It is summer time, vacation for many, including some General Managers. As the summer continues onwards, more and more GM's will start to turn their phones off and relax, knowing their roster is set for the fall.

For Ken Holland that time has not yet come... in fact isn't even close. The Oilers roster is incomplete, at the very least Edmonton requires a top 6 forward and a 3rd line centre.

There are a few teams that need to make roster moves still, sign players and sort out their cap. These are the likely teams that Edmonton can deal with. Today we will focus on the New York Rangers.

The Rangers have accelerated their rebuild immensely by the additions of Panarin, Trouba and Kakko but there are still decisions that need to be made by the team before the season begins. The two biggest are signing RFA's Pavel Buchnevich and Jacob Trouba to new contracts. Trouba is coming off a 50 point season and is reportedly looking for 8 million or more in a deal and Buchnevich is 24 and coming off a 21 goal season. After signing Panarin to a 12 million dollar deal that Rangers have just over 8 million in cap space remaining.

A few different options exist for the Rangers, most easily to buyout the likes of Shattenkirk and/or Smith to free up space but GM Jeff Gorton likely would prefer to make a trade and retain some salary in a deal.

Is there any way Edmonton can take advantage of this situation?

The obvious candidate is Vladislav Namestnikov. The 26 year old left winger has one year remaining on his contract that has a cap hit of 4 million and has fallen further down on the Rangers depth chart with the likes of Kreider and Panarin now ahead of him. Namestnikov had his best season as a 24 year old in Tampa with 20 goals and 44 points but his Sh% and point totals have regressed heavily in New York over the past two seasons. Quality of linemates certainly played a role. With 31 points and 10 goals last season, the price to acquire Namestnikov would certainly be affordable.

A player that would cost more from the Rangers would be Chris Kreider who had 28 goals playing top 6 minutes for New York last season. The 28 year old has one year left on his deal at 4.625 million. Kreider is a proven commodity, shoots the puck a ton and is on the right side of 30. The cost to acquire Kreider would almost certainly be a 1st round pick or higher end prospect in return even though he only has a single year left on his deal.

Alternatively, should the Rangers either buyout or be willing to make a trade to lose the Kevin Shattenkirk contract, I think Edmonton should make a play. At half price, Shattenkirk would provide the Oilers backend their most offensive minded right shot and be a solid stop gap player until Bouchard is ready.

The clock is ticking Holland. Time to make a play.

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