Evening Notes: Oilers, Clarke, Salary Deferrals
The Edmonton Oilers are currently sporting the worst penalty kill in the league and the 26th ranked powerplay (as per Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic). These special teams’ issues have left the Oilers in an early season funk as the reigning Western Conference Champions have started the season 6-6-1.
Edmonton’s penalty kill has a success rate of 60%, while the powerplay has stumbled out of the gate, clicking at just 14.7%. This is a significant drop from last season when Edmonton’s cumulative total in the playoffs for the powerplay and penalty kill was 123.6. Some optimists may point to Connor McDavid’s absence as the cause of the powerplay falling off, but Edmonton had just a 13% success rate on the powerplay with him in the lineup.
In other evening notes:
- Eric Stephens of The Athletic writes that Los Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke is living up to the billing that made him the eighth overall pick in 2021. Clarke is filling in for injured Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and has done an incredible job, despite having played just 38 NHL games to this point. The 21-year-old has a goal and 11 assists in 13 games thus far this season and has embraced the Kings’ philosophy of turning him into a complete defenseman.
- A small trend has started to emerge in the NHL which is seeing players defer some of their salary to reduce their current cap hits. Despite the tactic being used in new deals for Carolina Hurricanes Jaccob Slavin and Seth Jarvis, NHL general managers, agents and league executives aren’t expecting much of an uptick in the application of this maneuver (as per Chris Johnston of The Athletic). Jake McCabe had the same tactic used in the five-year deal he signed last week, and despite this happening more and more, it doesn’t appear as though it will be anything more than a niche thing. Player agent Scott Bartlett of Bartlett Hockey told The Athletic that he doesn’t believe it will happen very often because it is typically not in the interest of the player to defer money.
Oilers Reassign Drake Caggiula
The Oilers have returned forward Drake Caggiula to AHL Bakersfield, per a team announcement.
Edmonton had recalled Caggiula, 30, last week along with Noah Philp after Connor McDavid exited the lineup with an ankle injury. They had 13 healthy forwards with them both on the roster, though. Caggiula did get into the lineup twice, recording an assist and a +1 rating in a paltry 7:36 of average ice time, but he was a healthy scratch for the Oilers’ most recent contest against the Devils.
The pair of games marked Caggiula’s first in the NHL in two years. The 5’10” winger also spent last year in the Oilers organization, his second run in Edmonton after initially landing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He spent the entire season on assignment to Bakersfield.
McDavid is close to a return, but Caggiula’s reassignment doesn’t indicate he’ll be back in the lineup tomorrow against the Golden Knights. Their following game against the Canucks this weekend remains a possibility. Instead, the reassignment delays the expiration of Caggiula’s temporary waiver exemption since he wasn’t going to be in the lineup tomorrow anyway, by all indications.
Before the call-up, Caggiula had two goals and three assists for five points, 8 PIMs, and a +2 rating in five showings for Bakersfield. Last season, he was among the team’s top point producers with 37 in only 43 appearances. The Ontario native has 46 goals and 92 points in 284 career NHL appearances in parts of eight seasons, most of which came during his first two and a half NHL seasons with Edmonton.
The Oilers now have one open roster spot. It’s inconsequential for McDavid’s return as he was never placed on injured reserve. Caggiula will be an unrestricted free agent next summer after completing his current two-year, two-way deal with Edmonton that pays him a $550K salary in the minors this season.
Philadelphia Flyers Acquire Ben Gleason From Oilers
The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired defenseman Ben Gleason from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for defenseman Ronnie Attard. The swap sees a pair of AHL defensemen on the move as neither player has been able to secure a full-time NHL role to this point in their respective careers. The move is necessary for the Oilers, as their affiliate, the Condors, are short on veterans as they embark on a four-game, seven-day marathon through Canada.
At the age of 26, Gleason has spent the entirety of this season with the Oilers AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. The native of Ortonville, Michigan, has a goal and three assists in those seven games and has registered 15 shots on goal. He originally signed with the Dallas Stars as a free agent back in 2018 and played four NHL games with the Stars that year, grabbing his first NHL point on November 10th, 2018. He went on to play five seasons with Dallas’ AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, and then eventually signed as a free agent with the Oilers in the summer of 2023.
Attard was drafted by Philadelphia back in 2019 (72nd overall) and went on to play 29 NHL games in the past three years, posting two goals and four assists. The 25-year-old has dressed in 123 career AHL games with Lehigh Valley between 2022-24 and has 22 goals and 37 assists during that time.
Connor McDavid Could Return This Weekend
There’s growing optimism within the Edmonton Oilers organization that captain Connor McDavid could return sooner than expected. Tom Gazzola of Edmonton Sports Talk reported video of McDavid skating on his injured ankle earlier this morning adding he hasn’t ruled out playing this upcoming weekend.
