What they still need

An experienced bottom-six forward who can kill penalties, win face-offs and chip in offensively. Edmonton is not expected to re-sign Curtis Lazar, who helped in those areas last season and are losing experience by parting ways with Henrique.

They said it

“Edmonton has been knocking on the door for a while now, so it’s a team that has aspirations to try and win. They’ve been close and it would be awesome to be part of the team to get over the hump. Obviously, they’re very serious about it.” — Frederik Andersen

EDGE stat to watch 

The Oilers led the NHL in 22-plus mph speed bursts (258) and ranked second in 20-plus mph bursts (2,431) last season. McDavid’s League-leading 151 speed bursts of at least 22 mph were 90 more than the next-closest player (Owen Tippett had the second-most at 61) and 34 more than any player in one season since the start of the puck and player tracking era (Nathan MacKinnon had 117 in 2023-24). McDavid, who led the NHL in total skating distance (330.27 miles) for the second time in the past four seasons (also 2022-23), also ranked second in high-danger shots on goal (120) and tied for third in high-danger goals (26). — Troy Perlowitz

Fantasy spin 

Andersen had a bounce-back performance after the 2026 Winter Olympics, going 9-4-0 over his final 13 regular-season games and 13-2 with a .910 save percentage and three shutouts in 16 playoff games for the Hurricanes. Andersen, who will turn 37 on Oct. 2, is ranked outside the top 25 fantasy goalie rankings ahead of a competition with Tristan Jarry and/or Devon Levi in Edmonton. That said, Andersen is a sneaky late-round fantasy pick with a chance to emerge as the Oilers’ No. 1 goalie and again provide stability in the crease for a perennial playoff team. — Pete Jensen

Projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Zach Hyman 

Vasily Podkolzin — Leon Draisaitl — Matthew Savoie 

Isaac Howard — Jason Dickinson — Kasperi Kapanen 

Mathieu Joseph — Josh Samanski — Trent Frederic 

Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard 

Jake Walman — Connor Murphy 

Ryan Shea — Shakir Mukhamadullin 

Frederik Andersen 

Tristan Jarry