-do list.

Bowman Must Re-Sign Bouchard & McDavid

It’s imperative to re-sign Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid. It’s the organization’s fault that we are in this position with Bouchard. Like they did with Darnell Nurse, the Ken Holland regime gave Bouchard a very cheap two-year bridge deal. They bridged Nurse twice, then gave him that massive eight-year extension with a $9.25 million cap hit that’s aging like milk, instead of locking him up five years ago on a more reasonable contract.

They find themselves in the same position. The Oilers bridged Bouchard instead of signing him to an eight-year extension a few seasons ago, and they’re paying for it. An eight-year deal with a cap hit of $7-8 million two seasons ago would be a great deal now. They didn’t do that, and now they will be paying him $10-11 million. When negotiating contracts with young players, it’s important to be proactive and project what they will be in years three to eight of their long-term deal, rather than what they are now. As a result, the 25-year-old blueliner will get paid, and Edmonton better oblige, or risk losing him. Elite right-shot defencemen are rare, and if they lose him, they will spend the next decade trying to replace him.

Then, the biggest talking point this summer will be the status of McDavid. The Oilers’ captain is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) next offseason and is eligible to sign an extension with Edmonton on July 1. Teammate Leon Draisaitl was in the same position last season. He inked his new deal in early September, prior to training camp. Edmonton does not want this situation to linger into the season, so Bowman should lock him up this summer. The longer this goes, the more media attention it will get, and will trigger more trade rumours, likely involving the Toronto Maple Leafs. So, kill all those rumours by re-signing him as early as possible.

Upgrade the Goaltending Position

One thing is certain: the Oilers can’t go into next season with the same goalie tandem. The duo of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard won’t win you a Cup. Whether they trade both or keep one, they need a change between the pipes. The goaltender free agent class is weak, with no clear-cut upgrades available. Therefore, Bowman must go the trade route or via an offer sheet. The goaltenders he could target via trade include Jeremy Swayman from the Boston Bruins or John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks. However, both come with hefty contracts. Swayman has seven years remaining with an $8.25 million cap hit, and Gibson has two years left with a $6.4 million cap hit. Both would require significant assets headed the other way, especially if salary retention is involved, which would be more likely with Gibson.