The Oilers originally believed McDavid would miss two to three weeks with an ankle injury but two weeks may be the maximum. The fact that McDavid is already back skating on the ice is a positive step in the right direction regarding his recovery timeline.
McDavid hasn’t played since Edmonton’s blowout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 28th. The Oilers have done as well as possible in his absence securing wins against the Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames but have two difficult games this week against the New Jersey Devils and Vegas Golden Knights. Should McDavid return this weekend in the Oilers’ contest against the Vancouver Canucks he will have only missed a total of four contests.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Edmonton Oilers
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Pacific Division, next up is the Flames.
Edmonton Oilers
Current Cap Hit: $88,224,659 (above the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
None on the active roster.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
D Evan Bouchard ($3.9MM, RFA)
F Connor Brown ($1MM, UFA)
D Travis Dermott ($775K, UFA)
D Ty Emberson ($950K, RFA)
F Corey Perry ($1.15MM, UFA)
F Derek Ryan ($900K, UFA)
F Jeff Skinner ($3MM, UFA)
Potential Bonuses
Perry: $250K
Skinner was somewhat of a surprising late entrant to the market after Buffalo elected to buy him out. He found what should be a good landing spot for a pillow deal, as long as he can stay in the top six. If he does, he could push past $4MM on a multi-year deal, closer to $5MM if he’s able to reach the 50-point mark. Perry fit in well after joining the team midseason, earning this agreement to stick around. At 39, it’s safe to say he’ll be going year-to-year from here on out. Bonus-wise, he’ll make $150K at the 15-game mark while $50K depends on Edmonton winning at least two playoff rounds and playing at least half the playoff games. The other $50K is if Edmonton makes it to the Stanley Cup Final while playing in half the games.
Brown’s cost this season is a bit misleading as the Oilers are also eating the $3.225MM in bonuses he earned last year. But for what he’s making in salary this year, he provides good value as a depth player who showed in the playoffs that he can be a key piece. Ryan has seen his role and production decline in recent years and he’ll be 38 before the end of 2024. This is a roster spot they’ll need to keep cheap so it’s possible they ask him to stay on a small cut in pay. If not, he could be a candidate for a PTO next summer.
Former GM Ken Holland really only had one option with Bouchard last summer, they had to do a bridge deal to fit within their cap structure at the time and no offer sheet materialized while he wasn’t arbitration-eligible. The result is that Bouchard spent last season on a below-market deal and it’s the same thing this season. However, the pendulum is about to swing the other way in a big way. Bouchard had a breakout effort last season, averaging just over a point per game and did even better in the playoffs. His qualifying offer will be $4.3MM next summer but it’s widely expected he’ll double that and then some, especially if the sides are able to work out a long-term deal.
Emberson was picked up from San Jose as part of the Cody Ceci deal, one that netted Edmonton some cap savings and an intriguing blueliner. Now 24, he only made his NHL debut last season and he’ll need to get into 50 games this year for the Oilers to retain his RFA rights. It’s possible arbitration eligibility makes him a non-tender option but failing that, a small raise into the $1.3MM range could be doable. Dermott had to go the PTO route this year and if he stays in a reserve role, it’s quite likely he’ll stay at the minimum moving forward.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Viktor Arvidsson ($4MM, UFA)
D Mattias Ekholm ($6MM, UFA)*
F Adam Henrique ($3MM, UFA)
F Evander Kane ($5.125MM, UFA)
D Brett Kulak ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Connor McDavid ($12.5MM, UFA)
G Calvin Pickard ($1MM, UFA)
F Vasily Podkolzin ($1MM, UFA)
G Stuart Skinner ($2.6MM, UFA)
D Troy Stecher ($787.5K, UFA)
*-Nashville is retaining an additional $250K of Ekholm’s contract.
McDavid’s next contract is one that has been speculated about for several years now and discussion on that front will only pick up with him becoming extension-eligible this summer. His current contract was a record-breaker at the time for the highest AAV. His next one will set a new benchmark on that front and possibly could overtake Alex Ovechkin for the richest deal in league history ($124MM total over 13 years) despite the maximum length now only being eight seasons. That would bring the cap hit to $15.5MM and while that’s a very high price tag, McDavid has led the NHL in scoring in five of the last eight years. If Edmonton doesn’t give that type of money to him, someone will.
Kane has been effective when healthy since joining the Oilers, playing a legitimate top-six role. Considering he’s a power forward (those players often cost a premium), the cap charge is reasonable, as long as he’s in the lineup. He’s on LTIR right now, allowing Edmonton to exceed the cap for the time being. Arvidsson was Edmonton’s biggest commitment in free agency, a move that came as a bit of a surprise as the veteran was a candidate for a one-year pillow deal to try to rebuild his value after an injury-riddled 2023-24 campaign. Instead, the Oilers got him at a bit of a below-market rate assuming he’s able to produce at the second-line level he has before. He hasn’t done that early on but they’re probably not worried about that at this point.
