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Should the Edmonton Oilers attempt a Warren Foegele reunion?

Originally posted on The Oil Rig | By Cody Misyk | Last updated Feb 15, 2026 12:21 PM ET

Warren Foegele was, at one point, a valuable depth forward for the Edmonton Oilers. He helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and left in free agency the following offseason. Foegele signed with the rival Los Angeles Kings and had the best season of his career in the 2024–25 season.

However, he has had the exact opposite during this season. Foegele is in the midst of an awful year and may need a change of scenery. Should the Oilers try to bring him back to Oil Country?

Let’s see what the veteran forward has to offer.

How it started in Oil Country

The Oilers originally acquired Foegele in a one for one trade with the Carolina Hurricanes. Edmonton traded defenceman Ethan Bear in exchange for Foegele in July of 2021. He was brought in to provide some grit and secondary scoring in the bottom-six forward core. Foegele fit in well with the Oilers organization and was a part of some extremely memorable seasons.

Foegele’s first full year as an Oiler was in the 2021–22 season. Here, he posted twelve goals and twenty six points, helping the team solidify a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers went on a legendary playoff run, at least for the first two rounds. They defeated the Kings in seven games in the first round and eliminated the Calgary Flames in five games during the second round. Unfortunately, Foegele’s first season ended in disappointment as the Avalanche swept the Oilers in the Conference Final.

The following two years followed the same success for Foegele and the Oilers. In the 2023–24 season, Foegele set new career highs in goals, assists, points, and penalty minutes. The forward hit the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career and made it to the Stanley Cup Final. It was a solid season for Foegele, who likely wanted too much in free agency, forcing the Oilers to move on from him.

What has Foegele done with the Kings?

	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	HITS	BLK
2024-25	82	24	22	46	24	74	40
2025-26	43	6	2	8	14	45	9

In his first season as a King, Foegele was everything that they wanted. He was a fantastic middle-six guy who threw his body around and was able to bury 24 goals. The Kings had an extremely strong season during 2024–25 as they finished second in the Pacific Division with one hundred and five points. They finished just five points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for tops in the division. They went into the playoffs with another matchup against the Oilers.

Foegele had a strong series against the Oilers. He posted one goal and three points, while registering twenty five shots on net, tied for the most on the team. This series started extremely well for the Kings. They won game one, which was a crazy 6–5 final, then dominated in game two, winning 6–2. From that point on, the series went completely downhill for the Kings. The Oilers stormed back and won four straight, eliminating the Kings for the fourth straight year.

As of right now, the Kings sit three points out of a playoff spot. They recently acquired forward Artemi Panarin to load up for a playoff run, but have lost Kevin Fiala for the remainder of the season. With the Fiala injury, could the Kings move on from Foegele to clear cap space? They would need another big name player to go on a deep playoff run.

What would a Foegele reunion look like?

Foegele is currently in the second year of a three year contact. He is making an annual salary of $3.5M and has a five-team no-trade list attached to his contract. Hoping that the Oilers are not one of those five teams, Foegele would potentially be willing to return. Unfortunately, this contract is a bit steep for the Oilers, so they would need to trade someone else to make room for him.

Mattias Janmark and Andrew Mangiapane are guys who could be moved from the current Oilers roster. The Mangiapane experiment has been a disaster in Oil Country, while it may simply be time to move on from Janmark. Mangiapane is currently making more money than Foegele, but his contract is likely not to be moved without retention. The Oilers would potentially have to move on from both of these guys to bring back Foegele. I think it could be worth it, as we know he would fit in extremely fast.

If Foegele was brought back, he would slide in on the third line alongside Jack Roslovic and Matthew Savoie. I actually think he would fit in well on this line, as he would be the power forward beside two skilled forwards. The movement of Janmark and Mangiapane would also make room for rookie Isaac Howard to be back in the NHL. He has simply torched the AHL this season and deserves to be in the big leagues.

Do you think a Foegele reunion as an Oiler is a good idea?

Up Next: The Olympic break is giving the Edmonton Oilers a much-needed reset

This article first appeared on The Oil Rig and was syndicated with permission.

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