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Oilers, Rangers Swap Ryan Strome And Ryan Spooner

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The New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers have decided to shake things up by exchanging centers. The Rangers were the first to announce the deal, which sees them send Ryan Spooner to the Oilers for Ryan Strome. This is is a one-for-one swap, although TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the Rangers have retained $900K of Spooner’s contract to make it an even salary exchange.

This trade is simple case of two players who didn’t work out in new locations and needed a change of scenery. If Spooner’s and Strome’s names look familiar in a trade context, it is because both were just shipped off last season. In the 2017 off-season, the Oilers sent Jordan Eberle to the New York Islanders straight up for Strome. The move was panned initially, then Strome gained some support over the course of the season, but after recording just two points through 18 games to begin the new campaign, he was again drawing the ire of executives and fans alike. Spooner was included in the package that the Boston Bruins sent to the New York Rangers in exchange for Rick Nash at last season’s trade deadline, but hardly seemed like the centerpiece in a deal that also featured a first-round pick and defensive prospect Ryan Lindgren. Although Spooner played very well for the Rangers down the stretch, he too has just two points to show for his efforts this season, a disappointment to those who felt he could play a top-six role for the team moving forward.

It will be difficult to determine a winner in this trade for some time. Both players carry a cap hit of $3.1MM through the 2019-20 season. Spooner, 26, and Strome, 25, are almost dead even in career points, although Spooner has 160 points in 289 games whereas Strome has 162 points in 358 games, close to a season more. Both are power play assets who can be too passive offensively at even strength and are known for streaky play. The only main difference between the pair is in style; Spooner is an elite passer and a quicker player with very little patience for the defensive aspects of the game, while Strome is two-way forward with penalty-killing prowess, superior possession numbers and more goal-driven production.

Back with the man who drafted him in Boston, GM Peter Chiarelli, Spooner likely stands the best chance of a rebound. The Oilers have been looking to improve their team speed and Spooner certainly brings that element to his game. Edmonton’s usage of Spooner will bear watching, as the team could use a high-end play-maker on the wing more than they really need a third-line center, but historically Spooner has fit better down the middle and the loss of Strome does vacate a spot. Meanwhile, Strome joins a center-heavy lineup in New York and will likely have to earn a spot down the middle. The Rangers could use his scoring touch, if he can find it, but also need more two-way accountability, which Strome can bring.The Rangers’ brass watched Strome play with the Islanders for years and know what they’re getting in this deal. Both players have struggled to fit in in previous NHL situations; the Oilers and Rangers hope this time they can get it right.

Oilers Growing Impatient With Forward Jesse Puljujarvi

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The Edmonton Oilers are off to a much better start to this season than last, but not everyone is rolling on all cylinders. Young forward Jesse Puljujarvi has been unable to make the most of ample opportunity on the right side, with just one point to show for eleven games of top-nine minutes. Now, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger speaking on “Insider Trading”, there’s “more tension” growing between the team and player. Dreger believes that an AHL reassignment, or perhaps even something more drastic, could be on the way.

Dreger said that such a demotion “could, in fact, be a breaking point for a player who just wants to develop in his own way in the NHL.” The Oilers expected the 2016 fourth overall pick to be much more effective at the NHL level, while Puljujarvi himself likely didn’t expect to spend 49 games in the AHL over the past two seasons and again be on a short leash this year. The two sides seem to be at odds with the youngster’s role and expectations within the organization and a change seems to be on the horizon. Most likely, that is yet another reassignment to the Bakersfield Condors. However, GM Peter Chiarelli has a history of pulling the trigger on trading under-performing young players, making a permanent solution also a possibility.

