One of the biggest takeaways from <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/20/whenever-hes-ready-edmonton-oilers-stan-bowman-connor-mcdavid-timeline-extension-talks/">Stan Bowman&#8217;s press conference</a> last Friday was about the area&#8217;s he felt the team needed to address the most.

<blockquote>&#8220;I&#8217;ve always thought that win or lose, it&#8217;s good to have some new players in your group because the players that weren&#8217;t here with this group this season, they have a hunger to try to experience what it was like to get all the way to the final,&#8221; said Bowman.
&#8220;We&#8217;re not going to bring the same group back. How many is tough to say right now&#8230; I think looking at our team, the area with probably the least amount of change will be the defence.&#8221;</blockquote>
By simple <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/23/projecting-edmonton-oilers-off-season/">process of elimination</a>, that leaves two areas left to be addressed: the forwards and the goaltending. There&#8217;s word about changes to the forward group coming, with Viktor Arvidsson reportedly willing to work with the team on finding a new home, and the fact that Evander Kane is looking more and more likely to be moved in a cap dump situation.
There hasn&#8217;t seemed to be much chatter about the netminding in Edmonton, though, but that can change on a dime. What we do know is that there&#8217;s <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/23/free-agent-goalies-edmonton-oilers-could-target/">a weak free agent class</a> in terms of available goalies, headlined by the likes of Jake Allen, Anton Forsberg and Alex Lyon.
There&#8217;s always the offer sheet route, too, but they have their second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh round picks in the 2026 draft. They could send an offer sheet up to $4,680,076 with those picks they have.
That leaves the last spot for the Oilers to look at being the trade market, one which Sportsnet&#8217;s Elliotte Friedman reported Monday the team will be scouring.
<blockquote>&#8220;The biggest question is in goal. The best goalie available on the free agent market is Jake Allen,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know if that&#8217;s what they&#8217;re going to do, but at the very least it&#8217;s clear they&#8217;re going to be looking into the trade market there. I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if that&#8217;s one of the things they go over.&#8221;</blockquote>
Friedman went on to say the team could examine what options are out there, and talk with some of the players on the Oilers roster to get their thoughts.
<blockquote>&#8220;They&#8217;ve admitted they&#8217;ve talked to some of their top players about it, like &#8216;what do you think?&#8217; And I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if they go to some of their players with some of their options and say, &#8216;Here&#8217;s what we could do and what do you like?'&#8221;</blockquote>
The name at the forefront of those discussions will likely be the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/john-gibson-has-interest-in-joining-the-oilers-but-only-if-hes-their-no-1">Anaheim Ducks&#8217; John Gibson</a>, but as <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/goalies-edmonton-oilers-could-target-trade-market-off-season">our own Ryley Delaney hypothisized</a>, others like the Seattle Kraken&#8217; Joey Daccord, the Vancouver Canucks&#8217; Thatcher Demko, the St. Louis Blues&#8217; Jordan Binnington and the Boston Bruins&#8217; Jeremy Swayman could be others they explore.
<hr />
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRSWOpthKmdtmFOKQDd7TQdTU2KSKXYvX">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at <a href="http://www.x.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
<hr />
<h2><a href="http://LitcoLaw.com">Presented by Litco Law</a></h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-173686" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/LitcoLaw_Logo_Original-1-1024x161.png" alt="" width="1024" height="161" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/LitcoLaw_Logo_Original-1-1024x161.png 1024w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/LitcoLaw_Logo_Original-1-300x47.png 300w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/LitcoLaw_Logo_Original-1-768x121.png 768w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/LitcoLaw_Logo_Original-1-1536x242.png 1536w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/LitcoLaw_Logo_Original-1.png 1650w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
Litco Law has been serving Edmontonians and all of Alberta for over 50 years. A family-owned and operated company, their purpose is to balance the power for people who find themselves having to navigate the complex legal system. They can help with personal injury claims (like car accidents), employment matters (such as wrongful dismissal or severance package reviews), or if you’ve been denied long-term disability benefits. Litco Law is known for being experienced, responsive, and genuinely caring. You might not believe Lawyers You’ll Love™ exist—but they do. To learn more or book a free consultation, visit LitcoLaw.com

One of the biggest takeaways from <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/20/whenever-hes-ready-edmonton-oilers-stan-bowman-connor-mcdavid-timeline-extension-talks/">Stan Bowman's press conference</a> last Friday was about the area's he felt the team needed to address the most.


