Ken Holland has been busy trying to make the cap work for the Edmonton Oilers as best he can, and that has involved some tough decisions. Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin were traded to the Detroit Red Wings to free up the $4.5 million they would pay the two of next year. The Oilers likely won’t be able to keep two more players who were on the 2022-23 team and have other additions.
The Oilers currently have a right wing hole in the top six and a couple of deep innings filling in for free agency up front because of all the player movement that went on. Holland has joined Oilers Now To discuss some of his ideas heading into free agency he said the team needed to sign three or four deep players who could come from the American Hockey League (AHL) in the event of an injury. But more than that, they also have to fill out their actual rosters.
Connor Brown is, of course, a name heavily associated with the Oilers. Insiders think Chris Johnston It’s possible that the Browns sign a “low dollar deal” with some performance bonus and the Oilers are in the driver’s seat to fulfill the contract, something he’s talked about live. As a front-runner, I think it’s very nice that the Browns don’t join Edmonton with the chance to reunite with former teammate Conor McDavid of the Erie Otters and have a great chance of getting access to those league-style performance bonuses. Only player with 150 points in over 20 years.
Now that Mattias Janmark has been officially signed, that leaves two NHL depth roles still to be filled (from “The Edmonton Oilers Should Return Most of the 2022-23 Roster…If the Price Is Right: 9 Things”, Edmonton JournalJune 25, 2023). One of those will likely be the fourth-line midfielder, and the other will likely be someone who feels comfortable playing both center and wing in the role that Devin Shore has played this season.
How money goes to work for oilers
The main goal is to get the signature of Ivan Bouchard first of all. It’s looking more and more like a mail-order deal because the cap situation is going to be something to deal with later when the salary cap will hopefully go up in 2024. So much on the rise. Once he gets it all together, Oeters will have to pay him more. Unfortunately, with both needing new contracts this year, the Oilers are only in a position to deliver short-term deals at lower average annual value (AAV).
Breaking down the roster, the Oilers have nine forwards, six defenders and two goaltenders signed who should all be in the NHL to start next season. Assuming Bouchard and McLeod sign for 1-2 years for a total of $5-5.5M, that leaves only about $2.5-3M to sign the remaining 3 NHL players because the Oilers have $7.9M to work with at this time. As for the deeper signings Holland has been talking about, they wouldn’t be getting paid for the cap if they weren’t in the NHL and making less than $1 million. The Oilers have players like Brad Malone, Raphael Lavoe, and James Hamblin who may actually be those players, but I think there will be better, more impactful options available this year. Malone and Hamblin have been in a few games, but they haven’t done anything special, they’ve just filled the role that needs to be filled.
One area that the Netherlands could certainly indulge in is the many players who have not been qualified by their teams or players who have been recently purchased. June 30th, the last day of the first acquisition window, saw some very interesting acquisitions, both senior and junior, and several interesting young players with underqualified potential.
Related topics: Oilers must meet again with the recently purchased Yamamoto Corporation
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This season, Holland implemented the subtle strategy he’s trying again, adding important NHL players who will either help the Bakersfield prospects or have an actual impact at the NHL level. This was done by Janmark and Kostin as they were forced to start the 2022-23 season in the AHL before joining the Oilers once Evander Kane was injured and there was room for cover. It worked out for Edmonton, and Holland hopes to repeat it and be successful again. I don’t expect the Oilers to field any famous players like fans hope, but there is an opportunity to get valuable deep cuts this season. The wait is not long now.