The Edmonton Oilers knew this offseason would come with some tough roster decisions. Now it looks like two of those decisions are being made for them.
Jack Roslovic and Adam Henrique are both expected to hit the open market when NHL free agency opens next month, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Roslovic, who scored 21 goals this season after signing late in the summer, is projected to leave. Henrique is also apparently headed out the door.
Roslovic was kind of a sneaky-good pickup for Edmonton. He joined the team just before the 2025-26 season started and immediately gave them something they’ve always needed: secondary scoring that doesn’t disappear in the playoffs. His 21 goals this year followed a 22-goal season the year before, which means he’s now proven it twice in a row. That’s not nothing.
Henrique’s situation is a little different. The Oilers grabbed him from Anaheim at the 2024 trade deadline and he had 51 points that season. But his production has dropped each year since. In this year’s playoffs he only skated in one game, and that was against his old team, the Ducks. At 36 years old, his best days are probably behind him.
Replacing Henrique shouldn’t be too hard. The Oilers have young forwards in the system who can handle fourth-line minutes. But replacing Roslovic’s 21 goals? That’s a bigger ask. Scoring depth is what separates a team that makes a deep run from one that gets bounced early, and Edmonton found that out the hard way this year when they missed the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in three seasons.
This year was a step back for the Oilers. They’d played in the last two Finals before 2025-26 but couldn’t make it three straight. Now they’re looking at a roster that could look noticeably different come October.
The Oilers have some cap space to work with and could go shopping for a replacement for Roslovic. Or they could look internally at some of their prospects. Either way, the front office seems prepared to move forward without these two veterans. How they decide to fill those holes will tell us a lot about where this team thinks it is in its championship window.
Free agency opens in July. That’s when we’ll really start to see the shape of next year’s Oilers.
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