Oilers Buyout Bonanza assuming Holland keeps his 1st Pick

Team: 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers

Initial Creation Date: May 26, 2021

Published: May 27, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Two things:
- Holland reiterated yesterday his general desire and strategy to not depart with 1st Round Picks. He was also clear that buyouts are likely a part of his strategy. While I personally think it would be a missed opportunity to not leverage the 1st pick to move one or two dead contracts - this scenario is built around the assumption that he will buyout Koskinen and Neal. He's basically trading a 1st pick this year for cap flexibility over the next two years.
- The major issue I see is RHD. Without cap space - a big offer on someone like Doug Hamilton is not possible. That means one of Bouchard, Bear, or Larsson (or Barrie is also resigned) is the #1RHD. That also means if Barrie is here - we have too many RHD.

To be clear, I do not like the idea of keeping a 1st Round pick and buying out Neal and Kosko because of the impact on 2022/23 is $5+M in dead cap space - when we need to resign Nurse and JP. Hopefully, Holland can figure out a way to move Neal and Kosko without just buying them out.

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