Henrique was expected to just be a rental pickup for Edmonton but they were able to get him to take less than he was being offered elsewhere to stick around. Given his track record, it’s a good value contract as long as he can at least hold down a spot on the third line. That said, that role will also hinder his open-market value two years from now. Podkolzin was brought in to essentially fill Dylan Holloway’s roster spot following his offer sheet in St. Louis. At this point of his career, he’s unlikely to live up to his draft billing (tenth overall in 2019) but if he can emerge as a regular in the bottom six, Edmonton will get good value from the contract and acquisition if nothing else. He’ll be arbitration-eligible when this deal expires and depth pieces with that eligibility tend to be non-tender candidates. On a cap-strapped team like the Oilers, they’ll need to keep this roster spot around this price tag whether it’s Podkolzin or someone else.
Ekholm has been a terrific addition to their back end since being acquired near the 2022 trade deadline. He has helped stabilize things defensively while also showing more in the offensive zone than he did with Nashville. That said, he’ll be 36 when his current deal expires; players that age don’t tend to get significant raises. Instead, it wouldn’t be surprising if a three or four-year deal around this price point was the end result.
Kulak has seemingly been on speculative thin ice for a couple of years now with their cap crunch but he has remained each time. As a third-pairing blueliner, this contract is a bit on the expensive side but with them being comfortable moving him into the top four when injuries arise, it has held up okay so far. It wouldn’t be shocking to see him land another deal in this range (both term and price) in 2026. Stecher has been a serviceable depth defender for several years now but as long as he’s still in more of a limited role, his price tag should continue to be around the league minimum.
It would be fair to say that Skinner has been hit or miss while on this contract with not a lot in between. Nevertheless, at the price point of a decent backup, his overall success rate has been better than that despite a slow start this season so they’ve received good value so far. If he can improve and play more consistently, it’s possible that he could double this price point but if he continues to be on the extreme ends of hot or cold, it’d be hard to see enough of a market emerge for him to get starter money. Pickard had primarily been a third-string option until partway through last year which is why his contract was still quite low for a backup. If he holds that down and is somewhat consistent, he could also possibly double this price point although Edmonton would be hard-pressed to pay that much for their second goalie.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Mattias Janmark ($1.45MM, UFA)
Janmark struggled considerably during the regular season and it looked as if they’d be moving on from him. However, he wound up playing a key supporting role during their playoff run, giving him a boost in value heading to the open market which allowed him to get a small raise, some job security, and even some trade protection. Assuming he stays in the same role as he has been lately, it’s hard to foresee him getting much more than this three years from now.
Time Isn't Right Yet For Oilers To Add Defensive Help
Heading into Sunday’s action, the Oilers find themselves around the middle of the pack in terms of goals allowed. They’re struggling considerably on the penalty kill, checking in with a success rate of just 62.5% while starting goaltender Stuart Skinner is off to a slow start. Accordingly, some are wondering if the time is right for Edmonton to start shopping around for blueline help as teams by now are starting to get a better feel of what they have and what they need.
However, Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal posits that the time isn’t right for the Oilers to be making a move like that. While it’s clear their need is to upgrade on the back end, he suggests that they’d be best served by waiting until later in the year when they ideally would have more cap space to play with. At the same time, more teams should be established as sellers which should give them more options to choose from compared to if they tried to make a trade now.
Connor McDavid Out 2-3 Weeks With Ankle Injury
Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will miss “at least a couple of weeks” with the lower-body injury he sustained Monday against the Blue Jackets, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. It’s not expected to be an overly long-term absence, though, implying they’ve avoided the worst-case scenario of a left foot or lower-leg fracture. The team later confirmed it was an ankle injury and said he’ll be out for two to three weeks.
The Oilers haven’t yet placed McDavid on injured reserve, although with him safely ruled out for the next five days, there’s nothing stopping them from doing so. They had two open roster spots at the time of his injury, which they filled yesterday with the recalls of forwards Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp from AHL Bakersfield. They’re now at a full roster with ample cap flexibility thanks to Evander Kane‘s LTIR placement but they could move McDavid to IR to open up another roster spot if necessary.
Still, any McDavid absence isn’t welcome news for Edmonton. They’re on their seemingly yearly tradition of underwhelming starts before going on a late-November or December tear. After being trounced 6-1 by Columbus earlier this week, they’re back below .500 with a 4-5-1 record, and their -13 goal differential is third-worst in the league, ahead of only the Penguins and Sharks. McDavid was caught in the mire, too, off to a slow start by his standards with three goals and 10 points in 10 games. He was still his usual dominant self in possession play, though, with the Oilers controlling 62.8% of shot attempts with McDavid on the ice at even strength.
