With their sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers selected goaltender Daniel Salonen from Finnish club Rauman Lukko.
𝐒𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐢 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐇𝐋-𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐬
Viime kaudella U20 SM-sarjan parhaaksi maalivahdiksi ja pelaajaksi valittu Daniel Salonen varataan kuudennella kierroksella numerolla 191. Edmonton Oilersiin.
Isot onnittelut, Dannu!#Lukko #Liiga #NHLDraft… pic.twitter.com/b7qSou9f6S
— Rauman Lukko (@TeamRaumanLukko) June 28, 2025
There isn’t much information out there on Salonen, who wasn’t ranked by any major scouting services coming into this summer’s draft. Born in December of 2005, this was the second year of draft eligibility for Salonen. He’s listed at 6-foot-3 and catches right-handed.
Born in Espoo, Finland, Salonen split the 2024-25 season between Lukko’s U20 team and on loan with Hokki in Finland’s second-highest professional league, known as Mestis.
Salonen was dominant at the U20 level last season. He posted a 23-1-0 record with a .933 save percentage for Lukko during the regular season and then went 9-2 in the playoffs with a .911 save percentage. In eight games at the pro level, Salonen went 4-3-1 with a .909 save percentage.
This is the second year in a row that the Oilers used a draft pick on a Finnish goaltender. Last year, they selected Eemil Vinni in the second round at 64th overall. Edmonton also used a sixth-round pick on goaltender Nathaniel Day in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Get ready for wall-to-wall coverage of one of the biggest days in the calendar — the Daily Faceoff Live Free Agency Special goes live on July 1st at 11 AM EST. Host Tyler Yaremchuk is joined by Carter Hutton, Matthew Barnaby, Jeff Marek, Hart Levine, Colby Cohen, Jonny Lazarus, and insiders from across the Network for three hours of in-depth analysis, live reactions, and real-time updates on every major signing and trade. From blockbuster deals to under-the-radar moves, we’re breaking it all down as it happens. Don’t miss a minute — catch the full special live on DailyFaceoff.com and Daily Faceoff’s YouTube.
One of the worst-kept secrets in hockey is that the Edmonton Oilers are looking at the market for goaltending.
They’ve seemingly been in the mix for years, connected to a plethora of names but perhaps none more frequent than John Gibson, who was dealt from the Anaheim Ducks to the Detroit Red Wings Saturday for backup netminder Petr Mrazek and a pair of picks. It’s eliminated at least one option from the market for the team, while another in pending restricted free agent Joel Hofer, who was extended by the Blues not long after.
It’s not a robust market, with few goaltenders available who could potentially provide upgrades and the free agent class offering even fewer.
And while Oilers general manager Stan Bowman and his staff are continuing to evaluate their options, he said one of them could be bringing back both of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.
“Part of the evaluation is (with) the guys that we have, does it make the most sense to keep this group?” he said. “And that’s certainly a possibility. We’re not at the point where we’re saying we’re definitely bringing in new goalies.”
The evaluation, he said, is about determining whether or not any external options are upgrades over what they have.
“It’s just evaluating how can we do something that’s going to make our team better, and when we find that sweet spot that we think makes sense, the price is right, the player’s the right player, then we’ll move,” he said. “It’s going to be a process that we’re going to go through. I don’t think we’re going to come to one decision tomorrow or the next day.
“It’s really taking in the information, and eventually we’re going to settle on the thing that we think makes the most sense.”
The Oilers goaltending has been good enough to get them deep in the playoffs for two straight seasons — Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and Game 6 this year — but it hasn’t been enough to get them over the hump.
Over the last two runs, Skinner has appeared in 38 games, posting a 21-16 record, a .896 save percentage and a 2.66 goals against average, while Pickard has appeared in 13, starting eight, with a 8-2 record, a .892 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average.
Pickard had to enter the crease for the Oilers in the 2024 playoffs for two games against the Vancouver Canucks when Skinner wavered, while this year, he had a run of seven straight wins against the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights before being injured. While Skinner stepped back in playing well, Pickard had a relief performance in Game 3 and 4 of the the Stanley Cup Final, before starting Game 5.
Edmonton’s inability to trust one netminder over the other in the playoffs isn’t something that’s often seen in the playoffs, and has been something many have pointed to as a reason the Oilers need to find an answer, one way or the other.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].
Get ready for wall-to-wall coverage of one of the biggest days in the calendar — the Daily Faceoff Live Free Agency Special goes live on July 1st at 11 AM EST. Host Tyler Yaremchuk is joined by Carter Hutton, Matthew Barnaby, Jeff Marek, Hart Levine, Colby Cohen, Jonny Lazarus, and insiders from across the Network for three hours of in-depth analysis, live reactions, and real-time updates on every major signing and trade. From blockbuster deals to under-the-radar moves, we’re breaking it all down as it happens. Don’t miss a minute — catch the full special live on DailyFaceoff.com and Daily Faceoff’s YouTube.
The Edmonton Oilers and Evan Bouchard’s camp have been laying the groundwork over the weekend for a new contract for the restricted free agent defenceman, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Sunday.
And the new deal, he said, could be coming in with a lower annual dollar amount than had been expected.
“There seems to be a lot of confidence over the weekend they’re going to get this sorted out,” Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast. “I wonder if it’s going to be around four times $9.5-million — that’s just numbers that were being thrown around here. We’ll see, but there seems to be a lot of confidence it’s going to get worked out.”