For his part, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal feels that both Puljujarvi and struggling rookie Kailer Yamamoto would be better served to stay in the NHL, saying that while “non-scoring”, both players are dynamic and worth a “roll of the dice”. However, Staples is also open to sending both down to the AHL, proposing that recently-demoted center Cooper Marody center the pair on an elite first line Bakersfield. That way, the trio would all continue playing with NHL-caliber talent around them, but would be able to better develop their skills and find their respective games at the AHL level. This is perhaps the top solution for the ongoing Puljujarvi problem and a likely result in short time if his poor play continues.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Scottie Upshall To PTO

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September 13th: Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports that Upshall failed his physical with the Oilers today. Upshall has been dealing with a knee injury and did not report to training camp at full strength. While this does not cancel out his PTO, it certainly hurts his chances of landing a contract, despite Edmonton’s need for veteran leadership and penalty killing ability. It is uncertain when Upshall will be ready to fully participate, with Spector speculating it could be “a few weeks”. In the meantime, Upshall will be unable to show that he is still in NHL shape and will likely lose his roster spot to a younger player or potentially another veteran brought in to replace him.

August 19th: It’s officially PTO season. After the Florida Panthers made Mark Letestu the first notable name signed to a professional tryout agreement this off-season with an agreement last week, the Edmonton Oilers have now joined in on the action. The team announced this afternoon that they come to terms with veteran forward Scottie Upshall on a PTO. The Oilers are not overflowing with forward depth, making the Alberta native’s odds of landing a contract relatively good.

This move comes as little surprise in regards to Upshall. The 34-year-old has been down this road before; he played on not one but two PTO’s last fall, first joining the Vancouver Canucks before eventually returning to the St. Louis Blues and earning a contract. He again stands a good chance of winning a spot, this time with Edmonton. Gone are the days when Upshall could produce 30+ points every year, but he still does everything else well. A smart, hard-working forward, Upshall can still give a team modest offense – he scored 19 points in 63 games last year – but it is his two-way play that keeps him valuable. Upshall was one of the Blues’ primary penalty killers last season and still plays with energy, grit, and toughness.

Ironically, Upshall’s frequent running mate in St. Louis, both five-on-five and shorthanded, was Kyle Brodziak, who signed with Edmonton earlier this summer. It seems likely that the Oilers considered that when inviting Upshall to camp. St. Louis was not a league leader in killing penalties or fourth line production last season, but the chemistry between Upshall and Brodziak would nevertheless be a major boost for Edmonton. In moving on from Letestu, the Oilers lost their leading penalty killer from last season. They would also likely enjoy not having to deploy Ryan Nugent-Hopkins while man-down as frequently as they did in 2017-18. Upshall could fit in nicely alongside Brodziak both on the bottom line and the PK, so long as he looks like he can still keep up in his sixteenth year in the league. This could end up being a shrewd PTO pickup by GM Peter Chiarelli and company.

Oilers Notes: Criticism, Nurse, Lucic

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TSN insider Bob McKenzie has begun previewing the 2018-19 seasons for the NHL’s Canadian clubs on his podcast, “The Bobcast”, and dropped some bombs about the Edmonton Oilers. McKenzie most newsworthy claim is that the Oilers have been criticized by executives around the league for failing to reach the postseason last year. McKenzie was honest in his assessment of the team, saying “I think the way most people look at it, every year you have a Connor McDavid-led team that misses the playoffs, that is a crime against hockey humanity. I think that would be especially true this season after they didn’t do it last season… McDavid’s game is on its own level and it would be absolutely criminal if the Edmonton Oilers cannot find a way to surround him with enough talent to get this team back into the playoffs.” McKenzie, and anyone who has been critical of the team, are absolutely in the right to wonder how a team with arguably the best player on the planet can not only miss the playoffs, but finish in the bottom ten of the league. It is also fair to question, as McKenzie did, whether the team has done enough to add more talent to the roster. Outside of backup goalie Mikko Koskinen, two-way winger Tobias Rieder, and checking center Kyle Brodziak, the Oilers are more or less relying on the same group as last season to put together a major turnaround. Even with some positive regression, Edmonton will need to step it up this season – the players, coaches, and front office included.

