Edmonton Oilers

Bowman Says Oilers in “Ideal Spot” for Big In-Season Addition

Stan Bowman was on Oilers Now and said that the team likely won’t add anyone this summer, but is in an ideal spot to add during the season.

by
NHL Trade Talk
August 8, 2026

GM Stan Bowman told OilersNOW 880 on Friday that the Edmonton Oilers are finally in an ideal spot heading into the season with some cap space to work with. With extra money to spend that the team doesn’t intend to use this summer, the plan is to wait for another opportunity to present itself during the season and strike.

While the Oilers could try and sign someone like Patrik Laine or Vladimir Taransenko, it doesn’t sound like that’s the plan. Instead, Bowman says they want to keep some money available and maintain flexibility to make moves when the right opportunity comes.

He did hint that an in-season move will be made. The Oilers team that starts the season won’t be the team we see come playoff time.

Bowman detailed how the past couple of seasons have been challenging. You have players who are due for raises that you simply can’t afford, and being at the cap ceiling the last couple of seasons has put the team in a difficult position with very little cap space to work with. “That’s how we operated in the first two years I was here—we had virtually no room at all,” he said. “We were constantly in LTI, and unless a move created a clear cap opportunity, it just wasn’t realistic for us to pursue anything.”

Stan Bowman Oilers manager — Stan Bowman, Oilers general manager, says the team is in an ideal spot to make a big move in-season.

He said that oftentimes GMs will make players available during the season and it’s not even broadcast. If someone is making $2.5 million dollars that they like, but the other team was simply trying to dump salary, we were never even in that market to just take on the contract. He explained it was impossible for us to make those kinds of deals work.

They wanted that flexibility this season.

The Oilers wanted to have money available so they were not constantly scrambling or forced into tight situations. Having that breathing room allows them to be more strategic instead of just trying to make things fit under the cap. He said the plan is still likely to spend all of the cap space and not just accrue it for no reason. They will be adding players via trade or the deadline as the playoffs roll around.

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