In order to be a true contender in today’s NHL, it is imperative that you limit the number of bad contracts on your roster. While essentially all 32 teams across the league have at least one contract that’s less than ideal, the general managers (GMs) who are able to limit those types of contracts generally have more successful teams.
Related: Oilers’ Nurse Not One of NHL’s Worst Contracts Based on New Model
The Edmonton Oilers certainly fit into the category of having some great contracts on the books. For example, they had Leon Draisaitl commanding just $8.5 million for the last eight years, which played a huge part in why they were able to make it to two-straight Stanley Cup Finals. That deal is now off the books, though you won’t find anybody on the planet suggesting his new deal that carries a $14 million cap hit is an overpay.
The Oilers, like any team, do have a few contracts they could do without, but the bargain deals others are on have helped make up for that. While much of the fan base is aware of how good they’re positioned from an overall cap perspective, many fans of other teams may not pay as much attention. Thankfully, a new model from The Athletic helps prove just how well their management, both past and present, have done from a salary cap perspective.
Oilers Fare Well in Contract Efficiency Rating
After putting together a list of the top 10 worst contracts in the NHL recently, Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic has now put together another interesting column on how teams rank in terms of contract efficiency. While the Oilers are not at the top of the league (that belongs to the Tampa Bay Lightning) they did come in eighth place on Luszczyszyn’s model. (from ‘Dom Luszczyszyn: NHL contract efficiency rankings 2025: Which teams spend their money most wisely?’ The Athletic 08/06/25).
“No team has more A-grade deals than the Oilers, who have six belonging to their top three forwards (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman) and their top three defensemen (Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman),” Luszczyszyn wrote. “Add Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the mix and Edmonton is getting tremendous bang for its buck from the core. It’s why the Oilers are back-to-back Cup finalists.”
Luszczyszyn also mentioned that if McDavid signs in the realm of $16-$17.5 million per season, it’ll be another hometown discount and a bargain contract for the Oilers. Seeing other names such as Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins pop up as having great deals comes as no surprise given what they’ve provided in recent years.
Now, it is worth mentioning that this is actually a worse, perhaps far worse ranking, than the Oilers had a season ago. While Luszczyszyn admits the Darnell Nurse contract hurts them in his model, Nurse was obviously still under the same contract when last year’s list was created. Now, another deal hurting them on the model is the eight-year, $30.8 million extension handed to Trent Frederic earlier this offseason. How that deal fares remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Luszczyszyn isn’t a big fan of it at this time.
Luszczyszyn also mentions the fact that deals such at Ekholm and Walman’s, as well as Bouchard’s, coming off the books at the end of the 2025-26 campaign hurts the Oilers in his model. Having Nugent-Hopkins’ deal up in four years and Hyman’s up in three played a role in them dropping from a year ago as well.
Related: Oilers’ McDavid’s Best Days Might Be Behind Him
A big determination in how they’ll line up a year from now will of course depend on the contracts McDavid and Bouchard sign, but it’s hard to imagine either would get so much money that they’d be looked at as anything but a great contract on Luszczyszyn’s model. If anything this is a good reminder to all fan bases and organizations that even with a bad contract or two on the books, you can still be an elite team as long as you fill the rest of your roster out with great deals.
