Edmonton Oilers have enough cap space to make major move next summer
The Edmonton Oilers got a couple of big contracts signed on Monday.
Of course, Connor McDavid headlined the day with a two-year extension with a bargain cap hit of $12.5 million, but it overshadowed a massive seven-year deal given to defenceman Jake Walman that carries a $7 million cap hit.
Both contracts are set to begin next season, so they will not affect the Oilers’ cap situation this season. However, the impact these two deals will have on Edmonton’s cap next summer will be significant.
These are two very important players locked down, and with several players on expiring contracts, the Oilers are set to have quite a bit of cap space to play in the offseason.
According to PuckPedia, Edmonton is currently set to have a whopping $22.7 million in open cap space for the 2026-27 season.
With McDavid @ $12.5M & Walman @ $7M, #LetsGooilers have $22.7M Projected Space for 26-27 with 14 active players (9F/5D/0G)https://t.co/aASbizg1le
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 6, 2025
There are a couple of factors working in the Oilers’ favour, giving them that much space. The biggest is that the NHL salary cap is set to rise significantly from $95.5 million this season to $104 million in 2026-27, which will automatically unlock $8.5 million in space for each team across the league.
It also helps that the Oilers have a number of players on expiring contracts that they can choose to retain if they wish. The most significant of those players are as follows:
- Mattias Ekholm ($6 million)
- Adam Henrique ($3 million)
- Brett Kulak ($2.75 million)
- Stuart Skinner ($2.6 million
- Kasperi Kapanen ($1.3 million)
- Calvin Pickard ($1 million)
The Oilers will likely bring back a few of those players, depending on how this season goes. Ekholm will probably be at a cheaper number considering his age, and Edmonton will need to decide on the future of their goaltending with both Skinner and Pickard on expiring deals.
It’s notable to mention that the Oilers could walk away from both of those goalies and opt to retain the newly acquired Connor Ingram (a pending UFA as well) instead and search the free agent market for a cheap backup.
Other than Ekholm and the goaltending, there are no real massive holes for the Oilers to plug going into free agency next summer. All of their big guns are locked up through next season, meaning that GM Stan Bowman has a real opportunity to bolster this team with this cap space.
It’s shaping up to be a massive UFA class as well, albeit a bit early, with all of Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin, Jack Eichel, Cale Makar, and Kyle Connor set to hit the market as of now. On the goalie front, players like Sergei Bobrovsky and Jacob Markstrom will be hitting the open market as well.
With McDavid only guaranteed to be in Edmonton for the next three seasons, now is the time for Bowman and the Oilers to be aggressive, and they are finally in a position where that is both wholly necessary and financially feasible.