  • McKenzie also put Edmonton fans on edge by blowing up the narrative that negotiations were going well with restricted free agent defenseman Darnell Nurse. “By all accounts Nurse’s contract negotiations are not going well at all”, McKenzie said, “so we’ll just have to wait and see on that.” Nurse remains unsigned with training camp soon to open and there is no way to know how long it will take to get him under contract. Even before the Andrej Sekera injury, the Oilers needed Nurse around to play a key role on the blue line, but now it is imperative that they get him signed and ready to be a major top-four contributor this season. Edmonton can’t afford to let these negotiations last too far into the regular season, but their cap crunch and messy trade history also mean that they need to remain cautious. It isn’t an easy situation for the team or player.
  • McKenzie also refuted the report that Milan Lucic never requested a trade this summer, returning to the previous assumption that he did want out of Edmonton. McKenzie said “Can Milan Lucic rebound from an abysmal season that was punctuated by him asking for a trade, one which he didn’t get? If you talk to the right people by all accounts his mind, his spirit, his body are all fully ready to embrace the challenge.” While this was one of McKenzie’s more positive remarks, it does throw another dig at the Oilers that one of GM Peter Chiarelli’s big free agent acquisitions not only played poorly last season, but now wants out. Perhaps Lucic walking back trade rumors earlier this summer is a sign that he has moved on, but that interest in leaving existed at one point and could return if Edmonton suffers through another disappointing season.

Bruins Notes: Seguin, Heinen, Krejci, Leach, McQuaid

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With Dallas Stars’ Tyler Seguin showing unhappiness recently that he hasn’t signed an extension yet, speculation is beginning to increase that Seguin may be considering taking the same course that John Tavares took this offseason before eventually signing a seven-year, $77MM deal. Seguin, who is coming off a 40-goal, 78-point season and at 26 years old, could garner as much as Tavares after his contract expires at the end of the year.

The Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy writes that while the team did make an offer to Tavares, he doesn’t think it would make sense to make a similar offer to the former Bruin. The scribe does admit that Peter Chiarelli made a big mistake when he and Boston’s brass traded away Seguin, who at 21, showed immaturity and a lack of professionalism. A more mature Seguin has shown over the last five years that the Bruins probably should have held onto him. Regardless, Conroy said Seguin wouldn’t be worth such a big, long-term deal, although a rental situation at the trade deadline might be a different story.

NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty adds that he also wouldn’t recommend for Boston to attempt to bring Seguin back despite the fact that he still has several friends on the team, including Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. While current GM Don Sweeney was just an assistant GM when Seguin was traded, there are still enough personnel remaining in the organization that probably wouldn’t want Seguin to return to the franchise. However, he added never say never.

  • Joe McDonald of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Bruins are still considering whether they want to break up their top line after their super line of Bergeron, Marchand and David Pastrnak were shut down by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and no other line was able to step up. The idea has been suggested to move Pastrnak to the second line to create a more balanced attack. If that’s the case, McDonald feels that Danton Heinen might be ready to replace Pastrnak on the first line. Heinen had a solid rookie season, scoring 16 goals and 47 points last season.
  • Haggerty also wonders how much longer center David Krejci can hold onto the No. 2 center position? The team made an obvious attempt to sign Tavares this offseason, suggesting that they are interested in eventually moving on from Krejci in that spot with the hopes of dropping him to their third line. However, at the moment, they lack a player who is ready to challenge him for that spot. The team’s third-line center position is going to be a battle among rookies, including Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic.
  • The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) writes that Providence Bruins’ coach Jay Leach continues to work to develop those three prospect centers. The coach has been sending Forsbacka Karlsson, Studnicka and Frederic videos of Bergeron, the young Bergeron, for the three to study in hopes of teaching them everything they need to know about adjusting to the NHL. “Honestly, if you’re looking for a centerman to show you how to do things,” Leach said of Bergeron, “this is the guy. Just little things of nuances this guy can do.”
  • In another article, Haggerty questions whether defenseman Adam McQuaid will remain with the Boston Bruins. With eight viable blueliners on the roster, McQuaid, who has played nine seasons in Boston, could find himself elsewhere by the start of the season. The 6-foot-4 physical grinder only saw 38 games last season and with a plethora of right-shot defensemen, he could be the player to sit in the press box on most nights unless the team attempts to find him a better home. The team already has Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller on the right side, which also was a reason why McQuaid saw his minutes drop from 18:15 to 15:42 last season. However, the 31-year-old still managed to get 80 hits and block 56 shots last season, which could make him an option for a team looking for defensive depth and a penalty killing option.

