After losing to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final, the Edmonton Oilers will have an interesting off-season.
What comes next? Concerns remain over Edmonton following their loss in Game 7.
Down the hallway, the Edmonton Oilers could see and hear the Florida Panthers celebrating on the ice.
After blowing a 3-0 lead in the championship series, Florida defeated Edmonton 2-1 in Game 7 to win its first Stanley Cup late on Monday night.
Throughout the summer, the Panthers will sip from hockey’s pinnacle. In the meantime, the Oilers are full of uncertainties about what lies ahead.
Without a doubt, the capital of Alberta will have an interesting off-season.
The future of star center Leon Draisaitl is at the top of the list.
With one year remaining on his current contract worth an average of US$8.5 million annually, the big German can sign an extension starting on July 1.
Will he sign a contract right away, work out a new one over the summer, or let the team know he’s moving on?
If it’s the third op
Who does superstar captain Connor McDavid’s former agent, Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson, pick to succeed the seasoned executive?
There’s no denying that Holland steadied the ship following a run of missteps by previous regimes, even though some of his decisions have been questioned and the prospect pool is small as a result of multiple trades involving draft picks to strengthen the roster.
Before he took over, the Oilers had a 23rd-place NHL finish in 2018 with 78 points, and a 25th-place finish in 2019 with 79 points. In 2022, Edmonton advanced to the Western Conference final; however, both times, it was defeated by the eventual Cup winners in the second round.
In the 1,400th NHL game of the 2024 season, the Oilers were defeated by one point.
In addition to Draisaitl’s circumstances, the general manager will need to decide on a number of impending unrestricted free agents, such as forwards Connor Brown, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Corey Perry, Warren Foegele, and Sam Carrick.
A new contract is also required for defenseman Vincent Desharnais, and backup goalie Calvin Pickard is in a similar situation.
Jack Campbell is an example of what the Oilers need to do after making what was possibly Holland’s worst mistake.
After leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs, the goalie inked a five-year, $25 million deal in July 2022 to become Edmonton’s top crease option, but he never really made a name for himself in his new team.
tion, do the Oilers let him finish out his contract in the hopes of making a deep run in the playoffs next spring, or do they risk losing Draisaitl for nothing? Matthew Tkachuk did the same with the Calgary Flames two summers ago before being shipped to Florida. Or does Edmonton exchange things?
Ken Holland, the general manager of Edmonton since May 2019, looks to be leaving the position after
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