The off-season officially begins for the Edmonton Oilers. The Draft begins Friday and Free Agency starts on July 1st. There is a ton of work that needs to be done and as of right now there is no GM at the helm to be doing it. That is likely the first question that needs to sort itself out in the next couple days.
The Edmonton Oilers have just over 10 million dollars in cap space. That isn't a ton of space to sign the current RFA's or UFA's that the team want to return to the team. There could be some big turnover this summer, depending on the GM who comes in to the situation left by Ken Holland.
In no particular order, here are the big necessities that the Edmonton Oilers need to address this summer.
1) Sign Leon Draisaitl
We now know Draisaitl was playing through broken fingers and ribs since Round 2 of the playoffs. Draisaitl regularly is among the top goal scorers for Edmonton in the playoffs, has played at a 100+ point pace for the last six straight seasons, and on almost any other team is an elite #1 centre. The Oilers are spoiled to have him as a #2 centre.
Draisaitl has one more year left on his contract which carries a cap hit of 8.5 million. When he first signed that contract it looked like an overpay. Now it's certainly been one of the best value contracts in the NHL. As the cap continues to rise, Draisaitl is certainly deserving of a massive raise. Right now I see the Matthews 13.25 million dollar deal as an apt comparable for Leon.
There will be time to discuss the details on what a contract looks like but the Edmonton Oilers cannot go into the season without some understanding of what Draisaitl and his camp want to do. I'm sure over the coming weeks both sides will be meeting to try and figure out something that suits all parties.
2) Find Draisaitl "His Winger"
If the organization wants to prove to Leon that they are serious about keeping him, I think it's finally time for the Oilers to find him "his winger." For years we talked about needing to find McDavid's winger; with that answer finally appearing to be Zach Hyman. Throughout the playoffs Draisaitl played with the likes of RNH, Foegele, Kane, Holloway, and McLeod. These are all good complimentary players and some like Holloway could become a legit scoring winger but none of them are a true elite scoring winger. If the team wants to keep Leon happy, finding him a legit high end scoring winger who can keep pace with him would be a good start.
3) Buyout Jack Campbell
Edmonton is going to need to find a few ways to clear cap space. The most obvious move to happen is likely going to be the buy out of the Jack Campbell contract. Buying Campbell out saves Edmonton almost 4 million in cap space next season. The following buyout looks like this:
24/25: 1.1 million
25/26: 2.3 million
26/27: 2.6 million
27/28: 1.5 million
28/29: 1.5 million
29/30: 1.5 million
Obviously any buyout is never ideal and the team would much rather trade the player while retaining some but I cannot fathom how any team is going to want to take on that contract. One additional note, James Neal and the 1.9 million cap hit from his buyout finally come off the books after next season.
4) Trade Ceci/Kane
One player I think will certainly be gone this off-season is Cody Ceci. The right shot defender has continued to struggle and Knoblauch throughout the playoffs tried whatever he could to swap his bottom two defensive pairings to shield Ceci from tough assignments. Ceci has one year left at 3.25 million and while the return will not be high, I could see a team like Utah who has almost no defensemen signed right now take on a player like him.
Kane is a trickier one. Kane at his best is a great option for any team; physical with a great shot. The issue is his recent injuries raise big questions on whether or not he can still be that player and at 5.125 million (for 24/25 and 25/26), that's a big cap to take on. Kane also has a NMC which becomes a modified NTC after next season meaning any trade this off-season would need to be approved by Kane.
Combined Ceci and Kane have a combined cap hit of 8.375 million. That is a ton of space that could be utilized far better on this roster than on these two players.
5) Fix The Second Pairing D
Look at the metrics any way you want, actual goals for/against, expected goals against, 5 on 5 numbers, the Ekholm and Bouchard pairing is one of the best defensive pairings in the NHL and a huge part in this team's success.
Darnell Nurse should be a stabilizing force on the second pairing but instead was a massive liability. Knobluach did what he could, swapping Ceci for Desharnais for Kulak for Broberg to try and find some way to limit the bleeding but it remained a big weakness for the Oilers.
Do I think it is in the Oilers best interest to trade Darnell Nurse and get rid of his 9.25 million dollar cap hit? Absolutely. Is that realistic? Probably not, especially with his NMC (thanks Kenny). The only remaining option is to go out and find a player who can do for Nurse what Ekholm does for Bouchard; play a complimentary game that covers his mistakes while allowing him to do what he does best.
6) Sign Your UFA's
The Oilers have a number of UFA's this offseason.
- Connor Brown
- Sam Carrick
- Vincent Desharnais
- Warren Foegele
- Sam Gagner
- Adam Henrique
- Mattias Janmark
- Corey Perry
- Calvin Pickard
- Troy Stecher
Of these I would bring back Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark for certain; something I never would have said two months ago. Not only were both men huge parts of the near perfect penalty kill during the post-season, but both provided some timely scoring. In the post season pressers, both expressed a desire to stay in Edmonton and if they are happy with a two year deal of around 1 million each than I would certainly be okay with that.
Other names like Adam Henrique and Warren Foegele I would have time for but not at the price both will likely want. Henrique was a good third line centre on this team and provided some good scoring but if he wants 4+ million than it's a no from me. Same goes for Foegele who scored some timely goals but also disappeared for long stretches.
Another player likely gone is Vincent Desharnais who will almost certainly test free agency and get himself a nice little raise. Vinny was a great story in Edmonton but at the end of the day he is likely a #7 D man on this team and with a limited cap, the team cannot afford to overspend on that position.
Calvin Pickard would be a good #3 goalie if he wants to come back and Sam Gagner I expect may retire but would love to see him in a player personnel role with the Oilers.
7) Sign the RFA's
This one is fairly straightforward. Broberg proved in the playoffs that he is a regular NHL defenseman and Holloway showed he can play at least as a top nine forward but potentially a regular top six as well. There are other prospect RFAs like Hamblin and Savoie I expect will get qualifying offers but the big one with potential next season is Raphael Lavoie who I would love to see get a legitimate chance to make the team.
8) Sign an experienced backup
Skinner has proven he is a legitimate starter in the NHL and is young enough to continue to improve. The best thing the team can do from here is to sign a backup with enough NHL experience to take the load off when needed.
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Below is an example of what the opening night roster could look like, based purely off UFA signings. I do not expect this to be the roster but wanted to show an example of the types of players that Edmonton may pursue:
Holloway-McDavid-Hyman
RNH-Draisaitl-Toffoli
Kane-McLeod-Lavoie
Janmark-Ryan-Brown
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Pesce
Kulak-Broberg
Skinner
Stolarz
This is assuming Campbell is bought out, Ceci is traded, and Kane is not. With marginal raises for Holloway, Brown, Janmark, and Broberg this roster is just cap compliant. Toffoli, Pesce, and Stolarz represent the big holes that need to be addressed.
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It's going to be an interesting off-season for the Oilers, especially with how little time they have to sort things out.
Thanks for reading
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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