The 2026-27 National Hockey League season is less than a month away.

Even before training camp started for the Edmonton Oilers, there were several reported injuries. One big loss, at least for the first month of the season, is Matthew Savoie. The speedy winger was set to get a look in the top six after the end of his 2025-26 season, and will likely get a look whenever he has recovered.

Also set to miss some time are fellow forward Mattias Janmark, defenceman Alec Regula, and netminder Frederik Andersen.

Despite training camp quickly approaching, there are several notable unrestricted free agents that could be of use for the Oilers. Some could factor into their middle-six, others a bottom-six role, a few for depth roles, and a couple of reclamation projects.

Let’s take a look at some of the names that the Oilers could have interest in.

Vladimir Tarasenko

The best unrestricted free agent on the market is Vladimir Tarasenko, and it isn’t particularly close. It’s a bit of a mystery as to why he hasn’t been signed as well.

Tarasenko, 34, most recently played for the playoff-bound Minnesota Wild, scoring 23 goals and 47 points in 75 regular-season games. In the 11 playoff games he played, the veteran sniper added two goals and five points.

He’s not the player he once was when he consistently scored 30 goals, which also means he didn’t get a ton of power play time. That didn’t matter, as Tarasenko scored 18 of his 23 goals during even-strength play, something the Oilers desperately missed last season.

Tarasenko’s name is on the Stanley Cup twice, leading the St. Louis Blues to their first Cup in franchise history back in 2019, as well as defeating the Oilers back in 2024 with the Florida Panthers. He’s still a consistent 20 goal scorer and a middle-six forward, even though his defence leaves a little to be desired.

The Oilers also have the space to get a deal done. As it stands, they have a little under $2 million in cap space according to PuckPedia, but if they were to send down Janmark, Isaac Howard, Spencer Stastny, Regula, and place Andersen on the LTIR, they’d have about $6.2 million in cap space. Last season, Tarasenko made $4.75 million, so the Oilers would also be able to accrue deadline cap space as well.

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