Top 3 Oilers’ Departed Free Agents That Will Hurt the Most

The Edmonton Oilers have been busy this offseason, making several signings since free agency opened on July 1. These moves have generated excitement among Edmonton fans, who are eager to see the likes of goaltender Frederik Andersen and defenceman Ryan Shea in action with the Oilers.

But there can’t be additions without departures, and the Oilers have indeed said goodbye to a number of veterans this summer. Here’s a look at three players they’ll miss the most.

3) Curtis Lazar

While Curtis Lazar is yet to sign with another NHL team, the veteran centre does not appear to be in Edmonton’s plans for next season. After signing Mathieu Joseph and Eduards Tralmaks while re-signing Colton Dach and Max Jones, Edmonton now has more depth forwards than there are spots in its bottom six.

Someone will end up serving as Edmonton’s 13^th forward, but it’s not likely they’ll be better than Lazar at filling that tricky role.

Appearing in 45 regular-season games for the Oilers, Lazar led the team in faceoff percentage (61.2%), was one of Edmonton’s top hitters (14.20 per 60 minutes), and had the lowest rate of giveaways (1.30 per 60 minutes) on the Oilers.

While he only recorded six points, Lazar checked effectively, played with physicality, rarely made a costly mistake, and never took a shift off. Perhaps most important of all was his team-first attitude. If he didn’t dress for any given game, Lazar simply rolled with it. He had an ability to sit in the press box for a week, then return to the lineup without missing a beat.

2) Jack Roslovic

After one season in Edmonton, forward Jack Roslovic signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1.

Roslovic played 69 games with the Oilers in 2025-26, scoring 21 goals and recording 15 assists. He tied for the team lead with five game-winning goals, was third on the Oilers with five game-opening goals, and ranked fourth among Edmonton forwards with an average of 2.04 shots per game.

The 29-year-old centre could be prone to disappearing for stretches. Including the playoffs, Roslovic had five separate streaks of at least six games without a goal. He was held to just one point – an assist – over six games in Edmonton’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But Edmonton will need to replace his output of 21 goals (projected to 25 over a full 82 games), and that’s not likely to come from any of the Oilers’ free-agent additions: Joseph, Shea, and Tralmaks, who between them scored a total of eight goals in the NHL last season.

1) Connor Ingram

The Oilers spent the first part of last season trying to find a dependable goalie, going from Calvin Pickard and Stuart Skinner to Tristan Jarry. But it was only Connor Ingram who proved he could run with the ball once he got it.

After being recalled from the American Hockey League (AHL) in mid-December, the veteran netminder wound up appearing in 32 of the Oilers’ final 46 games, going 16-10-3 with a 2.60 goals-against average (GAA) and .899 save percentage (SV%).

By stabilizing the Oilers’ crease, Ingram helped Edmonton pick up enough points to ultimately finish second in the Pacific Division standings. He was recognized with a nomination for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported that Ingram would have liked to remain with the Oilers. Edmonton, however, moved in another direction between the pipes, signing Andersen while also acquiring goalie Devon Levi in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on July 1. Ingram is now an unrestricted free agent.

Oilers fans must now hope that, between Andersen, Levi, and Jarry, Edmonton has the goaltending to win a Stanley Cup. However, there is no guarantee that any of those three will be better than Ingram.

Jarry couldn’t carry the mail last season, the 24-year-old Levi has yet to play more than 23 games in an NHL season, and while Andersen won a championship with the Carolina Hurricanes last month, he watched the last two games of the Stanley Cup Final from the bench after losing his starting job following a run of subpar play.

How the Oilers will fill the void left by their former players is one of many questions that will be answered once the 2026-27 NHL season begins at the end of September.