Edmonton Oilers Working Towards Darnell Nurse Contract

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Yesterday when we published an updated list of the remaining unsigned restricted free agents, any Edmonton Oilers fan would have focused in on one name. Darnell Nurse is still without a contract after his breakout season in 2017-18, and could potentially make it tough on his team with a long-term contract demand. The Oilers have just under $5MM in cap space remaining, a good chunk of which could go to Nurse if his new contract buys out any unrestricted free agent years. Still, GM Peter Chiarelli is confident that a deal will get done with the young defenseman, explaining to 630 CHED radio that RFA contracts just take a little longer to work through.

The big question for the Oilers will be how much cap space to commit to Nurse, given that the team already has nearly $18MM/year invested in four other defensemen. Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson and Kris Russell are all signed for at least three seasons, and with a huge chunk of the cap already going to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl the team has to be quite careful with their salary going forward. A bridge deal for Nurse could be the best for both sides, as a three-year contract would still leave him as a restricted free agent with plenty of cap space to give him on a long-term deal. Whether the Nurse camp would be open to that isn’t clear, but it would be a way to maximize his earnings later in his career.

After playing 82 games for the first time in his career and recording a career-high 26 points, Nurse has established himself as a key part of the Oilers going forward. What he hasn’t done yet is show the big offensive upside that many believe is still inside of him. Part of that is due to his lack of powerplay time with Edmonton, but there is likely even more even-strength offense to come from the seventh-overall pick. If those numbers rise over the next few years he could set himself up for a huge UFA contract as a true two-way defenseman, given his already established ability to defend, contribute on the penalty kill and log big minutes.

Nurse must sign a contract by December 1st in order to play at all in the 2018-19 season, but Chiarelli seems confident that something will be worked out long before then. For now, we’ll have to wait to see what the Oilers decide to do in order to fit him into their current salary structure.

Edmonton Fans Still Waiting For Big Changes

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The Edmonton Oilers were one of the biggest disappointments of the 2017-18 season. Despite being led by one of the best players in the world in Connor McDavid, the team dropped 25 points in the standings and finished well out of the playoffs. Only three players on the team broke the 15-goal or 40-point thresholds, and goaltender Cam Talbot posted his worst season as a professional. Changes were obviously needed, and big things were expected from GM Peter Chiarelli, who had never been known for his hesitation in the past. Chiarelli has always been willing to trade players who he believed were problems, and acquire assets that could help his team.

In April, just after the Oilers season had come to a close, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal wrote a piece outlining ten changes that could happen in order to get the team back to the playoffs in 2018-19. Among them was a common thread, that basically everyone on the roster outside of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should be considered available. Real additions also needed to be made up front, to help add some secondary scoring to the rest of the lineup. A puck-moving defenseman should be added, and something needs to be done about the left-handed imbalance of the blue line.

This summer though, almost none of those things have happened.

A change in the coaching staff was expected, and the team did bring in several new faces to help head coach Todd McLellan this season. Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney and Manny Viveiros were all hired as assistants, replacing several outgoing names. That should give the team a different look in terms of system, but those asked to perform will be the same. The defense corps remains relatively unchanged, other than the fact that Darnell Nurse is still without a contract and Kevin Gravel was brought in on a two-way contract. No additional puck-movers have been added, meaning as it stands the burden will once again fall on players like Nurse and Oscar Klefbom to really drive the team.

