Alright, lets assume a few things:
Oilers re-sign RNH at 7M
Neal Buyout (3.8 savings)
Re-sign Larsson to 2.75-3M
Yamamoto bridge to around 3.5M
Klefbom is out for the season
Caleb Jones to Seattle in Expansion
McLeod and Holloway are on the roster
That leaves about 15M to sign a Goalie, Top 6 LW, Top 4 D and 3 C. (leaving about 1.5M of wiggle room)
Who do you want for those roles? Some players will cost more and leave less for other positions. ie. If you're signing Hall for example, they probably cant bring in a Top 4 D.
Here are the options I came up with for each position. If I'm missing any, let me know. I just want a sense of some variety of opinions. Thanks
Goalies: Kuemper (trade), F. Andersen, Ullmark, Mrazek, Driedger, Raanta, Halak
Top 6 LW: Hall, Hoffman, Tatar, Palmieri, Landeskog, Iafallo, Saad, Gusez
Top 4 D: Hamilton, Goligoski(?), Savard, Martinez, Barrie, Forbort (I'm probably missing a few)
3 C: Getzlaf, Stastny, Lowry, Bonino, Haula, Soderberg, Glendening (again, probably missing a few).
Ill post my preference below. Look forward to the comments
This plan has $14mill of our $82mill budget spent on defence. The average contender has around $20-25mill spent on defence. imo we need to be a bit more top heavy on defence. We have lots of guys who can play well enough on the 2nd or 3rd pair. There's nobody worth the money in free agency, that's why I see a trade being the only solution
I'd prefer signing a good faceoff man for the 4th line
There is no goalie in free agency worth going for, the only option would be a trade. I would sign either Tatar or Saad for a top 6 winger. The only top tier D man is Hamilton and I personally think he isn’t worth the headache. I would wait a year and go hard after Seth Jones or Parayko. The other player I would go after hard this offseason is Blake Coleman.
I like Buchnevich, but who knows what the rangers want. From this one rangers fan he wants a first plus a B level prospect for him which is way too much. So if that’s true, then definitely someone like Tatar, or Saad, or DeBrusk. Those goalies I don’t like so either trade for one, or keep Koskinen and sign Reimer, or Rinne. I am hoping for Klefbom to be back next year honestly to play on our first or second pair. If he’s out then I would rather someone that can play second pair for a year. Martinez isn’t the worst option for cheep.
This plan has $14mill of our $82mill budget spent on defence. The average contender has around $20-25mill spent on defence. imo we need to be a bit more top heavy on defence. We have lots of guys who can play well enough on the 2nd or 3rd pair. There's nobody worth the money in free agency, that's why I see a trade being the only solution
I'd prefer signing a good faceoff man for the 4th line
Well Nurse is due for a raise after next year, then Bouchard and Bear (I'm assuming) the following years. Also, with Klef being out thats 4.1 right there that would normally be on the roster. I signed Khaira in hopes to keep that same style of line that has been playing well.
Hall is not a fit hes a playmaker not a lights out scorer, hes ok with draisaitl not mcdavid, he's also too expensive $5 million max for a LW. Tomas tatar or Iaffalo or saad would be far better fits with tatar being the best in my opinion.
I dont think winnipeg lets lowry go. I Like haula and Glendening but he's more of a 4th line center. 3 year deal for a 35 year old getzlaf at that cap hit is a little hard on the bum. I think burying Turris is a solution.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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