Jack Campbell Retires From Professional Hockey
Jack Campbell has announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 34. He announced on his Instagram.
The veteran goaltender had not played professionally since the 2024-25 season, under a one-year, $775K contract with the Detroit Red Wings, where he did not see NHL time and played 14 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate. Early into that season, the Port Huron, Michigan native entered the Player Assistance Program. He had hoped to raise his value in Detroit after a disappointing tenure with the Edmonton Oilers, two seasons where he combined for a -21.83 goals saved above expected. The Oilers bought out the last three years of his five-year, $25MM contract signed back in 2022.
In his NHL tenure, he posted a 93-52-18 record across his career that began with the Dallas Stars, the team that selected him 11th overall in the 2010 NHL draft and gave him the first of his seven total contracts signed in his career. His entry-level deal, a three-year, $4.2MM ($1.4MM AAV) contract signed in 2010, didn’t take effect until 2012, after he split time with the Windsor Spitfires and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in major junior hockey. Campbell also spent those days with Team USA in three straight IIHF World Junior Championships within that span, earning a gold medal in 2010 and a bronze medal in 2011 as the competition’s best goaltender.
From there, Campbell was with the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of Dallas, winning a Calder Cup in 2014 before making his NHL debut at age 21. He didn’t see an extended run as an NHL goaltender until 2018 with the Los Angeles Kings, signing with the club after being traded by Dallas further west in June of 2016. That run came due to the injury of Kings legendary goaltender, Jonathan Quick, forcing LA to call Campbell to the NHL. In 31 games, he posted a career best 10.72 GSAx, from a .928 save percentage and 2.3 goals against average. His tenure out west caught the eyes of the Toronto Maple Leafs; where they’d eventually trade for the then 27-year-old goaltender.
Campbell truly shined in the NHL’s modern mecca. On the two-year, $1.65MM AAV deal he signed with the Kings that didn’t kick in until 2021, he served as backup to then Leaf goaltender Frederik Andersen before eventually earning the starting role, off a stellar start with 11 straight wins, the most by a goalie to start a season up to that point. ‘Soupy’ then was named an NHL All-Star in 2021-22, posting a .914 Sv% and 2.64 GAA in 49 games, winning 31 of them in his age-30 season with 5 shutouts.
That earned him his 5-year deal in Edmonton, where the Oilers believed Campbell was the solution to their problems in goal. However, he did not live up to his previous all-star numbers and since had not been able to recoup such consistency, before his buyout, Edmonton sent him down to the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL.
Throughout his career, Campbell mentioned times when pressure and expectations for himself have weighed heavily on him. In the announcement, he said he’ll move forward as a life coach and referred to times in his life when he needed someone who could advise him and hold him accountable. He tagged Novus Global, saying, “I’m incredibly grateful to begin this next chapter as a coach with @novus.global. I can’t wait to walk alongside athletes, leaders, and high performers as they create bigger visions for their lives and become the people those visions require.”
Oilers Sign Colton Dach To Two-Year Extension
This afternoon the Edmonton Oilers shared that Colton Dach has been re-signed on a two-year pact worth $1.2MM per season. The forward was the club’s last notable restricted free agent to deal with this summer. Upon expiration of the contract after 2027-28, he’ll remain an RFA.
Acquired at the deadline from Chicago along with Jason Dickinson, the St. Albert, Alberta native had a nice start to his Oilers tenure with four points in his first eight contests, then dealing with an injury which cost 12. Dach worked his way back for the playoffs, adding one helper in five appearances. Still aged 23, it’s fair to call Dach a prospect, as he was ranked 10th in Chicago’s system last August by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman as a player with below average skating but nice playmaking ability and vision for a 6’4″ frame. Dach is thought to have middle-six upside, and the Oilers will hope he can be a cost-effective everyday player in their bottom-six. Edmonton paid a pretty penny in the Dickinson trade to shed Andrew Mangiapane‘s contract, a conditional 2027 first-rounder, so there’s a real need for Dach to stay healthy and reach his potential in order to call the trade a success.
Selected in the second round by Chicago in 2021 (64th overall) Dach joined his brother Kirby in the organization until they were separated by his trade to Montreal one year later. Never able to play together with the Hawks, Colton still lined up against his brother during his NHL debut in January 2025 at the United Center. A solid piece for the young team’s bottom-six, Dach had nine points in 53 games last season prior to the trade. Regardless of the organization’s evaluation on the former second-rounder, a first-round-pick coming back was enough of an asset for them to part ways.