All the talk around Bouchard’s next deal has been that it would be one paying him eight figures, but Friedman’s report is the first that’s suggested a number below that. But a reason for that is the term of the deal.
Much of the smoke has been that there would be a long-term extension — likely for eight-years — locking Bouchard up as a key cog in the engine that drives this team. A four-year deal is likely part of the reason for that dip in what his cap hit could be.
After all, salary cap prognosticators like Evolving Hockey and AFP Analytics have had Bouchard projected for an eight-year term — the former suggesting a $10.61-million cap hit, the latter a $10.887— million cap hit.
Going shorter term will have its risks for the team. It will walk Bouchard to unrestricted free agency, opening a window for him to potentially leave and sign with another club. There’s also the fact that whatever deal follows this would be for significantly more money. That, of course, is to Bouchard’s benefit, but with a salary cap set to rise to $113.5-million by 2027-28 and with contracts for elite defencemen like Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes set to expire before then, a new benchmark will be made for the upper-echelon of blue liners.
What plays to Edmonton’s benefit in a shorter-term deal is that it helps the team save some money in the short term. While roughly $1-million to $1.5-million in savings may not seem like a lot with the salary cap set for $95.5-million next season, every penny counts for a team like the Oilers strapped to the cap.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid was vocal in his final press conference of the season about getting Bouchard extended, saying it’s “definitely a deal that needs to get done.”
General manager Stan Bowman, meanwhile, said he spoke with Bouchard’s agent, Dave Gagner, earlier last week.
“I had a meeting with Dave earlier and we’ve begun the negotiations. So I think that’s kind of all I really want to say,” Bowman said. “Certainly think Bouch is a great player, had an excellent year.
“He’s a big part of this and we’re going to work through it timing wise. I don’t know how long it’s going to take. It’s two sides and we’re both trying to do what we can we think makes the most sense. I’m not going to be giving the day by day update on the negotiations. It’s like anything else. It’s a process we go through, but we’ve had good discussions and we’ll just keep working at it.”
Bowman went on to say the Oilers were open to different types of contracts.
“We’re open to a bunch of different ideas. I don’t think you can go into a negotiation with just one position. It makes it much more difficult to get a deal done,” he said. “There’s two sides and they both have things they want to accomplish. I think you have to be willing to listen and have different ideas and that’s what we’re doing at this point. It’s tough to say where it will end up, but we’re not going in with just one idea. We’re open minded.”
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].
Get ready for wall-to-wall coverage of one of the biggest days in the calendar — the Daily Faceoff Live Free Agency Special goes live on July 1st at 11 AM EST. Host Tyler Yaremchuk is joined by Carter Hutton, Matthew Barnaby, Jeff Marek, Hart Levine, Colby Cohen, Jonny Lazarus, and insiders from across the Network for three hours of in-depth analysis, live reactions, and real-time updates on every major signing and trade. From blockbuster deals to under-the-radar moves, we’re breaking it all down as it happens. Don’t miss a minute — catch the full special live on DailyFaceoff.com and Daily Faceoff’s YouTube.
The Edmonton Oilers have parted ways with pro scout Zack Kassian after just one year, Oilersnation can confirm.
The news was first reported by Shawn Belle of the Hello Hockey podcast.
Kassian, 34, joined the Oilers front office after retiring from pro hockey ahead of last season, working out of the Ontario region. It marked the former rough and tumble wingers first foray into the other side of the hockey world following a 12-year NHL career.
Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres 13th overall in the 2009 draft, Kassian broke into the league in the 2011-12 season, but would play just 27 games for the team before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Cody Hodgson. He would remain in Vancouver for three more seasons, scoring 32 goals and 59 points in 171 games, before he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on July 1st, 2015.
Kassian, however, would never play for the Habs as he entered the league’s substance abuse program after being a passenger in a car accident in which he was under the influence, suffering a broken foot in the crash. He would exit the program in December 2015, and was traded to the Oilers just after Christmas for netminder Ben Scrivens.
He would spend seven years with the Oilers, scoring 55 goals and 135 points across 412 games, quickly becoming a fan favourite, especially for his physical play in the 2017 playoffs. Kassian found himself riding shotgun on Connor McDavid’s wing in the 2019-20 season, and during a 44-game run between the start of the season and late January, he would score 13 goals and 28 points, culminating with dramatics against the Calgary Flames with Matthew Tkachuk.
The Oilers would sign Kassian to a four-year contract extension carrying a $3.2-million cap hit, but Kassian struggled to live up to the deal, scoring eight goals and 24 points in 85 games across the following two seasons. He was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in a salary dump in July 2022, where Kassian played for one season before they bought out the final year of his contract. Kassian would play eight games for HC Sparta Praha in 2023-24 before retiring.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].
Get ready for wall-to-wall coverage of one of the biggest days in the calendar — the Daily Faceoff Live Free Agency Special goes live on July 1st at 11 AM EST. Host Tyler Yaremchuk is joined by Carter Hutton, Matthew Barnaby, Jeff Marek, Hart Levine, Colby Cohen, Jonny Lazarus, and insiders from across the Network for three hours of in-depth analysis, live reactions, and real-time updates on every major signing and trade. From blockbuster deals to under-the-radar moves, we’re breaking it all down as it happens. Don’t miss a minute — catch the full special live on DailyFaceoff.com and Daily Faceoff’s YouTube.
