Honorable Mentions and Conclusion
Honorable Mentions: Anthony Duclair, Scottie Upshall, Matthew Peca, Daniel Winnik, and Dylan DeMelo.
Now to complete this exercise we need to pick four of those players above without going over $3.5M this year. I’d take these four:
- Jason Chimera at 800k per year
- Ryan Sproul at 750k per year
- Daniel Carr at 875k per year
- Kyle Brodziak at 950k per year
I like adding the vets (Chimera/Brodziak) because I want my young kids to outplay them for a spot on the roster and I want them around the locker room because I feel that the younger players could glean certain things from them and their experiences as young players starting out in Edmonton many years ago.
I take the right-handed PP defenseman in Sproul as insurance in case Evan Bouchard isn’t ready to go this year and because the Oilers still need a PP threat from the blue line.
And I take Daniel Carr because I like his energy and attitude. I think he’s got something to prove to the Montreal Canadiens for quitting on him and he’ll perform extra dutifully.
THE FINAL ROSTER
Nuge-McDavid-Rattie
Lucic-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi
Khaira-Strome-Kassian
Carr-Brodziak-Caggiula
Scratch: Aberg, Chimera
Nurse-Larsson
Klefbom-Sekera
Russell-Benning
Scratch: Sproul
So as impossible as it might look right now, the Edmonton Oilers CAN fill out the rest of the roster with $3.5M in cap room. The blanks might only be filled in with foot soldiers instead of knights.
Next: Is Chiarelli the Big Winner of the Draft?
What do you think? Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments below.