After putting together their best roster in the Connor McDavid era during the 2024-25 season, the Edmonton Oilers chose to part ways with then general manager (GM) Ken Holland. The longtime NHL GM and former goaltender wasn’t perfect throughout his Oilers tenure, but had seemingly put together a good enough supporting cast to give this team an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup.
Despite falling just one win shy of a Cup, the Oilers moved on from Holland and wound up replacing him with Stan Bowman. Many questioned that decision at the time, and it’s become abundantly clear since that it was a mistake from the front office.
The Oilers have gotten consistently worse under Bowman’s tenure, while certain moves he has made could prevent them from ever winning a Stanley Cup in the McDavid era. Though it’s been less than two years since he was hired, it is time for the Oilers to move on from Bowman this offseason.
It’s hard to fathom just how disastrous Bowman’s tenure with the Oilers has been. Yes, there have been some good moves, none better than acquiring Vasily Podkolzin from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for just a fourth-round draft pick. He also claimed Kasperi Kapanen off waivers, and made a wise signing in Jack Roslovic. Unfortunately, those moves aren’t nearly enough to outweigh the bad he’s done.
Going into last year’s trade deadline, the Oilers made two separate deals to bring in forward Trent Frederic and defenceman Jake Walman. Both were reasonable pickups at the time, and to Bowman’s credit, Walman played a significant role for the Oilers in what was their second-straight year advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.
The issue is the extensions handed out to both players. Let’s first start with Walman, who inked a seven-year, $49 million deal just before the 2025-26 season began. It was a move that was questioned at the time, as most believed that while Walman was and continues to be a solid player, he wasn’t one worth handing $7 million annually, especially given the Oilers’ cap issues. He wound up averaging less than 19 minutes per game through the regular season, and less than 17 minutes in six postseason outings. This extension, which kicks in next season, isn’t a complete disaster, but is one the Oilers would rather not have on the books.
Then there’s the Frederic deal. Despite recording just four points in 22 playoff outings, Bowman chose to sign Frederic, a bottom-six forward, to an eight-year, $30.8 million deal. It was quite shocking to see given that the Oilers chose Frederic over Connor Brown, a better player who instead signed a four-year, $12 million deal with the New Jersey Devils.
Seemingly everybody knew from the get go that the Frederic contract was a bad one, though few could have envisioned it looking as bad as it does this early. The 28-year-old had an abysmal season, scoring four goals and seven points through 74 games. He even sat as a healthy scratch in two playoff games. Though he has a cap hit of just $3.85 million, one could argue that Frederic has the worst contract in the entire NHL.
And, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, Bowman made one of the worst trades in recent memory this past December in an attempt to rectify the Oilers’ goaltending situation. He chose to trade Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak, two pending unrestricted free agents, along with a 2029 second-round pick in exchange for Tristan Jarry and American Hockey League (AHL) forward Samuel Poulin.
This trade has already turned out to be a complete disaster. Jarry became unplayable down the stretch of the regular season for the Oilers, and received just one playoff start. And, instead of being able to walk away from him in the offseason like they could have with Skinner, Jarry remains under contract through the 2027-28 campaign on a deal with an ugly $5.375 million cap hit. Woof.
These deals from Bowman, in particular the Frederic extension and the Jarry trade, have caused a ton of headaches for the Oilers moving forward. They will make it harder for the organization to make the necessary changes they need to make in the offseason in order to fill out holes on their roster, particularly between the pipes. That said, if there is any hope in getting out of this mess, Bowman needs to be fired and replaced with a more competent GM.
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