Stan Bowman’s busiest July 1 in years ended with Frederik Andersen signing a one-year, bonus-laden deal, after Connor McDavid’s contract clock began and after Darnell Nurse expanded his trade list to include a fourth team. The Oilers shipped Nurse and $9.25 mi
Call the kids, Martha. They’ve gotta see this too.
On the day Connor McDavid began what could be his final contract as an Edmonton Oiler, general manager Stan Bowman found the kind of goalie pedigree that hasn’t been a teammate of McDavid’s in Edmonton.
Frederik Andersen—fresh off a Stanley Cup run with the Carolina Hurricanes in which he started 16 of the Hurricanes’ 19 games—signed a bonus-laden one-year deal to chase the Stanley Cup Edmonton has been seeking, with the end of the McDavid window possibly drawing near.
For 11 seasons in Edmonton. McDavid has watched the team cycle through goalies that were solid. but rarely turned the noise into certainty in the crease: from Cam Talbot and Mike Smith to Stuart Skinner. and most recently the tandem of Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram. Even the Mikko Koskinens Oilers fans hoped to love never quite landed the way the fanbase needed—work in the crease that. at times. didn’t always feel like it matched the team’s ambitions.
July 1 began slowly, then moved fast enough to change the mood. The fuse reportedly started when Darnell Nurse agreed to expand his three-team trade list to a fourth team: the San Jose Sharks.
From there, at around 1 p.m. local time in Edmonton, Bowman did what many believed wasn’t possible. He traded Nurse and his entire $9.25 million annual salary—four seasons remaining—to the Sharks with no retention. Edmonton also received a useful defenceman and a prospect in return: Shakir Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp.
That sudden infusion of cap space turned the rest of the afternoon and early evening into a sprint. Bowman completed seven more transactions, none bigger than the one that carried Andersen to Edmonton.
Andersen, 36 years old, agreed to play for a base salary of just $1 million, with incentives that could earn him an additional $1.8 million in bonuses if Edmonton wins the Stanley Cup and Andersen plays in at least half the playoff games in each series.
This isn’t a typical bargain-hunting signing. Andersen has averaged over $5 million in annual average value over the past 10 seasons. With Edmonton. he’s guaranteed $1 million with a shot at $2.8 million. on a one-year deal that also leaves the Oilers in the goalie market again next summer. should they choose.
And if the league-wide chatter sounded like a running joke—about the Oilers GM of the day being unable to find a goalie who could truly elevate the roster—Bowman’s move lands like an answer.
All the Jack Campbells and Tristan Jarrys, the raised eyebrows surrounding the July 1 trade that brought in Devon Levi from Buffalo—Bowman muted them all by going after one of the premier goalies available this summer with a team-friendly contract.
The numbers are where it gets especially interesting. Andersen’s $1 million AAV leaves the Oilers with 23 players signed and still $6.4 million in cap space—more flexibility than a dozen other teams. including contenders like Vegas. Florida. Colorado. and Minnesota. and “next tier” clubs like Los Angeles. Boston. and the New York Rangers.
At the Trade Deadline, that $6 million in cap space is roughly $27 million in AAV. That’s the kind of room that can turn a season’s ceiling from hopeful to real—either by adding the most expensive player available. or by stitching together two or three deadline buys that could make the difference between being good and being great.
On June 30, it already felt far-fetched that the Oilers—by their own admission in decline since losing Game 7 to Florida in the Stanley Cup Final back in 2024—could assemble a roster capable of a run at their third Cup appearance in four springs.
But the late-July 1 spending and trading suggests what fans might not want to admit yet: what Edmonton sees today could look dramatically different come March. Even if the current roster needs a tweak or two, the ability to add at the Trade Deadline changes the conversation.
This is where the human frustration in the Edmonton story keeps coming back—because July 1 hasn’t always treated this franchise gently. Oilers fans have memories they don’t need help pulling up: Peter Chiarelli welcoming Milan Lucic with a big free agent deal. Holland digging Jack Campbell out of a lean market only to have to buy him out soon after. Consecutive July 1s under Jeff Jackson (Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson) and Bowman (Andrew Mangiapane) left fans joking that maybe the local GM should’ve gone camping on Canada Day and left the phone behind.
This time, the phone rang. Stan Bowman’s phone reportedly lit up with a call from Darnell Nurse’s agent around lunchtime on Wednesday, and the chain reaction followed.
Now everything narrows down to one question fans won’t stop asking until March turns into May: if Frederik Andersen can only stay healthy.
Edmonton Oilers Frederik Andersen Stan Bowman Connor McDavid Darnell Nurse San Jose Sharks NHL free agency July 1 transactions cap space Stanley Cup