Stan Bowman doesn't look like a ruthless GM. He looks calm, measured, thoughtful. But look at what's actually left of Edmonton's bottom six, and a different picture emerges.
Ten roster players have moved out since the 2025 offseason, and almost none of them were top-six names.
This wasn't random churn. It was a deliberate teardown of the group surrounding Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman.
The numbers explain why. Edmonton's bottom six posted a 42.5 percent goals-for rate last season, down from 52 percent just two years earlier under Kris Knoblauch.
That's not a small dip. That's a group that went from controlling play to getting run over on most shifts.
Noah Philp got waived. David Tomasek got released to Europe. Andrew Mangiapane got traded to Chicago. Mattias Janmark landed on long-term injury reserve for surgery.
Trent Frederic was the one forward who survived a rough stretch, mostly because Edmonton had just committed eight years to him and his play recovered as he healed from injury.
Why this is really a bet on five completely new names
Jason Dickinson, Colton Dach, and Joshua Samanski arrived via trade or call-up during the season. Mathieu Joseph and Alex Formenton joined as free agents this summer.
That's five new bottom-six forwards compared to a year ago, essentially a full turnover of the group in just twelve months.
Dickinson posted 17 points in 64 games last season, while Dach managed 13 points in 61 games, modest numbers that reflect exactly the kind of retooling this group needed.
Kasperi Kapanen quietly climbed from a depth role into legitimate second-line minutes, posting 17 points in just 41 games before an even stronger playoff stretch.
Head coach Mike Babcock inherits a bottom six that's essentially unrecognizable from the one that finished last season, with almost no institutional memory left in that part of the lineup.
There's a small silver lining buried in this history. In a 22-game sample during the 2025 playoffs, Edmonton's bottom six actually outproduced its top six, 58.1 percent to 56.7 percent.
Bowman lacked the cap room to keep that specific group together afterward, letting Corey Perry and Connor Brown walk. Now he's betting an entirely new cast can find that same magic again, just with different names doing the work.
Will Edmonton's completely overhauled bottom six actually be better this season?
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