<blockquote>"I've always thought that win or lose, it's good to have some new players in your group because the players that weren't here with this group this season, they have a hunger to try to experience what it was like to get all the way to the final," said Bowman.

"We're not going to bring the same group back. How many is tough to say right now... I think looking at our team, the area with probably the least amount of change will be the defence."</blockquote>
By simple <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/23/projecting-edmonton-oilers-off-season/">process of elimination</a>, that leaves two areas left to be addressed: the forwards and the goaltending. There's word about changes to the forward group coming, with Viktor Arvidsson reportedly willing to work with the team on finding a new home, and the fact that Evander Kane is looking more and more likely to be moved in a cap dump situation.

There hasn't seemed to be much chatter about the netminding in Edmonton, though, but that can change on a dime. What we do know is that there's <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/23/free-agent-goalies-edmonton-oilers-could-target/">a weak free agent class</a> in terms of available goalies, headlined by the likes of Jake Allen, Anton Forsberg and Alex Lyon.

There's always the offer sheet route, too, but they have their second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh round picks in the 2026 draft. They could send an offer sheet up to $4,680,076 with those picks they have.

That leaves the last spot for the Oilers to look at being the trade market, one which Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Monday the team will be scouring.
<blockquote>"The biggest question is in goal. The best goalie available on the free agent market is Jake Allen," he said. "I don't know if that's what they're going to do, but at the very least it's clear they're going to be looking into the trade market there. I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the things they go over."</blockquote>
Friedman went on to say the team could examine what options are out there, and talk with some of the players on the Oilers roster to get their thoughts.
<blockquote>"They've admitted they've talked to some of their top players about it, like 'what do you think?' And I wouldn't be surprised if they go to some of their players with some of their options and say, 'Here's what we could do and what do you like?'"</blockquote>
The name at the forefront of those discussions will likely be the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/john-gibson-has-interest-in-joining-the-oilers-but-only-if-hes-their-no-1">Anaheim Ducks' John Gibson</a>, but as <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/goalies-edmonton-oilers-could-target-trade-market-off-season">our own Ryley Delaney hypothisized</a>, others like the Seattle Kraken' Joey Daccord, the Vancouver Canucks' Thatcher Demko, the St. Louis Blues' Jordan Binnington and the Boston Bruins' Jeremy Swayman could be others they explore.

<hr />

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRSWOpthKmdtmFOKQDd7TQdTU2KSKXYvX">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at <a href="http://www.x.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

<hr />

<h2><a href="http://LitcoLaw.com">Presented by Litco Law</a></h2>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-173686" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/LitcoLaw_Logo_Original-1-1024x161.png" alt="" width="1024" height="161" />
Litco Law has been serving Edmontonians and all of Alberta for over 50 years. A family-owned and operated company, their purpose is to balance the power for people who find themselves having to navigate the complex legal system. They can help with personal injury claims (like car accidents), employment matters (such as wrongful dismissal or severance package reviews), or if you’ve been denied long-term disability benefits. Litco Law is known for being experienced, responsive, and genuinely caring. You might not believe Lawyers You’ll Love™ exist—but they do. To learn more or book a free consultation, visit LitcoLaw.com

Oilers expected to scour trade market in search for goaltending help, go to players with options

Edmonton Oilers Kasperi Kapanen scores series winner Vegas Golden Knights

Friedman: There’s a ‘decent chance’ the Oilers re-sign Kasperi Kapanen

Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid Adam Henrique

Monday Musings: A Look at the Oilers Off-Season

Edmonton Oilers Viktor Arvidsson takes slapshot

Recent articles from Zach Laing

Breaking News