3 Oilers who won't be back after losing the Stanley Cup Final

They were so close, yet so far. The Edmonton Oilers looked dead in the water, down 3-0 against an unbelievable Florida Panthers team, but came back, winning three straight to force a Game 7 in Sunrise. Unfortunately, the magic just ran out for the Oilers.

Edmonton's loss is crushing, but this team as long as Connor McDavid is in blue and orange, will always be in the hunt. Unfortunately, now the Oilers have to look ahead towards the offseason as they'll attempt to get back to the Stanley Cup Final.

While virtually all of Edmonton's top players are under contract for the 2024-25 season at least, the Oilers have several key depth players hitting unrestricted free agency. Some of them will return, but these three players will not.

3) Connor Brown won't be back with the Oilers

What a strange season with the Oilers this was for Connor Brown. He played 54 games before scoring his first goal in an Oilers uniform. He had just five assists in that span. Once he was finally able to score his first goal he was a completely different player, racking up four goals and three assists in his final 17 games of the regular season, and that success has carried into the playoffs.

The 30-year-old has two goals and four assists in 18 postseason games for Edmonton and he has been a +3, providing value not only in their bottom six but on their penalty kill as well.

Brown didn't prove to be the best fit offensively in Edmonton, but was a big part of their strong penalty kill, particularly in the postseason. Other teams will likely value that more than the Oilers, who still need to try to find a way to bolster their depth scoring.

2) The Oilers will be priced out of re-signing Warren Foegele

Warren Foegele's season has, for the most part, been the polar opposite of Brown's. He had the best regular season of his seven-year career, setting career highs with 20 goals, 21 assists, and 43 points in 82 games this past season. The postseason, however, had been a different story.

Foegele was a -6 and had just one point in his first 13 playoff games this season before head coach Kris Knoblauch opted to have him healthy scratched. Edmonton won all three games they played without Foegele, leaving many to assume he'd be out for the beginning of this series as well.

It turns out that Foegele was not going to miss this series and, in fact, was going to turn things around in a big way. The 28-year-old was held off the board in each of the first two games but had five points in the next four games including a pair of goals to help Edmonton force a Game 7.

Foegele's slow start to the postseason might've helped the Oilers, a team pressed up against the cap, to retain him, but his strong finish might've negated that. He proved to be a valuable middle-six forward in the regular season, and will likely get more money than Edmonton can afford to give.

1) Adam Henrique's Oilers tenure will be short-lived

The big trade Edmonton made at the trade deadline saw them land Adam Henrique in a deal with the Anaheim Ducks. Henrique added some much-needed center depth to this Oilers team, and he proved to be a valuable addition.

Henrique had six goals and three assists for nine points in 22 games, and he has four goals and three assists for seven points in 16 postseason games. Henrique has missed some time as a healthy scratch, but Edmonton has played better with him in the lineup. The fact that he did not miss a Stanley Cup Final game only added to that.

Henrique is the kind of player who can do just about anything. He can score, he can pass, he can defend on the penalty kill, he can play center, he can play wing, he's super valuable in many different ways.

As much as Edmonton would presumably love to keep him around, other teams will value him as well. Henrique is going to get a fairly large multi-year deal somewhere, and that's not something Edmonton can afford right now, especially with Leon Draisaitl needing to get paid next offseason and McDavid needing to get paid the offseason after.