The dust is starting to settle on free agency, and cheers and jeers for teams across the NHL are getting released.

Our own Lane Golden gave his grades for the major signings the Edmonton Oilers made as free agency opened on Wednesday, but as we do every year, it’s time to see how those outside the market viewed Stan Bowman and company’s moves.

Daily Faceoff — Winners

First off: when we saw the dollar figures chucked round July 1, it quickly became clear the Oilers locked center Jason Dickinson and defenseman Connor Murphy in at reasonable AAVs. Murphy, for instance, is one of the best penalty-killing defensemen in the game and a better actual defender than Jacob Trouba, and Murphy re-signed for less than half what the San Jose Sharks paid for Trouba. We can’t officially count the Darnell Nurse trade as a “free-agency” move, but it indirectly helped. Not only did it net an asset with upside in big Shakir Mukhamadullin, but it freed up $9.25 million in cap space. A chunk of that went to underrated puck mover Ryan Shea, a solid UFA buy whose game is like a young Brett Kulak’s, and the Oil also re-upped their leading 2026 playoff goal scorer in Kasperi........

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