Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Players Not Given Qualifying Offers Could Help Edmonton + Neal Bought Out

July 27, 2021, 1:19 PM ET [25 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Monday July 26th was the deadline for all teams to qualify their RFA’s. For those not familiar, a qualifying offer if accepted is a one year deal which if not accepted allows the player to file for arbitration where an impartial judge will make a ruling. Depending on the pay bracket, a player who accepts a qualifying offer can make up to 110% of their previous salary.

This is all some fancy jargon which really means this; a number of players rights were retained by their NHL teams and the ones that weren’t will become a UFA or free agent on Wednesday. Some of the names that were not qualified are legitimate players that were not qualified for a number of reasons; most likely because their teams do not see them worth the cap hit. Edmonton needs some depth options at a variety of positions and some of these players could be an excellent fit so let’s take a look.

Ondrej Kase
The 25 year old right winger was tracking for an impressive NHL career. 20 goals in 66 games in 17/18, and 20 points in 30 games in 18/19. In 19/20 he had 7 goals and 23 points in 49 games. This season Kase only played 3 games and no points. Kase has dealt with numerous injuries, with multiple concussions being the most serious.

When healthy, Kase is a creative and offensive forward who is able to individually impact the game whenever he is on the ice. He has an almost uncanny ability to work his way into the most dangerous areas to fire off the puck. If there was any indication that his injury issues were behind him I would certainly take a good look at him.

Danton Heinen
Heinen burst onto the scene in 17/18 on the wing with some of the Bruins best, scoring 16 goals and 47 points in 77 games. Since that year, Heinen has slowly seen his ice-time be reduced, eventually settling into a bottom six role with the Anaheim Ducks. Heinen scored 7 goals which was tied for fifth on an offensively starved Ducks team, despite averaging the 7th most ice time of all forwards.

One question mark with Heinen is while his EV numbers suggest that he should be able to produce over 10 goals a season in a bottom six role, he doesn’t have much experience being relied upon as a PK option. That being said I would certainly have time to ease him into the role behind other players in Edmonton.

Nick Ritchie
One of the more surprising names on this list. Ritchie led all Bruins forwards in hits last season and finished 4th in shots yet he only averaged 12:36 of ice time at even strength. He finished 4th in EV goals with 10 and third one the team in PP goals with 5 and was a mainstay with Marchand, Pastrnak, and Bergeron.

His 12.4SH% is a little higher than his career average of 8.7% but at only 25 years old this could simply be a new normal for the player. He has consistent scored between 7-10 EV goals since entering the league with his 13 EV goals in 16/17 being his highest point. He could be an extremely effective third line forward.

Pius Suter

The 25 year old Suter was undrafted and played for years in the Swiss League. In his rookie season he put up 14 goals and 27 points in 55 games for the Blackhawks and for some reason the Hawks decided not to sign him. The smaller centre was not a great face off player (42.6% in the dot with over 600 draws) but he was tied for second on the team with 13 EV goals. He bounced all around the lineup but he did not look out of place when he had to step up and be the top line centre for the Hawks.

---

Pius Suter is an intriguing option but it's my belief that some team, potentially one like the Kraken is going to be able to outbid Edmonton for his services. In addition, Suter doesn't fit the bill for what I believe Tippett and Holland are looking for out of a third line centre.

I would heavily pursue both Heinen and Ritchie however as those two would certainly shore up the depth on the LW that Edmonton is still lacking. Ritchie in particular could moonlight in the top six when a change is needed or if an injury occurs. Kase is a player I like but the injury issues are just too big a risk to take a chance on.

I could see the Oilers forward group next season looking something like this:

Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi
RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Ritchie-TBA-Kassian
Heinen-McLeod-Archibald
Shore, Turris

---

NEAL IS BOUGHT OUT

There were rumblings that the Oilers were looking at a trade for Neal with some salary retained but that ultimately fell through. The buyout will save the Oilers 3.83 million for the next two seasons of Neals contract while adding two dead years of space at 1.9 million. When Neal was first acquired by the Oilers this was a likely scenario. The Neal deal is able to be bought out unlike the Lucic deal which is essentially buyout proof.

Prior to Klefbom being placed on LTIR that gives Edmonton roughly 13 million entering free agency. 5.5 million of that appears to be going to Hyman so that's roughly 8 million left to make other signings.

One interesting and concerning note is that Koskinen was not bought out. Will the Oilers roll into a third straight year of this tandem? I would highly recommend they don't.
Join the Discussion: » 25 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Sean Maloughney
» Oilers vs Kings - Round 1, Round 3?
» Oilers vs Jets - A WAY TOO EARLY Discussion about Trading Draisaitl
» Oilers Recent Floundering Show Failure To Address Real Issues
» Oilers vs Canadiens - Sorting Out The Blueline
» Oilers vs Caps - Blink and You'll Miss It