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The Oilers Shopping List

June 24, 2019, 2:50 PM ET [125 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT

This is an exciting time for Oilers and hockey fans in general. Make sure to give me a follow for your Oilers updates and for when new blogs are posted!

With the draft having come and gone, the Oilers have added a number of potential impact prospects to the system. The NHL roster however still has a number of holes and issues that need to be addressed.

Free agency begins July 1st and is likely the next real option for Edmonton to address it’s lineup needs. The question facing the Edmonton Oilers is; "what are the Oilers needs and what does the team need to lose?”

Based on the current players that are signed going into next season, here is what the Oilers roster looks like for next season

Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian
Lucic-RNH-Gagner
Nygard-Cave-Marody
Gambardella-Brodziak-Currie

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Russell
Sekera-Benning
Persson

Koskinen

That is... a lineup... The bottom six group is in a word, atrocious, with a severe lack of NHL calibre talent. Could that group as is be counted on to produce even 20 goals collectively? I certainly would not bet on it.

On top of that, there is still a massive lack of talent surrounding McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent Hopkins in the top 6. Last season, those three were all had career years despite the lack of talent surrounding them but that should not be thought of as a recipe for success. At least two names need to be replaced in that top 6 group.

The defense group is average but at least is NHL serviceable. A healthy Andrej Sekera would go a long way into ensuring that group can perform every night. I think that Joel Persson is going to turn some heads this season and could potentially be an overnight sensation.

What Do The Oilers Need?

- A Top 6 Right Winger
- A Top 6 Left Winger
- A Third Line Centre
- Complimentary Player That Can Score 10+ Goals
- A Goalie That Can Play 30+ Games
- BONUS - An additional top 4 right shot defender

Well that isn’t too bad. All Edmonton needs is wingers, centres a goalie, and maybe another defenseman and they are sure to be a contender! Honestly I don't understand why some people are even worried.

What Do The Oilers Need To Lose?

- Cap Space and the players that go with it

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Really this is the fundamental thing that the Edmonton Oilers need to remove from the lineup. With the cap for next season set at 81.5, there are numerous teams that are panicking and frantically making calls to try and get other teams to take on salary. Currently the Oilers have roughly 9 million in cap space to address all of the needs that I listed above. Quite plainly that isn't enough to fix everything.

Milan Lucic and Kris Russell are the two obvious names to bring up when talking about cap relief. Between those two players is an additional 10 million dollars. 10 million is another top 6 winger and possible two more strong role players somewhere else in the lineup.

Kris Russell does have trade value with a number of teams reportedly showing interest. I cannot say what the return would be for Edmonton, but truly that is irrelevant; a 7th round pick 10 years from now would be a fine return. The additional 4 million in cap savings is the real value to Edmonton.

Lucic on the other hand seems almost impossible to move at this stage in his contract. The Leafs had to trade away a 1st round pick for the Hurricanes to take on just one year of Marleau's 6.25 million dollar contract. Not only does Lucic have four years remaining on his 6 million dollar a year deal, but is far inferior to Marleau. Edmonton would need to give up vastly more than a first round pick to make that contract go away. The options for Lucic seem as followed; either trade him for a similar poor deal (ala Loui Eriksson) or try and move him to a team that needs to hit the cap floor, potentially with the Oilers still retaining some salary.

Imagining in some reality, the Oilers are able to move both of those players out, here is what the Oilers roster could be next season:

Draisaitl - McDavid -Top 6 Right Winger
Top 6 Left Winger - RNH - Complimentary Player
Nygard - 3rd Line Centre - Kassian
Gambardella - Cave - Gagner

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Top 4 Defender
Sekera - Benning
Persson

Koskinen
Backup Goalie

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This roster would mean 6 new additions for the Oilers this summer, with all of those additions being significant pieces. Looking at it in that way may seem like an insurmountable challenge for this team. Over the next few days we will start to breakdown some of the options that could achieve this.
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