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Checking in on how six former Edmonton Oilers players are doing with their new teams

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Oct 16 2025, 6:38 pm
Checking in on how six former Edmonton Oilers players are doing with their new teams
Bob Frid/Imagn Images

The 2025-26 NHL season is still in its infancy, but a few former Edmonton Oilers players are off to hot starts with their new teams.

Edmonton lost quite a few veterans over the offseason with the departures of Evander Kane, Corey Perry, Connor Brown, Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, and John Klingberg. That is a total of six NHL regulars leaving the team in one offseason, which is significant.

The Oilers were able to replace the players that they lost through free agency signings like Andrew Mangiapane and Jack Roslovic, and bring in young players like Ike Howard and Matt Savoie into the NHL. Still, Oilers fans will be keeping a close eye on their former players to see how they fare with their new teams.

So far, three of those players are off to a pretty hot start this season, while some others are taking some time to adjust.

Here is an early look at how each former Oiler is doing so far:

Evander Kane, Vancouver Canucks

The Oilers trading Kane to the Vancouver Canucks over the summer may have been the biggest departure for Edmonton.

It was not a fantastic season for the 34-year-old as he missed the entire regular season with injury and came back in the playoffs. Kane was more productive than expected in 21 playoff games for the Oilers, notching six goals and 12 points in 21 games.

Kane hasn’t been able to get off to his hot start with Vancouver, having just a single assist in his first three games. He did, however, make his presence known with a few thunderous hits in his return to Edmonton last weekend.

He was brought in to be a top-six winger for the Canucks but has quickly found himself demoted to the team’s third line early on.

Corey Perry, LA Kings

Perry-Oilers-Kings

Kirby Lee/Imagn Images

Perry was an ageless wonder for the Oilers last season, but the two sides could not agree on an extension last summer.

The 40-year-old notched 19 goals and added 10 more in the playoffs last season, but he jumped ship in free agency to join the rival LA Kings. It was a reunion with former Oilers GM Ken Holland and one that he hoped could give the LA Kings a shot at overcoming their playoff demons.

However, Perry has yet to suit up in a game for the Kings after suffering a knee injury before training camp. He only just recently started skating with the team again, and there is no timeline for when he will make his Kings debut.

Connor Brown, New Jersey Devils

The biggest fan favourite to leave the Alberta capital over the summer was Connor Brown.

It was an up-and-down two seasons in Edmonton for the 31-year-old Brown. He was unable to recapture the scoring touch he had in Toronto, but he found a way to carve out a role as a dependable bottom-six scorer on this Oilers team.

There was mutual interest in coming back for another season in Edmonton, but the two sides could not agree. This led to Brown signing a deal with the New Jersey Devils, where things have worked out great so far.

He has two goals in his first three games as a Devil.

Similar to his role in Edmonton, Brown appears to be carving out a role on New Jersey’s third line alongside Cody Glass and rookie Arseny Gritsyuk.

Jeff Skinner, San Jose Sharks

The addition of Skinner last season brought a lot of fanfare for Oilers fans, but the results were disappointing.

It was expected that Skinner would jump right into Edmonton’s top six and become the scoring winger that they had been needing. Instead, the 33-year-old struggled to gain the trust of the coaching staff and became a regular healthy scratch later in the season and into the playoffs. Still, he did put up 16 goals with the Oilers despite this.

A divorce was inevitable last offseason as neither the Oilers nor Skinner were interested in another year, leading him to sign with the San Jose Sharks. So far, it’s looking like a good fit as Skinner has two goals in his first three games on the West Coast.

He is also getting more opportunities in San Jose, as he’s been skating on the Sharks’ top line with Macklin Celebrini and Philipp Kurashev.

Viktor Arvidsson, Boston Bruins

Another player who shared similar expectations to Skinner last season was Arvidsson, who also put forth a disappointing season.

The Swede was basically stapled to Leon Draisaitl’s wing throughout the season, but only mustered 15 goals and 27 points. In the playoffs, things remained stagnant with just two goals in 15 games.

Edmonton opted to move on from the 32-year-old with a cap dump trade to the Boston Bruins, but things haven’t improved for him early on. Arvidsson has just one assist in his first four games in Boston.

The Bruins have him skating on their second line with Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha.

John Klingberg, San Jose Sharks

John Klingberg was a midseason signing for the Oilers last season, and it wasn’t until the playoffs that he really started to shine.

At first, it looked like Klingberg was not going to be able to get back to his former self after dealing with extensive injury issues. That changed in the postseason, where he formed a really solid pairing with Jake Walman that helped the team absorb the injury to Mattias Ekholm.

Edmonton didn’t want to cash in on Klingberg over the summer, prompting him to sign a lucrative deal with the Sharks. That appears to have been the right move, as the 33-year-old Swede has a goal and assists through his first three games in San Jose.

Klingberg is currently out with an injury for the Sharks and is listed as being day-to-day.
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