On the topic of secondary scoring, there has been little change. Tobias Rieder and Kyle Brodziak were the Oilers’ big free agent additions, giving the team two more middling offensive talents to plug into the lineup. While Rieder has shown potential at times, he still only recorded 12 goals and 25 points last season. Brodziak is actually coming off one of the better offensive campaigns of his career with 10 goals and 33 points, but shouldn’t be expected at age-34 to be an answer to the team’s problems.

Perhaps the biggest change came in net, where the team opted to avoid signing one of the more proven names in free agency and instead brought in Mikko Koskinen from the KHL. The 30-year old goaltender had an incredible season for SKA St. Petersburg in 2017-18, but hasn’t played in North America on a full-time basis since 2011. If Koskinen can push Talbot back to the level he had previously shown the Oilers will be much more competitive, but there’s no guarantee they’ll have any consistency in the position this year.

No instead of the big changes that were expected, the Oilers have generally sat on their hands this summer and hoped a change could come from within. Even their 10th-overall pick in the draft which they were open about potentially trading, was eventually used to pick Evan Bouchard. There’s clearly a boatload of talent in the London Knights blueliner, but if Bouchard isn’t able to jump right to the NHL this season he can’t help a team that needs to compete immediately. If it’s not Bouchard, then perhaps Jesse Puljujarvi is the key to the offseason in Edmonton. The fourth-overall pick from 2016 is now 20 years old, and needs to become an impact player this season. In 65 NHL games last year he registered 12 goals and 20 points, but those numbers need to improve drastically if the Oilers are to expect a winning season.

There is a chance that the team still makes a big splash to bring in some scoring help, but there financial situation is obviously limiting them. With just $4.98MM in cap space and Nurse still to sign, the team likely couldn’t go after someone like Jeff Skinner. In order to land the talented winger from Carolina, the Hurricanes would have had to accept another contract back in order to even out the salaries. That puts the Oilers in a distinct disadvantage in trade talks, and one that won’t be fixed anytime soon. None of the hefty Oilers contracts come off the books next season outside of Talbot and Koskinen, but there isn’t a brilliant young goaltender ready to step into that void on an inexpensive contract. Without moving a defenseman or Milan Lucic’s contract, the Oilers will remain in salary trouble as they try to add pieces in the future.

For an offseason that was expected to bring fireworks in Edmonton, and help surround McDavid with a team that could give him a legitimate chance for the Stanley Cup, things have been awfully quiet. Oilers fans will have to hope that change is coming from places they didn’t expect, and someone can step up to alter their fortunes. Otherwise it could be a long season, and another wasted opportunity with one of the game’s premiere talents.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Edmonton Oilers Willing To Move 10th Overall Pick

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Though rumored for some time, Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli confirmed that he has had discussions with teams about moving the tenth-overall pick in the upcoming draft. Nothing is imminent, but with the team missing the playoffs last season despite being in a win-now mode, it seems obvious that they would be willing to discuss acquiring some immediate help for future assets. Chiarelli also claimed that his team would select the “best player available” should they keep the pick, instead of targeting a certain position of need.

This all confirms what we’ve heard out of Edmonton for the last few weeks, as many have speculated that they’d be willing to move the pick. That draft position rarely gives you a player who can step into the lineup right away, something that the Oilers desperately need as they look to cash in on some of Connor McDavid’s prime years. Though the captain is only 21, he’ll already be the most expensive player in the league next season and is doing enough to expect the team to be real Stanley Cup contenders. The team needs more help up front and several bounce back seasons from key defensemen, or else they may waste another 100-point season from the two-time Ted Lindsay Award winner.

