Ultimate Revenge? Insider Pitches Oilers to Offer Sheet Golden Knights Star Winger

The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights are bitter Pacific Division rivals to begin with, having ended one another’s seasons on multiple occasions in recent playoff battles.

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As if that wasn’t enough, even more tension has now been added thanks to the Golden Knights declining the Oilers’ request to speak with former head coach Bruce Cassidy. That surely hasn’t sat well with Edmonton, and insider Jeff Marek believes there may be a way for GM Stan Bowman to get some revenge on Vegas.

That would be by reacquiring their 2026 first-round pick from the San Jose Sharks—perhaps in a Darnell Nurse trade?—and then using it to offer sheet breakout star winger Pavel Dorofeyev this offseason.

Marek wrote:

“On The Sheet today we talked about a max chaos move the Oilers could pull off if they can get their first round pick back from San Jose – offer sheet Pavel Dorofeyev. $11.9 x 2 would cost two firsts, a second and a third,”

The 25-year-old Dorofeyev is a pending in the second and final year of the two-year, $3.67 million extension he signed with the Golden Knights in 2024. He posted a career-high 64 points (37 goals, 27 assists) in 82 games this regular season and has followed it up with a productive 12 points (10 goals, two assists) through 13 playoff games so far.

Pavel Dorofeyev to the Oilers?

Offer-sheeting Dorofeyev would not come cheap for the Oilers, so it’s fair to wonder whether he’s worth such a hefty contract on top of surrendering four draft picks to make it happen.

That said, a potential two-year deal worth $11.9 million annually is the type of move that fits Edmonton’s win-now window with Connor McDavid still in the fold. If the Oilers believe there’s even more upside to unlock in the two-time 35-plus-goal scorer, it may be worth the risk—especially if it weakens a division rival they’ll likely need to get past at some point to win a Stanley Cup over the next two years.

Bowman is expected to be bold this summer, and there’s no doubt that an offer sheet to one of the league’s top RFAs would fit that mold.

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