Oilers are in tough spot. While they may have 27 million in cap, a large chunk of players will need to be re-signed for this team to even be where they are at this season.
Firstly, Jones will be choosen, and if by some miracle they choose Laggesson, Jones fills in
In this team, I'll be showing that in reality, they will not have a ton of cap room.
Currently, the Oilers must needs are:
Re-signing Nugent-Hopkins
Signing a Left-Wing, or two if Nugent-Hopkins walks.
Signing Barrie if Klefbom isn't healthy, if he is, Larsson will be re-signed.
A goaltender.
Bottom six.
Haas and Ennis will be re-signed for the 4th line. Marody and Benson will be called up for the third line. Lastly, a 3C is needed.
Realistically, Yamamoto will cost between 3-4 million on a bridge deal (24 million left)
Nugent-Hopkins, or a replacement will cost around 6 million (18 million left)
Larsson (3m) and Klefbom will account for 7 million (11 million left)
If Klefbom isn't healthy, Barrie is re-signed to a 5-6.5 million contract while Larsson walks (13-11.5 million remaining.)
These are obvious musts, if none of these players are signed, while they have cap, they lose a drastic amount of quality.
Thus far we have fixed one left wing spot and filled the hole at right wing (which is set)
Defensively, we are set as well.
This leaves 11-13 million for: One top 6 left wing, a 3C, and a fourth line.
Starting with what Marody and Benson will cost. Cheap deals, both 1 million each for 2 years.
For Haas and Ennis, they'll both be signed to around a million to 1.5 million dollar contracts.
This will leave us with anywhere from 9 million to 6 million for a 3C, a top 6 LW and a goaltender. Now a mixture of Benson and Holloway is a possibility for the middle six left wing position, but I'm not sure if Holloway is ready.
Signing a 3C, my example being Lowry, to a 3 million dollar contract is affordable, albeit risky.
To deal with the top 6 LW issue, we bring in... Taylor Hall? He's proven to play well with Draisaitl in the past, and after a rough year in Buffalo, he potentially signs a short contract, much like how Barrie did this past offseason.
Lastly, we have goaltending. Koskinen is not a good goaltender, Stalock hasn't played in a long time. They NEED a goaltender. Earlier this season, Elvis Merzlikins was linked to the Oilers by Friedman, in what would be an offseason trade. Let's bring him in.
Stalock will back up and if not, I personally would bring in Mrazek because I have his autograph, but I digress.
These are big improvements, even if the numbers are off. There are a lot of unknown variables, such as if Klefbom will be ready next season, will Edmonton decide to call up Marody and Benson, will Koskinen move his modified NTC to go to Columbus (I wouldn't).
In reality, Edmonton may appear to have a ton of cap, but in reality, to even maintain the quality this season will take a large amount of their ~27m in cap. To upgrade is even more difficult.
i dont mind this. There might be a couple of things I change (like having Lagesson in the lineup and trading for Elvis) but other than that the signings seem pretty nice (I doubt taylor hall comes back though I think i'd go after a dude like schwartz).
If possible and I think it can be done, I pay Seattle to take either Neal or Kassian, hopefully Neal. I wouldn’t hesitate to offer Seattle, Jones and a second or our 2021 first to take Neal. Keeping a late first in a weak draft just doesn’t make sense to me if I can dump 5.75M. I wouldn’t target Hall, the perfect kind of player to go after is a guy like Tatar. Another target for me would be Blake Coleman. Columbus won’t trade Elvis and your right, Koskinen won’t waive for there either.
i dont mind this. There might be a couple of things I change (like having Lagesson in the lineup and trading for Elvis) but other than that the signings seem pretty nice (I doubt taylor hall comes back though I think i'd go after a dude like schwartz).
i think if there is no RNH you automatically sign Hall to a 4 year deal. i have mixed Feelings about schwartz. He's had a pretty bad year and he scores his goals a lot like Neal did. When things are off with him they are really off.
If possible and I think it can be done, I pay Seattle to take either Neal or Kassian, hopefully Neal. I wouldn’t hesitate to offer Seattle, Jones and a second or our 2021 first to take Neal. Keeping a late first in a weak draft just doesn’t make sense to me if I can dump 5.75M. I wouldn’t target Hall, the perfect kind of player to go after is a guy like Tatar. Another target for me would be Blake Coleman. Columbus won’t trade Elvis and your right, Koskinen won’t waive for there either.
I Like Tatar. I don't think they spend a first to get rid of Neal they could front Load his buyout so its done in 3 years, that would work just fine. Or they bury him for a year, the cap works as long as his buyout only takes 3 years.
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