It’s not clear exactly what Edmonton would be after in a trade for their first-round pick. Though obviously scoring is a necessity, many have speculated on the need to add another right-handed puck-moving defenseman to the mix. Teams aren’t quick to give up those players though, as they remain some of the hardest to find in the entire league. Up front it depends on whether Chiarelli sees Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl as wingers or centers going forward, as both have played—and found tremendous success—alongside McDavid at times over the last two years.

The pick might be of interest to several teams looking to add youth to their group. There have been rumors of the Montreal Canadiens looking to trade down, but don’t really have the defensive assets that would interest Edmonton after moving Mikhail Sergachev last summer. A team like the Buffalo Sabres are involved in nearly every discussion about first-round picks, but most of the speculation around them centers on Ryan O’Reilly. Chiarelli said last season that it may not be wise to use a huge chunk of your assets on centers—at that point speaking about McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins—making O’Reilly perhaps a bad candidate for trade.

Regardless of who is a perfect fit, you can bet almost every team would have interest in finding out how expensive the pick would be in terms of assets. Even teams closer to contention might find themselves in a position to trade up, especially if they have some burgeoning young players ready to take over at the NHL level.

There is also the question of Milan Lucic and the reports that the Oilers are trying to get out from under his hefty contract, but not as a pure cap dump. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Chiarelli seemed to indicate today that Lucic would be back for Edmonton next season with a new level of motivation, but nothing is certain at this point in the summer. That could easily be the Oilers’ GM trying to pump up an asset that he’s looking to trade, or perhaps he truly believes that Lucic can return to the 50-point winger that he has been for much of his career.

Either way, there are changes coming in Edmonton before the 2018-19 season begins. Whether it is enough to get them back into the playoffs is still yet to be seen, but Chiarelli is obviously doing everything he can to try and get back to contention.

Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers

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Free agency is now a little less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Edmonton’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Ryan Strome – When GM Peter Chiarelli and the Oilers decided last summer that Jordan Eberle had to be moved out because of his high-priced contract, the eventual return was the underperforming but talented Strome. The team enjoyed a $3.5MM cap cut, while hoping that the 24-year old forward could find his footing in Edmonton. After all, Strome was a fifth-overall pick who had scored 17 goals and 50 points in 2014-15, and could perhaps be relied upon as a long-term option down the middle.

Now, after another disappointing season where Strome’s below average skating was exposed on a team that lacked speed, and he struggled to maintain any kind of offensive consistency at center or the wing, there’s some uncertainty about where his future lies. As a restricted free agent, he doesn’t have a great case for a substantial raise over the $2.5MM cap hit he carried each of the last two seasons. After scoring just 34 points in 82 games—an even worse pace than his final year in New York—it’s not clear if he’s part of the problem or can still be part of the solution in Edmonton. He certainly won’t cost as much as Eberle’s $6MM cap hit in 2018-19, but neither side may look for a contract that stretches far beyond next season.

D Darnell Nurse – Perhaps the biggest problem in Edmonton this year was that several of their defensemen took substantial steps backwards, but one can’t really say that about Nurse. The 23-year old set career highs in games played, minutes played, goals, assists, points, +/-, penalty minutes, shots, hits and blocks, essentially leading the entire Oilers defense corps in nearly every category. He followed that with a big role on Canada’s IIHF World Championship team, and looks ready to blossom into the player Edmonton was hoping for when they selected him seventh-overall in 2013.

Still, it’s not clear exactly how long a contract the Oilers can afford to give their young defenseman. With so much money tied up in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the team has to be careful how they spend the rest of their cap. Nearly $20MM of the remaining funds are already committed to Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Kris Russell and Adam Larsson for the next three seasons, meaning any deal buying out unrestricted free agent years for Nurse is likely too expensive to take on right now. That still leaves plenty of room for a short-term deal, but he’s the one heading into negotiations in a position of leverage after a career year.