Listed as a center, Dach won just 36.6% of his draws with Chicago in 2025-26, not lining up for a single face-off with the Oilers. He was effective alongside 28-year-old Trent Frederic, bringing ruthless forechecking and energy and helping reinvigorate Frederic’s game, much needed considering his struggles on a long-term contract. Once a high scorer with the Kelowna Rockets, lighting it up with Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall, Dach’s calling in the NHL will be reliable play in his own end, net driving, and finishing checks.
With Dach crossed off their list the Oilers have around $4.7MM in cap space remaining. Shedding Darnell Nurse‘s $9.25MM allowed them to comfortably retain GM Stan Bowman‘s trade additions, also signing Ryan Shea and Frederik Andersen for just $5MM combined. It seems likely Bowman will utilize the remaining dollars on a free agent forward who could be a repeat of last season’s Jack Roslovic, who successfully netted 21 goals on a one-year deal. As for Dach, it’s expected he’ll be a regular in the lineup in 2026-27.
Oilers Want To Wait A Bit Before Re-Signing Dach
- Still with the Canucks, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reported on a recent Oilers Now podcast (audio link) that Vancouver has inquired about Kraken center Shane Wright. While Seattle is believed to be trying to facilitate a suitable trade, they’re believed to have a high price tag for his services. Dhaliwal indicated that Seattle’s ask in return was either defenseman Zeev Buium or blueliner Tom Willander, a price Vancouver isn’t willing to pay. It’s understandable that Kraken GM Jason Botterill would be seeking a core piece with several years of club control remaining as that’s effectively the situation Wright finds himself in, still being five years away from UFA eligibility.
- The Oilers have one remaining restricted free agent, winger Colton Dach. However, his agent Gerry Johansson indicated to Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal that the team has communicated that they need some more time to work things out. Edmonton has a little under $6MM in cap space per PuckPedia and it appears they’re prioritizing getting an external acquisition in place before deciding what type of contract to give to Dach. The 23-year-old had 13 points and 219 hits in 61 games between Chicago and Edmonton last season.
Oilers Re-Sign Owen Michaels
According to a team announcement, the Edmonton Oilers have re-signed forward Owen Michaels to a two-year, $1.8MM ($900K AAV) contract. Despite re-signing on a two-year deal, Michaels has yet to play a game with the Oilers organization.
Michaels, 24, signed with Edmonton toward the end of last season as a collegiate free agent. The move was mostly economical, essentially allowing the Oilers to retain his rights, although he wouldn’t play for the team. He signed a prorated one-year, $1.48MM entry-level contract, which expired last week.
The Detroit, MI native spent his college days with the Western Michigan University Broncos after a one-year stint with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. He didn’t perform too well in his first season, scoring two goals and seven points in 38 games with a +6 rating.
However, in his second season, like many of his teammates, everything went right for Michaels. He finished with his best statistical output throughout his NCAA career, scoring 18 goals and 36 points in 42 games, helping the Broncos to the school’s first National Championship.
Last year, in what would be his final season in the collegiate ranks, Michaels tallied 13 goals and 26 points in 39 games as the Broncos’ captain. Given that the 2026-27 campaign will technically be his first season, it’s likely that Michaels will begin the year with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
Oilers Sign Spencer Stastney
The Edmonton Oilers have worked out a new deal with restricted free agent Spencer Stastney. The defenseman has signed a one-year, $1.525MM deal per PuckPedia. Edmonton acquired Stastney as part of a pair of trades that also landed the club goaltender Tristan Jarry.
Stastney played through his first full season in the NHL this season. He split the year between 30 games with the Nashville Predators and 36 games in Edmonton. Stastney totaled 10 points and a minus-11 in those appearances – including just one point and a minus-10 in Edmonton. He also chipped in 13 hits and 63 shot blocks. It was a quiet performance in what seemed likely to be a breakout season for Stastney. He climbed the ranks of the Predators’ minor-leagues and earned strong attention with 17 points through 26 games of the 2024-25 AHL season. That scoring came spread across three stints in the minor-leagues, separated by tenures on the Predators’ bottom-pair.
While Stastney didn’t vindicate his climb to the NHL in 2024-25 with a breakout in 2025-26, his momentum through both seasons is encouraging after the defender considered retirement during the 2023-24 campaign. He stepped away from the Nashville organization through parts of that season to enter the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program and address his mental health. Stastney returned in time for the 2024 postseason and played in both the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Calder Cup Playoffs. That return grew into strong footing in the pro ranks, then the first trade of Stastney’s career.
