NHL Rumors: Evander Kane, $8,000,000 winger to hit trade market soon as Oilers eye additional salary cap space

It's been less than 24 hours since the Edmonton Oilers' season ended in heartbreaking fashion.

A second straight trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, just to have their hearts ripped out by the juggernaut that is the Florida Panthers.

This year's loss felt much more lopsided despite the 3-0 series deficit they faced in 2023-24. Florida had the lead for the vast majority of these finals, and outside of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers generated next to nothing. Their depth that had come through in a big way through the first three rounds went ice cold when it mattered most.

That leads to plenty of questions about what general manager Stan Bowman needs to do to fix his roster heading into 2025-26. According to NHL insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson have already emerged as two players who could become trade chips to clear cap space.

Pagnotte shared the update on Wednesday on X (formerly Twitter).

"Also on Oilers, in an effort to create additional salary cap space, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the names of Evander Kane (16-team trade list) and Viktor Arvidsson (full NMC) pop up in the trade market this month," Pagnotta wrote.

Kane has one year remaining on the four-year, $20,500,000 contract extension he signed with the team in 2022, while Arvidsson also has one year left on the two-year, $8,000,000 contract he signed to come to Edmonton as a UFA in 2024.

The Oilers face an extremely important offseason

While the disappointment of falling short on the biggest stage is still setting in, the Edmonton Oilers and their front office must quickly pivot to their offseason tasks.

They are currently projected to have just under $12 million in salary cap space, with Evan Bouchard, Trent Frederic, Connor Brown, Kasperi Kapanen, John Klingberg, Corey Perry, and Jeff Skinner all in need of new contracts.

Not to mention their superstar captain, Connor McDavid, can become eligible for a new extension come July 1, a storyline that the hockey world will be following very closely the longer it drags out.

Plenty of teams around the NHL will be interesting to keep an eye on this summer. However, after another finals defeat, how the Oilers keep McDavid and Draisaitl happy and feeling like they can win in Edmonton is going to be fascinating.