The Edmonton Oilers have top-end elite talent making big money. Because of that, management needs to do a good job of finding players with lower salaries to complement these stars and hope the more inexpensive additions outperform their deals. The team’s overall success and desire to win the Stanley Cup may depend on it.
With that in mind, which players on the team are the most likely candidates to outperform their cap hits?
Ty Emberson ($950K)
Defenseman Ty Emberson is among the newest Oilers to join this team. The newly acquired defenseman is going to get big minutes, potentially slotting into the four spot in the Oilers’ top four on their blue line. It’s not known if Emberson can yet handle that role –he’s got 30 games on his NHL resume — but Edmonton is about to find out.
If he can, he could be the steal of the summer. He was added in a deal that saw Cody Ceci moved for salary cap reasons and Emeberson’s got good underlying numbers in a small sample size. If he can translate that over to an 82-game season, the Oilers will have struck gold.
Evan Bouchard ($3.9M)
Set for a huge bump in pay when his contract ends, Evan Bouchard is going to be undervalued in 2024-25 based on his $3.9 million salary. This is a player who is becoming an elite defenseman. He scored 82 points in 81 games last season and an even more impressive 32 points in 25 playoff games.
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He’s the Oilers top right-shot defenseman and there is talk he’ll be in the mix for the Four Nations Canada Team. Bouchard is possibly on the road to a long-term extension at around $10 million per season. The hope is that Edmonton can take advantage of the window in which he’s making far less than his production warrants.
Connor Brown ($1M)
After last season, where Connor Brown signed for league minimum but got a huge bonus for playing 10 NHL games, the forward has returned a favor to the Oilers. Brown didn’t play well in the first half of 2023-24, but he came on strong down the stretch and was effective for the team in the playoffs. Word is he looks faster and more settled in this year.
If Brown can perform all season like he did in the latter half of 2024, he’s going to out-perform his $1 million salary by a mile. He’s got speed, he can play up and down the lineup, and he’s a top penalty-killer for the club.
Vasily Podkolzin ($1M)
After being acquired in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks, it’s not clear yet where Vasily Podkolzin will slot into this Oilers roster. He’s not even a guarantee to make the team, even though it appears as though he’s got a bottom-six depth role locked up. But, if he forechecks hard, adds a few goals, and uses his speed to take opponents off the puck, he could be exactly what the Oilers need after losing Evander Kane for six months.
Podkolzin isn’t likely to fight much. Still, he’s not afraid to mix it up and if he relishes the role of disturber on this Oilers’ club, there isn’t really anyone else who can play that part.
Stuart Skinner ($2.6M)
This could be a breakout season for goaltender Stuart Skinner. He’s already shown he is an NHL starter and he took the Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, but in 2024-25, Skinner could cement himself as Canada’s top NHL netminder and possibly work himself into the Vezina conversation.
Skinner still has some doubters because he’s not always consistent. Still, his numbers are impressive and if he’s got his head in the right place and can limit some of the dud games that follow him around from time to time, he’ll be in the same conversation as $7-$8 million goalies. That’s a net positive value of around $5 million.