A new deal north of $1MM will be a bode of confidence in Stastney’s ability to stick in Edmonton’s lineup. The Oilers are now carrying eight defensemen at the NHL level, following the acquisition of Shakir Mukhamadullin as part of the trade that sent Darnell Nurse to the San Jose Sharks. Stastney will be in direct competition with Mukhamadullin for the role of extra left-defender, behind the recently acquired-and-extended Ryan Shea.
Multiple Teams Pursuing Claude Giroux
Veteran Claude Giroux remains unsigned past the opening few days of the free agent period. However, it’s not from a lack of interest. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that there are several teams that have shown interest in the forward while Giroux not having decided just yet on where to sign.
Among the teams believed to have registered interest in the 38-year-old are the Senators, Flyers, and Maple Leafs. Garrioch noted that the Oilers also made a pitch but Sportsnet’s Mark Spector relays (Twitter link) that Edmonton isn’t in the mix for Giroux’s services now.
Ottawa being interested shouldn’t come as any surprise. Giroux spent the past four seasons with them, putting up 242 points in 327 games over that stretch. His output last season was largely steady with the year before, as he tallied 14 goals and 35 assists in 82 games while winning more than 63% of his faceoffs. The Sens tried to re-sign him before he hit the open market but Giroux decided he wanted to see what was available on the open market. Ottawa GM Steve Staios indicated that a big reason why the team hasn’t done much so far in free agency is that they’re holding a spot if the veteran wants to return.
Philadelphia is another team that Giroux is plenty familiar with. He spent the first 15 seasons of his NHL career with them after being drafted in the first round back in 2006. Of course, the Flyers’ salary cap situation is now somewhat in flux as they await Anaheim’s decision on whether they will match Leo Carlsson’s five-year, $90MM offer sheet. If they don’t, the Flyers may have a hard time affording Giroux, especially knowing that Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale are among their remaining restricted free agents. Garrioch notes that the sense around the league is that the Flyers are Giroux’s likely landing spot but nothing is finalized at this point.
Toronto is an interesting fit if the money can work. New GM John Chayka has overhauled their bottom six but beyond Jack Roslovic (who replaces Nicholas Robertson), very little has been done in terms of adding offensive upside to his group. Giroux could give them some needed secondary scoring. However, they’re $2.75MM over the cap at the moment, per PuckPedia, and while Max Domi’s injury could land him on LTIR to start the season, it feels like another domino would need to fall before the Maple Leafs could make Giroux a competitive offer.
Garrioch suggests that part of the reason that Giroux is taking more time than usual is that this is likely to be his final season. In that case, he won’t be pursuing a multi-year contract which means a one-year agreement with bonuses could be on the table. Giroux played on that structure last season, taking a $2MM base salary with another $2.75MM in incentives, $1MM of which were reached. That structure allows for greater short-term cap flexibility which would be especially appealing to some cap-strapped franchises. It wouldn’t be surprising for Giroux to receive a deal like that, regardless of where he winds up signing over the coming days or weeks.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
NTC Reportedly Vetoed A Nurse-To-Boston Trade
While Darnell Nurse wound up being traded to San Jose on the opening day of free agency, that may not have been Edmonton’s initial plan for him. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta recently reported on the DFO Rundown (video link) that there was a deal in place to send him to the Bruins but that one of the other players involved in the swap wouldn’t waive their trade protection. As a result, the Oilers moved on to the offer from the Sharks and got that trade finalized. Meanwhile, Boston then turned around and was able to make another move to address their back end, acquiring Will Borgen from the Rangers for a pair of draft picks.
Oilers Sign Shakir Mukhamadullin To Two-Year Contract
The Oilers have taken care of one of their arbitration-eligible restricted free agents one day before the filing deadline. Agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star announced (Twitter link) that Edmonton has signed Shakir Mukhamadullin to a two-year, $3.5MM contract ($1.75MM AAV). PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the blueliner will receive $1.55MM in salary this coming season plus a $200K signing bonus with a $1.75MM salary in 2027-28, an amount that will also serve as his qualifying offer at that time.
The 24-year-old is joining his third NHL team already. A first-round pick by the Devils back in 2020, he never wound up playing a game for them as three years later, he was a key part of the trade that saw New Jersey add Timo Meier from San Jose. Back on Wednesday, Mukhamadullin was then the key part of the return in the trade that saw Darnell Nurse get moved to the Sharks.
