The dust has settled on the NHL offseason, but that doesn’t mean the work is done.

The Edmonton Oilers’ new coaching staff will be hard at work this summer getting to know the roster, reviewing past footage, and building a plan for how the team will attack the 2026-27 season. The front office, meanwhile, still has some tinkering to do, with restricted free agent Colton Dach needing a new contract, and figuring out what they want to do with their $5.925 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia.

But now, we’ve started to get a look at who will compete for roster spots next season.

The forwards

There’s a contingent of forwards that are easily considered locks for next year’s roster: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matt Savoie, Kasperi Kapanen, Vasily Podkolzin, Jason Dickinson, Trent Frederic, and Josh Samanski.

That group of 10 will find themselves somewhere in the forward ranks on opening day, and while calling Samanski a lock might be naive, as he still needs to prove himself in camp, the Oilers haven’t brought in anybody to contend for his minutes as........

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