Leafs would give you Marner signing rights for McDavid, and no less.

They can't afford McDavid haha

Thats what happens when you give Auston Mathews 11.6mil and Tavares 11 as well

Not sure I fully get the Alzner-Sekera deal from a cap standpoint but it looks to the benefit of the Habs. While Sekera's not all that useful a Dman, he's a step up in Alzner. Not sure it's fair to Thompson to sign him and a discount and then not even have him at training camp.

Didn't know Thompson was a recent signing. Could be be swapped for a similar winger. In terms of Alzner it's a $1M savings which opens up a roster spot aka Thompson. Oilers are screwed cap wise either way haha. It's less cap immediately for an extra year

Sekera for Alzner is a great trade for Montreal, and a terrible one for Edmonton. Look at this rationally.

1. The only knocks on Sekera are:
a. He has suffered two major injuries that have kept him out of play for most of the past two seasons;
b. He will be 33-years-old when the next season begins; and,
c. His salary is $5,500,000 per season.

2. However:
a. His play, after returning this season, suggests next season he will be very close to the same player he was before injury; and,
b. There are plenty of effective NHL defensemen who are in their early-to-mid 30's.

So, you have to ask yourself whether you believe he will recover his game, and if that makes him worth close to his salary.

In my mind, the Oilers consider moving him only because:
- they need to clear salary cap space;
- Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom are both top-4 defenders now; and,
- the Oilers really need another top-4 RHD more than they need Sekera playing bottom pair minutes.

That being stated, if the new GM can manage to move-out Russell's contract, maybe Gagner's as well, and possibly generate some cap space elsewhere, Sekera could be a fantastic partner to play with either Caleb Jones or any of the bevy of young Oilers RHD prospects who look almost ready for the NHL.

Other thoughts:

1. Sheesh is that third line going to be slow.
2. For Marner, you're offering a future first-round draft selection and three former first round selections, one of whom was the first overall. Dubas might prefer to accept the four first-round picks the Oilers would have to give up with that offer sheet. Then again, if he feels he can only get the draft picks in exchange for Marner, Dubas should try trading him to a team that is likely to finish lower in the standing than Edmonton will over these next 4 seasons; I think that could be Los Angeles (if they can move out enough salary).
3. I like the idea of bringing in a player like Panik;
4. I think Kassian made a solid case for himself while playing with McDavid and Draisaitl, and I don't think Connor Brown automatically displaces him;
5. Ugh, that third line (oops, I already mentioned it);

I think Gagner is hard to move. Maybe he does. I agree on Sekera unfortunately we thought the same thing last year. Other option is a trade for a RHD that is similar to Sekera

Agreed. That's what I meant by not getting it.

Haha that is a joke right?

True.

Gagner is a serviceable middle-six NHL veteran forward, but his $3,150,000 salary cap hit and relatively pedestrian skating are drawbacks. He could bring value to a young team with plenty of cap space and a need for some veterans, the Senators and the Rangers both come to mind. However, there are quite a few other players floating around who can fit that role.

I favour trading Sekera over keeping him, but the return has to make good sense for the Oilers. The proposed trade in this post doesn't make sense to me.

I don't know that the Oilers will be able to find a trade partner willing to exchange Sekera for a RHD of equal calibre. If they can't find that kind of trade, then moving Sekera has to clear substantial salary because its likely Sekera is moved and a suitable RHD is acquired through a different transaction, quite possibly a UFA signing. I think it is reasonable to expect that a return for Sekera could include mid-round draft selections (like an early fourth round pick), a once promising forward prospect with top-six potential but in need of some reclamation work, or an upgrade to any of the bottom six forwards the Oilers currently have (Lucic, Brodziak, Gagner, Cave, Khaira, Josh Currie, Patrick Russell, Joseph Gambardella, Brad Malone, et al.). Any combination of these makes sense to me, as long as the Oilers net additional salary cap space as a result of the trade. Of course, Bob Nicholson might find a brilliant new GM who can move Sekera for a second-line forward, but i think that is unlikely.

Matthews $11,634,000
Tavares $11,000,000
Nylander $6,962,366
Marleau $6,250,000
Riley $5,000,000
Marner ????????
Kapanen ???????
Johsson ???????


McDavid $12,500,000
Draisaitl $8,500,000
Nugent-Hopkins $6,000,000
Lucic $6,000,000
Sekera $5,500,000
Puljujarvi ??????
Khaira ??????

When comparing the relative financial savvy of NHL teams, once Oiler fans look past McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins, I think its time for them to be a little quieter and more reflective. At the conclusion of this past season, only three teams had less cap space than Edmonton; and yet the Oilers were packing their bags and conducting their year-end interviews while 16 other clubs, including Toronto, were preparing for the play-offs. Toronto is living the same hell as Tampa, they're looking for a way to sign burgeoning NHL superstars and hang onto their other top-tier talent. Edmonton doesn't have that problem.

So your basically showing that Toronto already spends 4ish miilion dollars more than the oilers for those guys and still has to sign a guy that will get 11+, a guy that will get 4-5mil and another guy that'll get 3-4 mil while edmonton can sign both puljujarvi and khaira for 4mil cumulatively? plus Edmonton is at least gaining 3-5mil in cap space just by not resigning guys. So by looking at the numbers, the oilers have more of a financial capacity to improve thier team than the leafs over the offseason. Also last I checked the Leafs havent been able to get past the 1st round since 2004. As for Toronto being "like Tampa" thats completely false as Tampa has been a solid Cup contender for the better part of the last half decade and just came off a one of the best regular seasons in history. The only thing that Toronto has in common with Tampa this year is thier underwhelming playoff performances.

You completely missed the point. Edmonton’s financial position is bad for reasons that are different than the challenges Toronto faces. One is in trouble as a result of incompetence, the other is in trouble because it has too much talent and can’t afford to keep it all.

I know the Oilers well, I’ve stubbornly supported them since they joined the NHL. I can say with both full honesty and despair, Edmonton appears to have only three legitimate top-six forwards, may not have any middle six forwards, or a legitimate NHL starting goaltender, and has a defense that can’t retrieve and transition a puck quickly enough to compete in today’s NHL. Yet, the Oilers also have one of the highest payrolls in the league. In the past 12 seasons the Oilers have made it past the first round of the playoffs once, and that happened the one time they actually made it into the playoffs. This year they have only Khaira and Puljujarvi to sign, unless they want to bring Chiasson back. The two Oiler RFAs are pretty marginal, and certainly haven’t demonstrated the kind of performance of the three RFAs in Toronto, so Edmonton can afford them because they aren’t worth as much.

Toronto has spent a large amount of money, but not as much as Edmonton. Yet, Toronto has far more depth of talent than Edmonton has. The Leafs need to sign RFAs and UFAs that command a vastly larger salary than Khaira, Puljujarvi, and Chiasson because those players in Toronto are vastly superior talents. Puljujarvi might prove that statement wrong some day, but nothing he has done so far suggests that someday will come soon.

I’ve never been a Leafs fan, but I don’t let that cloud my judgement. Toronto is one of the best teams in the league, and if they can keep all that talent together they will continue to be one of the best teams. I think we Oiler fans need to accept our lot, and if we are going to poke Leaf fans, it should only be in response to their lack of modesty.

agreed.
also can poke fun at the fact that they havent won a cup since 1967 or made a final since then or havent won a round since 2004.
If they still can't find remote playoff success in the next 5ish years with the talent they have, it would be quite a calamity

True, but is that more of a calamity than over a decade of failure despite four first overall draft picks? Really, I think we need to focus on ourselves first and strike out only if threatened.