His role with the team has been greatly diminished over the past couple of months, and now David Tomasek is officially finished with the Edmonton Oilers. The team will be placing him on waivers on Sunday (at the end of the NHL’s Holiday Roster Freeze period) for the purpose of contract termination. Once he officially clears waivers, he will be heading back to the Swedish Hockey League.
Oilers and Tomasek mutually agree to part ways. He’s going back to SHL, but has to clear NHL waivers first.
Really good guy. Tough lineup to crack.
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) December 26, 2025
The Oilers have recently gotten healthy up front, with the returns of the likes of Zach Hyman and Jack Roslovic, making it impossible for Tomasek to crack the lineup. He’s been a frequent healthy scratch and hasn’t played in two weeks.
Tomasek was signed in April for offensive depth after Bowman liked what he personally saw in Sweden but addition of Roslovic pushed him down Oiler depth chart. Now another NHL team could claim his $1.2m cap hit if down an offensive C before Oiler termination but very unlikely
— Jim Matheson (@jimmathesonnhl) December 26, 2025
The Czech forward had notched five points in 22 games with The Oil, averaging just 10:46 of ice time per game, but that had dipped considerably to single digits over his last few outings.
The 29-year-old signed a one-way, $1.2 million one-year deal with Edmonton back on April 2 after spending 10 years overseas following his two-year run in juniors in the OHL with Belleville.
Tomasek was coming off an excellent two seasons with Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League, recording 49 goals and 102 points in 99 games. He’s the defending SHL scoring champion, and he’ll now try to pick up where he left off.
His lack of success in North America was through no fault of his own. The Oilers are stacked up front, and it just wasn’t a great fit for him there.
“David displayed a great attitude and work ethic trying to get into the line-up, and although it didn’t work out as he hoped, he always came to the rink ready to work and trying to improve his play. We wish him the best of luck as he continues his season in Europe,” said Oilers GM Stan Bowman.
Tomasek wasn’t interested in going to the minors, so the two sides have agreed, amicably, to part ways with the contract termination.
Photo: © Perry Nelson-Imagn Images