The Edmonton Oilers have a positional logjam to deal with in the coming weeks. At the moment, general manager Stan Bowman has eight NHL-caliber defensemen on his roster. Barring any fluke injuries ahead of training camp, one of these blueliners will likely need to be moved before the 2026-27 season starts.
Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, Connor Murphy, and Ryan Shea are all locks to remain on Edmonton’s roster. Shakir Mukhamadullin is also expected to earn a regular spot in the team’s lineup. After all, the defenseman was only just acquired from the San Jose Sharks in the Darnell Nurse deal. Daily Faceoff currently has these six Oilers blueliners set in the starting lineup.
If so, this essentially leaves Ty Emberson and Spencer Stastney vying for Edmonton’s seventh defenseman. Oilers Nation’s Zach Laing believes that Emberson holds a key advantage over Stastney in the situation because he is a righty. The Edmonton Oilers have a plethora of left-sided blueliners, which does not exactly help the left-handed Stastney.
Matt Parks of The Hockey Writers agrees with this assessment. “The Oilers have Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, and Ryan Shea who are left shots, so keeping righties, or players who can play the right side, should be the priority,” writes Parks. “That should make Stastney expendable.”
Edmonton Oilers May Opt to Trade Spencer Stastney or Risk Losing Him on Waivers
GettySpencer Stastney has one point in 36 regular-season games with the Edmonton Oilers.
Ideally, the Edmonton Oilers would prefer to send the odd man out through waivers to keep them in the organization. Nevertheless, this would be a risky decision. Another NHL team could pick up Emberson or Stastney if Bowman went this route. If Edmonton believes a rival will select the waived player, he would be inclined to trade them instead.
The Oilers are unlikely to receive a massive haul for Stastney if they opted to trade him. However, it would be better to get something in return via a deal, rather than losing the blueliner on the waiver wire. Edmonton potentially carrying three NHL goalies to start the upcoming season would complicate the team’s roster even further. Bowman recently added Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi to the mix alongside presumed starter Tristan Jarry.
Edmonton previously acquired Stastney from the Nashville Predators in December 2025 for a 2027 third-round draft pick. Interestingly enough, the Edmonton Oilers recently opted to give Stastney a one-year, $1.5 million extension in July. The move came just four days after Edmonton acquired Mukhamadullin from San Jose.
Edmonton has Cap Space to Make a Significant Move
Potentially shedding Stastney’s salary would free up some extra funds. Nevertheless, the Edmonton Oilers are actually in a fairly comfortable place regarding their finances. According to PuckPedia.com, the club has nearly $5 million in projected cap space. Bowman and Co. also have a full NHL roster at the moment.
While the Oilers are being urged to use this available money on another forward (Vladimir Tarasenko, to be specific), it seems fairly likely that Edmonton will resist this urge. Instead, the Oilers could very well set aside these extra funds to help make a move mid-season. Bowman may want to see how his roster performs early in the campaign before making a major decision.
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