Insider Links Oilers To Free Agent Vladimir Tarasenko
Per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Oilers could be a team to watch for veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko.
"Wonder if the Oilers look at Vladimir Tarasenko," Friedman wrote. "Heard a few teams looked at him as things calmed down after free agency day one."
Why Edmonton Has the Room
The link makes sense because of the flexibility Edmonton created this week.
The Oilers traded Darnell Nurse and his $9.25 million cap hit to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Shakir Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp, clearing the kind of money that had handcuffed the organization for years.
Elliotte Friedman: Wonder if the Oilers look at Vladimir Tarasenko. Heard a few teams looked at him as things calmed down after free agency day one - Sportsnet (7/3)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) July 4, 2026
That leaves Edmonton with cap space to address its needs, and while goaltending and the blue line were the top priorities, now filled, adding scoring to the middle six has remained on the list.
Friedman also noted the Oilers were among the teams interested in Claude Giroux, another veteran still on the market.
The Tarasenko Fit
Tarasenko is a 34-year-old unrestricted free agent after his two-year, $9.5 million deal expired at the end of last season, and he is not coming off a down year.
He posted 23 goals and 47 points in 75 games with the Minnesota Wild in 2025-26, then added five points in 11 playoff games as Minnesota reached the second round.
Across 906 career NHL games, Tarasenko has 327 goals and 709 points, along with two Stanley Cup rings from his time with the St. Louis Blues and Florida Panthers.
The #Oilers have showed interest in Vladimir Tarasenko per @FriedgeHNIC
— Top Tier Hockey (@TopTierPucks) July 4, 2026
Would he be a good fit in the Top 6? pic.twitter.com/r5HISyJK1i
Edmonton would not be asking him to carry a line.
The Oilers already have Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and others in the forward group, so Tarasenko would slide into a middle-six scoring role and help a second power-play unit, replacing some of the production lost with Jack Roslovic reportedly signing elsewhere.
His playoff pedigree is a selling point for a team that has lost in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals and is trying to get over the hump.
The Considerations
There are a few caveats.
Tarasenko has long faced questions about his defensive game, and his exact contract expectations are unknown after he recently switched agents to Dan Milstein, a move widely read as a sign he intended to leave Minnesota.
At 34, any deal should be short in term, which fits Edmonton's situation well, allowing the Oilers to add a finisher now while preserving flexibility to chase something bigger later.
With Mike Babcock set to take over behind the bench and McDavid entering the final two years of his contract, Edmonton is firmly in win-now mode.
