Over the past couple of weeks there have been a few names that have been tied to the Edmonton Oilers as potential depth signings for the roster. Today let's break down three of the most talked about names, whether or not they make sense, and what they could bring to this roster.

PHIL KESSEL

Phil "The Thrill" Kessel is coming off of an eight year eight million dollar a year contract that began with the Maple Leafs, before moving the the Penguins, and finally the Arizona Coyotes. Now 34 years of age, Kessel just finished with a mere 8 goals in 82 games, the lowest of his career and remains without a contract for this next season. Does the six time 30 goal scorer have anything left in the tank?

Kessel ranked 8th among Coyotes forwards last season at 5 on 5 with a GF% of 42.02%. When Kessel was on the ice, the Coyotes got outscored 50-69. On the one hand, part of that can be forgiven when you see that only two Coyotes players, Keller and Kolyachonok posted a GF% of 50%, breaking even. On the other hand, no forward was on the ice for more goals against than Phil Kessel. On the other other hand... Kessel also played the most minutes for the Coyotes at 5 on 5. Taken all together, while Kessel may not be solely responsible for the Coyotes poor defensive play, he was still certainly a factor and has never in his career been a defensive stalwart.

In terms of production though, there is reason to believe Kessel can still contribute. While Kessel is no longer shooting at the massive four or five shot a game pace he had in his prime, his 175 shots last season ranked second on his team, behind Keller. Considering he only scored 8 goals, the law of averages suggests that he should have scored more than the 4.6% that he did.

Where would Kessel fit in the Oilers lineup? I could see why management would be interested in the veteran player. As of right now the Oilers top six right wingers are Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi (assuming Hyman remains on his preferred left side). There is great potential in both young players but neither player has yet to fully establish themselves as a threat every night as a top six forward. Kessel could be brought in on the cheap and if one of those players is not up to the task, than Kessel could be bumped up in the lineup to play with McDavid or Draisaitl.

The danger would be that if Kessel is not on a line with one of the Oilers top players and instead relegated to a third line, is there enough playing time and skill for him to produce without being simply a defensive liability? Right now I would say no. The risk could be mitigated by the fact that he would likely cost nothing more than league minimum to maybe 1 million at the absolute highest. Easy enough to bury if things start going south.

SAM GAGNER

Originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers, Gagner is now only 33 games away from his 1000th game and at 33 years of age he is still finding ways to produce. Despite averaging close to his lowest average ice time of his career, Gagner tied a career high with 12 EV goals last season with the Red Wings.

Like Phil Kessel, this is a player who was on the ice at 5 on 5 for more goals against than he was goals for but like Phil Kessel, he was on a truly awful team defensively. Gagner has never been a strong defensive player but he remains a solid playmaker and contributor. The type of player that can be plugged in anywhere in the lineup and find a way to chip in.

I'll admit this one I am rooting for for no other reason than the narrative that Oiler fans would have. Gagner, drafted by the Edmonton Oilers has never played a playoff game for the Oilers and has only played in a total of 11 playoff games in his entire career; 6 for the Flyers in 15/16 and 5 for the Blue Jackets in 16/17. Gagner was always an easy player to root for and I think at the very least he is worth a PTO.

PK SUBBAN

There have been few elite top pairing defenders that have plummeted into decline the way that PK Subban has. Once one of the premiere offensive defensemen in the game, Subban now remains without a contract and possibly a PTO candidate for a team looking for a depth D man. There is some reason however to believe that the now 33 year old defender can bring something to the Edmonton Oilers. While PK Subban was outscored against both Elite and Middle level talent (numbers via PuckIQ) he did perform well as in a third pairing role against other bottom six and other third pairing options. In terms of ice-time, Subban has shown he is still able to average at least 18 minutes a night.

For the Edmonton Oilers, this could be...dare I say it a signing similar to what Duncan Keith did for the Oilers. While Keith was a shadow of his former self, his underlying numbers ended up being somewhat positive though he still was prone to massive grade A mistakes. In Subban, the Oilers could bring in a vet but have the ability to shelter him on the right side far more than Keith was in the top four on the left side.

Why would the Oilers bring Subban in? The Oilers still need to create cap space to sign Ryan McLeod and bring in more depth as well. If the Oilers were to trade Tyson Barrie, that would free up 4.5 million in cap-space. Subban could serve as a adequate replacement for Barrie, filling in on the top unit powerplay if Evan Bouchard cannot handle the extra responsibility at this time. Subban should not cost the team much at all and suddenly the Oilers could have the ability to sign all three players on this list.

Kane-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Hyman-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
RNH-McLeod-Kessel
Foegele-Janmark-Ryan/Gagner

Nurse-Ceci
Kulak-Bouchard
Broberg-Subban

Ultimately I would be fine without Kessel and maybe going for a player like Sonny Milano instead but overall I think it's a better use of the cap space than on Barrie, giving the team more flexibility in other aspects of the roster.

Thanks for reading!

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