Edmonton Oilers: Ryan Strome Re-Signs, Roster Taking Shape

The Edmonton Oilers announced early Friday morning that they had re-signed Ryan Strome. This is exciting news as it’s one of the last dominoes to fall in shaping this roster.

I like this contract a lot for the Edmonton Oilers. Strome did get a bit of a raise, but that’s an expected outcome with most re-signings. His original qualifying offer was 2.5 million per, so he got a nice 600k raise. The term on his contract, for me, is the best part of this signing.

The two-year term is excellent value for the Oilers, and for Strome. For the team, it means they have two years to evaluate what Strome’s role will be. For Strome, it means he has two years to maximize production and force Edmonton to give him a long-term contract.

A more important detail is that Strome will be an RFA when his contract expires. This is key because it means the team will have ownership rights to Strome when his deal expires, making it difficult for him to leave via free agency. It also makes the contract after this one lower as the threat of going and becoming a UFA is non-existent.

The Roster

The Oilers roster is close to being at full shape. Barring any significant changes this is most likely us:

First Line: RNH – McDavid – Rattie/Yamo

Second Line: Lucic – Drai – JP

Third Line: Rieder – Strome – Aberg

Fourth Line: Khaira – Brodziak – Kassian

Extra Winger: Cagguila-?

First D-Line: Klefbom – Larsson

Second D-Line: Sekera – Russell

Third D-Line? (Barring Nurse’s contract.) – Benning

Extra D-Man – Gravel

Goalie: Talbot

Back-Up Goalie: Koskinen

This lineup first and foremost still relies on too much youth. It also relies on too many slumping and unproven players. All of Lucic, Rattie, Aberg, Yamo, JP, Cagguila, Sekera, Talbot, and Koskinen are risks, Obviously at different levels, but that’s a lot of uncertainty. I believe that Talbot is the only for sure bet to rebound from his last season. Beyond that, however, the rest of these players will make or break Edmonton next season.

Strome is most likely going to start the year as a third line center and if he sticks, will be very important to Edmonton. As I stated in my first article about Strome. I believe that he shouldn’t necessarily play center but, if he does, he must carry his line better than last season. I hope that he can stick at center but am very skeptical of his possession stats and faceoff win percentage.

Cap Space and Odds and Ends

Some other interesting things popped up on twitter today. First off, CapFriendly.com gave an  update on what our current cap space situation looks like:

We have about 5 million to sign Nurse as well as cover player bonuses. Of course, there is bonus overage allowed in the current CBA but using them isn’t wise. The cap space used in the overage gets subtracted from next years cap. For example, Edmonton had 4.5 million in cap space at the end of 16-17 but had 5.325 million in bonuses earned. This meant Edmonton had an overage penalty subtracted from their cap of 825k in 17-18.

For Nurse, the best course of action most likely is a similar two-year deal in the 3.2-3.6 million range. A trade of a more expensive bottom six forward or bottom pairing defensemen (Russell, Sekera, Kassian) would do wonders for us right about now. At current we are very limited in what we can do for Nurse or in the trade market.

Patrick Maroon?

Avry is one of the people I trust in the Twitterverse. He doesn’t often post insider news, but when he does, it’s usually pretty trustworthy. To me, something is very fishy about the Maroon situation. Reportedly there were as many as six teams interested in Maroon, and now five days later there are crickets. Makes me wonder what he’s waiting for? perhaps a Lucic trade?

The Wrap

As the off-season winds down and we get into the sad, quiet part of the offseason, there’s still some dominoes around the league yet to fall. Hopefully, this means there’s still some fireworks in the NHL in the coming weeks. If not, I’m not going to have a lot to talk about next week.