3 burning questions Edmonton Oilers should answer in 2026 offseason

The Edmonton Oilers (41-30-11) were preseason Stanley Cup favorites heading into the 2025-26 NHL season. With some of the league’s best talent (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl) and back-to-back runner-up finishes, the expectation was that Edmonton would finally break through, especially with the Florida Panthers missing the playoffs.

Instead, goaltending and lackluster depth held them back. The team tried to rectify the goaltending situation by trading Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak, and a second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Tristan Jarry. Unfortunately, Jarry rewarded Edmonton with one of the worst seasons by an Oilers netminder, with a .858 save percentage.

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The Oilers still made the playoffs, facing the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. People thought they would dispatch the Ducks with McDavid and Draisaitl, but the Ducks were able to mitigate McDavid’s impact, holding him to just one goal and six points through the series.

Draisaitl was great, with 10 points in six games, but without McDavid at his best, Anaheim dispatched the Oilers in six games. Now Edmonton enters a pretty contentious offseason.

Who will coach the Oilers next season?

Jun 7, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch takes questions during media day in advance of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Oilers decided to move on from head coach Kris Knoblauch after the season. He left with a 135-77-21 record in the regular season and a 31-22 record in the postseason. He finished his tenure with three straight playoff appearances and Stanley Cup Final appearances in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 season.

Considering the questionable deployments in the net throughout the series, along with guys like Jake Walman and Trent Frederic regressing, the brass probably thought it was for the best. However, the Oilers will have to choose their next coach carefully if they want to return to the final next season.

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The Oilers are expected to interview Craig Berube, Bruce Cassidy, and John Tortorella for the position. They’re all grind-type coaches who have experience winning the Stanley Cup. Berube is coming off a rough season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Edmonton might have a better shot with him over the other two names.

The Vegas Golden Knights denied the Oilers from speaking with Cassidy, despite firing him in the regular season. They replaced him with Tortorella, who’s taken them to the Western Conference Final so far.

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The Golden Knights might just block Cassidy from an interview with any team while removing the interim tag from John Tortorella. That’s still a situation to monitor, and the Oilers are clearly looking for a coach with Stanley Cup experience.

Which UFAs do they sign?

Mar 26, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Edmonton Oilers players celebrate after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 during an overtime period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Unfortunately, the Oilers have a lot of pending free agents coming up. All of their key contributors are locked up, but a lot of depth players need to be accounted for.

In the forward group, Adam Henrique, Jason Dickinson, Jack Roslovic, and Kasperi Kapanen are all UFAs. Dickinson would be my priority out of the group: he was valuable in the playoff games he dressed for, plus, Edmonton traded a first-round pick to get him. Still, Roslovic is coming off another 20-goal season, and Kasperi Kapanen led the team in playoff goals, too (4).

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On defense, they have just Connor Murphy to worry about. He’s a good third-pairing defenseman, so Edmonton should try to re-sign him too, if possible.

In net, Connor Ingram is also a free agent. Ingram outperformed Jarry, so Edmonton might look into giving him a contract too. However, they’ll probably need to do this to get more cap room.

Do the Oilers move on from Darnell Nurse?

Apr 8, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) looks up at the scoreboard during a break in the action against the San Jose Sharks during the second period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The Oilers should try to move on from defenseman Darnell Nurse this offseason. The second-pairing defenseman still has four years left on an eight-year, $74 million contract, and he hasn’t lived up to the contract.

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Unfortunately, Nurse has a full no-movement clause until the 2027 offseason, when he can reject trade offers to just 10 teams. Maybe, the Oilers could convince Nurse to waive his no-movement clause now instead of later, considering he’ll have more of a say on where to go now instead of 2027.

The Oilers could also retain salary on Nurse to bring about a trade, since they have both retention slots open. With the weak free agency class, a team could be willing to trade for Nurse with retained salary.

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At his best, he’s a solid second-pairing defenseman with good play-making abilities, but that wasn’t the case at all last season. I think it’s time for both of the sides to part ways, but Edmonton will need to be shrewd about it.

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