Oilers' goaltenders at risk of not being extended by General Manager

Stan Bowman has done a commendable job of extending the team's core-players for the next several years. This leaves the next wave of UFAs in a position to be heavily evaluated before an extension can be considered.

With Edmonton in its Stanley Cup window, those that contribute mostly to its success will be considered above all others; and there are many pending-UFAs to consider before July 1, 2026, or as early as the trade-deadline.

The most obvious is Stuart Skinner, who comes with much uncertainty. Skinner, though he's having a decent start to the year, has not proven he is the team's goalie of the future, and given the current market for starting goalies, could come with a high price-tag.

The same argument can be made for back-up Calvin Pickard, though at a much lower cap hit, making him perhaps a good option as the team's regular back-up moving forward.

The Oilers won't be able to retain all of its UFAs. GM Stan Bowman will have to prioritize players like Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Troy Stecher, Jack Roslovic, Kasperi Kapanen, and David Tomasek.

Though the GM would love to keep them all, cap-constraints won't allow for that possibility. As the trade-deadline approaches, expect one, or more of these players to be packaged with draft capital for help in the post-season.

Edmonton also can't afford to spend so much to keep a player of Henrique's age and limited ability, especially for a fourth-liner, while the Oilers seem to be evaluating Jack Roslovic's effectiveness; same with Tomasek.

Noah Philp, on the other hand, is the one player the Oilers should keep at all costs, not only because of his strong play of late, but for his upside with this particular edition of Oilers.

Philp is right-shot center and is versatile up and down the lineup. At a cap hit of $775K, he's one one of the team's better contracts.