Well it looks as though there will be a new franchise in the NHL for the 2017-18 season and that team will be located in the hockey hot bed of Las Vegas! Yes it is a risky location for any professional sports league but the NHL feels as though its success in California and Florida will continue in Las Vegas. I just happened to be in Las Vegas the weekend the T-Mobile Arena and it is a first rate facility that will be able to sustain NHL ice. All of this is exciting, but how would this affect the Edmonton Oilers?
With a new franchise comes an expansion draft and the NHL wants to make Las Vegas as competitive as possible, sothe NHL is limiting the number of players existing teams can protect which includes players with “No Movement Clauses.”
The Oilers will be affected by the NMC’s as Cam Talbot has one, and so does Andrew Ference. Talbot would be on the protected list regardless, but Ference becomes the problem. His contract is due to expire at the end of the 2016-17 season, but the NHLPA CBA states that “they are under contract until July 1,” even if they are in a situation where they will not be resigned. This leaves a difficult situation for Peter Chiarelli as he will have to buy-out Ference or have to convince Ference to retire and forgo his last year salary.
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Buy-Out
If Ference was to be bought out, he would be due 2/3 of his remaining contract, which is $3,250,000. It results in a total of $2,145,000 to be paid over two more years. That means the Oilers will have a $1,072,500 cap hit for Ference until 2017-18.
That may not seem like a large cap hit, but when you start to think about signing Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Darnell Nurse, every dollar counts especially when you think they’ll be paying Ference not to play for them.
Retire
Maybe Ference will retire before the expansion draft and give up his salary. I personally don’t see Ference doing this, as who gives up $3,250,000, just to be nice to an organization that just sat you out for pretty much an entire year? Could Ference be given a position with the organization where he would be compensated for retiring? I’m not sure if that is an option, but it could be an interesting option for Chiarelli and the Oilers.
Expansion
Darren Dreger tweeted that there are two rumoured options for teams as to how many players in each position are eligible for protection. The first option is 3 defensemen, 7 forwards, and 1 goalie and the second option is 8 players (forwards or defense) and one goalie.
"Expansion draft potential. Each team has option of protecting 3d, 7F and I goalie or 8 skaters +1 goalie. Expansion determined before draft- Darren Dreger"
Further, prospects, or players who have played less than two seasons of professional hockey as of the 2016-17 campaign, whether it be AHL or NHL, would also be exempt from selection and would not need to be protected.
This puts Edmonton in a tough situation as they would have to protect Draisaitl, Nurse and McDavid as they would all have played two or more seasons. Cam Talbot would be the goalie that is saved and Andrej Sekera also has a NMC so they fill 2 spots.
This creates a log-jam for the defense if Ference is kept as then the Oilers would have to decide between protecting Nurse or Oscar Klefbom or risk losing two other players.
Next: Edmonton Oilers: Tyson Barrie Not Solution to Defensive Woes
With rumors that the Carolina Hurricanes may relocate, and the expansion may be put on hold, this expansion could not even happen. However, if it does, who should be protected?