Edmonton Oilers: Potential Acquisitions – Pacific Division
With the NHL Playoffs in the semifinals, I have decided to take a look through all the Divisions of the league and see which players from their current teams would be a good fit for the Edmonton Oilers.
With this year’s playoff disappointment the Edmonton Oilers are going to need to make some new additions. With lots of players on expiring contracts, there is lots of cap space to spend.
Per CapFriendly the Oilers have over $21 million worth of cap space to spend during this upcoming offseason. Either through trades or UFA signings they will need to look at ways to increase the skill of the team. I have gone through the Pacific Division first as it is the Oilers division.
Anaheim Ducks
Richard Rakell(Current Cap Hit $3,789,444, 52GP-9G-19A) Trade
With Anaheim in a rebuild mode and looking for prospects and draft picks they are going to need to move some players build for a stronger team in the future. With the Ducks giving up Shea Theodore in the expansion draft and trading away Sami Vatanen they have lacking solid defense. The Oilers could offer up Caleb Jones and some picks to get this done.
The only issue I have with this is Rakell being a UFA after this season. Also with the upcoming expansion draft if this trade happened before the expansion draft he would need to be protected.
Ryan Getzlaf (Current Cap Hit $8,250,000, 48GP-5G-12A) UFA
I know that most Oiler fans despise Getzlaf from the 2017 playoff run, but if the Oilers can get him for fairly inexpensive, I think he would be a good fit on the 3rd or 4th line center. The Oilers are lacking a right-handed center and he had a 51.78% faceoff percentage last year.
Calgary Flames
Brett Richie(Current Cap Hit $700,000, 32GP-4G-4A) UFA
A big bodied bottom 6 winger Richie, if the Oilers can get him for cheap he could replace Alex Chiasson’s role in the bottom 6. He is a better skater and younger than Chiasson.
Johnny Gaudreau(Current Cap Hit $6,750,00, 56GP-19G-30A) Trade
Calgary’s last season debacle could be a team’s gain this offseason. The Flames may be looking at shaking up the core of the team and moving away from one of their top players. If I was picking a piece out of Calgary, I would try to pry Gaudreau out of there. I’m just not sure the Oilers have what the Flames are after in return.
Edmonton Oilers
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Current Cap Hit $6,000,000, 52GP-16G-19A) Resign
I don’t think I need to explain why I would like to see Ryan stay with the Oilers. I would like to see him improve his 5×5 numbers. I think it will come down to money vs chance to win for Nugent-Hopkins. He will be able to get more money if he leaves the Oilers, but if a team can afford to pay him they are likely going to be a struggling team.
Adam Larsson (Current Cap Hit $4,166,666, 56GP-4G-6A) Resign
A top-end shut-down defenseman is something the Oilers need. There is a lack of Oilers defense that can use their size and strength to stop the cycle. Larsson is built for that. Plus he shouldn’t be too expensive to sign as a defensive specialist don’t get as much as offensive defensemen get.
Los Angeles Kings
Cap Space(Projected Cap Space $20,490,412)- Trade
There is not too much that the Oilers would gain from any player outside Kopitar, Brown and Doughty and the Kings are not going to move them, so I am not going to waste my time. The Kings do have a lot of cap space though. They could be a team you make a trade with so you don’t lose a decent skater in the expansion draft for nothing.
San Jose Sharks
Marcus Sorensen(Current Cap Hit $1,500,000, 29GP-1G-4A) UFA
Another bottom 6 forward to fill a hole in the Oilers lineup. Similar to the Kings, San Jose has few players the Oilers would even look at. With all the expensive contracts the Sharks have it makes sense to stay away from them.
Vancouver Canucks
Travis Hamonic (Current Cap Hit $1,250,000, 38GP-3G-7A) UFA
Similar to Adam Larsson, Hamonic is a solid stay-at-home defenseman. With Hamonic, you know what you are getting. He wants to stay in western Canada which means we may be able to get him for slightly less of a cap hit.
Jimmy Vesey (Current Cap Hit $1,250,000, 50GP-5G-5A) UFA
After jumping around the North division this past year he finally found a steady home in Vancouver. Signing Vesey would increase the Oilers winger depth. He would likely come here from close to league minimum. He has some skill in college but hasn’t been able to transfer it to the NHL.
Vegas Golden Knights
Tomas Nosek (Current Cap Hit $1,250,000, 38GP-8G-10A) UFA
A larger-sized winger, Nosek, had 8 goals in 38 games this year. He had some trouble staying in the lineup with injures this year. If you prorate that amount of goals to a full season that would be 20 goals. If there is one thing any team wants it is a goal scorer.
Chandler Stephenson (Current Cap Hit $2,750,000,41GP-14G-21A)Trade
Stephenson is on a good value contract which is what Vegas needs right now. If the Oilers could bring in Stephenson it would mean that they are bringing in extra cap as Vegas is close to the top of the cap. This is another option where the Oilers send a player to Vegas instead of losing them to Seattle, as Vegas is not losing a player in the expansion draft.
Overall there are a couple of moves here that Holland should look at doing, but I personally think that the most important moves in the Pacific Division come from re-signing Nugent-Hopkins and Larsson if they can, as they are a big part of the leadership of this team. The things they do on the league-leading power play and penalty kill is worth keeping them.