I appreciate the addition of Grabner: I think he'd be a terrific fit for EDM if the money's right. I like the third line of Looch-Strome-JP, that may be the only way to get a competent third line out of this team. I appreciate Klefbom as 1LD: he's the team's best dman and needs to be kept there.
This praise aside, this team has problems:
1. Nurse is probably pricier than that. Matt Cane has him at 5years/5 million per, and he underestimated Caggiula's contract. Normally wouldn't be a big deal, but with < 4 000 cap space, it matters.
2. Why use the old, ineffective, perpetual injury risk on PP1 when you could use either of your 2 younger, more effective defenders?
3. McDavid should be playing PK with Draisaitl. Why? Because we have loads of evidence that McDavid-Draisaitl doesn't actually need a third forward. The best PK is the one that's basically 5v5. Also allows a strong RNH-Strome PK unit.
4. Andrej Sekera isn't an effective second pairing guy on his strong side. He certainly won't be on his off side.
5. Why Lowe as 7D over Bear/Gryba, both of whom have NHL experience? Bear in particular had a solid showing in limited usage.
6. The big one: GRABNER'S COSTING WAY MORE THAN THAT. Evander Kane (30 goals) cost 7 million per year. Even the most conservative analysts on Grabner have him over 4 million.
I notice this issue a lot with Oilers fans: knowing what is needed to fix the team, but not what it will cost. When the cap situation is this messed up, the cost is the killer.

yeh someone who gets 30 goals AND 30 or 40 assists would get 7 million but grabner gets 25-30 goals and like 5-10 assists

1. You could be right and in that case we might go with a bridge deal around 3.5M AAV for 2 years, depends on what Nurse wants. I think there's bargaining room in there. I don't think he's worth that much more than Klefbom which is also another bargaining tool for Chiarelli. Although the cap has gone up, 5M for Nurse seems too much.
2. I threw Sekera up there because of last year's power play. However, you're probably right that Klefbom should be on PP1 and give Nurse or Benning a shot at PP2. I still like the 4 Forward, 1 defenceman line up on the PP.
3. They only allowed for two line combos. In the real world, teams usually have 3 lines for PP and maybe another line for the PP. I think McDavid is good on the PK but I wanted other forward combos to soak up ice to allow McDavid do his magic on the PP and 5v5.
4. You could probably throw Benning or DeMelo in that spot and see how they do. Out of Sekera, Russell, and Benning, he has proven to be the most reliable in a top 4 setting so far. I hope Benning takes a step in that direction so our 3rd pairing could be Russell - Sekera.
5. Lowe could probably be replaced by any 7D, maybe DeMelo now that he's let go by San Jose. I'd rather have Bear spend 1st pairing minutes in the AHL rather than sit at the press box all season.
6. Probably right about Grabner. But you could also throw in Rieder in that spot who wasn't qualified at 2.25M. If we sign him to that or any less, I think he'd slide right in the lineup along with Drai too. Rieder - Draisaitl - Aberg sounds like a skilled, speedy second line.

1. I think Nurse has more bargaining power than that. He was 1LD for big chunks of last year, and there is some (misguided) perception that he's EDM's best LD. Even if he's not, it's usually better to sign young guys long-term early rather than give them the opportunity to improve and add contract value. If nothing else, AAV for the same play increases each year as the cap goes up, so waiting on the long-term deal could add up to 1M AAV.
2. 4F 1D is good. It's just a matter of who that D is. Klefbom on PP2 might not be a bad idea, just to lower his icetime and thus injury risk. Especially given how much injury he played through last year.
3. McDavid's magic everywhere. The ideal icetime for him from the Oil's perspective is as high as he can possibly play without injury. Like the glory years when Gretzky'd sometimes play 60 minutes a night.
4. Tbh, I'd rather Bear than off side Russell or Sekera as 3RD. Sekera-Bear fills me with more confidence as third pairing. I would like an upgrade over Benning at 2RD if possible though.
5. True. Tbh Russell is probably the ideal scenario there. Veteran who sucks is pretty much ideal 7D material.
6. Rieder (25 points on 10% shooting, negative Corsi Rel) doesn't strike me as an ideal wingman. Aberg was decent in EDM, but he was barely over a shot/game in NSH (about 10g pace) and his possession metrics there were abysmal. Maybe he can work on the second line, but I wouldn't use him as Drai's primary wingman.
As for Nachum's criticism, Grabner was damn near 30 goals in 3rd-4th line minutes, and can kill penalties. That'll probably grab at least 5 million, maybe 6. Anyone who gives him Kane money is even dumber than SJ was for giving Kane that money, but 5.5-6 million for 3-4 years is where he should land IMO.