Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman has made large scale changes to the club's forward group; shedding salary through trades and allowing multiple players to walk in free agency. This was necessary to keep the team below the National Hockey League (NHL) salary cap ceiling for the upcoming season.
The club needed to re-sign star defenceman Evan Bouchard and with the contract of Leon Draisaitl kicking in, the team was in a tough spot. Luckily, Bowman was able to make a savvy trade for winger and top prospect Ike Howard and some key signings over the past few months to grab players who could battle for spots like Quinn Hutson, David Tomasek, or Josh Samanski.