The Edmonton Oilers will need to make some decisions before the season starts.

As it stands, the Oilers’ roster stands at 29 players, six more than what is allowed, according to Puckpedia’s new waiver watch. All 32 teams must be compliant before Sept. 28 at 3:00 PM MT, a day before the 2026-27 National Hockey League is set to begin.

That begs the questions: which Oilers are likely to be waived, which other players are on the bubble, and who is waiver exempt? Let’s find out!

Likely to be waived

Puckpedia lists six Oilers as likely to be waived: Max Jones, Riley Stillman, Josh Brown, Matt Tomkins, Eduards Tralmaks, and Atro Leppänen. All players aside from Brown are making the minimum cap hit of $850,000, as Brown is entering the final season of his three-year deal that carries an annual cap hit of $1 million.

Brown is one of three players who have played for the Oilers, appearing in 10 regular season games and one playoff game during the 2024-25 season. The entirety of his 2025-26 season was spent with the American Hockey League’s Bakersfield Condors, where he scored two goals and 13 points in 57 games. The right-shot defenceman offers toughness, but is behind plenty of players on the team’s depth chart.

In fact, when the Oilers needed a defenceman last season, they turned to Stillman. The 28-year-old appeared in four games with the Oilers last season, but spent most of the 2025-26 season with the Condors. Over 51 games, he scored three goals........

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