Last season, Mukhamadullin played in 50 games with the Sharks, picking up five goals and seven assists along with 63 blocked shots while averaging 17:09 per contest of playing time. He also missed time with three separate upper-body injuries. Still, that was the most single-season NHL action he had, as he came into 2025-26 with just 33 appearances at the top level.
As things stand, Mukhamadullin projects to have a similar role with Edmonton as he did with San Jose, that being one in more of a third-pairing or even reserve role at times. Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman return as the top-two left-shot options while Ryan Shea was quickly signed to a five-year deal following the Nurse trade and will slot in ahead of Mukhamadullin on the depth chart as well. One of them could move over to their off-side to make room for Mukhamadullin or the young blueliner could get shifted to the right to see if that helps earn him more playing time. The short-term nature of the deal – one that amounts to a second bridge contract – signals that both sides want to get a look at how he’ll fit in before working out a longer-term agreement. Mukhamadullin will have one year of RFA eligibility remaining when this contract expires.
With this signing, the Oilers now have just under $6.5MM remaining in cap space for the upcoming season, per PuckPedia. They still have to re-sign forward Colton Dach and defenseman Spencer Stastney, the latter being arbitration-eligible.
Oilers Sign Frederik Andersen
More goaltending depth is on the way for the Oilers. After acquiring Devon Levi earlier today, Edmonton is signing veteran Frederik Andersen to a one-year deal, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports. PuckPedia reports that Andersen will receive a $1MM base salary along with performance bonuses worth up to $1.8MM more. He’ll receive $600K for 10 games played and $400K more at the 20-game mark. Additionally, he’ll receive $200K for each playoff round the team wins as long as he plays in at least half of the games.
As expected, the Oilers have reshaped their goaltending room on the opening day of free agency. Still, as good as Andersen was in the postseason, it’s unlikely he’ll provide that kind of value to Edmonton.
Andersen’s career has been decimated by injuries recently. Throughout the past three years with the Carolina Hurricanes, Andersen has managed only 72 games. Even when healthy, he hasn’t been altogether impressive, managing a 42-24-6 record with a .895 SV% and 2.63 GAA. However, it appears that the Oilers have insurance for an injury-riddled season through the performance bonuses in Andersen’s contract.
Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that Andersen will be playing behind a much different team in Edmonton. Throughout the past three years, the Hurricanes have faced the fewest shots of any team by a significant margin. They play a possession-heavy game, and they very rarely let the opponent control the puck more than they do.
Unlike the Hurricanes, the Oilers don’t offer the same possession-heavy approach, which may be an issue for Andersen as it has been for other goalies in Edmonton.
Regardless, it wouldn’t be right to write an article about the Oilers signing Andersen without mentioning his performance in the postseason. Before getting injured in the Stanley Cup Final, Andersen backstopped the Hurricanes’ impressive postseason run, managing a 13-2-0 record in 16 games with a .910 SV% and 1.89 GAA.
It’s unlikely that Edmonton will get that version of Andersen, but if they do, look out. The Oilers’ offense isn’t getting any worse with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and if the Oilers could have a goaltender anywhere near a .910 SV%, they would be hard to stop.
Oilers Sign Mathieu Joseph
The Oilers continue to use their opened-up cap space from today’s Darnell Nurse trade. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Edmonton has signed winger Mathieu Joseph to a one-year, $1MM deal.
The 29-year-old had a breakout showing with Ottawa back in 2023-24 when he had 35 points in 72 games. However, he hasn’t come close to matching those numbers since then, tallying just 25 over the past two years combined.
Joseph started last season with St. Louis, getting into 39 games with them where he was limited to two goals and nine assists. He cleared waivers in late February but after two games with AHL Springfield, he requested and was granted a mutual contract termination. That allowed him to get back to the NHL, signing with Los Angeles for the rest of the season. However, he didn’t record a point in a dozen regular season games with the Kings or in a pair of playoff appearances.
Joseph has 471 career NHL games to his credit over parts of eight seasons where he has 61 goals and 99 assists. He’ll be reunited once again with a coach he’s familiar with as D.J. Smith is now on Edmonton’s bench as the highest-paid assistant coach in league history. Joseph played for Smith in both Ottawa and Los Angeles so he’ll have some familiarity heading into training camp.
As things stand, Joseph should be entering training camp with a spot at the bottom of the roster being his for the taking. If he doesn’t lock it down, Edmonton would be able to clear his contract off the books entirely if he were to pass through waivers unclaimed and be sent back to the minors.