Oilers News & Rumours: Podkolzin, Walman, McDavid, Kulak, Ekholm & More

It is August, and the 2025-26 season continues to inch closer, with teams putting the final touches on their roster as the offseason comes to a close, and the focus shifts to training camps. Recently, there has been some news and rumours surrounding the Edmonton Oilers, and with a new month, we take a look at some of the latest updates and speculation.

In this edition, we look at potential contract extensions for Vasily Podkolzin, Jake Walman, Brett Kulak, and Mattias Ekholm, as well as the status of Connor McDavid’s extension discussions.

Extensions Coming for Several Oilers Not Named McDavid?

Trusted analyst Bob Stauffer was on OilersNow recently and was discussing the future of some Oilers, and while most of the talk has been surrounding McDavid and what his next deal will look like, Walman, Podkolzin, and Ekholm were mentioned by Stauffer as players he could see having extensions completed by the end of August, specifically August 28th.

"I could foresee a scenario where extensions are done on…"

Oilers Now host @Bob_Stauffer speaks on potential @EdmontonOilers contract extensions.

Powered by @LegacyHCYeg ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/n4yV4BGvBr

— Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer (@OilersNow) July 28, 2025

Podkolzin was a trade acquisition last summer from the Vancouver Canucks, and he was able to provide strength and move around the lineup as a trusted forward at both ends of the ice. He wasn’t able to provide an outstanding amount of offensive production, but his willingness to forecheck, play physical, and commit to playing strong defensive hockey made him a valuable addition, and the Oilers seem to feel the same way.

Ekholm was acquired two seasons ago from the Nashville Predators, and other than some injury issues in the playoffs last season, he has been a rock on the Oilers’ blue line and was credited by many for being a great defensive partner for Evan Bouchard, who has now flourished into an elite player.

Walman was acquired from the San Jose Sharks a few days before the 2025 Trade Deadline, and while he could be in for the largest extension out of these few players, other than McDavid, his puck-moving ability and stability helped the Oilers make another deep playoff run last season.

All of these players could get extended around the same time this summer, and while there haven’t been any indications of what those new deals will look like, the Oilers have more than enough money to bring them all back.

McDavid Extension Status: Positive, But Unchanged

At the same time as the others were mentioned, Stauffer mentioned that a McDavid extension could be done around the same time. General manager Stan Bowman has been very clear that he is willing to respect McDavid’s request to not rush into an extension, but has mentioned that preliminary discussions about a potential new deal have been positive; however, things remain unchanged at this point.

Stauffer did mention that he believes things could pick up after Leon Draisaitl’s wedding, but time will tell.

Brett Kulak & Stuart Skinner Left Out of Potential Extensions List

A couple of names were left out when Stauffer was discussing potential extensions, and those were defender Brett Kulak and goaltender Stuart Skinner. While it could simply be that the Oilers are going to wait until the season gets going to see how they both play, or that Stauffer simply forgot to mention them, it was interesting that he didn’t bring them up.

Quite a few Oilers fans have been critical of Skinner’s game over the past couple of seasons and believe the team should bring in a new goaltending tandem, but it seems as though the team is willing to see what happens under a new goaltending coach.

Kulak is a solid defender, but the Oilers may look to give one of their younger prospects, or someone like Ty Emberson, a larger role, which could come at his expense.

As the 2025-26 season approaches, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news from around the NHL and the hockey world.