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Pacific Division 2024-25 Off-Season Preview: The Edmonton Oilers fixed their top six
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Photo credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Jul 24, 2024, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 24, 2024, 10:09 EDT
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The Edmonton Oilers fell two goals shy of winning the 2024 Stanley Cup, which would’ve been their sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history.
With one season remaining on Leon Draisaitl’s contract and two years remaining on Connor McDavid’s, it’s now or never for the Oilers to win a Stanley Cup. They can’t afford to start the season with a 2-9-1 record as they did last season. Home ice advantage was key in the Finals, and the Florida Panthers won three of the four games in Sunrise.
It goes without saying that going down 3-0 in the series is less than ideal as well, despite forcing a Game 7 for only the third time in Stanley Cup Final history.
With all that being said, this is a new series for FlamesNation, previewing what each of the other seven Pacific Division teams have done so far this off-season. As you can imagine, “do or die” for the Oilers means a lot of transactions, so let’s take a look at that!

Drafted players

There were only four days separating the final game of the season for the Oilers and the 2024 NHL draft. 
With the final pick of the first round, the Oilers moved their 2025 first-round pick (with some protections) for the 32nd-overall pick, selecting London Knights forward Sam O’Reilly. Funnily enough, I wrote about him for FlamesNation prior to the draft.
The Oilers selected Finnish goaltender Eemil Vinni in the second-round, and didn’t pick again until the fifth-round, where they selected Connor Clattenburg from the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League. With their two picks in the sixth-round, the Oilers selected Albin Sundin, no relation to Mats, as well as Dalyn Wakely from the North Bay Battalion of the OHL.
In the seventh-round, Edmonton drafted O’Reilly’s teammate, William Nicholl, as well as defenceman Bauer Berry from the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League. 

Free Agent Signings

A big reason for the Oilers’ turnaround in the Stanley Cup Finals was thanks to the line of Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, and Connor Brown. All three were unrestricted free agents, but all three players re-signed. Brown re-signed to a one-year, $1 million deal (on top of the $3.25 million bonus he’ll get), Janmark signed a three-year deal worth $4.35 million ($1.45 AAV), and Adam Henrique signed a two-year deal worth $6 million ($3 million AAV).
The Oilers also re-signed Stanley Cup Finals curse, Corey Perry, to a one-year deal worth $1.4 million, while also bringing back depth defenceman Troy Stecher on a two-year deal with an annual cap hit of $787,500.
However, the biggest signings for the Oilers were Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson. The former signed a one-year deal worth $3 million, while the latter signed a two-year deal worth $8 million ($4 million AAV). 
Skinner was bought out by the Buffalo Sabres after scoring 24 goals and 46 points in 74 games, but he’s one season removed from 35 goals and 63 points in 80 games, matching a career-high in points that he’s reached three other times.
Arvidsson missed most of the 2023-24 season due to injury, but returned for the Los Angeles Kings towards the end of the season where he scored six goals and 15 points in 18 games, along with three assists in five postseason games. Like Skinner, he had a good season in 2022-23 where he scored 26 goals and 59 points in 77 games. He must’ve gotten tired losing to the Oilers in three straight postseasons.
The Oilers also made some depth signings, picking up Collin Delia and Connor Carrick, while re-signing netminder Calvin Pickard (after buying out Jack Campbell), as well as James Hamblin, Noah Philp, and Noel Hoefenmayer.

Departures

With that being said, the Oilers had their fair share of departures as well. Warren Foegele, who scored 20 goals and 41 points in 82 games in 2023-24, cashed in and signed with the Los Angeles Kings. Third pair defenceman Vincent Desharnais joined the Vancouver Canucks on a two-year deal, while Sam Carrick signed with the New York Rangers.
The Oilers are currently about $354,000 over the cap, and while moves can be made to get them under, they’re at risk of allowing Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway receive an offer-sheet. Both players had an impressive postseason and are due for a raise given that they are both restricted free agents.
There are still numerous pending unrestricted free agents for the Oilers, like Adam Erne, Sam Gagner, Seth Griffith, Brad Malone, Greg McKegg, Markus Niemeläinen, and Carter Savoie.
Speaking of Savoie…

Trades

It was a bit of a shock when the Oilers managed to trade Ryan McLeod to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Carter’s brother, Matthew Savoie. Also heading to the Sabres was prospect winger Tyler Tullio, but Savoie was a big get for the Oilers.
Last season in the Western Hockey League with the Wenatchee Wild and the Moose Jaw Warriors, he scored 30 goals and 71 points in 34 games. The 20-year-old right-shot centre won the WHL championship with the Warriors, and was selected ninth-overall in the 2022 draft.
The prospect overhaul saw another shakeup 10 days later, as the Oilers traded their 2021 first-round pick, Xavier Bourgault, along with Jake Chiasson, to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Roby Järventie.
Järventie scored nine goals and 20 points in 22 American Hockey League games last season, as well as picking up an assist in seven NHL games with the Senators. However, his season was cut short due to a knee injury.
Bourgault was drafted three years ago to the day yesterday, and regressed in 2023-24, scoring eight goals and 20 points in 55 AHL games, down from 13 goals and 34 points in 62 games the season prior.
Overall, it has been a pretty good off-season for the Oilers as they hunt for Connor McDavid’s first career Stanley Cup. Will there be more moves to get them under the cap or improve their defence? Time will tell.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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