None of those UFAs will come that cheaply, and Strome isn't worth a 2nd and a 3rd. Gagner was loaned to Toronto's AHL affiliate for a reason: he and his wife recently had a kid and he wants to be nearby to spend more time with them. Trading for him would mean loaning him to the AHL. Also, I doubt JayBo has enough left in the tank for a season after this one, let alone anything to justify 2.5M.

Rattie takes more than $950k if he clicks with McDavid. I figure if he pans out, he'll get whatever they bridge Puljujarvi with.

Care to explain how scratching Benson instead of letting him play top minutes in the AHL is useful for his development? Or how running no backup is a wise idea?

benson is there because i sent him down to bring up skinner, however clearly i forgpt to do that. how much do you possibly think duchene and skinner cost? give me a number and ill make it work - gagner came back as a cap dump thats why hes scratched.

Skinner should he between $6.5M and $7.5M at the least, but if he catches fire alongside Eichel or Mittelstadt, that number could he higher. If Duchene doesn't necessarily want term and finds a way off the Senators roster, he could be looking at more than $8M for 4 years.

ok but i gave duchene term, so by your logic $7M seems appropriate... fixed jbow and skinner, it still works man, you're hating for no reason

I'm not hating: Edmonton isn't a place that players take discounts. Nobody wants to play here despite the best player on the planet being here. There's a line between realism and fantasy; signing two of the top players in free agency to sweetheart deals just doesn't happen.

$7M is appropriate for Duchene if he doesn't leave Ottawa. Centers get paid man, and nowadays top-6 wingers are getting in the ballpark of what you've given him. He's not coming here for $7M.

did you notice my cap space or just blow by that? i can give him draisaitl money if i need to.

In which case you're pooched by bonus overages (if they hit), and won't have space to supplement the roster when Nurse gets another raise. You can't always bank on best-case scenario (compliance buyout for Lucic, management spending league minimum on the 4th line).

I didn't blow by it - the fact of the matter is Duchene will not be an Oiler next season unless he's getting around Seguin money: this team isn't good enough. Young teams like Winnipeg, New Jersey, Colorado (but I'd eat my shorts if this actually happened), and Carolina have much more stable foundations and are poised to win sooner than Edmonton could. Stuff like that was more pressing than just "having space". You're still underpaying Rattie (should he stick, it'll be Puljujarvi bridge money) and Talbot anyways, and I pray to any and every god willing to listen that the Oilers don't think Skinner is a backup come next season. He's currently a solid ECHL goalie, and will need another 2 years in the AHL. The pairing of Jones and Benning is likely to get eaten alive every night unless Jones turns into a phenom at the AHL level this season and continues an unimaginable upward trend into next season. That fourth line will be statistically sh*t on night in and night out, as demonstrated by what's currently happening when the Oilers opt to run Khaira-Brodziak-Kassian as a line. The two eldest players on that line don't help it at all.

Long story short, this whole setup is flawed, even if it miraculously happens. You blew your wad on upgrading the Oilers offence in order to make it somewhat comparable to what the Maple Leafs are sporting, but issues surrounding defence and goaltending have been ignored. Like outright ignored. The Oilers financial situation that you've introduced is cured only by the guarantee of a Lucic compliance buyout and rookies overperforming. This team would need Talbot to play over 70 games again, and that doesn't work anymore. Cap raises aren't significant enough to rely on them as a yearly source of additional space.

The least-flawed aspect of the Oilers currently is their offence. It's not great by means of contention, but once the middle-6 find it in themselves to start contributing it won't seem as glaringly problematic. The defence is atrocious and won't quit being bad until changes are made. Talbot is questionable as a starter, but would play better if the team in front of him wasn't as awful. That's where the resources should go this upcoming offseason. Make an addition or two up front, but put the majority of resources at tackling the real issues. Fixing this team is going to take 2-3 more years; don't be surprised if there's another top-10 selection made this season by the Oilers.