A two-week timeline from today, which is likely the best-case scenario as outlined by Friedman, puts his earliest potential return on Nov. 14 against the Predators. The Oilers have six games between now and then. In the meantime, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is projected to shift from wing to center on the first line with Zach Hyman, while Jeff Skinner will move up from a middle-six role to ride shotgun with that pair.
Edmonton Oilers Recall Drake Caggiula, Noah Philp
4:07 PM: According to a team announcement, the Oilers organization has confirmed the roster move.
4:00 PM: In light of Connor McDavid‘s predicted absence over the next few days and potentially longer, the Edmonton Oilers are bringing some depth to their forward group. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shares the organization is calling up forwards Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp from their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.
One of the two is bound to enter the lineup as the Oilers only carried 11 healthy forwards before the transaction. There will be a learning curve for both with Philp having yet to make his NHL debut and Caggiula’s last time in the NHL being a four-game stretch with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022-23 NHL season.
Caggiula is in his second stint with the Oilers organization after signing out of the University of North Dakota in 2016. He spent three years with Edmonton scoring 27 goals and 49 points in 156 regular-season contests before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks partway through the 2018-19 campaign.
He returned to the organization last season but spent the entire season with AHL Bakersfield. He scored 13 goals and 37 points in 43 AHL contests being good for fifth on the team in scoring. He’s off to a solid start in the 2024-25 AHL season with three goals and five points through his first five games.
Philp joined the organization in 2022 after finishing his career at the University of Alberta. He was a solid scorer in limited USports action but has struggled to produce in the AHL. He scored 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games for the Condors in 2022-23 but missed all last season due to personal reasons. Philp has suited up in all six games for the Condors this season scoring one goal and three points overall.
Connor McDavid Being Evaluated For Lower-Body Injury
Oct. 29: McDavid has left the Oilers’ road trip and is returning to Edmonton for further evaluation, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters, including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, after yesterday’s 6-1 loss to the Blue Jackets. He’ll miss Thursday’s game against the Predators and should be considered highly doubtful for Sunday’s Battle of Alberta matchup.
Oct. 28: Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid has left tonight’s contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets and will not return due to a lower-body injury (Twitter link). McDavid appeared to be tripped up by Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski at the Columbus blue line and looked as though he jammed his left leg into the boards as he slid the length of the defensive zone and into the corner.
McDavid attempted to continue his shift but appeared to be uncomfortable putting any weight on his left leg. He quickly ended his shift and skated gingerly towards the Oilers bench before leaving down the tunnel and back to the dressing room. The incident happened on McDavid’s first shift of the game, and he did not play again. His total ice time for the evening was 37 seconds.
There was no penalty on the play, although the video of the incident isn’t the best angle to see whether Werenski tripped McDavid or he caught an edge before falling. In any event, it’s extremely bad luck for McDavid and the Oilers as they are still trying to find their game after a slow start to the season. The club can ill afford to lose McDavid for any length of time as the forward scoring has been non-existent early in the season outside of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
McDavid has points in seven of his first nine games coming into tonight, but he hasn’t been able to find that next gear, posting just three goals and seven assists in ten games. The Oilers will go as far as McDavid and Draisaitl can take them, meaning that his return is a must for a club with Stanley Cup aspirations.
Oilers Activate Roby Jarventie Off SOIR, Assign Him To AHL
One of Edmonton’s newest prospects is now cleared to start his 2024-25 season. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Roby Jarventie has recovered from his knee injury. As a result, he has been taken off season-opening injured reserve and assigned to AHL Bakersfield.
The 22-year-old was the second pick of the second round by Ottawa back in 2020, going 33rd overall. He spent the majority of his first three professional seasons at the AHL level and was quite productive in limited action with Belleville last season, recording 20 points in 22 games. That earned Jarventie a look with the big club as he got into seven games with the Sens, picking up an assist while averaging 7:31 per game.
Despite that, Ottawa elected to trade him along with a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Oilers back in July in exchange for prospects Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson. Notably, Bourgault was a first-round pick in 2021 and while his stock has slipped somewhat since then, it’s clear that Edmonton feels that Jarventie has some upside.
This move also helps them out a bit from a salary cap perspective. Because Jarventie spent time on an NHL roster last season, he was counting against Edmonton’s cap at a prorated amount relative to the number of days he was up with Ottawa. Based on his $894K cap hit, that prorated amount checked in around $107K. That amount now comes off their books, giving them just under $1.15MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, putting them around the middle of the pack league-wide in that regard.