Other RFAs: F Anton Slepyshev, F Iiro Pakarinen, F Drake Caggiula, D Matt Benning, F Braden Christoffer, D Ben Betker, F Patrick Russell, F Kyle Platzer

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: F Mike Cammalleri – A few seasons ago, the idea of Cammalleri walking in free agency might be a big story. Now, the veteran forward is just hoping for another contract. Cammalleri came to the Oilers in a midseason swap with the Los Angeles Kings, and found some of his old offensive juice for the team. With 22 points in 51 games he was relatively effective, and cost them very little in terms of salary. That could be a reason to bring him back on another incentive-laden contract, but there are likely bigger fish to fry in the coming weeks, as the team prepares for the draft and negotiates with the above listed RFAs.

Cammalleri will turn 36 in just a few days, and isn’t by any means a necessary piece for the Oilers to bring back. After agreeing to a $1MM contract with $200K in performance bonuses last season, he may be even less expensive if they decide his experience is worth the money and roster spot in 2018-19.

Other UFAs: D Yohann Auvitu, G Laurent Brossoit, F Brian Ferlin, D Mark Fayne, D Dillon Simpson, D Joey LaLeggia, F Grayson Downing

Projected Cap Space: It’s never a good thing when a team that missed the playoffs doesn’t have a lot of cap space, but that’s the situation the Oilers find themselves in. With just around $15MM in projected cap space for next season depending on where the upper limit lands, they won’t have a ton of space to find upgrades after re-signing their restricted free agents. That, and the lack of success despite another fantastic season from McDavid, is a reason why Edmonton is linked to nearly every rumored player on the market at one point or another.

There have been rumors in the past about Ryan Nugent-Hopkins potentially being available as the team looks to clear money, but after finding a home alongside McDavid on the top line he likely is now off limits. If the team could find a taker for Milan Lucic or one of their aging defensemen they likely would jump on the opportunity, but it won’t be easy. Chiarelli and his staff also need to prepare for their upcoming goaltending conundrum, as Cam Talbot and the newly signed Mikko Koskinen are unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2019.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Poll: Should The Edmonton Oilers Trade The 10th Pick?

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The Edmonton Oilers are picking in the top-10 again this year. That was not the expected outcome after their 103-point 2016-17, and especially not with a healthy Connor McDavid. The team finished 36-40-6 this year, and wasted the last season of McDavid’s relatively inexpensive entry-level contract. The captain will start his eight-year $100MM extension in 2018-19, and immediately put a strain on the team’s finances.

So, what do you do this summer? Do you select another high-upside player and hope that he and other young prospects like Jesse Puljujarvi can quickly ascend the ranks to dominate at the NHL level? Or do you pick up the phone and try to make a move to improve the club immediately?

As we wrote yesterday, Peter Chiarelli is apparently considering both options carefully. The Oilers’ GM is open to the idea of trading the 10th-overall pick, and Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal even called the odds “high” that it is moved at some point between now and June 25th. As Chiarelli put it:

A player at No. 9 or No. 10 isn’t going to play next year. We’ll certainly listen to offers, and if there is a trade, it would probably be on the draft floor.

The question is, should there really be a rush to compete? Now that McDavid is already into his expensive extension, and Leon Draisaitl is already on year two of his eight-year $68MM deal, it’s not like there is a closing window. In fact, with their best two players both 22-and-under, there could still be an argument to be made that the window will be widest after two or three more years. That’s incidentally when some of the expensive contracts for underperforming defensemen will come off the books, giving the team more flexibility to go after free agents or lock up internal options.

By then, the 10th-overall pick could be ready to be an impact player in the league, while whoever they trade for could be headed for the open market.

On the other hand, Cam Talbot is signed for just one more season and is now on the wrong side of 30, while Milan Lucic is already showing drastic signs of slowing down. Waiting could open up other holes on the roster, that can’t be filled without trading other valuable assets.

So should the Oilers make a move? Does it make sense to hold onto the pick? Cast your vote and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

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