Oilers’ 3 Worst Contracts for 2025-26

The Edmonton Oilers are perennial Stanley Cup contenders, but with that comes salary cap concerns. They are strapped against the cap, making it hard to make moves to improve the roster. Former general manager Ken Holland signed some bad contracts during his tenure, and acting general manager Jeff Jackson signed some last season, before hiring Stan Bowman as the new general manager on July 24, 2024.

Bowman inherited a tough situation, but he managed to shed some salary this offseason to provide more flexibility. He traded Evander Kane’s $5.125 million cap hit to the Vancouver Canucks, and also traded Viktor Arvidsson’s $4 million cap hit to the Boston Bruins. Despite that, there are still some bad contracts on the Oilers. Here are the three worst heading into the 2025-26 season.

Darnell Nurse ($9.25 Million)

Let’s start with the obvious. Darnell Nurse has the worst contract on the Oilers, and arguably the worst contract in the NHL. He inked an eight-year, $74 million deal in 2021, and he’s heading into year four of that contract. The 30-year-old blueliner also has a full no-movement clause until the summer of 2027, in which it turns into a modified 10-team no-trade list. In other words, the Oilers are stuck with this contract for at least the next two seasons.

Before inking this extension, Nurse was coming off a breakout season in the all-Canadian division during the COVID-19 pandemic. He recorded 16 goals and 36 points in a 56-game shortened season. As a result, he was given a massive payday and will never live up to that contract. He has 36 goals and 143 points in 310 games since signing that deal.

This contract is a result of poor management and the inability to evaluate talent. The Hamilton, Ontario, native signed two separate bridge deals, which set him up for unrestricted free agency (UFA) upon the conclusion of those contracts. His first deal was two years with a $3.2 million cap hit, and the second was two years with a $5.6 million cap hit. This could have been avoided if the organization had inked him to an eight-year extension fresh off his entry-level contract (ELC). They would’ve overpaid at the time of the signing, but with long-term deals, it’s crucial to project where the player will be in a few seasons, not where they are now. An eight-year deal with a $6 million cap hit signed then would be a lot more manageable now. Plus, he would only have one more season left on that contract.

The organization made the same mistake with Evan Bouchard. They bridged him on an extremely cheap contract, and now he has a massive deal. If he signed a long-term contract instead of a bridge deal, this would be a non-issue. At the time, many people thought Leon Draisaitl’s eight-year, $8.5 million cap hit was a severe overpay, but that turned out to be a bargain, and one of the best contracts in the league. You need to take risks with your young players. Bridge deals are hurting the organization because they result in massive extensions down the line. That creates other holes in the lineup that can’t be filled due to limited cap space, and Nurse is a perfect example of that.

Adam Henrique ($3 Million)

This one isn’t as egregious as Nurse, but Adam Henrique is overpaid relative to production. He’s entering the final season of his two-year deal with a $3 million cap hit. The veteran forward was acquired at the 2024 Trade Deadline from the Anaheim Ducks as a pending UFA, but inked an extension to stay in Edmonton. He scored 12 goals and 27 points in 81 games last season as the third-line centre, while being an important penalty killer and effective in the faceoff circle. Despite that, his role on the team can be filled internally or by a cheaper option.