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On Rantanen to the Oilers |
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Every so often a rumor so wild pops up that you can't help but talk about it. Today the rumor is Mikko Rantanen signing in the summer with the Edmonton Oilers. The rumor came from this podcast where Blues reporter Andy Strickland made the comments. You can listen to them below:
The entire rumor is centred around one quote where Strickland believes the Oilers will have the ability to go after Rantanen in the summer and that the recently traded player to the Hurricanes would be interested in playing with McDavid and Draisaitl.
Now, let's get one thing straight. The chances of this happening are about the same as the Calgary Flames committing to a rebuild or Pettersson and J.T. Miller attending each others birthday parties; it is not happening.
That all being said... what if it did, and how in the world could the Oilers even support such a contract while being able to ice a competitive team? Let's take a look.
First and foremost, the only way this could even be a possibility is if the cap goes up from 88 million to the 97 million projections that have been rumored. Anything less than that and this immediately falls apart. With the Oilers roster as it stands, Edmonton would have just over 20 million in cap space next season with the following players signed:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Arvidsson
Janmark-Henrique
Philp
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Kulak- Stecher
Skinner
Pickard
The three big RFA's the Oilers need to sign are Bouchard, Emberson, and we will add Philp into that mix. The Bouchard contract discussion is something for another day but let's project high at 9 million for him, with Emberson at 2.1, and Philp coming in at 800k.That leaves the Oilers with 8.7 million in cap space - already not nearly enough to sign Rantanen.
Step 2 of this nutty plan is to clear cap space. The big two names to move are Kane and Arvidsson and there would be difficulties to move either player. Kane has not played all season and while many expect him to make a miraculous recovery in the playoffs, there is a chance he may simply not play. Arvidsson has been solid when he is in the lineup but is another player who has struggled to stay healthy over the past few years. Both players would need to be dealt with the Oilers also not retaining any salary in said deals.
Step 3. Let's say all of the above details I mentioned miraculously happened and the Oilers have over 17 million in cap space... what does Rantanen sign for. If the forward makes it to Free Agency, there will be teams that back up the Brinks truck to pay him. I would not be shocked if teams are willing to go north of 15 million to sign Rantanen. For now, we are going to take Rantanen at face value with his comments about being willing to take a pay cut and offer him 13 million. It would make him one of the highest paid players in the NHL but a hair under Draisaitl as well as whatever McDavid earns on his next deal.
Add to that mix Matt Savoie on his ELC and you have this roster:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Rantanen
Janmark-Henrique-Savoie
_____-Philp-______
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Kulak-Stecher
Skinner
Pickard
This roster is sitting with roughly 3.9 million in cap space so add whatever 4th line wingers you want to at around 1 million. Maybe you can afford to add Klingberg on another one year deal at a cheap price if he proves to be a useful player this season.
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Now like the wise Ian Malcolm once said, just because you could, doesn't mean you should. Technically is all of this possible...yes. Is it going to happen? Absolutely not. There simply isn't enough cap space to go around to bolster the roster around those three players and as fun as it is to imagine, there are far more practical options that the Oilers should be looking at in the off-season.
It's fun to dream big but it's probably best for the mind to not spend anymore time on this than I just did.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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