Oilers depth chart: Is shuffle up front enough to push them over the edge?

EDMONTON — The summertime goals here in Edmonton are a little bit different than in most other National Hockey League locales.

For instance, if a GM in (insert NHL city here) said he could deliver a roster that could guarantee an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, most fan bases would be ecstatic. (Other than South Florida, of course.)

But for Edmonton general manager Stan Bowman, the summer of 2025 is about finding the extra five percent that the Oilers have been searching for since losing the 2024 Final in seven games.

Edmonton lost a couple of depth forwards to free agency in Connor Brown and Corey Perry, and let Jeff Skinner walk. Bowman either re-signed or still has nine of the top-12 forwards from the Stanley Cup Final, while promoting skilled young winger Matt Savoie, adding known free agents in Andrew Mangiapane and Curtis Lazar, and an unknown signing in European David Tomasek.

Further change will come in head coach Kris Knoblauch’s usage of newly signed Trent Frederic — whether Knoblauch uses him as a depth forward on the Oilers second line the way they did with Vasily Podkolzin last season, or as a third-line centre or winger. They are all on the table for Frederic, who is now a long-term Oiler.

Maybe Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centres the third line? Does Adam Henrique take a spin as Connor McDavid’s left winger? Does Podkolzin bull his way back onto Leon Draisaitl’s left flank?

The defence remains the same, and after a summer of exploring the goalie market, it doesn’t look like there will be any changes in between the pipes, either.

DEPTH CHART

Here is a conservative prediction on how the lines and defence pairings will set up for the season opener in October:

Forwards

Nugent-Hopkins — McDavid — Hyman

Mangiapane — Draisaitl — Savoie

Henrique — Frederic — Tomasek

Podkolzin — Janmark — Kapanen

Lazar

Jones

Defence

Ekholm — Bouchard

Nurse — Walman

Kulak — Stecher

Emberson

Goal

Skinner

Pickard

We’ve started Frederic at 3C, under the watchful eye of veteran linemate and centre Henrique. I see a situation where, if Frederic can earn the gig, he and Henrique roughly split the 3C duties this season, with Frederic becoming the long-term solution when Henrique’s deal expires after this season. Nugent-Hopkins is always an option at 3C as well.

On Line 2, we’re told Mangiapane prefers the right wing. If Savoie is OK with playing on his off wing, then we could see a swap there, with Draisaitl finally getting a pair of wingers with a commensurate level of skill for a centre of his pedigree.

In Lazar and Max Jones, the Oilers have two veteran spare forwards — a centre and a winger — who can spot in, while the only battle on defence will be for the 6-7 spots between Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher.

It sounds like a new goalie coach is in the hopper, but we won’t know if that is enough change at that position until we see Brad Marchand bearing down on a breakaway in June. Bowman simply could not find a deal that made sense this summer, and the free agent market was in no way helpful.

Total forward cap hits: $55,186,666 (57.8% of cap)

Total defence cap hits: $33,987,500 (35.6% of cap)

Total goalie cap hits: $3,600,000 (3.8% of cap)

Cap space remaining: $175.834

What’s left to do this summer:

No roster is perfect under the salary-cap system. There are a couple of players with no-movement clauses that would be improved upon if it were possible but it is not without their consent.

But every team has some version of that.

It’s been reported that Bowman felt out all his players with NMCs before the draft and July 1, and although Viktor Arvidsson welcomed a trade to Boston, Darnell Nurse and Henrique each wanted to stay in Edmonton.

The one place Bowman will continue to explore is goaltending, with every GM in the NHL knowing that he’s willing to listen to any deal that could upgrade the Oilers crease. We’re doubtful it will come to fruition, but we’re also fairly sure you won’t see a Jack Campbell-type acquisition by a desperate GM.

There is a long season ahead, with a trade deadline that could assuage what most people consider to be the Oilers’ biggest barrier between a parade and second place. Stay tuned on this front.

Grading the off-season: C

That grade isn’t a shot at Bowman, it’s an admission that we won’t know how good an off-season he had until we get into the season and learn a few things.

Trading both Evander Kane and Arvidsson with no money retained was tidy work by the Oilers GM. The Frederic signing is a tad too long at eight years, but getting Mangiapane for only two years ($3.6 million AAV) on July 1 was work well done.

Tomasek is a 29-year-old Czech who won the Swedish scoring championship, but has never played a professional game in North America. Is he Jiri Dopita? Or is he one of the Stastny brothers, who arrived late but made a huge impact?

Then there is Savoie, acquired from Buffalo a year ago for Ryan McLeod. After scoring 19-35-54 in 66 games in his first full season as a pro, Savoie will earn just $886,000 for the next two seasons.

If he can mesh with Draisaitl as a legit top-six winger — and that’s a big if — Bowman will look brilliant.