Edmonton Oilers: Five Avalanche Free Agents To Consider Signing
The Edmonton Oilers are going to want to add a few new players to the team to win next season.
Today I want to highlight a few possible players to considering signing from a team that has a lot of contracts to figure out. The Edmonton Oilers can take advantage of a team like the Avalanche as they try and figure out their roster after a season that ended too soon.
The Avalanche have 21 players coming off of the books this summer, and they only have around 19 million in cap space to get them back as a team. That is not a lot of room for a team that has some of their top stars in need of contracts.
Rather than talking about players to trade for, which could be a possibility, I want to highlight some players the Oilers could offer contracts to in free agency. Making trades is a great way to build a roster for a future cup run, but signing free agents is another way to add those kinds of assets.
So here are five potential players the team should consider signing from Colorado:
1. Tyson Jost
Tyson Jost is an RFA forward within the Colorado Avalanche organization. The former 2016 tenth overall pick put up 17 points in 54 games last season with the Avalanche. He is young and still has a lot of hockey ahead of him in his career, but could it be on a different team?
Jost played in all ten playoff games this season for the Avalanche scoring two goals and registering two assists during that time. He was a solid middle-six guy in Colorado and at just 22 years old there definitely is a lot of hockey ahead of him.
Should Edmonton be interested in locking in a young guy for the long term I wouldn’t mind them throwing an offer sheet Jost’s way. Maybe they give him a little bit more money than Colorado has spared for him with their many big free agents.
Just had great possession numbers with a Corsi well above 50 percent and he has always been someone the team can count on. An offer sheet is not something we see all the time in the NHL, but I would like to see one on this.
2. Brandon Saad
Brandon Saad proved he can still be that guy for a team. After a rough go with the Blackhawks, Saad showed why he was worth six million dollars in the first place scoring seven goals during the playoffs this postseason.
Saad is someone any team would be lucky to have, and I do not think he is going to be asking for too much of a pay raise after putting up just 24 points in 44 games. Maybe Edmonton should bring Saad to their team and let him play on the top line and on the third line to help space out the depth within the lineup.
We have seen Saad score clutch goals time and time again during the playoffs. Edmonton could use his physical strong frame to drive the net night in and night out.
3. Dan Renouf
Alright, I don’t think you were expecting to see a name like Dan Renouf on this list, well I think the Oilers could use another defenseman even if it is just for depth’s sake. Renouf played in 18 games this past season with Colorado, he dished out 20 hits and had three assists.
Edmonton has a lot of guys coming back next season on the blue line, but adding one more guy that can just be some depth in the organization and play a few games if needed or if injuries occurred wouldn’t hurt.
Renouf is 27 and I do not think he will be asking for a lot of money seeing that he has only played 19 games in the NHL. He is a bigger guy at 6’2″ and I think the team could use an asset like them throughout a long season, the first normal season in three years.
4. Cale Makar
Alright, I had to put him on the list. Cale Makar is an impressive young defenseman. Edmonton would be silly not to at least consider offering him a contract during the offseason. I am sure a lot of teams are discussing the idea of tossing an offer sheet his way.
Makar is coming off a season where he put up 44 points in 44 games including 36 assists. The young defenseman is one of many great players on a great team, and he is going to be there for a long time.
Some team is going to consider and probably will give Cale Makar an expensive offer sheet, hoping that Colorado doesn’t match it. Well, maybe Edmonton should toss their name into the ring on that deal.
5. Gabriel Landeskog
The Colorado Avalanche are in danger of losing their captain Gabriel Landeskog. Unlike Makar, Landeskog is an unrestricted free agent. The 28-year-old just made 5.5 million a season and is going to be asking for a raise from that number.
Landeskog would be an instant upgrade for the Oilers on the left side of the ice as the left-wing put up 20 goals and 52 points this season. Landeskog is a winner who has spent his entire career with Colorado thus far.
While the team he captains right now is good, they might not be able to offer him the raise that he probably deserves. Maybe Edmonton can make that happen for a season or two as they try and win the Stanley Cup.
I think I would rather see the other players on this list than Landeskog, but at the same time, the unrestricted free agent controls his own destiny. Maybe he wants an opportunity to play with two of the best players in the league in McDavid and Draisaitl, although Mackinnon and Rantanen are not too bad themselves.