The Oilers need to sign both Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard to long-term deals this summer, but could they also fit in Mikko Rantanen?

Connor McDavid scored in his return from a three-game suspension, Mattias Janmark scored for the first time in 38 games, and Mattias Ekholm scored into an empty net.

This in from NHL insider Andy Strickland of St. Louis, his prediction on the Cam & Strick podcast that the Edmonton Oilers will sign Mikko Rantanen this summer. Rantanen, who is in the Top 10 NHL players,

According to Puck Pedia, the Oilers will have $11.61 million of cap space next year, assuming the salary cap will be $88 million. Some say the cap will increase to at least $95 million, but potentially more, which would give Edmonton ample room to get some signings done.

Though there's still season left to play, the Edmonton Oilers will likely face one of these four teams in the first round of the playoffs.

After the Hurricanes shocked the hockey world over the weekend, Mikko Rantanen still may elect for free agency. Would this make the trade not worth what they gave up?

Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby was named captain of Team Canada on Thursday afternoon. His alternate captains will be Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar.

While the Oilers currently have $5 million of available cap space, Edmonton will need to re-sign McDavid and defenseman Evan Bouchard to contract extensions this and next summer. That, however, won't be a problem for the Oilers in Strickland's eyes.

One advantage for the Carolina Hurricanes extending Rantanen is they can now go eight years with other teams only seven. The Hurricanes might also propose deferred payments as they did for Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin. Rantanen has the same agent, Andy Scott, as Leon Draisait; and they didn’t go for the Edmonton Oilers offer of deferred payments.

This in from NHL insider Andy Strickland of St. Louis, his prediction on the Cam & Strick podcast that the Edmonton Oilers will sign Mikko Rantanen this summer. Rantanen, who is in the Top 10 NHL players, was recently traded from Colorado to Carolina, essentially for forward Martin Necas. Rantanen is an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer.

Toronto Maple Leafs sniper Auston Matthews was named U.S. captain earlier Thursday. Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman was tabbed to lead Sweden, while Florida Panthers centre Aleksander Barkov got the honours for Finland.

Rantanen has been an essential member of the Avalanche's core since arriving in 2015-16, having won the Stanley Cup in 2021-22. Widely regarded as one of the NHL's premier offensive talents, he stands among the league's top five scorers over the last five seasons.