Oilers GM Stan Bowman hints at midseason moves with $4.7M cap space
Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman has made it clear that his team plans to keep its financial flexibility beyond opening night. With roughly $4.7 million in cap space, Edmonton can now explore in-season additions that were previously impossible.
Speaking on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer, Bowman explained why this NHL offseason feels different. “I think we intentionally wanted to. This is sort of the ideal situation,” Bowman said.
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The Oilers spent the previous two seasons operating with little room because of their cap structure. Bowman said they were often “very handcuffed” when opportunities appeared during the season.
“You can’t always put yourself in this position because things change or you have players that are gonna get raises that you definitely need, and sometimes your team is in a spot where you don’t have much room,” Bowman said. “That’s how we’ve been operating the first two years that I was here.
“We had no space at all… You’re very handcuffed as to what you can do, and it’s tough because opportunities pop up every year during the year.”
Bowman further explained how the team was limited by the lack of cap space, saying, “If a player comes available in November that makes two and a half million that you like, but they don’t want, they’re just trying to shed salary… “We were never even in the market for that. That was impossible.”
That problem no longer exists after Edmonton’s aggressive offseason changes. Trading Darnell Nurse to San Jose helped create room while the Oilers rebuilt their defense and goaltending.
Bowman leaves door open for another Oilers addition
Bowman also rejected the idea of simply banking every available dollar until the trade deadline.
“Now we want to leave some money available so that we’re not trying to just accrue cap space ad nauseam so that you can never spend it all,” Bowman said. “But I think that you have to have some flexibility, and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot.”
That approach gives Edmonton options if weaknesses emerge. The Oilers could add a middle-six forward, defensive depth or another piece without first making a major salary-clearing move.
The Oilers currently have a full 23-player roster and 46 players under contract. Still, they have $4,725,834 in projected cap space. So, the team will remain open to adding another player, and we will most likely see more moves ahead of the March trade deadline.
Bowman has clearly said that, “The team that we have to start the season, it’s not gonna be the exact same team in the playoffs.”
“We’re gonna have some new players,” Bowman added, whether through “trade or free agent acquisition or like trade deadline acquisitions.”
For an Oilers team chasing another deep playoff run, that flexibility could become one of its biggest advantages.
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