All the Edmonton Oilers in need of a contract for next season
By Jim Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers have a number of players on expiring deals this off-season.
The Edmonton Oilers now have the opportunity to rebuild their roster if they would like to. A lot of the team’s contracts are coming off the books and that gives them the opportunity to move forward with a different-looking roster.
After getting swept out of the first round by the Winnipeg Jets, one would have to think anything is on the table. Here is every free agent and whether or not the team should focus on re-signing them.
Reminder: According to CapFriendly, the Oilers only have 22.165 million in cap space to work with. While yes that is a lot of money, it might go quickly with how many free agents the team has.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 28 Years Old UFA (6M)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins might be the biggest name on this list. His inconsistent play definitely is a liability against him, but overall the Edmonton Oilers are lucky to have RNH on their team. Personally, I think he deserves another contract with this team, I just do not know if I would make it that much bigger than six million.
Nugent-Hopkins has made it clear that he wants to stay in Edmonton. If the team can get that deal done for maybe 6.5 to 7 million then I guess it would be worth it. However, this cannot be a long-term contract. Nugent-Hopkins only put up 35 points this past season, and while it is a short season if he had played 82 games that would come out to about 51 points on the year, which is not great.
Keeping the contract at just a year or two would allow Edmonton to assess their assets later in the season and if they believe a trade of him would benefit the group then they can get it done later in the year or the off-season.